Review: Love, In English by Karina Halle
♥♥♥ 3 Estrellas Brillantes ♥♥♥
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“Love is like a thief, it robs you of all thought and logic, and all you have left is a heart that you can only pray is strong enough to survive the rest.”
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To start off, I was pretty eager to read this book just from the fact that Karina Halle wrote it. I have loved each book from her Experiment in Terror series. So, when I found out this one was coming out I knew I had to read it. 
If you have read the blurb then you already know that this one contains adultery. Which is why I wanted to read it because I was interested in seeing how she could make something so frowned up--even by me-- into a romance. Having said that, reading about this sort of relationship doesn't offend me at all, so I knew there could be a chance that I would enjoy this one.
Vera is a twenty year old woman from Vancouver, Canada--like me, YAY!--who is quite the free-spirit. She's into tattoos, piercings, and space. She doesn't do any sort of commitment when it comes to relationships but that doesn't mean she abstains either. She is comfortable with who she is, can be a bit quiet at times but when she does talk she says exactly whats on her mind. There were moments however that I felt she was bit meek when I knew she could be stronger and stand up for herself.
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"You are my star. You are my Estrella."
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When I first met Vera, I liked her individuality and the confidence she didn't seem to notice she had. As I kept reading, I also liked that she had some sense of morals, which you wouldn't think she would have considering the tale, but she did. I also thought that in some instances she could be quite mature with how she thought of things.
Then we have our sexy thirty eight year old ex-footballer and restauranteur, Mateo Casalles. He is married and has a five year old daughter. He is interested in expanding his restaurant to america which is why he ends up in a program called "Las Palabras" where anglos teach spaniards english. This is where he meets Vera. What starts out as friendly attraction soon becomes so much more.
Mateo seems to really see Vera for who she was and not for what her exterior showed. A lot of people were quick to judge her for her tattoos and piercings thinking she was dumb when in reality she was an astrology student. Mateo becomes wants to learn as much about her and about the starts as he can. This is the part that is my favourite of this book, that build up. The tension between that they try to resist and crosssing over that line. I loved everything about them getting to know each other. I knew how very wrong it all was but I was hoping for a way that these two would make it.
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“You burn so brightly,” he said, his voice low and rough to raise the hair on my arms. “I would like to burn with you.”
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There is quite the amount of drama that occurs. Like anything you do in life, it comes with consequences and that is what we get to see as a result of their affair. I didn't get why they were surprised by it, I knew something was bound to happen. And it did. I don't want to ruin the story but I will say that one part of the book affected my enjoyment of this book big time. I was completely captivated up until this point. I didn't agree with the decisions made. I didn't like how secondary characters seem to meddle into their business and not have any of them offer some actual good advice. I just didn't like how things were handled.
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“What is love? In English.”
I raised my brows. “Love, in English, is love?”
“What is it in Spanish?”
I was so enthralled by his hypnotic eyes, I could barely remember. “Amore?”
He shook his head ever so slightly. “No. Love in Spanish is you.”
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After that all happened, I unfortunately didn't really care if they'd end up together or not. I was just so upset, and angry with everything and the characters, especially Mateo--who I at first loved, than got pissed at for being an ass. This story definitely brings out all of your feelings. The ending was good, but I still felt like something was missing. It all felt too rushed and I was too upset with Mateo to really enjoy their ending. Karina is great in getting you to react which I know not everyone can do. The writing was good. But like I said, that one part just kind of ruined it for me a little. Still, it was worth the read.
