99 problems, and a book ain't one

   Karina Halle strikes again! I'm such a fangirl of hers. Her EIT series made me fall in love with her, I mean she can write a mean scary story. But she can also write some of the grittiest, realest characters, she's never one to shy away from the human condition, in all it's glory. I love that about her. That same character appeal was definitely present in Love, in English. Vera and Mateo's story was not one of pure sunshine, even the brightest love can have a dark side. And in typical Halle fashion she bares it all, the good, the bad and the ugly, in the most beautiful way.

     "Love causes war and causes death, breaks souls and breaks lives. It runs people into the ground, makes them behave like moronic, immoral beasts, before it dances off, leaving only destruction in its wake-hearts blown wide open for the whole world to see."

    I liked Vera, she was for the most part, a pretty typical (young) 20's gal. Maybe a little more adventurous than most, but she still had that just trying to find herself and making brash decisions thing that most people in their 20's have going on. It was interesting to see her go from that mentality to actually having to think a little about how her actions and feelings could impact others. We saw her trip to Spain shape her into the woman that she is becoming, and it was quite a transition!

   Mateo was great as well! Although I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel, Love, in Spanish, as it is told from his perspective, and I'm dying to know what's really going on in his head! With the slight language barrier, and the fact that this story was told solely by Vera, it could be hard to read Mateo sometimes. He always seemed mostly open with Vera, concerning the way he felt about her, but I would have liked to know more about what was happening during his dealings with his wife, and the whole messy triangle.

   The setting for this particular story was genius. It's not too hard to picture something like an affair happening in a situation like this one, being secluded to a resort with strangers for a month, with little contact with the outside world. You just know that Vegas like rules apply in most of these situations, what happens at the resort stays at the resort. I liked that element, but I also loved to see what happened when things didn't just stay in the resort! It got messy back in the real world, and it said a lot about both characters in the way they handled themselves in the light of day.

   The only real complaint that I had about this story was that I was disappointed that Vera never seemed to consider how her life would change when she made the decisions she did. I mean it vaguely crossed her mind what it would mean for Mateo's daughter, but she never really touched on the fact that in being with Mateo, it would also mean having a substantial role in his child's life as well. With a young girl that doesn't even speak the same language, literally. This killed me. I couldn't believe that Vera never seemed to even think about the fact that her life would change in that way as well. Alas, maybe it was just a part of her being so prone to jumping first and asking questions later, or being an average short-sighted 20 something year old. It just surprised me that she never thought about it is all. I almost hope that this subject is touched on more in the second book. That would make sense to me then.

   All in all this was a great read. Halle has yet to let me down when it comes to telling an engaging tale. It doesn't seem to matter what genre she writes in, she has a way of grabbing the reader from the very beginning and dragging you, and your emotions along for the wild ride.