Title: Spanish Lessons: by Jessica Peterson
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Rating: 5 Stars
*ARC received in exchange for an honest review
Summary: Goodreads Summary;
Vivian Bingley has BIG plans for her semester abroad in Spain…Along with her BFF, Maddie, Vivian hopes to indulge her inner Art History nerd by visiting the best museums in the world. She also wants to tackle more practical concerns—like a less than stellar GPA in her major, Economics—with the help of a Spanish tutor.
BUT FALLING FOR HER STUDLY SPANISH TUTOR ISN’T ONE OF THEM.
Madrileño Rafa Montoya is the stuff study abroad dreams are made of: super studly and super smart. He also happens to be super into Vivian. With his wicked dancing skills and his passion for the arts, he tempts her to throw caution to the wind and live out her wildest dreams.
Only problem? Maddie wants Rafa, too, and Vivian promised herself she’d never settle for second best again…not after a hookup-gone-awry last semester left her heartbroken. Is it best for Vivian to protect her heart at all costs? Or is letting Rafa in worth the risk?
Review:
Spanish Lessons is set to be released very soon now we are in January and I had the wonderful opportunity to check it out and review it prior to it’s release!
Spanish Lessons is my first experience with Jessica Peterson as an author and I had no trouble falling in love with her writing. Firstly her writing style is easy to get into and perfectly descriptive enough to set the scene of the Spanish culture and surroundings without being too much to make the story seem overly descriptive or drawn out.
Spanish Lessons follows Vivian a college/university student as she arrives in Madrid to begin her semester abroad. From the beginning of the novel and Vivian’s first interactions with Rafa, I felt a sense of fondness as it reminded me of Anna and the French Kiss, a young adult romance novel by Stephanie Perkins. Both main characters are in a foreign country, having to learn their language and deal with continuing education. The difference is Spanish Lessons is a New Adult Contemporary novel therefore it features more sexual content, further than a simple kiss which most young adult novels feature. Which after all the built up sexual tension between our two characters is a relief.
Jessica Peterson offers a continuous will they, won’t they element to her novel as Vivian constantly tries to deny her true feelings and hide them away. However she wasn’t banking on her best-friend also developing feelings for the same guy; this poses the question who gets the guy? (Who doesn’t love a good love triangle) This made the novel suspenseful and unpredictable, I found myself so hooked in the story that I needed to continuously keep reading to find out what was going to happen next whilst praying it ended the way I wanted it to. In honesty, I actually originally found Maddie’s character to be really annoying; I was fighting for Rafa and Vivian so much that I hated any flirtatious interactions shared between Maddie and Rafa. However by the end; its clear how deep Vivian and Maddie’s friendship is and the emotions and actions seen previously were really just a product of her family issues we witness.
Spanish Lessons is truly a 5 star rating to me, I was immediately drawn into the story. I’m a huge fan of both New Adult and Young Adult Novels and it drew just the right balance of both to keep me on my toes and interested throughout. I found Jessica’s writing easy to get into with no fault, one moment in particular that has stuck with me is;
‘This is it; this is the moment when Edward drapes his arm across Bella’s shoulders and walks her into school; this is Darcy meeting Lizzie’s gaze across the ballroom; this is that breathless, sigh-inducing moment when everything is possible. When anticipation is at its thickest’
Now can I just take a moment to fangirl right here over this quote… Argh!
This was a moment I immediately had to highlight and share in my review; I love how Jessica Paterson includes other works of popular fiction and the love stories shared between their two main protagonists, firstly from a contemporary novel then onto a classic novel. As Spanish Lessons is in first person it allowed me to relate to Vivian’s character on a stronger level, in my eyes she became a reader, a lover of romance like me. Personally, Twilight was the first book series I read that first kicked off my love for reading and then Pride and Prejudice is just the perfect classic love story, one which I focused one of my essays on in the past. Therefore the book immediately seemed to become more personal to me whilst drawing me in even more and making me experience a deeper want for Rafa and Vivian’s characters.
Overall Spanish Lessons is a warm lighthearted read creating the perfect college love story; it isn’t hard to find yourself immersed into the story and fighting for your favourite characters happiness as the novel is so realistic and easy to identify with. I can’t wait to read more of Jessica Peterson’s work in the future to see what she has in store!
Be sure to check out Jessica Peterson on the following;
Jessica Peterson – Blog/website
You also have the option of reading an excerpt of Spanish Lessons from Chapter’s 1 & 2 on Jessica’s Blog which can be found by the following link; Spanish Lessons Excerpt!
And be sure to let me know your thoughts and comments on Spanish Lessons!
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