This book was so much more than I expected it to be!

I went into this book thinking it would be a cute fluffy read (and in most parts it is) but this book dealt with so many topics that don’t often get discussed in books!

This book made me laugh and cry and giggle uncontrollably! It is an absolute MUST read in my opinion!

As Long As You Love Me comes out September 12th 2023.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review, it is much appreciated!

This didn’t work for me. The opening chapter was really strong but feels so out of place for a romance… I wish this had been written as a story of a woman finding herself and romantic elements could have been thrown in, sure, but that’s a subplot. It could have been so much more. As a romance, the details of chapter 1 should have been revealed later in the story as a trust exercise between the MCs.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad for the ARC.

A very beautiful written book . It make me laugh , and cry . It talks about the political situation in Venezuela and about how difficult is for immigranti to get a visa to stay in the country the have choose to live .
Catalina is a 21 year old from Venezuela who lives and studies the last 4 years in USA . She left her country after the death of her big brother Carlos when he was killed in a political protest . Now she is one step from her dream , getting her diploma in Engineering , having a full time job and having her visa renewal . Then her visa is rejected the only person who can help her is her campus nemesis Gabe . They study and work together for the past 4 years and she hates him . Now that they really talk she is realizing how wrong she was about him . I loved the way he treats her even when she is mean to him . I hope the writer give us and Cora's journey .
I received this book from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own .

I really enjoyed this! What seemed at first to be a clichéed enemies-to-lovers ended up being so much more! Catalina and Gabe are complex characters with complicated stories, and I loved Leal's honesty in incorporating the heartbreak of immigrants' family dynamics without making the story too "heavy". Really loved getting to know all of the characters, and would love to read more from this author!

There was a lot more complexity to this story than I originally thought there would be. It was heartbreaking, heart healing, and real. There were real conversations had about topics in this book, like with immigration and the reality of that. It was so much more than an "enemies to lovers" or "fake dating" romcom.

As Long As You Love me was so much more than I had anticipated when I first read the description. I thought it was going to be a cute enemies to lovers fake dating story with a twist when it came to her immigration status. And it was that, but it was also so much more. I loved this book and these characters and their story. There were heartbreaking parts of this story and some really tough realities of what life in Venezuela can be like, as well as a wonderful representation of how families can be hard but also wonderful at the same time. Though this book was set up as an enemies to lovers, the way Gabe loves and cares for Catalina consistently throughout this book is swoon worthy. I liked that they didn’t spend the whole book fighting like cats and dogs, no one did anything inherently or purposely cruel to each other, instead they supported each other, apologized when needed and at the end of the day you knew there was a love there between the two of them in everything they did wether they realized it or not.

This book was a safe for work read that had a lot of heart and didn’t leave me longing for spice because the story itself was so engrossing and the characters so endearing.

This book was a great read and I do think people would be remiss not to check it out when it comes out on September 12th.

Thanks to NetGalley, W by Wattpad Books and the author Marianna Leal for providing me with a e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.