Little White Lie (Amigas y Amor, #1) (2024)

I'm quite happy that a random thought that floated through my brain this week did in fact float through my brain. For it lead me to this book here. Granted, I've had the thought before; I just acted on it this time. I'm being awfully vague, no? Not communicating directly? The two main stars in this book had that problem. Figured I'd include something like. But let's move on.

The thought that had floated through my mind was the idea that I wanted to read more books with non-traditional characters in them. This is weird, right, considering I’m talking about books involving lesbians. To someone outside looking in, any random lesbian, regardless of shape, race, religion, socio-economic status, would be non-traditional. Me? Well, lesbians come in all shapes, sizes and . . . um . . . forms. I was kind of hoping for, as a starter at least, one in a fictional book who wasn’t lily white.

Which lead to ‘acted on’. I’d figure I’d try diversify my reading a little more by actually noting what I’ve been reading – genres/themes/occupations/ages/race/still wondering if I should had religion to the mix (though that one’s harder to determine). Did find that I’d read some non-lily white books. So my impression, based somewhat on reading books by authors who are not lily white themselves but who seemed to fixate on lily-white characters (I appear to be fixated, myself, on the phrase ‘lily white’), was inaccurate. But still. I wanted more.

Which lead me to books by Lea Santos. And every character name in the book descriptions, seemed to indicate, at the very least, non-lily white characters. Also lead me to notice she had five books listed (not including the omnibus collection of all four in her friends and lovers series), and one had that ‘not published’ indication. Hate when I see things like that. I tend to see those on authors who died before books got published (though after they got mentioned as upcoming); or publishing changes occurred (publisher closing down; those in control of series changing their minds (specifically referring here to things like when Star Trek commissioned books set in the new alternate universe, signed up authors, and the books themselves had gone through the stages of being written, but then the Star Trek people squeaked, and cancelled all of them (except for a young adult series); etc.

So, while five books are listed, I only have four I can access and read. But hey, I have four books I can read! So, I started first one. I think I read somewhere, maybe in a review, that the books are linked – well, I can say immediately that I’ve only read the first book and the book descriptions, but I already know the books are linked. The second book in the series stars Iris – Iris plays a large role in this first book.

The first book, though, involves a professor/researcher named Emie Jaramillo who, early on – based on ‘things’, decided to not pay any attention (or little) to looks, and devote as much attention as possible to brains. As in, she wasn’t going to make an effort to ‘look good’, but she was going to make an effort to develop a keen brain. Course that can kind of backfire as she’s in the position now, at least in the start of the book, of believing she’s ugly (or at least so plain no one would want anything to do with her (she makes some comment like ‘not even a philosophy professor would make a pass at her!’, which indicates either that all philosophy professor’s are slu*ts, or desperate)) and disbelieving of anyone who says otherwise. She’s the first point of view meet in the book, but not the only one in the book.

No, there’s also Gia Mendez, an artist who works on a specific television show. As a make-up artist (though she’d prefer to try to make her living through her art). She’s somewhere nearish 34, and – judging from Emie’s reactions, drop dead gorgeous (judging from some of her own reactions, she doesn’t think she’s that bad looking, but not drop dead gorgeous).

Emie and Gia meet well on a television show – backstage. Emie believes that she is there to describe cloning. Gia’s there to provide some make-up duties. They flirt. They seem to get along well together. Then Emie goes out and immediately sees that things look odd for a discussion on cloning. But sits. The audience makes noises. The host makes noises. Eventually it comes out that Emie is there because another professor at her university thinks that Emie is too bookish looking to date. Emie is horrified and flees. All of this occurred in front of her parents and friends (who were in the audience, though not in on the ‘humiliating prank’). Naturally Emie now wants nothing to do with Gia.

Gia, though, is horrified by the whole event. And quits. And drives long distance to apologize in person.

The two, Gia and Emie, then circle each other. Neither trusting in their own feelings, or in the feelings of the other.

Emie decides that she’s going to ‘get back at’ that other professor by getting a make-over. Gia, trying to come up with some reason to be allowed to stick around, says that she will help with the make-over. Gia, though, is under the impression that Emie does in fact lust for that professor. She’s the only one who thinks that though.

This is a brilliant great work. Lovely characters involved. A solid five star work. And, judging by reviews, this isn’t even the ‘good’ book in the series, so I have that issue to look forward to. *bounces around happily*

(Oh, and by the way, Gia Mendez? From Chicago. I do not recall if they mention where Emie is from – possibly from where she currently lives, Denver, but somewhat unlikely for various reasons).

May 27 2016

**Just finished my first reread of this one and loved it. My review stands!**

I was chatting with a friend who shares similar reading tastes and said something like "I'm looking for a well written, light, classic romance that's got some good humor. What can you recommend?" I've been having a tough few weeks and just needed something to lose myself in for a bit. I'm hard to please when it comes to grammar and stuff like that...

My friend thought for a few minutes and said, "Have you read Lea Santos? I really enjoyed her Amigas y Amor series,(or words to that effect)."

I hadn't read any of her stuff but knew of her good sense of humor from catching some of her conversations on Facebook. Because of her, well, her stealing it from someone else and me stealing it from her, the word "rico*ckulous" is now a regular utterance in our house.

So I picked up Little White Lie and absolutely loved it. I couldn't give it 5 stars because, of course, it was obvious what was going to happen and how but I did truly enjoy the book. I laughed out loud more than once and enjoyed the characters much more than I thought I would.

I'm supposed to be reading something else in preparation for the podcast we're recording in a few days but, no, now I'm starting the next book in the series.

Thank you, Lea Santos, for such a nice group of friends you've introduced me to. I can hardly wait to get to know the rest of the gang better.

This is both the first and second time I've read this book here. Complicated, eh?

First time I've read a book with this title (Look of Love) and by this author (Lynda Sandoval), second time I've read the underlying story, though with a different title and author (Little White Lie by Lea Santos).

First off (I need to stop starting sentences with first), that funny looking title? Look of Love/Miradas De Amor? This is actually a split book - the first part is Miradas de Amor, second part is Look of Love. So, two books in one, eh? No, same book, just first time in Spanish (reminds me I need to get the translator's name added to the book record), second time in English.

Second off - there are very few ratings/reviews for the 'Look of Love' version of the book that came out in 1999 (11 years before 2010's 'Little White Lies' appearance). Which is sad - because the book really is a well written heterosexual romance. And the man? Currently there is kind of a 'clamor' for 'Alpha' or 'Beta' men. Gavino Mendez is neither. He's just a man, a nice man with a bad past (I do not actually recall if the female version of this character, Gia Mendez, has this 'bad past' aspect). He's neither an alpha asshole, nor a weak-ass whimpy 'beta-man'. I have no idea why I'm going down this specific path here. hehe.

Okay, so, as my memory recalls to me, this book here - the het and the FF versions, are basically the same book with gender differences (Gavino became Gia; that man in this book who tricked Esme onto the television show became a woman in 'Little White Lies'). By the way - it's shocking how long it took me to realize that when Gavino was talking to himself in his brain, and used 'Vino', he was using a nickname for himself. bah. heh.

Another thing I do not specifically recall - how much, if any, humor is in the FF version of the book. I mention because there was some rather funny moments in this book here. It's not a laugh riot or anything like that, just some funny moments here and there.

Right, enough of that. I liked both versions. This version ended up with a lower rating mostly, I believe, because I'd already read the other version of the book, so already knew everything that was going to happen so it wasn't 'fresh'. Though that male/female vs. female/female aspect certainly added a layer of freshness.

Rating: 4.50

January 27 2017

ETA: that 384 page number? Counts both the Spanish and English versions of the book. The book itself is closer to 163 pages in length. I didn't actually 'power-read' from page 96 to 384, no, just from 96 to 163.

What I liked about this book:
-the juxtaposition of friendship and lesbian love, which is always a plus with me (in other words, Lesbians -- or bi women -- With Friends, as opposed to this idea so common in fandom that the presence of f/f threatens representation of platonic friendship)
-pretty much a story all about Latinas; it's a pretty white-irrelevant story. The cultural details made me feel at home even though it's not my culture because I also come from a culture of English-with-something-else-mixed in.
and what I really loved the most was the actual story behind the setup: the way that traumatic lies from our childhood (I'm worthless, I'm ugly, everyone knows I'm sh*t, etc.) can get in our way as adults, and how coming together as a couple means sharing vulnerabilities, and helping each other move past those lying insecurities. One moment that totally rang true was when the lead was totally convinced that her coworkers were gonna reference the Embarrassing Thing and then, of course they didn't, because of course nobody cared about it as much as she did. I can't tell you how many times I've had exactly the same moment, realizing I'd spent far too much mental energy buried under anxiety people would care about something nobody even remembered. SO TRUE. And so validating to read about it happening to a fictional character, because then maybe I'll get it through my head that I should worry less about these things.

Really cute book once you get past the, as Jeeves would say in Jeeves and Wooster, "imponderables" -- the setup requires some suspension of disbelief (driving several states away on the off chance a woman you clicked with before an argument will be receptive? I'd be scared of looking like a stalker!) And there were a lot of romance-novel tropes I don't care for (misunderstandings, schemes, etc.), but that's not the author's fault because a lot of people really go for that stuff so maybe that'll make someone else like the book even more!

Final note that I appreciated the myth-dispelling aspects about stem cell research and I hope that maybe the book will make a small difference that way, too.

To the Tía Luzes of this world: every woman can be beautiful, but no woman should have to be. And be careful what you say around kids.

Los últimos capítulos fueron los mejores, en estos se dejaron asomar finalmente los sentimientos de ambas protagonistas, la sensiblería que admito que me gusta leer y se dejó de lado todo ese "deseo" que hizo que me quejara por tanto tiempo.

A decir verdad, el entorno en el que se desarrolló primero la historia me resultó poco creíble, pero siento que al final se logró equilibrar. Me gustaron mucho los personajes, Emie y su cambio de pensamiento sobre sí misma, esa confianza que ganó gracias a Gia, quien fue mi personaje favorito, sin duda, una mujer llena de fuerza y de coraje.

3.5/5.

I will preface this by saying I first read this book at least 15 years ago when I was in high school. I am glad I stumbled up on it, as it is the first romance book I recall ever reading. I credit it for awakening my love for romance novels.

I have read this book I don't know how many times, but it has been at least 5 years since I last picked it up. I was worried, as my reading tastes and analyses have significantly changed since then and I feared I would be disappointed this time around. It was originally published in the 90s and I was unsure whether I would find problematic content and thus, no longer like this book.

Some things most certainly did not pass the test of time, namely a gender term we no longer tolerate or find acceptable, as well as some comments I found to be shaming of women who did not fit the demure role. If this was produced today, I think others would rightfully cringe. But I will say it still held a lot of the charm I felt. It really dawned on me that I read a book with a predominately Latinx cast when most of what I was reading at that time was not diverse in any sense of the word.

I still liked Esme and Gavino. Esme was intelligent, hard-working, and independent. Gavino was kind, patient, and secure in himself without exuding the alpha male stereotype that I have come to abhor in romances. This time around, however, I found that Esme faulted Gavino too much for a situation that occurred in the beginning that he was not in control of. She needed to direct more of her anger to the actual guilty parties. I also struggled with how much self-doubt Esme had when it come to her physical looks. Her bemoaning of her appearance took up the majority of the story. At least she came to her sense in the last couple of chapters but at times, I wanted to pull her aside and tell her to get it together.

I also thought it was a bit far-fetched for Gavino to essentially move cross-country to apologize and to try to build a relationship with Esme. Only in romance can this move work, because the me of today would have been highly freaked out if I opened my front door to a man who tracked me down after meeting me once, briefly. He made several blunders on his way of earning her trust and love, alternating between being direct with Esme and withholding his true feelings and motives. But they are both quieter characters who were sincerely trying to figure out their attraction. I also realized that I may like slow-burn, low angst romances because of this book!

I also found that I liked Esme's friend group. I can now pinpoint where I developed this appreciation in romance/women's fiction. Lilly and Pilar were genuine and honest with Esme and there was no drama in sight with them.

I don't know how I did not realize this before, but this is a part of a series. Apparently, this book is also published under a different title, with different names/genders for the characters, but essentially the same storyline. I am now interested to see if I can get my hands on the remaining books. Is this still the 5-star read I remembered it to be, no, but I can confidently say it wasn't a bust either. I would probably place it closer to 3.5 stars, but I bumped it up due to nostalgia.

Endearing, sweet and emotionally touching, Little White Lie is definitely worth reading...once you get past how unlikely it would be for a highly intelligent research scientist to be so easily duped by a co-worker tricking her onto the set of a trashy tv talk show.

Once you get into the heart of the story (and it definitely has heart) you may very well find yourself melting a bit at how deeply these two women feel for each other, even if they each can be a bit, well, dense at times.

Miscommunication and misunderstandings are quite common in Lea Santos's romantic Amigas Y Amor series, but each book has its own touch of charm and sincerity, making all four special in their own way. I would love to know if Lea Santos has any plans for future writing.