i really didnt enjoy this one unfortunately :(

i went into this one without reading the first one which was completely fine and didn’t affect the reading experience, but sadly i did not care for the characters in particular. the storyline itself was promising, but there was so much redundant information as well as a romance that wasn’t very compelling and i can’t say i had a fun time reading this 😔

I have been on an Elena Armas kick and was thrilled to be able to read and review her latest for netgalley! The characters are a delight and I love checking in with our last couple. I almost wish there was more soccer in this one though......at least there are goats and a sweet little piggie! Matthew and Josie are so sweet together and had me rooting for them in such a major way. Sweet, but not sickeningly so, and adding the right amount of spice.....Armas is a master of realistic romance.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio.

Oh wow!!! I could not stop listening to this one. Such a great book. It had me googled from page one. The story was great the writing was great and the narrator was great!!

Elena Armas did it again! I loved The Long Game so much and was super excited for this one! Although I didn’t love it as much as The Long Game, it was still a great read!

Josie was a very complex character. She has many issues she needs to work through, but I loved her romance with Matthew. They truly balanced one another out.

I loved the cameos from characters from The Long Game! Adalyn and Cam are still so amazing! The writing style is still just as great as it was in the previous book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Josie deserved her own happy ending! Thank You Netgalley and Atria for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love book series that have multiple stories set within the same universe of characters, and The Fiancé Dilemma is one of those stories. It’s technically a standalone, but you get a little more out of it if you read The Long Game first. That said, I hadn’t actually read any stories by Elena Armas when I requested the ARC for this book, I’d just heard of her books a few times and thought this looked like a fun story. I ended up going back and reading The Long Game before reading this one, and it turns out I didn’t like it…at all. 😬 So then I wasn’t really looking forward to reading this one next.

The Fiancé Dilemma ended up being pretty fun, though! It was a pretty solid 4 star read for me through the first half, which I was very pleasantly surprised by, after disliking The Long Game so much, but then it started losing steam toward the end. I’m always more interested in reading dialogue versus internal thoughts, and the last bit was a loooot of confusing internal rambling, which didn’t hold my interest super well.

It’s worth mentioning that The Long Game is dual POV, and this one is only the female POV, but that worked well for it up until the end. Overall, it was a fun read, and Matthew is a really likable MMC, who really held this story together for me, but it just felt like the plot wasn’t fully fleshed out all that well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this book!

Elena Armas is always a must read for me and having the chance to return to one of my favorite characters from The Long Game?!?! Seeing josie grow and thrive was the best gift and I loved every minute of this story!

Olvidé que Elena no le da povs a los protagonistas y es una lastima porque me costó darme cuenta cuando Matthew empezó a tener sentimientos por Josie, cuando él le contó como y cuando se enamoró tuve que volver a leer para ver esas interacciones con otros ojos y aun así me costó.

Para el tipo de trama le sobran por lo menos 100 páginas.

Pequeño spoiler ⚠️->. Me indigne cuando Josie acepto que el inútil de Andrew la llevara al altar y no el abuelo Moe.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have read all of the books that Elena Armas has written, and while I always enjoy them overall, I find that they always seem too long for me. Honestly, this book would have been much easier to digest if the chapters would have been shorter. This book can be read as a standalone, but I do suggest to read The Long Game first to set up the small town vibes, cute baby farm animals (hello--there's a baby pig named Pedro Pigscal???), and the characters we love and adore. Unfortunately, I really struggled to get into this book (it's entirely possibly that I'm just dreadfully bored of the fake dating trope right now), but I wasn't interested in this book until around the 35% mark. Once I got there, I couldn't put it down. Josie and Matthew had great chemistry and their spicy scenes were great. The ending did seem a little abrupt (and predictable), so I docked a star for that.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!

Another Elena Armas book to love! It begins with a lie that snowballs into a wedding. Pushed by a ruthless PR person, backed by her absent her whole life father, Josie is thrown into all of it with her half-sister’s best friend Matthew. Josie has four failed weddings already. She vows Matthew will not be number five. She hopes she and Matthew will walk away friends but nothing ever goes the way you plan it.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

i think i’m going to give this a 3.5 but since i can’t do half stars, it’s a 3. honestly, it was nothing spectacular (#tome.) the relationship felt very, i don’t want to say forced because there was chemistry, but out of no where? they went from strangers to i have deep feelings for you only 3 days into this fake engagement. i did like it enough to finish it lol!

I want to start by saying I have loved this author’s previous books, The Long Game was five stars for me. This book however was disappointing. The first half of the book felt very messy. I had no conception of who these characters were and I had no idea what Matthew’s reasoning for going along with the scheme. I didn’t understand how their best friends (Adalyn and Cam) just accepted that they were engaged after barely knowing one another. (Maybe it was just me who doesn’t get it). We finally get Matthew’s POV at the end which felt too late (this book may have benefited by being dual POV) and we get his reasoning for going along but it felt lackluster. The concept of this book had so much potential but it fell flat for me.

Another favorite by Elena Armas! I loved the FMC Josie. She felt so real and flawed but with a quiet strength. This is not your average fake dating/marriage. The MMC felt a bit more mysterious to me throughout most of the book but he never wavered in his support of Josie. This had me swooning from the very beginning. I loved the way all the characters were integrated from The Long Game truly felt like a continuation of all their stories. I could only hope somehow we get another addition to these stories!

ARC Review-

A million stars for this book. I all but squealed with delight when I got the email saying I was approved for this ARC. This has been a highly anticipated read of mine. I have loved every Elena Armas book that I have read, but this one truly might be my new favorite. Matthew and Josie are everything. Their relationship, their banter, their slow burn, it was all perfect. I appreciated all the cameos of our beloved characters from The Long Game, including Sebastian the rooster, and was also immediately taken with the new cast of characters introduced. Grandpa Moe absolutely stole the show a number of times. I laughed, I swooned, I teared up. This book genuinely felt like a big hug. It was absolutely everything that I want out of a romcom and I cannot recommend it enough!

The Fiancé Dilemma, out July 30th, 2024

3.5 ⭐'s

urggh you guys i wanted to like this more than i did. the concept of a "runaway bride" and the man who changed her mind seemed so exciting but i feel like it just fell flat overall. i didn't feel the so-called "change" happen and honestly felt like i needed more explanation into why the FMC behaves this way in the first place.

overall i just left this book feeling like the two main characters were heading for a break-up and not staying together which is never a good feeling from a romance book lol.

special thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review!

This was the fourth Elena Armas book I’ve read, and I must be honest—I was a little hesitant going into this book. The Long Game was not my favorite novel by her, so I worried about returning to Green Oaks and exploring more of that small town. And, unfortunately, I was right to worry about reading this book.

My quick impression: the chemistry was strong between Josie and Matthew, but the book lacked the depth to get the story off the ground.

I want to focus on the characters of this novel, since that is where the story execution faltered the most. Josie, our main character, is a quirky girl with a large amount of emotional baggage. I’ll admit it: Josie’s quirky voice made it difficult for me to read this book. The strange thing, though, is that Josie’s quirky voice wasn’t consistent throughout the novel. I want to say around the 30-40% mark, the quirkiness gave way, and the writing style was akin to Armas’ previous works.

The characterization development fell flat as well. As I was reading, I made numerous notes that the emotionality was missing from this story. Did Matthew and Josie have chemistry? Absolutely, but chemistry has always been something Armas has successfully communicated on page. But the story lacked emotionality, which made the romantic relationship fall flat. I couldn’t believe it when the “I love you’s” were exchanged because too much characterization had been omitted from the page.

What this novel needed was a backstory for both Josie and Matthew. Without that backstory, they were both beholden to the archetypes they were fulfilling (Josie: the quirky, small town dream girl; Matthew, the cinnamon roll, protective love interest). I simply wanted more for and from both characters. I wanted more reasoning why Josie ran from four engagements/weddings—and I wanted to dig into the emotional wounds those situations caused. I wanted to know more about Josie’s childhood and have her deal with the emotional turmoil of a rich father appearing and, essentially, blowing up her life for a PR stunt. And in the case of Matthew: I simply wanted to know him. We truly only saw the bare-bone pillars of his characterization. I wanted to know more about how he protected Josie when he was working at Page Six, and why he had dreamed of being a sportswriter. I wanted to see more of his relationships with his family and friends. Frankly, I am leaving this novel wanting more from Armas’ characters.

~*~*~SPOILERS AHEAD~*~*~

Outside of characterization, there was one plot point that I did support. I did enjoy that Matthew and Josie didn’t get married in the end. It felt correct for their relationship—and it was refreshing to see a romance that did not end in marriage. However, the ending didn’t feel earned. It, once again, comes back to Josie’s characterization. I wanted to see a reckoning or healing plotline for Josie. I wanted to see her grapple with the emotions of her four other failed engagements and how her sudden and difficult relationship with her father was affecting her relationship with Matthew. Did we see the beginning notes of that plot? Absolutely yes. But it was quickly brushed over and the story was wrapped up. If we had seen Josie’s healing journey on page, the called off wedding would have felt earned.

~*~*~END SPOILERS~*~*~

Overall, this was a fine romance novel. I don’t think it’s Elena Armas best work, nor do I believe the story was developed enough. If more page space had been given to characterization, it would have granted this novel the emotional throughline it is currently missing.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I haven’t loved this author’s books in the past so I’m very happy that I gave this one a shot because it was a winner! I really enjoyed it and found myself rooting for both members of the couple.

Unfortunate DNF for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to ARC read this book. Unfortunately, I got about 54% in, and had no desires to pick it up. I decided to take a few day break and see if that helped, but as soon as I picked it back up and read another 2%, I knew there was no sense in my finishing this book. It wasn't that it was a bad book, I just found it very mundane and unexciting. There was nothing keeping me invested in this characters story, and knowing obviously how it would end (given that we all know how romance books end) and there being no reason to feel the need to stick around, I knew my rating wouldn't be any higher than a 2, and I promised myself that I wouldn't force myself to read things I am not enjoying.

In the grand scheme, I just didn't care about the characters. We basically had no backstory on our MMC, and he was bland and boring. The only "suspense" in the story was why our FMC was leaving men at alters, which is obviously a commitment and abandonment issues problem. Our MMC said the most basic and mundane things and our FMC would immediately swoon, even though we had no back story on them or why they even care about eachother at all. Just not a fun read for me personally.

I didn't love it. There were 3 or so spicy scenes that were particularly hot, and I saw glimpses of what Matthew's character could have been, but overall I felt like the story was forced and the characters weren't fully developed. I think maybe the author was trying to upend the typical fake fiance trope, but it came off with just repeated faking forcing themselves together with less authentic bonding until about 80% in. I appreciate the attempt to flip the script on fake fiance, but it fell flat and was hard for me to get through.

This was Elena at her best, it was truly like reading Runaway Bride but way more fun! Matthew is absolute perfection for Josie and I really liked how there was no third act breakup, just pure understanding of who she is and staying by her side. Josie was quirky funny goodness:) I loved their story, all the side characters from Long Game coming back- it’s just the perfect fake engagement romance book honestly.

I couldn't breathe a single bad word about this book if I tried. Honestly, every Elena Armas book I read somehow gets better and better. This one had me feeling all too giddy and excited over words on paper, but I totally don't mind.
The premise of this novel (spun off moderately from The Long Game) is wild, yes, silly and overdramatic, yes, but who says that's a problem in the slightest? I'm all for rom-coms like this: where despite the unrealistic tropes, a very real, complex, and optimistic relationship arc is presented between two people who have such a way with words and love. I honestly think this novel is the perfect depiction of what it means to portray the unbounded happiness and pure joy that comes from a happy, healthy, romantic relationship.
Everything in this novel is so fun, silly, sweet, and kind. This small town has always been a great setting, and the side characters that make up the lives of Matthew and Josie are a perfect ensemble. I love the goats, the pigs, all the little soccer kids, and Moe Poe. Everything this novel creates is just an experience of pure bliss as a reader. It's everything you want in a romance novel but more, because it really gets you to believe the love these characters have for each other. The idea of soulmates, destiny, hopeless romantics, etc are all portrayed so beautifully through this trope and premise. The execution of this is so special because without the writing skills Armas has and without the ability to plot well, this wouldn't be the amazing book it is. But luckily Armas has a level of genius dexterity when it comes to words and characters. I couldn't stop the smile on my face for all 300+ pages as I read their story, whether it was because of the heartfelt declarations the characters were making, or the funny pop culture references that had me silently screaming. I appreciate so much about this book and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to read it!
Rating: 5/5
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!