First of all, I love Elena Armas’ writing style, her adorable book covers, and mostly her engaging characters! I also enjoyed revisiting the Long Game universe where supporting characters Josie—Adalyn’s stepsister—and Matthew—Adalyn’s writer bestie—earned their own book. That’s where we find ourselves taking a closer look at the romance story of Josie and Matthew.

I know this sequel is not perfect. We don’t learn much about the reasons that only explained as ghosting dad, trust, and abandonment issues turned Josie into a Julia Roberts-style Runaway Bride after four broken engagements. I also wanted to read the POV of Matthew, which we didn’t have a chance to until the last chapter. I liked him in Long Game: he’s supportive, reasonable, and a goofy best friend with his star crush on Cameron (a kind of grumpy Roy Kent), and I wish I learned more about his thoughts, what qualities turned him into a great book boyfriend who creates magic to enchant his lover. But I can honestly say he’s caring, so much lovable, charming as hell from the beginning, never disappointing the readers.

And sweet, girl-next-door, small-town beauty Josie already stole our hearts with her kindness, putting other people first, a little naive but also smart enough to fight her own battles.

I loved both main characters. I also guffawed each time Grandpa Mo/Maurice appeared in chapters, who was so far one of the greatest supporting characters in the romance world.

The other thing I enjoyed is the spice level of the novel. Josie and Matthew’s chemistry hits the roof, putting each chapter into flames, pant-melting, intense, hyperventilating, and extremely hot as hell.

As you remember from the first book, Josie Moore gets shocked after finding out the identity of her father Andrew, who is a sports mogul owning a Miami football team, who is also secretly funding their small town in NC for years. In the opening of the book, poor Josie decides to try on her old engagement ring and cannot take it out, putting strawberry jam to lubricate it, cutting her hand, and at this humiliating moment, her house door keeps banging by Bobbi Shark, the vicious PR woman who wants to save the face of her famous father, criticizing her four broken engagements as a PR crisis! Another person appears out of nowhere in the garden, Matthew Flanagan, who is covered in mud, leaving his car in a hole that is stuck. He doesn’t even recognize the woman in a bathrobe, covered in strawberry jam running toward his way to welcome her fifth fiancé! Yes, Josie only met Matthew from Zoom calls and WhatsApp group messages who planned to move to their town till he gathers himself to look for jobs, taking a break from Chicago life as a freelance writer. When Bobbi sees her stuck ring and assumes she’s engaged again, seeing this as a solution for the PR crisis, Josie acts like Matthew is her new fiancé and poor guy is too nice to play along, still in shock from his car incident, having no idea what he’s getting involved.

But when Bobbi starts acting like a wedding planner to push them to marry in two months and the entire town roots for the fifth time as a charm, Josie and Matthew are forced to pretend as a couple who want to get happily married.

Two famous podcasters’ nonstop gossiping and digging into her past relationships of Josie and her father Andrew’s decision to not only cover the entire wedding expenses but also surprise visiting alongside a Time Reporter who mentioned Josie as “Andrew’s misstep” make things more complicated.

In the heat of commotion, Josie and Matthew get a little closer with their palpable chemistry that grows each day and the line between pretending and reality getting closer. Josie realizes she has feelings for this man but what if her feelings are unrequited, what if his deadline to leave the town gets closer? And what if he feels the same but she’s too afraid of walking that aisle and runs away for the fifth time?

Well, I’m rounding up 4.5 stars to 5 even though I still needed the POV of Matthew. I loved the main characters and the amazing chemistry which pushed me to grade this book higher, and of course, I’m a big fan of the author. I loved Josie and Matthew’s dynamics more than Adalyn and Cameron.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this one of the most anticipated romance novel’s digital reviewer copy with me that I highly appreciate.

Elena Armas, I love you.

I've been a fan of Elena Armas since she first released 'The Spanish Love Deception.' I even have the indie copy of 'TSLD,' that's how long I've been a fan. This is important to note because I've been here throughout her entire journey with published novels, which means I can see how much she's grown at a writer and can still gush about how her books keep getting better and better.

'The Fiance Dilemma' is the second book in a duopoly with the first being 'The Long Game,' which I have also reviewed. Josie is Adalyn's half-sister and Matthew is Adalyn's best friend. While the two never met in person in 'TLG,' they were introduced over the phone. Y'all are not ready for all the tension that pops up.

One thing I loved about this book is how fast paced it is. Chapter 1 starts off strong and leads us right into the drama. It was so fun, and I was instantly hooked.

The characters are once again absolutely amazing. We get cameos from Adalyn and Cameron (swoon) along with some of the other side characters from 'TLG.' Josie and Matthew really stole the show. They had amazing chemistry and constantly made me giggle into my pillow. I loved watching their relationship develop, but even more I appreciated how the characters worked through their respective baggage together. They were always there for each other (I have not been able to stop thinking about a certain SOS message) which made their relationship all the more convincing, even when they were 'faking' it.

The plot was well paced and fun. We jump right into the action and stay there until the very end. If I hadn't started this book so late at night I could've read it in one sitting. (I did attempt to read it all in one sitting anyway but the human body is too weak). There was a good balance between the romance and the subplots, which is something I always appreciate. While I've never watched the movie the plot of 'TFD' is reminiscent of 'Runaway Bride,' aka the 90s movie with Julia Roberts.

In short, this is another stunning release from Elena Armas. She constantly raises the bar for her writing and shows improvement with every chapter. Her characters jump off the page, and the plot drags you in. I will be thinking about Matthew for the next 3-5 business days.

I recommend this book to fans of 90s rom coms, people looking for deep emotional connections in their romance novels, and anyone who finds men in glasses attractive. Also everyone else but this is a good list to get started.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. I am already (impatiently) waiting for her next release.

I’m not a huge fan of her writing style. The first chapter felt like she’d matured, but we slipped back in two and three, so I stopped reading (10%). While it’s not personally for me, I can see this being an easy 3 to 4 stars for her fans, 5 stars for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.

“𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙭𝙚𝙙. 𝙄𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.”

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗:
Josie, who recently discovered that her father that she has never met is actually a very rich and powerful man, is in the middle of a PR nightmare. To save herself she pretends that Matthew, her sister’s best friend, is her fiancé.

𝙼𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
While I did think that Josie was sweet, she was also a bit cringe with her over the top responses and lying. Honestly it was giving me second hand embarrassment. Matthew grew on me as the book progressed, but it really didn’t make much sense to me in the beginning how he just went along with Josie’s lie, especially when that lie spilled over to Adalynn & Cam.

It also made NO sense to me that we didn’t get Matthew’s POV, especially since Adalynn was his best friend. That relationship was just non existent in this book, but if you read The Long Game you know how close they were, so it bothered me a bit.

I will say that I absolutely LOVED how Matthew responded to the 3rd act issue. How he handled the situation in the dressing room was so sweet. I loved how all he cared about was giving Josie what she needed, regardless of how it may look to those on the outside.

“𝙎𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚? 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧.”

I wasn’t a huge fan of the podcast we got throughout the book, honestly it was annoying to keep reading, but the way it was used with Matthew & him sharing his story was really sweet.

“𝙂𝙤 𝙤𝙣, 𝘽𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤.”

So overall this one was cute, but definitely not my favorite. Out of the two (Long Game & Fiancé Dilemma), I preferred book one.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
💜Instalove but make it soulmates
💜Fake fiance
💜Small town
💜Sister’s best friend
💜Protective MMC
💜No 3rd act breakup

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Another slay by Elena Armas. This one was little more instalove if you like that. Josie was her quirky self and Matthew was grumpier than I expected but I like it. I loved how protective and possessive he was. I also loved his honesty. Matthew’s response to the third act conflict in the dressing room was chefs kiss perfection! I will read anything Elena writes!

I really wanted to love this one. Truly I did. This book was not for me, though. There was so much that was incredibly over the top and cringe for me. I had enough second hand embarrassment for how Josie was acting, and all of her lying, that I nearly gave up right away. The early scenes with her and Matthew were sexual in a way that gave me the ick, like her inner monologue watching him sleep. I didn't like the way she pressured him into being her fake fiancé when he had already said he didn't want to do it, and the whole premise made me scratch my head. Wouldn't Adalyn ask a whole ton of questions about how two of her closest people got engaged? We hardly see her and Cam.

I don't think Josie's character was cohesive or understandable enough, because nothing about her really felt fleshed out. I didn't feel like I knew Matthew, except as the piece of man meat Josie needed for her father's redemption, at all. I could not connect to this book in any way, unfortunately.

The Fiance Dilemma is a captivating addition to Elena Armas's world set in the small town of Green Oak, North Carolina. As readers have seen from The Long Game, Josie is the most hot mess and loveable character that Armas has ever written. Josie recently learned that her father is Andrew Underwood, and Adalyn is her sister. Still, the recent coverage of Josie's sudden existence to Andrew Underwood of the world has not been positive since it's focused on one thing only: Josie's failed engagements with four men. Due to a hilarious misunderstanding, Josie convinces Adalyn's best friend Matthew, who is visiting Green Oak, to be her fake fiance. Of course, as these books go, the usual craziness of trying not to push the boundaries of fake fiances ensues, but what makes this book special is the attention to detail and the interweaving of stories. I also love that as an author, Armas tends to give her characters room to grow and be more than just side characters. Matthew and Josie are one of my favorite couples of all of Elena Armas' and I think everyone else will love Baby Blue and Mattsie-Boo.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book. Below is my honest review!

*takes a deep breath*

Okay. Let's start off with the fact that I loved, absolutely LOVED, Elena Armas's other books.

But this book. This was not it for me. And I'm so sad that I did not love this one as much as I did with her previous books. I had high expectations, and sadly, they were not met.

The general plot of this book is Josie Moore, our heroine, is in the middle of a PR problem. Her father, who she only recently discovered is her father only a year ago and is a very rich and powerful man, believes that Josie's previous four failed engagements reflects badly on him. So he hires Bobbi Shark, a PR specialist, to make her look good. As Josie is being interrogated by Bobbi, Matthew, our hero, shows up at her house, so Josie pretends that Matthew is her fiance so that Bobbi has a better story to tell about her. Matthew at first isn't on board, but for whatever reason, he decides he's going to help a girl (Josie) out and pretend to be engaged to her despite never meeting her in real life (they know each other through texts). As this is a romance book, we know what happens at the end.

*takes another deep breath*

Let's start with the good stuff. The sexual romance between Josie and Matthew is quite spicy. (Spicy is always a plus in my eyes). Matthew is also just a sweetheart too. What a kind young man. I also liked the small town setting that we got in Elena Armas's previous book. Grandpa was also a very interesting and funny character. I can almost picture how he looks in my mind.

And now my main issue... I felt like Matthew was kind of boring. Josie too, to a certain extent, but definitely not as much as Matthew. I KNOW. I'M SORRY. I WISH I DIDN'T FEEL THAT WAY. As the hero of this book, I felt like there was so much of him to explore, and yet we don't get his background, his story, what makes him him, etc. He didn't really do anything except be the romantic partner for Josie. Which I guess is fine because this is a romance book. But I wanted him to have depth to his personality, and it only felt like we got a surface level version of him. We hardly hear about his family until the very end (and we never get to meet them), which is weird considering he has a close relationship with them. We know he's into sports, but there's only one scene where he talks about sports. I wanted to know why he chose his career path, the little interactions with his sisters and parents, etc. I wanted to know if this man has any flaws or baggage (which I don't think he has). I needed more of him than simply a romantic partner.

Also, the whole daddy issue could have been flushed out more. I wanted to know more about how Josie felt about suddenly having a father figure in her life. It didn't seem like she was angry or upset or happy or whatever. Yeah, Josie freaked out when her father did something questionable, but I feel like Josie didn't process her feelings about it. I didn't expect Josie to straight up say that she has daddy issues, but the tension between Josie and her father could have been developed more. I wanted to know more about how this was affecting her, having him there and "present" in her life, whether it was good or bad.

Related to that, the build up that Josie feels about having four failed engagements felt very off to me. The break down that she had seemed very sudden and surprising to me because it was kind of connected to the baggage that she has regarding her father (which, to my previous point, was not flushed out enough IMO). My impression of Josie was that the failed engagements didn't really bother her that much because she's accepted that they failed for a reason.

Also, small thing but, considering that Matthew is Josie's sister's best friend, are we really to believe that the sister would simply accept that they are engaged with no questions? No "haha, you guys are playing a joke on me, right?" No "what the hell, you both are engaged and I didn't even know you were in a relationship?" And the sister/best friend was hardly involved in the story, which is weird especially since it seemed like Josie wanted to build a relationship with her. I understand that the sister/best friend had a book of her own (aka the previous book that Elena Armas wrote), but for her to just not be involved in any significant way is weird to me.

There were so many other (smaller) things that I didn't like. Overall, I just wished I liked this book more. I may have more thoughts as I continue to process. That being said, I don't think you should NOT pick up this book. I could 100% be the outlier. I don't hate this book by any means, but given that I had such high expectations for this book, I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't like it.