A new take on "The Runaway Bride." Josie has tried to get married four times. FOUR. She hasn't quite gotten through the whole wedding thing. But when her well-known father's publicist shows up unannounced at her doorstep and a sort of stranger happens by, she invents an engagement. OH MY! Turns out she does know the guy. Matthew goes along with the farce for reasons of his own. They both get caught up in the whirlwind of the planning and the faking that eventually they're not faking it anymore. This slow burn, fake relationship, sister's best friend (Sister's book is The Long Game) was a great read with a lot of laugh out loud moments. While it is book 2 in a series, it is a complete standalone. I didn't read book one, but could easily follow the story since the author gives you enough info to not be confused.

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

"The Fiance Dilemma" is a runaway bride romance with complicating factors, like living in a small town and having an ultra-wealthy estranged father trying to repair his image as an absentee father.

Josie has started down the aisle four times before, but never quite made it to the end to exchange her rows. But when she's confronted by her father's publicist about how poorly that reflects on him, she does the only thing she can think of. She invents Fiance #5, which just so happens to be an unwitting passerby on the street outside her house.

Thankfully, Matthew isn't a total stranger and he agrees to play along, even though he has no idea what's going on. But after that, wedding plans seem to take on a life of their own as Josie's father decides it's a perfect/ publicity opportunity. (Josie's got legitimate reasons for being flaky about saying "I do" with a father like him!)

The big question is, will Josie and Matthew manage to break up in time? Or has this train gotten away from them so completely that marriage is inevitable?

Thank you to Elena Armas, Atria Books, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Thank you NetGalley and publicists for an advanced copy of this book.

The premise reminded me of the movie runaway bride that I love, so I had to read this book, with funny but not perfect characters, and an ideal story for lovers of romance.
I recommend you read this book if you also love runaway bride and always wanted to read a similar book.

When Josie’s father, a well known name, comes into her life, suddenly her life is under scrutiny. Mainly, her four failed engagements. When a publicist shows up on her doorstep, she does the first thing she can think of, which is make a stranger passing by pose as fiancé number five.

I FLEW through this and was absolutely charmed by Josie and Matthew. Full of personality, love, and a little bit of secondhand embarrassment, you’ll fall in love as quickly as I did.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for a fair review.

Very disjointed prose & too graphic for me. The only highlight was the romantic development of the main characters, but their sexual relationship went from zero to 100 in a bad way. Don’t recommend.

Enjoyed this follow up to The Long Game. Josie and Matthew are fun and flirty and their banter is great. Love the fake dating/engagement trope and the spice level was good and on par with the author's previous novels. Josie isn't my fav FMC that Elena has written by far, I didn't love her decision making/behavior at times. Overall a fun, quick and sweet read.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc of this book.

I loved the Fiance Dilemma. It was funny, quirky, and definitely fits the bill for those looking for a romantic comedy.

hey Google, play The Bolter by Taylor Swift.
"... Splendidly selfish, charmingly helpless
Excellent fun 'til you get to know her
Then she runs like it's a race
Behind her back, her best mates laughed
And they nicknamed her "The Bolter" ..."
That's literally describes the FMC.

Even though The Bolter is my favorite song from TS, sadly I hated this book. i have no problem with The Bolter girls, it's the plot that i have problem with.

A small-town girl named Josie was recently discovered to be a product of infidelity of her super famous father, and suddenly became a threat to that old man's reputation. because growing up without a father figure made her have a concerning relationship track records: running away from her fiance. on their supposed wedding day. not once, but 4 times. see, so far i have no problem with it.

but then bad decision after bad decision after bad decision etc happened, i don't even want to recount the events. too keep it short: the couple's initial situation doesn't make sense at all. look me straight in the eye and tell me that's actually possible. bet you can't.

this Josie gave me so much secondhand embarrassment. she reminded me of Lorelai Gilmore but worse. i couldn't feel the slightest bit of sympathy for her beside the fact that this girl who had never met this rich father should do damage control for the sake of his reputation. that annoyed me.

because of the awful start, i didn't really care about what happened to the plot afterwards. i kept reading solely because of Grandpa Moe. he's this book's MVP.

in conclusion i didn't have a great time reading this and i'll never touch Elena Armas books again.

3.75 ⭐️

This was a cute read. Josie is a 4-time runaway bride and a PR nightmare for her estranged, very rich father. To fix it, she enlists the help of Matthew to play groom number 5.

Josie got a little annoying throughout the book. She was doubting herself and her decisions way too much, ignoring all the signs that Matthew was in love with her (and vice versa), and tried too hard to be perfect. But I was glad when she finally stood up for herself.

Matthew was so sweet and honest and was the first man to get Josie out of her own head. Also, he was very growly and in control when it mattered. And I loved his big f*ck you before the HEA, it was perfect.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the author, publisher and @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I wanted to like this. But I just couldn’t. I could not with the insta-fiancé storyline and just all the craziness of this. It was not for me, but there were some seriously funny parts.

I definitely didn’t like the FMC Josie because she seemed like such a pushover throughout the entire novel 🤷‍♀️

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc of "The Fiance Dilemma" by Elena Armas.

The book was a very enjoyable and quick read, however I did not connect with the FMC as I thought she was a bit childish. The book was not as slow burn as her other books which I didn't mind. There were some spicy scenes that were really well written as well. I love the fake dating/fake fiancé trope and I liked the plot a lot as it was quick paced and fun to read.

I really wanted to like this, the synopsis sounded SO fun, but ultimately, I just couldn't get into it. My biggest gripe was with the main character- I just found her super annoying and immature, to the point where I couldn't focus or get into the rest of the book.

A faster burn for super slow burn Elena! Josie and Matthew were a fun, steamy couple to follow, but unfortunately the quicker burn left me feeling a little less connected to these characters than I typically do to Elena’s leads.

A fun concept, and a quick easy read that I always love from this author. Not my favorite of her novels, but still fun and one I would recommend!

This concept was fun, but I did not care for the main characters. There was a lack of maturity from the female lead that I could not overlook through out the book.

THE FIANCEE DILLEMA

4⭐

PLOT
Jodie Moore has 4 failed engagements . Her absentee father is now back in her life but her past so not exactly good for his image and she jumps at a chance of fake marriage which will help boost the image. Enter Matthew Flanagan her step sisters best friend who gets embroiled in this fake engagement drama but bring together lines blur and everyone starts believing that Josies 5th fiance is actually The One.

MY THOUGHTS
A delightful fake dating forced proximity troupe. Both Josie and Mathew were adorable and their chemistry was though slow burn fun to read.
A light and quick fun read.

This book had it quirks. It was a great light hearted rom com in between books but that was about it. There were times it had me laughing a bit and swooning a bit but I did find it hard to want to finish it. Usually I can't put a book down and this was eh. I didn't get that desire of wanting to finish it in one sitting. It defintely was slow burn but like the slowest sloth burn and eventually I did get a bit bored.

I did like the fake dating, even if it was a tad bit extreme. Matthew being so charmingly sweet and perfect through the whole thing was perfect. Besdies that it was a quick simple read.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC!

3.5 stars

I liked the previous book was dual POV. This one’s not and I wish it was.

I’ve obviously read fake dating before, but I could not get into this. Maybe because you know she’s just going to keep getting burned, the dad is an asshole, her now fiancée is a stranger she’s forcing into this, and this publicist is heartless. It’s not endearing, it’s really sad.

Favorite lines:
That dedication - sobbing! “To my readers (yes, you. Hi babe). Your expectations are not impossibly high. Never let anyone make you believe you’re asking for too much.”

“We handle shit together. I don’t care if you can do it on your own. You shouldn’t have to.” - I’ve only ever been alone and had to handle myself. I don’t even know what this would feel like.

“What makes you sad?” “Saying goodbye. Throwing away leftover cake. Lonely people. Broken things shoved aside.” - yep to all of these

It took me awhile to get into this one, felt a little too cutesy for a bit, but all of a sudden I was devouring it and wanted more.

I am absolutely an Elena Armas fan! The Fiancé Dilemma yet another irresistible romcom that just hit the right spot the same way The Spanish Love Deception did.

Small Town Romance ✔
Fake Dating ✔
Sister's Best Friend ✔

Elena Armas delivers yet another showstopper with The Fiance Dilemma. Matthew is the quintessential book boyfriend for any contemporary romance fan, and Josie embodies the charm of a small-town girl searching (or not!) for her Mr. Right. While the first half of the book takes its time building momentum, the final third more than makes up for it.