Thank you to NetGalley, Atria, and Elena Armas for an advanced copy of this book.

3.25 ⭐️

I enjoyed the MMC in this book far more than I enjoyed Cameron in the first book, Josie annoyed me at times. I also was kinda upset that we weren’t given dual POVs like we were given in the first book, I would have loved to have heard Matthew’s inner thoughts and feelings towards Josie. I feel like the reason for this “fake engagement” was so ridiculous and unbelievable that it didn’t really make any sense but whatever I rolled with it. The book was so slow for so long and then at the end it picks up so fast. I feel like the pacing needed to be better. I did enjoy this one much more than the first. We got more tension and romance between these two early on. The Spanish Love Deception stills reigns as my favorite by Elena, but I’m looking forward to reading more by her!

I have come to the conclusion that this author’s writing is not for me. I thought the first book in this series was OK but wasn’t too sure about it, and decided to give the second one a chance. It definitely could not hold my attention, and that was a bit of a struggle with the first book as I continuously put it down only to try to revisit. Nothing about the characters made me excited. The romance was a slow burn, which is ok if it’s executed well, but I just feel like it was a miss here.

Another fun read by Elena Armas! It was the second book in a row of hers that I read, as I had just finished The Long Game. I can see how this is a stand-alone book, but I felt like it was much better having previously read The Long Game to get a little more back story on Josie before we focus on her in this book. The fake engagement is such a charming trope and Elena does a careful job with Josie and Matthew - neither are completely helpless individuals but both of them offer the other some help that is needed to get them to be more in tune with themselves and to really open themselves up for love. I would recommend this book and was happy to get a chance to read it so quickly!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for this ARC! When I got accepted for this one, it was my first book of this authors and it was recommended to read the book before this, which I’m glad I did !! I did a read/listen to the audio when the audio became available and the audio helped me push through. I became a little bored in parts, super predictable but overall hand a good time!

What to expect:
🤍fake engagement
🖤small town
🤍runaway bride
🖤sister's best friend
🤍slow burn

I enjoyed this book, but it felt so messy. Yes, it has some sweet and funny scenes, which I loved. But besides that? it was disappointing given the incredible tropes this book has and the potential to be so much better.
I really hated how the fmc allowed her father and his PR agent to "dictate" her life so easily and quickly. This girl barely knows her father, and that man has done absolutely nothing for her, not even to get to know her better. She let his PR mess take control over her. She didn't want to be a burden or a bigger problem for him and his PR mess/reputation, given her reputation of getting engaged and leaving her fiancés at the altar. So, what does she decide to do to improve the situation? duh- getting engaged again knowing she wasn't going to make it to the wedding. Did she really think this would calm the situation? The joke tells itself.
Also, she kept the rings and wedding dresses from ner previous engagements. That was so weird fe | don't want to judge, but it really seemed like she was collecting fiancés Imao. And there was never any deep reason why she left them. She had daddy issues, she was scared, and... what else? There was no further explanation. Maybe that is the author's goal? That some fears don't need to have some deep meaning? I honestly don't know, but it felt messy and confusing in this book. I understand that the book needed a plot, but... the plot wasn't plotting. It was lacking and needed more depth and development of everything, including the main characters and the romance. The chemistry and the whole falling in love felt so rushed.
This was a slow burn that somehow took them about two months to realize they were each other soulmates.
Huh? No further comments.

4.25⭐️

We love a fake dating / fake fiance romance. This one is a slow burn, like Elena Armas' other romances. It was cute, had good banter and better spice!

This book played in my head like a cozy Hallmark movie 💕

Josie is in a pickle. She is, once again, in the small-town spotlight. When she sees an opportunity, she jumps (literally) onto it... er, him?

Josie, engaged four times and married none, is the local mayor/welcome wagon who can't seem to run from publicity. It doesn't help when she (and everybody else) discovers that she is the secret daughter of Andrew Underwood - THE Andrew Underwood - multimillionaire, soccer team owner.

Matthew is a man looking for a break - from work and from life. He wants to hide out in the middle of nowhere to sort things out. Thankfully, his best friend, Adalyn, and her soccer star husband have an off the grid place for him to land. Little does he know that his every move will be gossip fodder for all of the well-meaning and very nosy town folks!

*runaway bride
*fake dating
*small town rom-com
* slow burn

Elena Armas’ “The Fiancé Dilemma,” the second novel in “The Long Game” duology, is a slow-burn romance where the first kiss occurs around the 83% mark. Set in the quaint, Hallmark-like town of Green Oak, North Carolina, where everyone knows everyone and every location is within walking distance, the novel follows the life of twenty-nine-year-old Josephine “Josie” Moore. Josie is the town’s mayor and the owner of the local coffee shop. Her four failed engagements have become the town's running joke, adding to her personal and public humiliation.

The plot thickens when Josie’s absentee father, Andrew Underwood, announces his retirement from MLS soccer amid a PR scandal. This revelation drags Josie’s troubled past and Andrew’s “misstep” into the spotlight, fueling local gossip.

Matthew Flanagan, Adalyn Underwood’s best friend and recently fired from his job, visits Green Oak for a break before planning his next steps. When Matthew meets Josie, she is frantic because Bobbi Shark, Andrew’s assistant, has shown up at her doorstep to complain about her failed engagements. In a desperate attempt to deflect Bobbi’s criticism, Josie claims that Matthew is her current fiancé, making him her fifth.
Matthew agrees to the pretense and plays along as the devoted fiancé, even putting his grandmother’s Claddagh ring on Josie’s finger. Josie establishes a list of rules to maintain clear boundaries:
1. Don’t get married but stay friends.
2. Kiss if necessary.
3. Physical touch is allowed, except for inappropriate groping.
The podcast “Page Nine’s Reali-Tea” picks up on the news of Josie’s new engagement and delves into her past relationships, highlighting issues with each of her former fiancés:
1. Shawn, the coffee barista.
2. Greg.
3. Ricky.
4. Duncan Aguirre, the politician
As Josie and Matthew’s fake engagement progresses, they begin to develop genuine feelings for each other. Josie’s rules start to blur, and their emotional boundaries become increasingly difficult to maintain. With their December 1st wedding approaching, Josie and Matthew must confront their true feelings and decide whether to commit to marriage or go their separate ways.

Armas’ characteristic style results in a notably lengthy novel, making the slow-burn romance feel tedious at times. Josie’s character is depicted in a simplistic and stereotypical manner, typical of small-town romance tropes. The romantic tension is prolonged, with moments of intimacy often delayed or avoided, leaving the characters' emotions and development underexplored until well into the narrative. Josie transitions abruptly from prudishness to engaging in sexual activities in public, a shift that feels jarring.

Moreover, the subplot involving Josie’s father and her half-sister adds little to the main narrative and seems like an attempt to connect this novel with its predecessor in the series. The book would have benefitted from being about a hundred pages shorter and could have been more effective as a standalone novel.

This delightful and refreshing romance had me hooked from start to finish—I absolutely loved it! It was highly entertaining and kept me fully engaged. I especially enjoyed seeing Josie's growth throughout the story. Although I'm still new to the contemporary romance genre, I can confidently say I’ll be reading more from Elena Armas!

The follow-up to The Long Game, we’re now getting the story of Adalyn’s sister, Josie. Thrust into the spotlight when she learns the identity of her mystery father is an uppity millionaire, a team is already planning their pr strategy. But what no one accounts for is Josie pulling in her sister’s best friend Matthew into a last-minute arrangement: be her fiancé. Her fifth, in fact. And while it may be for show, the fifth time may just be the charm for the small town heroine.
This was a sweet romance filled a lot of charm and the occasional spice. However, much of it felt too over the top and unrealistic, falling flat to its predecessor. Still, a great novel for fans of romance and fake fiancé tropes.
Thank you to Atria Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Finance Dilemma by Elena Armas is book 2 in the Long Game series, but you don’t need to read them in order. I do, however, think that if you loved The Long Game then you’ll love this one too! Anyways, this is a fake engagement romance with all the cute mishaps that you come to associate with the trope. We all know lying will cause chaos in some form and you can see that in this one. I found it to be really stinking adorable. The characters are fantastic too and Matthew Flanagan is one of my new book boyfriends! I won’t go into big details about the plot because you can read the synopsis for that, but I will say that this book put a big smile on my face and made me feel warm and gooey inside which is just what I needed. Check out the tropes below to see if it’s something you may love too!

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗠𝗠𝗔 𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦

💍 Fake Engagement
💍 Slow Burn
💍 Small Town
💍 Sisters Best Friend

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Elena Armas's *The Fiancé Dilemma* expertly captures the slow-burn romance, with the tension leading up to the first kiss beautifully managed.

When Josie Moore’s estranged father reveals her existence, her love life becomes a PR disaster. To help, her sister’s friend Matthew Flanagan, recently stranded in town, pretends to be her fiancé. As their fake relationship deepens, Josie wishes it could become real.

Josie’s growth from naïve to confident is engaging, though I wanted more of Matthew’s perspective. Overall, I enjoyed Josie and Matthew’s story!

This book was a delightful blend of humor, romance, and heartfelt moments, making it a must-read for fans of fake relationship tropes. With well-drawn characters and a charming small-town setting, it’s a story that will leave you smiling long after you’ve turned the last page.

A sweet romance that explores how failed relationships and tricky family dynamics can inform our experience but don't have to define who we are.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the summer since I LOVED The Long Game.

This was a cute book and I really liked getting to know Matthew more after seeing a bit of him in the last book. I obviously love Josie as she is such a fun, bubbly character. Her and Matthew just fit well!

Small spoilers:
I loved the revelation of the text messages from Adalyn to Matthew… swoon! It also gave such an interesting background to his motivations.

My only complaint is that it moved a little slow for my liking and I didn’t love the wedding planning process. The last 1/4 of the book was definitely my favorite!

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Read this if you like:
💍 No 3rd act break up
💍 Public Relations clean ups
💍 Soulmates

I liked the first book in this series, but this one was so painful I almost couldn't read it. The second hand embarrassment had me cringing throughout the entire thing. I really feel like this shouldn't have passed the editing stage. Everything from the characterization, the premise, the plot - it's just bizarre.

I don't mind a "quirky" heroine. But this heroine is just cringey. Everything out of her mouth makes me wince, and trying to read the flirtation, or attempts at chemistry between her and the MMC, made me want to close my eyes. Her decisions make no sense. Her actions are a calamity of bad decision after bad decision. And we are supposed to believe that this woman is the MAYOR and runs a successful business that she is literally never at. She clams up when presented with even one minor inconvenience, you can't convince me she is capable of running a town.

If you hadn't read the first book in this series, I think you would be so confused by the characters and discussion around the town. There's no lead in to who anyone is and even having read the first book I found myself struggling to remember who people were or what their significance was. So much of the plot has to do with this awesome small town, yet I felt like the way it was portrayed didn't endear you to the town or its people at all.

The premise of the fake engagement is so bizarre and unbelievable. She has been engaged like 4 or 5 times and left all of them at the altar, and decides to get into another engagement with the plan to break it off at the altar so that she can save her celebrity dad from some embarrassment about his daughter having daddy issues. Keep in mind she has no relationship with this dad at all and no inclination to help him out. I'm sorry but does this make sense to anyone? Why is she putting herself on the line in the media and going through this charade so that she can break off the engagement again? Isn't that going to just make this all worse?

Then we get to the romance. This woman says something absolutely cringey, behaves bizarrely, and then this man who doesn't know her at all is like "aha you're so sexy." He honestly gave me creepy vibes because no one in their right mind was thinking this woman is hot.

I had to force myself to keep picking this up hoping it would get better, but it truly just kept getting worse with every page.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Elena Armas's *The Fiancé Dilemma* showcases her knack for slow-burn romances, with expertly managed tension leading up to the first kiss. Josie Moore, caught in a PR crisis after her estranged father reveals her existence, finds herself in a fake engagement with Matthew Flanagan, her sister’s best friend. As their pretend relationship develops, Josie’s feelings for Matthew deepen, making her wish it could become real. Josie is a relatable protagonist who grows throughout the story, though I wished we had more of Matthew’s perspective earlier on. I enjoyed Josie and Matthew’s story even more than Adalyn and Cameron’s in *The Long Game* and can’t wait for more from this small town!

While nothing can surpass my love for The Long Game, this one was a cute follow-up.

First of all, I loved the premise. The pure chaos of Josie addressing Matthew as her fiancé as she happens to see him walking by, to how adorable the pair were as they faked their engagement. Josie was an absolute mess, but still I absolutely adored her. Josie and Matthew were so cute together, and I was utterly obsessed with Matthew from start to finish.

My only gripe is that it was told solely from Josie's POV. While yes, I do understand why the story necessitated being told from one perspective (my boy was down bad for Josie, and we don't want to reveal too much of his feelings too soon), part of what I loved about The Long Game was being able to read both Cameron and Adalyn's perspective, and I would have liked to experience more of Matthew's inner dialogue outside of the epilogue.

Overall, was this my favorite Elena Armas book? No (see first paragraph). But all in all it was an enjoyable read that I would recommend.

Usually third times the charm, but not when it comes to Josie and her previous 4 engagements…
A lighthearted and joyful story of finding love in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

I adored the previous book "The Long Game" and this one shines with our new couple, who were side characters in that book. Matthew is the best friend of Adalyn and Josie is her recently discovered half-sister. We have small town, fake engagement, slow burn. While Matthew signs on to the fake relationship quick, he fakes it well. I loved the banter and support between our lovebirds. Grandpa Mo is a hoot! I also wanted to BOO Andrew (grrrr!) and Bobbi whenever they crossed the page.

I am all for the sweet romance and watching our couple get real feelings...I honestly had to skim over most of the spice. I enjoy intimacy without having to "watch all the intimacy!"

It was nice to see both our couples together! Matthew was so supportive and patient with Josie.

4 stars