Love the humor in this book, loved the dynamic that Josie and Matthew had right off the bat. Animals as extras were a great add, would doesn’t love a pet pig?! A lot of repeat sentences for inward thoughts after they were said, got a bit old after awhile since the book was a little slower than I’d prefer.
Events cut off and flashed too far forward, felt like I was missing out on events that would have helped shape characters. Adaylan and hers maid of honor talk, after the phone dropped in the water, welcome dinner on Andrew’s estate with Duncan, etc, just would have loved a little more. Will be going back to read the other books from Armas. 4 stars just because it was a slower moving book than I would prefer. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the early read in exchange on my honest review.

Matthew Flanagan breaths and my clothes are OFF. I ADORE THAT MAN!!!! This was beyond fun & sweet I loved them so much. Josie is a daddy issues icon so I have no choice but to stan. The spicy scenes in this one were HOT & the small town rom-com moments were so cozy and cute. Elena has an excellent ability to never miss 💜✨💜

3.5/5 stars rounded up

Thank you Atria Books for the advanced reading copy!

Okay, first thoughts were what the heck is this plot. PLEASE NOTE that I did not read the first one, and while I don't necessarily think that you have to, I do think it would make the transition into this one easier, as it took me a second to get into/figure out the characters. If you can suspend belief about the overall premise of this book, it was cute!! The connection between Josie and Matthew was sweet, and they had some really heart-warming moments. There was some spice -- though not enough imo -- that was well-written and fun. Overall a cute story, but would have probably hit better for me had I read the first one!

SYNOPSIS -- Josie Moore is more than willing to give love a try, given that she's been engaged four times. With her influential, long-lost father retiring and needing good PR, Josie learns that her relationship history is... not a good look. When her sister's best friend, Matthew, makes a wrong turn and shows up at her door, he's suddenly roped into a chaotic and not well-thought-out plan to convince everyone that he's her new fiancé... lucky number five. As they get further and further into their charade, it get's harder and harder to turn back, and that's not only because this started under false pretenses... are those butterflies Josie is feeling???

This was really sweet 🥰 I love when the guy falls first and harder. I only wish we had more with his POV instead of just the last chapter because that was *chef's kiss!

he falls first x fake engaged x sisters best friend

Now this wasn't a bad book. It was just incredibly DULL. It's a shame though because I really liked the start of this book. The set up was quite fun, despite the reasons for their fake engagement being so unbelievable. I still can't quite wrap my head around it. Who the fuck cares so much about a random bussiness man's non famous adult daughter to this extend? It just felt extremely fake, and like it could have been solved way easier than this whole mess. However, like I said I liked our early introductions to these characters, I thought Josie and our love interest had great chemistry, and overall I was having fun. So I hate that it turned out this way.
Overall I think my problem is just that this just felt extremely surface level. The characters are extremely underdeveloped, and I can't tell you anything about them. Matthew and Josie do have some really cute scenes together but overall their feelings felt like they came out of nowhere. I truly feel like this could have benefited from being dual POV so much. It would have just been able to add a little something extra to the mix that was currently missing. On top of that I also feel like almost nothing happens in this book, making it feel like quite the drag to me.
The small town is still great. It isn't as showcased as in The Long Game, but we still get some time at town events or with different townspeople. Those scenes always were my favourite because Elena Armas just really knows how to bring this town to life. It's just a shame that it was wasted on these books, man. But yeah, I did like it more than the first book in the duology but it still really wasn't my thing.

Thank you Netgalley and Elena Arias, for the e-arc. My review is being left voluntarily, and all opinions are my own.

I have tried to love Elena Armas books, but have come to a conclusion that I just do not vibe with this author's work after TSLD.

4.25 ⭐️

If there is one thing that I love it’s a well written fake dating (engagement!) romance. And let me tell you, Elena Armas delivered!

This is a slow burn with some serious heat/flirting throughout. I’m normally not a huge fan of slow burns but this one left me feeling … giddy? It’s so cute.

This is my first Armas book (I didn’t read the first in the series but this works great as a standalone and the character background stories are explained) but I can’t wait to read more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Elena Armas for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I read this book during a few hour flight. It was a quick and easy read with a fun plot line. The story kept me engaged, but I wish there had been more lead up and meatiness into their romance.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

I always love the fake dating trope, and this one did not disappoint; in fact, I think this might be my favorite Elena Armas book so far! Matthew was so sweet and protective (the way he SPRINTED across town when she sent an SOS??), and I loved how he went along with all of Josie’s crazy with no question 😂 I also loved how they decided to reclaim their own story and just do what was right for them. (Also, I totally called Ada from the start lol IYKYK)

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read before pub day! ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. THE FIANCÉ DILEMMA is out now!

Ah, this had great potential but unfortunately it just did not live up to the expectations Armas had set since TSLD. I enjoyed The Long Game, even if I had some qualms about certain elements, but the second book in this duology just did not hit that sweet spot I was hoping it would. The banter was dry and the pacing dragged in the middle. I think this book could've benefited from some editorial tightening. While I acknowledge Elena Armas' attempt to tap into the small-town, sports romance niche, unfortunately she did not really capture the attention needed to show for it! Interested to see what new direction she decides to go in next but hoping she brings us back some original Aaron Blackford-level obsession!

I have learned that listening to Elena Armas books will always result in a lower score for me. Thankfully—I didn’t make that mistake this time. It’s really the horrible accents that make me dislike her books. I might need to do a reread of some of them through physical books.

Tropes I enjoyed in this book:
•he fall first and harder
•sister’s bestfriend
•fake dating

I really enjoyed Matthew in this book. I felt that he was a great male lead, I had wanted more of him when first hearing him in The Long Game. Elena delivered in the male department, I think he is on par or very close to Aaron. Love that he just lets Josie be a little weird and crazy and is just along for the ride.

Josie? Kind of a mid lead for me. Could be a little annoying at times when I felt like she was being whiney or talking about all her engagements.

Okay but did anybody else feel like the last 100 pages were kind of rushed? I felt like we jumped from getting to know characters and building a story to “this is the end” which did kind of stressed me out.

I really feel this is a 3.75 rating so I rounded up. The characters were good, the town is cute, and I loved Grandpa Mo

Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC of this book.

I love Elena Armas, but the fmc in this one made this book not particularly my cup of tea. Josie is the mayor of small town Green Oak, and a huge people pleaser. She's left a trail of broken engagements behind her. When her estranged father Andrew decides to come into her life via a publicist intervention regarding her love life, Josie makes up a quick lie that turns into a complicated charade. She claims to be engaged to Matthew, her friend and best friend to her newly discovered sister, Adalyn. The publicist runs with it and takes over, planning a quick wedding that will involve Andrew and the whole town.

Things I loved: Matthew's character, the slow burn and eventual spice, great chemistry.
Things I didn't love: Josie's character and dialogue were just really not for me. It was way too cutesy and unrealistic. I can imagine this being really appealing for some readers, but it took me out of the story and made it hard for me to finish this book. I also just didn't understand her motivations. She had no reason to go along with Bobbi Shark or her father's plans, but she did. She's clearly not a weak willed woman, but in these instances she just lacks any spine.

I'm rounding up 3.5 to 4 stars because I imagine this book being perfect for a lot of people, but it just wasn't for me. I'll still absolutely read the next Elena Armas novel that comes out.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚. 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙝é 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚. 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙚, 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚. 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮. 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.”

I was completely captivated by the fresh and welcoming atmosphere of Green Oaks, beautifully revived from the previous book in the series. It was a joy to return to this charming small town, where a deep sense of community and family spirit infused every interaction. The way everyone looks out for one another with warmth and loyalty that feels almost like family was genuinely heartwarming. I especially loved reconnecting with some of the beloved characters and youngsters from the first book, whose return added a wonderful layer of depth and nostalgia to the story.

Josie has given love plenty of chances—four failed engagements and a father who's always been absent. But when her business tycoon father decides to retire, she finds out that her messy romantic history is turning into bad PR for the family. Meanwhile, Matthew is not only out of a job but, after taking a wrong turn on his way to Green Oak, NC, he unexpectedly finds himself being introduced as the fiancé of his best friend’s sister, Josie. What begins as a huge misunderstanding quickly turns into a fake engagement. Josie might be wearing his ring, but she knows it’s only for show. However, as the lines begin to blur, the small town starts to believe that maybe the fifth fiancé is actually The One.

I absolutely adored Adalyn and Cam and fell in love with everything about this small town in the first book, so it’s no surprise I loved every second of being back in Green Oak. Matthew had me blushing and kicking my feet, and his backstory had me swooning. Josie was so relatable and down-to-earth—I just loved her. Honestly, Armas is one of those autobuy authors for me because her books always make me so happy, but this one might just be my favorite. If you haven’t checked out The Long Game series yet and you’re looking to fall head over heels in love, you absolutely should. It had me kicking my feet like a giddy schoolgirl!

Did someone say fake fiancé, sign me up!

Elena Armas does it again. I absolutely LOVED this book. This fake fiancé was done so well. Small town coffee shop owner Josie needs a new fiancé, yeah cause she’s had 4 already.
Matthew and Josie are off to a rough start. He’s a little bit of a grump but has us swooning with how over protective he is of her. He is a natural flirt and Josie is swooning. The slow burn that’s leads up to a little spice is so worth it. There is family drama as well as small town shenanigans.
They had me laughing and tearing up the perfect rom-com. I couldn’t put this book down!!!

Josie has given love plenty of chances with 4 failed engagements and an absentee father but as her business tycoon father gets ready to retire, she learns her romantic history is bad pr on the family. Matthew has not only been fired but after making a wrong turn on his way to Green Oak, NC ends up stumbling upon his BFF’s sister greeting him as her fiancé. What started as a big misunderstanding quickly turns into a fake engagement and while Josie may have his ring on her finger she knows it’s only temporary. Lines start to blur and the small town comes to believe that maybe the fifth fiancé is truly The One.

This is one of those books I’m kicking myself for not reading sooner. I absolutely adored Adalyn and Cam and everything about this small town in the first book so it was no surprise I loved every second of being back in Green Oak. Matthew had me blushing and kicking my feet and my goodness the backstory had me swooning. Josie was so relatable and down to earth and I loved her so much. Honestly, Armas is one of those autobuy authors for me cause her books just make me so happy but this one might just be my favorite she has come out with. I definitely think if you haven’t checked out The Long Game series yet and you want to just fall in love with love you should because it gave everything I needed to be kicking my feet like a little school girl.

Josie is always the bride. But never one that gets married. After 4 failed engagement she realized she needs something to get her out of a PR story. In come Matthew. Can fake love turn into real love.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book before the release date. I am very sorry it took so long to write this, I honestly forgot about it. Anyway, Elena Armas is such a good writer. She wrote one of my favorite books, The Spanish Love Deception. She just knows how to write a man. This book had so much drama and slow burn. It was just so fun to watch it unfold. Josie had four failed engagements and she was a secret child of a very powerful man. So when she comes out she needs to be put in positive light. The first thing she can think of is to say that the man walking across the street is her fiancé. She didn’t realize it was Matthew, her long lost sisters best friend. This book was funny and spicy and everything you want in a rom com.

The Fiance Dilemma by Elena Armas was a slow-paced version of Runaway Bride. I thought that I would enjoy the storyline because of my love for the movie, but that wasn't the case. The characters were irritating and I didn't like the found father aspect of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced digital copy of the book.

TW: parental abandonment, parental loss

3.5 stars

Welp I didn’t enjoy this one as much as The Long Game but it was still an entertaining read.

The Fiancé Dilemma is the sequel to The Long Game but this time we are following Josie and Matthew. With a ridiculous fake dating/engagement plot there’s loads of edging between these two and even you the reader. I swear on my life I was waiting forever for these two idiots to finally get physical. I’m not usually so hard up for that but there was so much eye contact and TOUCHING but then the scenes would change quickly and I’d be left hanging cold.

Josie was a little TOO quirky for me and I seriously don’t mind quirky cutesy characters but they way she was constantly people pleasing instead of telling people to mind their own business got on my nerves after a while. She does have some issues being engaged 4 times and never actually getting married will do that to you. And having a father that you literally know nothing about pop into your life after 20 something years is going to have your head spinning. But Josie is beyond kind to every single person and I can appreciate that about her. Matthew was all about Josie, maybe a tad too much. I would’ve love to get more of his character development but I can’t say I don’t love a man who worships his woman as much as he does. And that mouth of his whew!

I was hoping for more of Adalyn and Cam but what we got I soaked up so quick! They are adorable and I’m so happy for these fictional characters lol

The Fiancé Dilemma was a cute read that is unexpectedly emotional. Lots of parental issues here that aren’t quite explored that much but I thought the love story part of this book made up for some of the missteps by the author. I’ll definitely continue to read her work and support her. Thank you so much to Atria Books for gifting me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

i love elena armas books because they're always cutesy little romance books that i don't have to think too hard about. loved this one!

4 stars.