Cute, small town, fake engagement romance. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but felt it was a little long and I kept screaming at the FMC in my head to stand up for herself. I loved the fake engagement part of the book, but the estranged father and PR person part really bothered me. I wanted more of the main characters’ backstories and more character development/dialogue. Also, SLOWWWW burn; took a while to get to the 🌶️ 🌶️.

Another great romance read by Elena Armas-I think this is my next favourite story of hers after The Spanish Love Deception. I really enjoyed the development of the main characters relationships and how it even started a bit in the previous story. I also loved the banter and support with the main characters, the runaway bride aspect of the story and all the cute quirky small town side characters. Definitely recommend checking out this read!

3.5/5
I really wanted to love this one but I think this is my least favorite of all of Armas’ books. Something about it was just meh for me. I like when there are dual POV and this one wasn’t. I think the story was just very mediocre and wasn’t very unique or anything. I’m bummed. But it was still good, I liked the spice scenes, but I was t a fan that it took over 50% of the book to finally get to it.

Elena Armas does it again with a feel good romance that has swoon worthy moments, spice and a lot of funny moments that make me laugh at out loud. My favourite part about this book was the direction the ending took, and I absolutely loved the main characters.

the fiancé dilemma | elena armas

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🔥🔥🔥

▫️ let's talk about it

"maybe we don’t need to be whole to function, you know? Maybe we just need to learn to love who we are and let people around us love us for that, too.”

_____

The Fiancé Dilemma is the second book in The Long Game series, and I think my favorite from Elena so far!

It has her signature flavor of heated banter, family drama, and colorful, quirky side characters. I was happy to be back in Green Oaks with all the silly animals.

I felt like a few aspects of the story could have been better explored/explained, especially with our main gal's background of leaving men at the altar, and her need to go to great lengths to appease her bigwig father whom she didn't even know and was awful in general.

This isn't going on my favorites shelf, but if you're looking for a fun, spicy, low stakes romance with a leading man who has it BAD, give this one a go!

THINGS TO LOVE:
+ small town
+ sister's best friend
+ fake engagement
+ he falls first
+ serial runaway bride
+ finding the right nickname
+ a man in glasses
+ curmudgeonly senior roommate

Fake engagement, second chances, quirky small town vibes - what's not to love? I was very excited going in to this one. Unfortunately, it fell flat in the execution.

I really wanted to like this one more than I did, but it just didn't work for me. The story was cute, but the FEELINGS weren't there. I didn't connect with the characters and didn't feel the chemistry here either.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

"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."

꣑ৎ fake dating
꣑ৎ small town
꣑ৎ he fell first and harder
꣑ৎ golden retriever love interest
꣑ৎ sister’s best friend
꣑ৎ slowburn


Small town girl, Josie finds herself in a fake engagement with her sister’s best friend, Matthew, when her absent father’s PR shows up at her door claiming that she needs to fix Josie’s rich dad image since the world found out about his abandoned daughter with relationship issues and four broken engagements. Now, will Josie and Matthew’s fake love remain fake? I guess all of the romance lovers know the answer to that question.

This book is somehow comfortable. The small town where it takes place has that little Stars Hollow energy and the story is a fast read. Elena’s writing flows very well and you will probably not be able to put this book down. Trust me.

The story is well built. With such amazing chemistry between the main characters that sometimes I felt like I was third wheeling, the fake dating trope hits the right spots. The gradual change from fake love to real love was smooth and perfect. I personally loved the podcast scenes and felt like they added a lot to the creative side of the book. I have absolutely no negative points to talk about when it comes to the storyline.

However, when it comes to the characters, I’ve got to admit their personalities felt bizarre. I do NOT want to be the girl who’s pointing out that the romcom man character is so perfect that it turns into a negative point, but I will HAVE to be that girl. Matthew has absolutely no flaws and it gets… annoying (?). I love him, do not get me wrong, but people have flaws, so GIVE. THE. MAN. AT. LEAST. ONE. FLAW.
Also, Josie is the sweetest girl ever and I love her for it. When I grow up—I’m already an aduItl— I want to be exactly like her!

Now some points that are definitely not that important, but should be talked about:

1 ) The smut scenes are probably one of the most embarrassing scenes I’ve ever read. The dialogues were just NOT it. I know this is personal, but it had to be said.
2 ) The dedication is the cutest thing to ever exist and I love Elena Armas for writing that.


Oh and a huuuuuge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for granting me access to the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun read and exactly what I needed!! Elena Armas has a way to give swoon worthy character and transport you into a fun time!! I can't wait to see what's next!! Also I LOOOOVE a good fake dating and this delivered everything I love about it!!

ARC received from Atria Books via NetGalley

The Fiance Dilemma is the latest from author Elena Armas. Set in small town North Carolina, a quirky do-it-all mayor/cafe owner has a reputation as a runaway bride, and that reputation seems to be impacting her father's public image (who didn't much seem to care about her until now). In a spur-of-the-moment decision, she ends up fake engaged to her sister's attractive best friend.

This book was sweet and endearing but the dialogue was really cringe and a little clunky at times. I've loved pretty much all of Armas's other books, but this one isn't my favorite. The characters grow on you by the end but I felt unconvinced by the premise and the whole soulmates thing at the end felt a little contrived. I also had a hard time getting past the fact that Josie is so capable and intelligent but so flighty and unstable at the same time? Just a very interesting character choice. Matthew deserved a little more development as a character as well, he was so attentive and precious, but I don't know very much about his background or what drives him. Still, there were many parts of their relationship I really loved and won me over. Worth reading for sure, not a 5-star book but when you consume romance novels like they're your daily sustenance, this one is a great pick to add to the mix. Nothing revolutionary, very Hallmark cheesy, but heartwarming all the same.

this was SOOOOOOO SWEET and matthew is a literal dream. I could not stop swooning over this one. Probably her most swoony since the spanish love deception. Melted my cold dead heart. I will always be an elena armas romance fan

i love elena arms and i’ll read anything she writes wow.

i loved matthew so much, one of my favorite make mc’s! and i adored the found family, small town, and good vibes this book had.

slowwwwburn, fake dating or better yet.. fake marriage! boy obsessed.

What do I say about this wonderful book?! I love Elena Armas and everything she's written, and this book is no exception. Josie is a sweet, bubbly coffee shop owner living in Green Oak, NC. She also happens to be the town's mayor. Matthew is a man that has had his world flipped upside down after being fired from his job, and he's setting out to figure out what he wants from life. Josie has been through the ringer when it comes to relationships, having had 4 previous fiancé's that she never made it down the aisle with, and Matthew is on a mission to find his person. Josie gets herself in a bit of a pickle with her dad's PR lady, and she can't believe her luck when her sister's best friend walks up just in time to save the day. Matthew and Josie agree to become "fake" engaged, to get out of this pickle, and this is where the real fun starts. They suddenly have to do everything an engaged couple would be doing: announcing their engagement, taking photos together, planning an engagement party, and all the things you need to do to plan a wedding that is set for the very near future by that same PR lady that got them into this mess in the first place. And I may have forgotten to mention that Josie's dad is very rich and very high profile, and she was his dirty little secret, the child he never claimed or cared for, and now he wants to be a part of her life, going so far as to pay for all of the wedding festivities. Josie and Matthew not only fall for each other, but they also find themselves during their time together. The only thing that could have made this book better was getting Matthew's viewpoint, too! It was just a really great story with that Happily Ever After you want for them. Go read it. Right now. You won't regret it.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy of The Fiancé Dilema by Elena Armas.

Gosh, Elena Armas does it again and again and again. She has become one of my top auto-buy authors. All I can say is if you enjoy her other books, namely The Spanish Love Deception, The American Roommate Experiment and The Long Game ... just go ahead and hit the "purchase" button already! I loved it and I loved getting to know Josie more after her intro in The Long Game!

A fake enhancement turned into a love story… add a dose of drama from the reality podcast and a rich, never-in-the-picture father and his pr assistant… it carries all the ingredients! This is not my first Elana Armas stories and it isn’t my last!


What I loved::
🫶🏼 the journey for the perfect nickname! I would giggle at each suggestion and saw stars and hearts and butterflies when it finally stuck.
🫶🏼 just making a place for Grandpa Moe in my heart
🫶🏼 always love a good small town, hometown vibe and Elana just nailed it! From local animals (the names!), the coffee shop and all the things that made it home, it just made my reader’s heart happy!
🫶🏼 Matthew was a dreamboat through the final paragraph. Chef’s kiss 👌
🫶🏼 I loved that, despite gritting my teeth at Andrew and Bobbi’s characters throughout the book, she managed to throw them a bone and make them human and likable towards the ending of the book! That was a surprise for me— I thought I had my mind made up!


Would have loved more of::
✨ I love the banter and tension building but would have preferred reading about their togetherness a little more that the last 30%.
✨ Less wedding planning drama and more funny, romantic moments from the couple. It seemed rigid at times instead of just having some playful, poetic moments they could have authentically had in this small town setting.
✨ I would have loved more backstory to some of the ex’s or Matthew’s past. There were hints and I felt like I waited too long to uncover some hidden histories of the two main characters… and would have loved a little more.

The Fiancé Dilema was just what my heart needed and kept me turning the pages. I loved their story and their happy ending! It was the ending they both deserved and was the bow all wrapped up for their happily ever after!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this digital ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinions of this read!

Josie Moore is the heart of her town and even though she has had multiple failed engagements, she is still trying to believe in love. She has never met her father, but when her failed engagements start to affect Andrew Underwoods political appearance, his PR strategist sends her to Josie to fix the problem. Josie is stuck when her half-sisters best friend comes into town and she convinces him to be her new fake fiancé. Things escalate rather quickly and they are about to get married…but will she make it down the aisle this time?

There were so many good parts about this story! The only thing that really turned me off is why she thought it was a good idea to jump into a fake engagement with someone she barely knew after 4 failed engagements with people she did know. It took me a little bit to get over that. Matthew on the other hand was not willing to play along at first but then gave in. His story about how he actually asked about her to his sister and would call her his future wife when Josie knew nothing about it was sweet! I called the secret Adalyn had been keep from Josue the entire time. Once it was out there that she was crying all the time, it was obvious. This story had some spice towards the end. Grandpa Moe was excellent comedic relief 😂 I really loved this quote that Matthew said to Josie: “Beautiful things shouldn’t be boxed. It eventually dims their light”

Elena never disappoints, and this is not the exception I know people hate blonde men but this book ?? I don't hate blonde men at all. they are just hot and Matthew is blonde, hot, and has glasses what else should we ask for??? hello?? I love jossie and she is such an amazing character. she really is so me I love her. Elena give me more.
also the spice??? Elena knows how to build tension.

This is my second Elena Armas book and after giving the first of the series 3 stars, I'm giving this the same. The ideas were there, faking dating/engagement is one of my favorite tropes. At times, I was very interested in the story, but most of the time, I was sadly bored. The pacing didn't connect well with me. I really would've loved hearing about Josie's former engagements and how those didn't work out to then compare it to Matthew and see how their connection was so much better for her. It was not exactly as I had hoped or expected, but others may love it!

Thank you for the advanced copy through NetGallery.

I love Elena Armas’ writing, though it took me a little bit to be able to focus and get behind the FMC’s storyline. I feel like it started settling in during the middle, and overall enjoyed the book once I began to click with what was happening in the pages.

I have read a few books by Elena Armas. This was cute with a few fun quirky characters. Not quite as good the Spanish love deception by Armas but a solid read for those who like romance novels.

this has to be my favorite book written by Elena. It was so good my emotions were all over the place. I loved reading Josie and Matthew’s story.