I am sorry to say (especially because I loved the Spanish Love Deception) I could not get past the 30% mark of this book. I found there to be too much random chatter/many random anecdotes rather than character development or plot movement. If I manage to finish the whole book I will put a complete review up on my Substack.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Elena armas really crushes the fake dating game. I loved how Josie captured anxiety in an indirect way and just loved Matthew in general.

I loved how the previous characters came in to really make this all come together.

The Fiance Dilemma is a slow-burn, fake-dating rom-com with a bit of small-town, sibling's best friend thrown in for good measure. The plot of this book was completely ridiculous but I don't think anyone is reading rom-com books for their true-to-life plots. While this book did have some issues, the pros far outweighed the cons. Here is what I did like. The characters. Josie was such a relatable protagonist. The overachiever, independent, people-pleaser perfectly illustrates what can happen when a child is abandoned by a parent. Her inability to connect this with her father abandoning her and her denial of her "daddy issues" is so typical of this as well. Matthew is the perfect book boyfriend. He's gorgeous, he wears glasses, he's willing to completely upend his life to help Jose, he not only falls first but he falls harder. I loved that Matthew supported Josie when she was dealing with her father and his people but never tried to take over. He let her lead the way and decide how to respond. The side characters were also a delight. Grandpa Moe, Otto, Bobbi Shark and of course Adalyn and Cameron from the first book were nice foils for the main characters and each served their purpose to move the story along without introducing a lot of side plots that needed resolving. Now for what I didn't like: the premise. The idea that a woman who is getting a lot of criticism for breaking off four previous engagements, deciding that the solution is to enter into a fake engagement to then break it off at a later date is utterly ridiculous. No sane person would think this was a good idea. Overall it was an enjoyable read and I recommend it if you like romantic comedies or any of the above listed tropes.

Unfortunately this was not a book for me. The only character who I enjoyed was Grandpa. Josie was incredibly annoying and I know she was supposed to quirky with daddy issues but it just got annoying. I also just can’t stand when a male character calls another sweet heart and the chemistry just wasn’t great. The whole premise was a little too out there for me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. the Fiancé Dilemma is out August 6,2024!

This was a nice twist on the "fake relationship" trope. It was extremely funny at times and a sweet romance throughout. The MMC was emotionally mature and that's a nice change for a romance book. This is a sequel but can easily be read as a stand alone.

This was cute, funny, and a fast read. While a slow burn, I struggled with pacing. Not of the romance but of the plot. I enjoyed the characters and would read more of the series.

Read this if you like:
✦ RomComs
✦ Fake Engagements
✦ Small Town Romance
✦ Daddy Issues✨
✦ Slow Burn
✦ Runaway Brides
✦ He Falls First

┈ MY THOUGHTS ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
- I love how well Matthew can read Josie. I’m not sure if Josie has really expressive facial expressions or if Matthew is just really in tune with her, but either way I loved their connection!
- Matthew’s personality, confidence, and dirty talk🙌🏼🤤💯
- Josie’s father, Andrew, really comes off as the bad guy (for obvious reasons) and I really hated him for the first book and most of this book. I’m glad we got to see his softer side as the end of this book though.
- Is it just me, or is anyone else secretly hoping Bobbi Shark gets her own book?! I’m thinking something along the lines of Bobbi getting forced to come back to Green Oak for something and she keeps running into sweet, widowed Robbie Vasquez and she falls in love with all of his animals (that she hates at first) and his family meanwhile he falls in love with her bossy and driven personality …. Anyone? 😂
- Positives: Matthew and Josie’s friendship and chemistry, how sweet he was to her, how he would drop anything and run to her when we thought she needed him, the way they both believe in magic and soulmates, all of the cute/funny nicknames he came up for her, their playful banter, and how compatible they were for each other 🥰
- Negatives: This felt really really long, I don't know if it was because it was a slow burn or if it was just a very slow pace. Luckily, it did pick up around 65-75%, plus I really enjoyed the ending!
- Overall: I really enjoyed these characters and their story! Plus, it was great to read more about Adalyn and Cameron.

┈ OVERVIEW ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
Emojis: ☕⚽💍🐖🐐🌼
Pacing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Overall:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Cover Art: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Format: Audiobook
POV: One
Would I Recommend? 👍
Read Again? 👎
Setting / Location: Green Oak, North Carolina
Hero/MMC: Matthew Flanagan
〰️Characteristics: Blonde, glasses
〰️Occupation: Writer
〰️Age: N/A
〰️Nickname(s): Mattsie-boo
Heroine/FMC: Josephine "Josie" Moore
〰️Characteristics: Baby blue eyes, brown hair
〰️Occupation: Town Mayor, Coffee Shop Owner
〰️Age: N/A
〰️Nickname(s): All of them 😂 (sweetheart, shortcake, baby cakes, sugar snap, sugar plum, snuggle bear, baby blue, good girl)
H/h virgin? No
First kiss💋: 65% (84%)
First time they have sex: 86%
First time they say "I Love You": 91%
Noteworthy Chapters🔥: 14, 20, 23, 25
Kinks: dirty talk, praise
OW/OM Drama? No
H/h cheat? No
Time apart? No
Did I cry? No
Ending: HEA 🥰
Standalone/Series? Yes to both
Epilogue? Yes

⛔️ My reviews can sometimes contain spoilers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Elena Armas, and Atria Books for a digital reviewer copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I needed a good lighthearted romance today. This is my first book by this author (but The Spanish Love Deception has been on my shelf for a long time!)

I struggled to read this initially - something about the dialogue was too corny for me….yet as the characters grew and revealed more of themselves, so did this dialogue and internal monologue of Josie. I enjoyed the spicy banter, the protectiveness of Mattie-Boo (😂) and his willingness/ability meet her and care for her where she was at.

Formal review to be posted on Instagram

#TheFianceDilemma:⁣
⁣
Thank you so much @atriabooks #AtriaPartner @simon.audio for my gifted copies!⁣
⁣
“Beautiful things shouldn’t be boxed. It eventually dims their light.”⁣
⁣
I love a fake date/fake fiancé situation. I also am thrilled we got to go back to Green Oak. I really fell in love with the place and glad we got another view of the quaint town.⁣
⁣
A few things I just adored: no third act, no miscommunication. If Matthew Flannigan was going to do one thing, it was make sure Josie knew his feels. We do get some fun mixed media as there’s a podcast surrounding Josie and her daddy issues. ⁣
⁣
I loved the audio. Brittany Pressley is one of my favorite audiobook narrators, so I will always choose an audiobook she is going to read. ⁣
⁣
Overall, a solid listen (and read!) out now!⁣
⁣
QOTD: What are you watching?! ⁣
⁣
I’m usually offline during the weekends, and with the Olympics, I’m definitely cheering more than reading!

The Fiancé Dilemma is another tropey romance with all the feels from Elena Armas. And let me tell you, Elena knows how to write a book boyfriend. She is the queen of swoony men who sweep our heroine’s off their feet. And Matthew in The Fiancé Dilemma is no exception!

He was a bonafide dreamboat! And he really saved this book, if I’m being honest. I didn’t love our FMC Josie as much as I would have liked to – she’s hesitant and a people pleaser and hasn’t dealt with the issues that caused her to become a runaway bride not once but four times.

Did you catch that? This book is a runaway bride premise, which honestly was super fun. And our hope-filled but avoidant FMC was the perfect set up for funny, sexy and loyal Matthew to swoop in and sweep Josie off her feet. I wasn’t sold on the book at first, but once we started learning more about Matthew and Josie began opening up to him as well, I was totally on board. This book features the swoon and spice that readers have come to expect from this author and also the heartwarming conclusion.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it, but I still think the previous book in this series, The Long Game, is my favorite of Elena’s. I’d recommend starting there, since those events happen first. If you love that one, definitely keep reading and dive into this one!

Huge thank you to Atria Books for my free e-arc of The Fiancé Dilemma in exchange for an honest review.

When Josie's rich father PR strategist thinks Josie is engaged, but Josie is too embarrassed to tell her the truth. Josie pretends to be engaged to her sisters best friend and he goes right along with the deception. Soon the whole town and even her sister thinks they are engaged.

The one thing I missed is the draw between being friends or strangers to the spark and heat. The way they were talking right off the back never had tension cause they seemed like they were together. I felt like I missed something in them actually establishing they were together and it wasn’t fake.

Somehow even though it was 300 pages and things felt long and tedious something was missing in their relationship or story to fully immerse in the story.

Having read and enjoyed The Spanish Love Deception, I was excited to dive into Armas' latest. Unfortunately, this was just okay for me. It was a little too cutesy, Hallmark-y for my taste, but I could see where fans of Sarah Adams' When In Rome series would be a fan of this book as well.

I didn't read the first in the series and it didn't feel necessary to me. She easily helps the reader be introduced to characters that were in book one and you can understand what is going on easily with little confusion, which I was thankful for.


**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

HI ALL, THE FIANCE DILEMMA IS FINALLY OUT IN THE WORLD!!!! If/when you read it let’s gush over Matthew together my DMs are always open😘❤️

This is book two of my fave @thebibliotheque ‘s series and it is just perfection! A blurry meet cute, the infamous run away bride (always engaged never married), siblings best friend, fake dating/engagement/wedding, small town but big gossip, the MMC and his glasses….I could seriously rave about this book for a whole year, but i digress. Just know you need to read this book!

5.0⭐️

Thank you @atriabooks for the gifted pr package for this book!

This was cute. The story felt much more fleshed out than The Spanish Love Deception, which I appreciated. I struggled with the cheesiness of some of the dialogue, especially from Josie. At some point it felt juvenile, which was in direct contrast with Matthew's wittier, more flirtatious banter. That said, Matthew is what kept me reading. I loved his attitude, how he was described, and how he was so sweet and tender with Josie. The invisible string moments were some of my favorites and made the slower parts of the plot worthwhile. This was definitely a more lighthearted romance, and a great summer read. I think my rating would be higher if I felt more strongly about the side characters and themes. I saw personal growth in Josie but honestly it felt back-heavy at the end of the book and I was kind of confused as to what was going on for a bit there. But I'd still recommend this to friends who like rom-coms!

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

A solid 4.8/5 ONLY BECAUSE Bobbi Shark as a character overall added nothing, especially when the “bombshell” was revealed (also same feeling about the podcast, the writing felt too cheesy). OTHERWISE I loved this book. I love Matthew. I love Josie. I love Grandpa Moe. I love Green Oak. I wasn’t sure what Josie’s path would look like for her fifth engagement, but the storyline was unique AND authentic. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Elena armas always nails fake dating its literally her forte this book was AMAZING amd spectacular, although the start was a little slow and dull the rest of the book got better as it progressed

I enjoyed this book, but it’s not my favorite from Elena Armas. The story was sweet but never gave me that vicarious falling-in-love-feeling. Some of the writing felt choppy and disjointed throughout, which took me out of the story for a minute, and some inclusions like the pig and goats felt like they were just there because animals have previously worked well in Armas’s books; they felt trite rather than whimsical and fresh. The spice is this book is next level though; Armas definitely delivered there!

I had to DNF this book after a few chapters. I've heard good things about this author, but this one was not for me. I found the pacing to be rushed and I really struggled with the inner monologues feeling cringey and "overly quirky". This just missed the mark for me and I couldn't continue reading.

This is a blend of fake engagement, second chances, and the complications of newfound family. Josie Moore, after four failed engagements, finds herself faking a romance with Matthew Flanagan, her sister's best friend, to save her family's reputation. Matthew, recently fired and down on his luck, agrees to play along. The setup is charming, with Josie and Matthew navigating their small-town lives while pretending to be in love. As expected, the lines between reality and pretense blur, leading to unexpected emotions. The chemistry between the characters is palpable, and the humor and warmth make this a thoroughly enjoyable read. A perfect mix of heart and humor.

Josie finds herself in a difficult situation when her estranged father decides to include her in a PR campaign. . She has been engaged 4 times but doesn’t want that to be the focus of any publicity. Instead, she decides that it is better to be engaged again. . This time she talks her sisters best friend, Matthew into pretending to be her fiancé. The wedding plans start to get away from her as when her father’s assistant takes over the wedding planning and sets a date—-within a few weeks. Matthew doesn’t seem to mind but as the date gets closer and the two become closer, feelings start to blossom. Are Josie and Matthew ready to walk away from each other after this charade has ended?

Matthew and Josie had great chemistry and the story was really sweet. This is a perfect summer read —small town romance, fake dating and a dreamy love interest. I liked this a lot more than The Long Game, the first in the series. My favorite character from that book was Josie though so I am probably a little biased.

4 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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