thank you netgalley for the e-arc. i had previously read armas' work with the spanish love deception and the long game and thought it was good and could be better. the fiance dilemma did better! one of my critiques is the POV is just josie and she acts and reacts immaturely sometimes, we never get to see anyone else's perspective. maybe matthew would have reacted to things differently, worse or better.

Elena Armas did it AGAIN!!!
Thanks to Netgalley, Atria Books, Simon and Schuster and Elena Armas for providing me with this ARC!
I feel so privileged!

I am a huge fan of Elena Armas and obviously I really liked this book! Three months after reading I still remember every detail and I remember those days spent reading it as carefree and very funny days as well as the book that made me kick my feet and giggle a lot. (nostalgia is hitting so let’s move on)…
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The Fiancé Dilemma is a sequel to The Long Game (which can also be read as a stand-alone) that features Josie, Adalyn’s sister, and Matthew or Adalyn’s best friend. In the book you can find a small town fake engagement romance , a second (or better fifth) chance to love, a super hot blonde MMC with glasses (yes, the glasses did the job and made me obsess with Matt), a lot of spicy scenes (open door) and so many fun and crazy moments that made me scream so much!!
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I loved going back to the world of The Long Game and I love Elena Armas’ writing style, it was a very fast reading that I would have liked to last forever!! The characters were all great and Josie and Matthew’s chemistry hits the roof, putting each chapter into flames, everything was so intense and extremely hot
And Grandpa Mo/Maurice was one of the greatest supporting characters i ever read!
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Thanks to netgalley, atriabooks and the author for providing me with this e-ARC on my birthday... it was one of the most beautiful gifts ever!
The Fiancé Dilemma comes out everywhere on July 30th! Listen to me, you can’t miss it, run to pre-order it!!!

Btw I need a Matthew in my life… please!

This one hurts. I love Elena, but this was not it. The plot was terrible. She doesn’t even really know the dad and know she’s supposed to care about his reputation so much that she’s getting fake engaged?? What?? Matthew just pops up out of nowhere and we love him? And he agrees to the fake relationship because….. There was zero foundation for that love interest. And last but not least, Josie was ridiculous. Immature and annoying. I had to DNF. I simply couldn’t continue.

Thank you Net Galley & Atria Books for this ARC!

Josie is a small-town coffee shop owner & mayor that has had her fair share of failed engagements. Unfortunately that isn’t a good look for her very wealthy and influential father… that she has never met. When put on the spot by her father’s PR agent, she is forced to introduce Matthew as her current fiancé. Matthew hesitantly agrees to put on the show with her until her image is fixed.

I was not a fan of the writing style at first, but set it aside for a week and came back to it with a fresh perspective. Once I was able to listen to the audiobook along with the ARC, I was FLYING through it. Matthew is such a sweet MMC and knows exactly how to approach Josie and all her fears. I always love a good fake engagement, but the added long term pining on one of the main characters part just made it so much better!

2.5 stars. I have put off writing this review because I do not want to review an Eleana Armas book so low. It pains me to do so. The Spanish Love Deception and The Long Game were both 5 star reads for me. I don't know what happened with this one, but this was not Armas best work. The Fiancé Dilemma was such a slow burn, and it did not hold my attention very well. I didn't care for the characters or the storyline. I did like getting to check back in on Adalyn and Cameran from the first book. I love the cover! This one definitely fell short, but I loved her previous books and I'm not giving up on her.

Thank you, NetGalley, and Atria for a copy in return for my honest review.

If you like fake dating/engagements, small town romance, and books where he falls first then this book is definitely for you! The quirky towns people reminded me a lot of Gilmore Girls which I personally love. Josie and Matthew had such great chemistry but also a solid friendship underneath the romance. I loved how Matthew was FULLY in Josie’s corner no matter what got thrown their way. Matthew saw right through Josie and did not let her push him away. I loved every minuet of this book highly recommend.

Thank you Atria Books for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.


This is the sequel to The Long Game which I absolutely adored. Josie was such a memorable and funny character and I was so excited for her story. Josie’s world implodes because of her father and the world finds out she’s been engaged several times but never made it to the altar. As a result, she and Matthew enter a fake engagement. ⁣
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The chemistry between Matthew and Josie was perfect. They know each other through Josie’s sister/Matthew’s best friend Adalyn. Matthew was absolute boyfriend goals. He wanted to be there to support and care for Josie no matter what. I loved seeing their relationship develop. ⁣
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I loved seeing Adalyn and Cameron and how their relationship has progressed. It made me want to reread the Long Game.

Pick this up if you love:
- fake dating/engagement
- sister's best friend
- he falls first (and hard)
- spice

I absolutely loved the main characters in this book. So cute! Unfortunately, the premise for why they had to be fake engaged made no sense to me, so that kind of put a damper on the whole book for me. But I know a lot of people loved it!

This book brought me back to Green Oak where I fell in love with Josie and Matthew. They are obviously soulmates and I loved seeing them go from fake dating or in this case a fake engagement, to a real relationship. They are made for each other and are soulmates. Matthew saw Josie for who she was, flaws and all, and wanted her for her and to choose herself and what she wanted. They had great chemistry and good banter. We also can’t forget the steaminess between these two. I also loved the snippets of Adalyn and Cameron in this book.

Overall, I loved this romcom and recommend it!

Title: The Fiance Dilemma
Author: Elena Armas
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Josie Moore has given the opposite sex—and love—plenty of chances. Four exactly, if you count all her failed engagements, and five if you include the absentee father who kept her existence a secret until very recently. So when her father decides to announce his retirement with a splashy magazine piece about the family, Josie realizes her romantic history is a complicated PR issue.

Matthew Flanagan is in the mud, literally. Not only has he been fired from his job, but also the tires of his car are stuck in the muck after taking a wrong turn as he enters Green Oak, North Carolina. So, he grabs a duffel with his essentials and goes in search of a place to crash until he gets his life back on track. But instead, he finds his best friend’s sister, Josie, greeting him as her fiancé.

What starts as a big messy misunderstanding quickly turns into an arrangement with Matthew playing a new role as doting fiancé. A fifth engagement—and a stunt, at that—makes Josie’s stomach turn, but every dilemma requires a choice between equally undesirable alternatives, and Matthew doesn’t seem to mind becoming one more number in a colorful list of grooms-that-never-were. Despite the ring on her finger, Josie knows this is only temporary, even if the rest of the small town believes that the fifth time’s the charm.

This book was so much fun! Josie’s voice was so funny to me, and the situations she landed herself in had me laughing out loud. I loved the chemistry between her and Matthew and enjoyed watching it grow. I thought her fear of marriage was a little…random and pointless, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this book.

Elena Armas is a bestselling author. The Fiance Dilemma is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Small town, Slow burn, He Falls First, and Fake dating ... say lessssss. Our MCs Matthew and Josie were so sweet, I loved them! Well done on another stunning release Elena.

I loved this companion to The Long Game! Elena Armas does it again! I loved jumping right back into the town. I connected with both our MC right away and they truly felt so real to me. Josie was a true ray of sunshine and Matthew was just a cutie little golden retriever! This one had all my fave tropes- Small town, Slow burn, He Falls First, and Fake dating so of course I loved it! The humor in this was also top-tier. I had to reality-check myself because I was literally laughing out loud at times and it was literally words on my screen. I am laughing at WORDS. And girl... the SPICE WAS SPICING!!!!! Best of all, there was NO third-act breakup! Also, this is of course almost unrelated but the cover on this one was nearly PERFECT!

This wasn't my first or last book by Armas and I love her writing! Thank you to the publisher, Elena Armas, and Netglley for this ARC!

The Fiancé Dilemma is the second novel in the Long Game series, although it can be read as a standalone. It follows Josie Moore, who is the sister of the main character from the first novel. They are the daughters of Andrew Underwood, who owns the Miami Heat soccer team. Due to a misunderstanding with Andrew’s PR strategist, Matthew Flannagan ends up posing as a fake fiancé to Josie. Their banter was hilarious.

It was a fun Runaway Bride retelling. Just like the movie, Josie believes she is in love until she walks down the aisle and makes a huge spectacle.

I am not a huge fan of “ toxic parents” in books cuz I read for escapism, but there was still missing details. I didn’t understand why she wanted to cooperate with him.
I also felt Matthew and Josie had good chemistry but it was still missing something. It would have been nice to have more of Matthew’s perspective and more details about Josie’s engagements.

Overall, it was fine. Like her past novels, it was heartwarming, humor, and a touch of spice. I liked reading more about the charming town and side characters.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Josie Moore has always been a runaway bride. Following the discovery of her wealthy and well-known father, who never saw his children grow up, her four fiancés, whom she abandoned at the altar, have been thrust into the spotlight.

In an attempt to preserve his reputation, he sends his assistant to conceal the publicity issue. Josie is so frightened of Bobbi Shark that she cries out for him to stop when Matthew happens to walk by. With the intention of chasing Bobbi away, Josie calls out to him and persuades him to join her as her new fiancé. Except that things are getting worse because of the rumors of her new engagement.

Soon, Matthew and Josie come to an agreement to call it off after pretending to be involved in some kind of redemption. With just two months to go before the wedding, Josie and Matthew find themselves embroiled in media attention and questioning whether their romance will endure at all.

They become extremely close as a result of their fictitious engagement, and a romance blossoms. Considering everything that is going on, they quickly fall in love.

I can't stand Elena Armas's love for ellipsis anymore. Every time I had to read "I..." I cringed. It was just so grating. I know it's a small thing but it bothered me a lot. On "The Long Game" I could handle a little bit better because I liked everything else more. But I found it really annoying.

I hated how Matthew already started calling Josie sweetheart since their first interaction. His insta-love (it felt like insta-love to me) felt so forced since the beginning for me. Josie was written to be so quirky and so immature that she reminded me of the manic pixie dream girl that feels so fake. It was exhausting being in her head.

I usually like the fake relationship/marriage in romance books. But this plan made absolutely no sense. Josie was going to help chage her image as someone who broken engagements by pretending to be engaged and then breaking that engagement? And honestly one of the antagonist is a podcast who is doing a series about Josie? Why care that much?

The Long Game I liked the characters and I liked the relationship even though there some things that annoyed me a lot. In this one, I couldn't find anything to like.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

This one was so cute! Fake dating/engagement is one of my fave tropes and I loved it here. I just wish we had Matthew's POV throughout the book because he was down bad for Josie! I loved the glimpse into his POV at the end and the bonus chapter of the paperback and definitely would've enjoyed having his POV earlier.

Poor Josie has been through it and now she's a bit of a PR mess for her uber-rich dad that she only recently came to know. When a PR specialist is sent to try to help, she sees a ring on Josie's finger and makes an assumption that sets this whole thing in motion. When Josie's sister's best friend visits, he seems the perfect candidate to help Josie get through this situation. Little did she know not only was Matthew just a good guy who would've helped her anyway, but getting to fake date Josie was basically a dream come true for him!

Elena always nails the humor and banter and this was no different. This was a fun, easy read!

Thanks to Atria and Elena for this ARC!

I enjoyed The Fiancé Dilemma a lot more than the first book - The Long Game which I actually ended up dnf'ing… I mean there are still quite a bit of cringe moments but I could push through it. The story was sweet, and I adored Josie and Matthew's scenes together, but something about the writing was just boring at times; a slow progress that I started skimming the last 20% of.

It's a pretty decent plot for an engagement of convenience trope. There were quite a few moments where I felt bad for Josie, but Matthew is a complete starstruck gem that just made him the perfect match for her.

*𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯-𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸*

I didn't love this one, especially compared to the first one in the series. The characters felt SO shallow.

I went into this one hesitantly. I enjoyed The Spanish Love Deception but did not care for The Long Game. This book is the second in The Long Game series. Fortunately, where that book went wrong with its unlikable characters from the get-go, I adored the main female and male lead. I loved the one point of view, which kept me guessing, and the quick and fun running commentary. The fake engagement troupe is not for me – but I suffered through it. The spice was present but not a massive part of the story. I recommend this to someone looking for a Hallmark, small-town romance. You do not need to read the first book to enjoy the second.

Quick recap without spoilers:
Josie Moore is a strong single woman who is a business owner and the mayor of her small town. Her engagement count without a marriage is up to four. Her mom passed when she was younger, and she recently found out that her father is a high-profile businessman in Miami. Her half-sister’s best friend, Matthew Flanagan, shows up simultaneously as Josie’s father’s PR fixer…who assumes Matthew and Josie are engaged. The two play along to appease the media. But when is the right time to stop playing and start making life decisions?

I give this one 3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy! I will post this review on my page @onebookeachweek and my Goodreads profile.

This may be my favorite Elena Armas book! Josie is so sweet, and always puts others above herself. Which is how she ends up in a fake engagement to Matthew, her sister’s best friend— her new-to-her father (who’s wealthy and famous) sends a PR woman to “deal with” Josie after it gets out that she’s been engaged several times, making her father look bad. The solution? Another engagement, this time with a wedding that goes smoothly.

Except Josie is fake-engaged to Matthew, who she’s beginning to fall for. Meanwhile Matthew becomes protective of people-pleasing Josie, just wanting what’s best for her, not the people she’s trying to pacify.

I love how these two went together. Both are golden retriever energy and utterly kind. The slow burn was so satisfying, and virtually every character had qualities that made me feel attached to them.

This is what you want to pick up for an excellent romance with perfect writing! I highly recommend — and humbly request more content with these sweet characters!