Josie falls for Matthew after they engage in a a fake dating relationship and are fake engaged. It was funny and such a great read. I loved it.

"The Fiancé Dilemma" by Elena Armas is a fun and sweet small-town romance, though it didn't fully connect with me. The story revolves around Josie and Matthew, who enter a fake engagement to help Josie's family's PR. While I enjoyed the characters' dynamics and the slow-burn romance, the plot felt a bit far-fetched.
Matthew's character was well-developed, and his evolving relationship with Josie was engaging. The podcast subplot was a distraction and i didn’t think it was so important for the overall story.
Overall, it's a light and enjoyable read, especially if you love the fake engagement trope and small-town settings. While it wasn't my favorite, fans of the author’s work might still enjoy this charming, albeit unrealistic, romance.
Very grateful to the publisher for my copy, opinions are my own

If you’re already an Elena Armas fan, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re new to Elena Armas and love a good rom-com? You also won’t be disappointed!

Is it appropriate to just scream as a review because that’s all I want to do. Truly enjoyed this book and all the quirks that the FMC had (don’t we all? She was too relatable for me not to love her!). And the MMC!?! No words. He’s definitely on my list of “fictional men who could totally pass as realistic and I wish he was real”. You know how some MMC are just WAY over fantasized and you’re like “he could never be real, but I love him anyway”. Not this one :)

**Thank you to Atria Books for giving me an arc of this book**

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This was a delightfully funny and sexy novel. I think it may be Elena Armas's best book yet!! I loved the chemistry between Josie and Matthew and I loved the twist on the fake dating trope that this book employs.

This book is a sequel to the Long Game but you don't necessarily need to read that book in order to enjoy this book. It is semi-standalone.

This book is most definitely going on my list of favorite books of 2024. I also highly recommend the audiobook version of this book!

This book is a laugh out loud funny and sexy novel that will be sure to brighten your day!

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Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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I really enjoyed this story. There is humor throughout even through some of the more difficult moments. These characters draw you in and make you want to know more. The family trauma bits and dealing with grief was super relatable.

I love a good fake dating storyline and this one was amazing. The sister best friend bit was also fun. I was happy with most of the ending even though some of it was predictable.

Thank you to netgalley for my eARC copy of this book.

Happy pub day 😻 thank you to Atria Books and Elena Armas for the ARC!

“Beautiful things shouldn’t be boxed. It eventually dims their light.”
3.5-4 stars (for now) which is no easy feat!! Of course there were a few times I cringed, of course the characters had weird qualities, and I had to read TikTok brainrot, buttt the romance was overall cute & sweet. The tension carriedddd I loved it. I really enjoyed this lovely book and can’t wait to reread!

Book Synopsis: High-profile family drama leads to a fake engagement between Josie and her sister’s best friend, Matthew. Sweet and steamy rom com joy ensues.

🥰 My Take: The characters in this book are such a delight. Especially Matthew. Wow, he is such an amazing character. Both his persistence and his words are so memorable and so beautiful. And, Josie, well, she is such a wonderfully relatable mess. This is a quick read and a standalone novel, though it does feature character cameos from THE LONG GAME.

Read THE FIANCÉ DILEMMA for
🥸 Fake dating shenanigans
💗 Cinnamon roll hero
🕵️‍♀️ Soul-searching heroine
🏘️ Small town community
🎭 Family drama

😘 Happy pub day to one of my favorite authors, @thebibliotheque ! Still pinching myself that I was approved to read this gem early. Thank you @AtriaBooks and @NetGalley for the advance ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Another great Elena Armas book! It has a cute rom-com feel, love the chemistry between the two main characters. Josie has bad luck in the dating department, she’s been engaged 4 times. Unfortunately this doesn’t help with her new information that she shares a father with her newfound friend Adalyn. Her father owns a soccer team in Miami, however press has gotten wind of this new found relationship. Suddenly, Josie finds herself in the middle of drama and what does she do to try to fix it? Well here comes Mathew, Adalyn’s best friend who’s in town after leaving his job. Josie lies about being in engaged to Mathew to try to help her image. Mathew is reluctant to go along but is given no choice once the entire town and the press finds out.

I would definitely recommend reading this book if you’ve read the first one about Josie’s sister Adalyn.

I received this book from NetGalley and gave my honest review.

Josie Moore is living her best life in Green Oak, North Carolina. She is the town mayor and runs a local coffee shop. She is beloved by everyone in the town. She is strong and independent. And everyone knows that she’s engaged to be married.

Josie isn’t, really. Not this time. This time her engagement is fake. It was a impulse based on the fact that her father’s PR rep appeared suddenly on her doorstep, needing some good news to counteract how Josie had become a media liability to her father. Andrew hadn’t been a part of her life, but he’d had a short relationship with her mother. He is an important, wealthy businessman in Florida, and a year ago he had admitted to Josie that he was, indeed, her father.

Just like that, Josie was a part of her father’s world (although not too closely, since he didn’t take the time to go back to North Carolina to see her in person). That meant she also had a sister, Adalyn, who had come to Green Oak on a assignment from her father. And it meant Josie had also became a part of the news stories about him, the paparazzi digging into her background without any consent from her. That’s how it became part of the story that Josie had been engaged four times, and never been married. She just kept leaving them at the altar.

That article brought Bobbi to her front porch, to fix the PR problem that is Josie. Josie looked up from that conversation to see Matthew Flanagan walking towards her. She knew who he was because he was Adalyn’s best friend. Josie panicked and told Bobbi that Matthew was her new fiancé. Matthew had come to Green Oak after being fired from his job. He had gotten his car stuck in the mud and was looking for someone to help him. What he found was Josie announcing that they were engaged. It took him only a second to decide to play along.

After Bobbi leaves, Josie apologizes to Matthew about dragging him into her mess, and she promises she wouldn’t make him get married. She helps him get to his house and get his car out of the mud. And when she goes into her coffee shop to offer up pastries and tasty coffee drinks for the town, she finds out that word has gotten out. Everyone in the town already knows that she’s engaged.

Josie decides to keep up the façade for a little while longer, and Matthew agrees to help her. But then Bobbi comes back with a plan for them to get married in about a month. She will work as their wedding planner, and Andrew will pay for everything. Josie keeps trying to stop this wedding train that seems to be coming for her, but she can’t figure out how to make it stop. And Matthew is there for her, asking what he can do to help and protecting her from the media. Josie feels safe when he’s around, and she can’t deny that he’s really hot. But she still has to find a way out of the wedding. Right?

The Fiancé Dilemma is the latest spicy rom com from beloved author Elena Armas. It’s set in the world of her last book, The Long Game (which I loved, so I will say to read that one too if you haven’t already), but you don’t need to read The Long Game to understand what’s happening here. The characters overlap a little, but the two stories are completely independent and wonderfully human. Josie and Matthew are a match made in heaven, and watching them come together and be strong against a world of gossip mongers and preening rich men is one I will read over and over. I fell in love with Josie when I first met her, and she just gets better the more you get to know her.

I am a big fan of the film The Runaway Bride, and it’s easy to make comparisons to this book because of Josie’s four previous engagements. There is some of the same feeling in this book, like Josie has finally met someone who sees her for herself, but paparazzi aside, there is less of the shaming and mean-spirited comments in this story, and I think that is an excellent storytelling choice. I was surprised at how readily Matthew went along with Josie’s idea of a fake engagement, but his reasons become more clear as the story goes along. I loved The Fiancé Dilemma, and I cannot wait to see what Armas comes up with next. I am all in on Elena Armas!

Egalleys for The Fiancé Dilemma were provided by Atria Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I enjoyed reading The Fiance Dilemma by Elena Armas. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

If you like slow burn then this is the book for you! If you thought the Spanish Love Deception was slow then you will be pleasantly surprised by how much you have to work for this romance. Fans of Mariana Zapata’s writing will love this book. This is the second book in the series (the first is a Long Game) but it can also be read as a standalone. This has the classic Elena writing: cheesy, banter and spice.

Fifth times the charm. Right? Josie has had a series of failed engagements but life throws her another curveball -so a fifth (but fake!) engagement will fix it. I’m a sucker for fake dating/fake engagement trope so I was very excited for this one and it delivered. Add in the small town, sisters best friend and slow burn tropes and this is the perfect romance recipe.
I adored Matthew and his considerate nature with a side of dirty talk. I didn’t know how I would feel about the podcasts and things with the plot but I really enjoyed it. The only major issue I had was with Josie - some of her inner monologues were annoying.
With no third act break up this book took the top spot in this series for me. Definitely recommend.

The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas was a breath of fresh air. The MCs in this book are just so refreshingly sweet and good in a way that I don't feel like I've seen for a while. Josie is just trying to make everyone happy, and the people pleasing FMCs typically stress me out, but it worked for me in this book. Matthew may be the perfect MC. He is the type of guy you wish you could meet and fall for in real life but don't actually believe exists. If you had had four failed engagements, Matthew would be the guy to restore your faith in happily ever afters.

Josie finds herself in a bit of a PR situation (her father's PR situation really) and decides in a panicked moment that the way out is to pretend she is engaged for a fifth time. This time to her sister's best friend, Matthew, who happened to be walking by at the moment of said panic. It is small town, fake fiancés/engagement of convenience, slow burn (but actually burns), and just an absolute pleasure to read,

Thank you to Elena Armas, Atria Books, and NetGalley for this advanced copy.

Book 2 in the Long Game series.
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💍fake engagement
💍sister’s best friend
💍small town
💍slow burn
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Is the 5th time the charm for Josie? With 4 previous failed engagements, Matt somehow finds himself Josie’s fake fiancé. Josie’s failed engagements are a PR nightmare, so a misunderstanding turns into Matthew stepping in as Josie’s newest love.
Josie definitely gives me run away bride vibes and she’s a bit of a messy character.
Overall, I enjoyed it!
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Thank you netgalley and Atria books for the opportunity to read this book!

The Fiancé Dilemma is a charming romantic comedy full of unique quirks set in the captivating town of Green Oaks, North Carolina. It follows Josie Moore, coffee enthusiast, and small-town mayor turned PR nightmare. To rectify her unseemly scandal and improve her billionaire father's and her own reputation, she publicly announces her newest engagement, after a long string of broken ones, to none other than Matthew Flanagan, her sister's best friend, and her fake fiancé.

Josie is a bundle of pure sunshine. Despite all the challenges and losses thrown her way, she still manages to find the energy to smile and be an inspiring and radiating force in her small town. However, against her father and the utter shark, who is his PR strategist, Josie is an utter doormat. I don't understand why she'd let them walk all over her when I didn't get the sense she was this type of character in The Long Game. As much as I love Matthew's protectiveness, girlie, you got to fight those battles for yourself, especially to a man you OWE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO BECAUSE HE WAS ABSENT FOR THE ENTIRETY OF YOUR LIFE.

Furthermore, I absolutely hate the resolution because it took about four-hundred pages just for Josie to realize, "Oh yes, I don't owe my absentee father anything, and if this man wants a relationship, he must work for it." Girl, ISN'T THAT A LOGICAL THING? WHY DID IT TAKE YOU THIS LONG TO REALISE THAT? I get you're a people-pleaser, but I wanted to smack a reality check into you.

Glasses-wearing Mattsie-boo is somehow a perfect dichotomy of that golden retriever type we all obsess over and a possessive one that we can't help but drool for. He served almost all of my favorite quotes from this book.

First, he's already a hero in my book for dealing with all of Josie's ramblings. You can ramble when you're nervous; sure, I do get that, but I would have personally smacked her in the mouth and not just stood there listening to her go on and on. Second, the amount of patience this man has, like, oh god, how? I would have thrown up and taken the first bus out of Green Oaks immediately.

I wish we could have gotten more Matthew chapters rather than just one at the very end because why did Cameron 'Cardboard' Caldani get more in his book than Matthew did in this one?

Honestly, it's a solid work for Elena Armas, and I understand that ARCs can get messy, so I don't know if all this will make it into the final copy, but this book was all over the place. I'll forgive it because it's an ARC. I also wanted a more in-depth understanding of Matthew and Josie's characters through a backstory and a stronger foundation for their romantic feelings. However, I did find it unrealistic that the feelings happened literally out of nowhere. They weren't there for one chapter, and in the next, they punched me in the face.

But there was no third-act breakup, and I nearly cried because I love books with no third-act breakups.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a fun and entertaining read. I enjoyed the fake dating aspect and that Matthew went along with Josie’s hare brained idea…going along with her telling her dad she was engaged to him. I loved that he stood up for her and fell hard for her. Josie was an endearing character that I loved from the get go. She was down to earth and relatable as well as funny. These two had me cracking up multiple times and the connection between them was amazing! Over all I really enjoyed this book. The only thing was I wish is that we had gotten more of Matthews point of view.

The Fiancé Dilemma is SO good! I was excited, invested, and on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen the whole book. I love Elena Armas books and The Fiancé Dilemma is now the number one book in my rankings.

Fake engagement! Pining! Slow burn! The Fiancé Dilemma has it all & so much more. I loved the back and forth between Josie and Matthew, plus the interaction with characters we have met before in The Long Game.

Elena Armas has done it again. This book was fantastic. I love catching up with characters from other books. Josie and Matthew were on fire the whole book. This is a fake engagement trope that doesn't seem so fake.

I usually enjoy dual POV but the way that she writes the point of view from the FMC and you have to guess what the MMC is thinking adds to the layers and fire in the book. The way the looks Matthew gives Josie are described had my blood thrumming. I do love MMC with glasses. They do make a man look sexier, lol.

There is such a build up that really gives the book a punch of spiciness. Elena does a wonderful job with the looks, touches, and words that you are anticipating that first kiss. I would totally recommend this book to anyone who loves fake dating/engagement tropes or romance in general.

Thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Elena Armas for the e-ARC of this book. This review is my own opinion.

I want to start off by saying that I was incredibly excited to read this book. All three previous books by Elena Armas are top tier 5 star reads for me that I could reread over and over and over again. Unfortunately, The Fiance Dilemma didn't feel like any of her previous books and missed the mark for me, which is why I ended up DNFing it. These characters felt completely different from the ones that were introduced in The Long Game, it would have greatly benefited from dual POV and the pacing was slow/a bit off for me. Still excited to see what Elena comes up with next! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader. All thoughts are my own.

I’m such a sucker for a fate dating/fake engagement trope! It always sucks me in every 👏🏽 single 👏🏽 time!! 👏🏽

I thought this book had that incredible Elena Armas flair with some quirky characters, funny moments and of course a sloooooooow burn! 🔥 It was very intriguing to get to know Matthew and Josie and seeing them work through this fake engagement together. There were many moments that had me giggling, some that had me swooning, and some that had me needing to cool off. 🥵

I did enjoy parts of the romance between Josie and Matthew, but I found the slow burn to be incredibly slow in this one! I found some parts dragged and were a little too slow burn-y for my taste. Elena Armas always does a fantastic job at creating tension between her MCs, where even the brush of a hand will have you swooning. I would have really loved this book even more if this still had all of that tension but at a little bit of a faster pace. If you’re a fan of slow burns though, then this one is it for you (or any of her books for that matter)!!

Side note: that bathtub scene?!? 🥵🫣👀 iykyk!

Thank you to Elena Armas, Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!