From the first chapter, Elena Armas had me hooked. Josie is totally relatable and love her and her chaos. She is a people pleaser and gives her whole heart to everything she does. So much so she has been engaged 4 times! Matthew is so swoon-worthy and is written so well. I fell in love with the two of them and was head over heels for Matthew! The chemistry between the two grows and the story is a true romance story. A must read for 2024.

Tropes:
Fake Fiancé
Sisters Best Friend

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for my copy of this book!

I really enjoyed the humor throughout this book, it kept things light and entertaining while reading it. At times I felt like there was a lot going on, so it was hard to keep up with and felt a little choppy to me. Overall I enjoyed the book, but there were some little things I didn’t love. The chapters were longer, but when I was reading them they didn’t feel long because I was into the story. I loved the tension between Matthew and Josie, you could feel it in so many scenes and their connection was unmatched!

As a longtime Elena Armas fan, this was not the review I wanted to leave.

I did not enjoy this story. I found the characters to lack chemistry. I found Josie to be quite difficult to relate to or even understand with her impulsivity and single minded decisions where she never truly considered the impact on others. It felt like Josie was suddenly an entirely different character than the woman we met in The Long Game and it made this unpleasant to read.

4 Stars!!

After reading and loving The Long Game, I was so excited for this one. The Fiancé Dilemma didn't disappoint. I am obsessed with Matthew. I loved that they had a friendship with each other and not just a relationship. We can see the bond building between Josie and Matthew. Even when he was obsessed, he still let Josie show her feelings at her own pace. I would've loved for this to of been a dual Pov so we could've got Matthew's thoughts as well. I ended up loving the second half of the book more than the first. For me the first half was too slow paced. I also feel like there were some things left out that I would've liked to see more of. Like Josie's other engagements or what went wrong.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for giving me this ARC!

Josie Moore, the volunteer mayor and coffee shop owner in a small North Carolina town, is entangled in a series of romantic misadventures. With four failed engagements and the recent revelation of her millionaire father, Josie’s personal life is a PR nightmare. Known for collecting fiancés like Thanos collects Infinity Stones, Josie’s inability to say no and her tendency to babble when anxious make her a frustrating character. Her collection of rings and wedding dresses from past engagements hints at unresolved issues, and one can't help but think therapy might be a good step for her. I'd love to see this played out in the book and build character development and the storyline.

Matthew, her sister’s best friend, steps into the picture with surface-level development, marked mainly by his blonde hair, glasses, and nice body. The depth of his character and background remains largely unexplored, making their sudden romance feel unconvincing. Despite this, there are sweet moments, such as when Matthew gives Josie his grandma’s engagement ring, adding a touch of warmth to their relationship. The book has humorous scenes, like the bathtub incident and Josie's witty grandpa, but the rushed and shallow romantic development detracts from the overall experience. While "The Fiance Dilemma" offers light-hearted entertainment, it ultimately falls short of delivering a convincing love story.

Recommend (Yes/No/Maybe): Probably not.

Troupes & Warnings:
SLOOOOOOW BURN
Small town romance
One POV (the FMC)
Sister’s best friend
He falls first

Josie hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to love. She’s been engaged four times. Now, when her absentee father, who is well known, decides to announce his retirement, she realizes her failed engagements are not good for his PR. She convinces Matthew to act as her fake fiancé, to get the pushy PR lady her dad sent off her back. However, they now have set a date for the wedding. Will the fifth time be her lucky number?

Overall, this was a cute story. The tropes were some of my favorite and the tension between the main characters was perfect. It was a single point of view throughout the book with an epilogue in Matthew’s point of view. It was a slow burn and a little too slow for my liking. I would also have liked a little more history with Josie and previous engagements. Other than that, I liked it and Matthew was a great MMC!

This books released yesterday, July 30, 2024. If you like a small town vibe, fake engagement trope, and funny banter then check this one out! Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced readers copy. This is my honest and voluntary opinion.

"Perfection might be subjective, like Matthew loved to say, but to me there wasn't a thing about this man that I didn't think was perfect."

Matthew is the new standard and Elena's best hero to date.

The engagement of convenience was spectacularly done. Going in, I thought it was going to feel more like High Fidelity or Andie Christopher's <i>Thank You, Next</i>. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a question of whether she should go back to any of her exes, but an exploration of the safety and magic of the relationship between Josie and Matthew.

Josie is so easy to connect to as a main character. Her insecurities and coping mechanisms felt all too relatable.

This is my favourite Elena Armas book out of the four she currently has published. I can't wait to read what comes next.

Mixed feelings for sure. There were definitely parts I really liked and enjoyed, but overall the pace was extremely slow and I felt like things just jumped from one event to the next with not a lot of explanation. There were many times I thought we were going to get a full scene and conversation with Cam and Adalyn and it always got cut off immediately and then jumped to the next chapter. I also realllyyyyy wanted Matthew’s pov throughout the book and not just the epilogue! I felt like I had no idea who he was as a person until the very end when all his backstory was thrown at us.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for the ARC opportunity!

This book was cute and gave me a vibe like if Runaway Bride met What a Girl Wants. It's a slow burn (which felt VERY slow at some points) fake fiance romance. The part for me that was a little strange with the set up was that there was no real reason for them to even be fake fiances. There was no reason at all for Matthew, and for her, the reason was her father's reputation and being caught with her old ring on. She easily could have just said ANYTHING else to get out of that situation, but she saw Matthew, who she NEVER met, and started the lie. It just doesnt connect for me. If anything, i would think the 5th fiance would look worse.

With that being said, we never got a real look into her 4 previous fiances. I would have liked the back story on each one, even if it was just a chapter clarifying. She is only 30, so i feel like that timeline seems important with her being engaged 4 times by then. Why does she have all the rings? Why does she have all the dresses? Why does she never explain to Matthew?

Bobbi Shark has a ridiculous name and is equally as ridiculous. I could not stand her, and she was so unreasonably abrasive. Scenes with her did nothing but make me angry. And I never understood why she was so headstrong to help her dad's reputation. The same dad who literally was never there for her. And then it took her so long to realize he deserved none of her time. I didnt get it. He should have earned that, not just blindly given it because the tabloids caught wind.

Here are some random thoughts as well:
The animals have the best names. It always made me laugh and i loved it.
Thinking "Goodness me" in the middle of a spicy scene had me cracking up. Are we 80?
Finger Sucking is so weird, im sorry but it is.
The nickname Baby Blue is chef's kiss. I really loved that.
The phone scene? Absolutely. I ate it up.
No 3rd act breakup? YES THANK YOU.
Matthew is the golden retriever star of the show here. I wish we had gotten dual POV, because i loved him and wanted more of him.

This is the first Elena Armas book that I have absolutely loved. The main characters were so intriguing and I loved the plot line. I am a sucker for an fake engagement type of book and this one really did it well. I can not wait for other people to read this one!

I loved the author’s last book, The Long Game, and couldn’t wait to read this. While it wasn’t a five star read like the last one, it was still really enjoyable. I especially loved Matthew’s character. He was just so positive and treated Josie like a queen. I love when he stood up for Josie.

Josie doesn’t have a good track record with engagements. She has had four of them end. Now, when her absentee father decides to announce his retirement, she realizes her failed engagements are not good for his PR. She pulls in Matthew to act as her fake fiancé, but they end up setting a date because of a pushy PR rep. Will she finally make it to the altar on her fifth try?

I listened/read this book. I was a little bummed as it says narrated by Brittany Pressley and Zachary Webber. I love Brittany’s narration, but kept waiting for Zachary to show up. It’s not until the Epilogue, which saddened me.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy. Thank you to Simon & Schuster Audio for an advanced listener copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this book! Slow burn, Small town romance, fake engagement, sister’s best friend tropes. I was hooked from the very beginning and was kicking my feet giggling the whole book. I could not put it down. The MMC Matthew was everything I love in a romance book and the things he says *chefs kiss*! Very swoon worthy! The FMC Josie had so funny and silly I absolutely loved it. The tension between the main characters was perfect. The side characters had me giggling so much. This was just a perfect romcom and so easy to read.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my review. My opinions are my own.

I need to preface this by saying I have an extreme ick for the estranged father reunification trope. I don’t think shitty dads should ever be given second chances (hi, daddy issues) A LOT of the plot is rooted in this. The resolution of the father/daughter issues is kind of open ended??? Fellow daddy issue baddies read at your own risk.

If you were charmed by the small town of Green Oak in The Long Game there are still a lot of quirky characters popping up in this one. At the beginning we find Josie in the middle of a dilemma (pun not intended). She’s on her front steps when her newly resurfaced famous dad’s publicist shows up. She is questioning her about how she has been engaged 4 times but never married. Josie happens to be still wearing one of her former engagement rings and insists she’s engaged again. To who? Oh…that guy on the street right there! Luckily it is mutual friend Matthew, but he’s not quite keen on this plan.

Matthew and Josie had great chemistry, but they spend a lot of time diddling each other instead of having conversations. I’m a smut lover but dang.

i was really excited to receive this ARC and dive into reading it but I just had a hard time pushing through. I almost DNF which would have been a first for me. I pushed myself to finish but the story did not get any better. The book was way longer than it needed to be and i and felt like just dragged on. I'm sure most people out there will like the book, but this just wasn't for me.

A handsome fake fiance? What a dilemma! I enjoyed reading the next in this "series" from Elena Armas! While it could be read alone, the correlation between setting and characters to her previous book, The Long Game, was so fun!

[3 Stars🙂] If Runaway Bride and 27 Dresses had a movie baby but starred Jessica Day from New Girl. The Fiancé Dilemma had all the makings of a great romantic comedy but didn’t quite make it there in my opinion. The story felt all over the place and chaotic, and I really struggled with Josie’s character. New Girl is one of my favorite tv shows of all time so I’m used to the “quirky, adorable girl” archetype, but Josie pushed my limits of likability, and sometimes crossed into straight-up cringey and painful. There were so many times throughout the book where I questioned what Matthew saw in her enough to want to fake an engagement with her.

However, I do think there were a couple of redeeming qualities in The Fiancé Dilemma, and they both had to do with Matthew. Unfortunately, he was a good character trapped in a mediocre story. I liked him a lot, and I think I would have liked this book more if it had been a dual-POV with Matthew to temper the moments of second-hand embarrassment from Josie. I thought he balanced her very well and helped her character growth, and there were some really sweet and endearing moments to show the depth of his feelings for her.

I also thought that Elena Armas did a great job with Matthew and Josie’s chemistry. There were so many moments where the romantic tension between them radiated off the page, but I feel like by the time Josie realized Matthew truly cared for her that she reciprocated those feelings, the story had progressed to far and I had lost interest and wasn’t as invested in their relationship.

Overall, I thought The Fiancé Dilemma was fine, but when I I think back on my read, unfortunately what I didn’t like about it outweighs what I did. I’ve read all of Elena Armas’s books to date and I might have to finally admit that she’s not the author for me.

+A HUGE thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of The Fiancé Dilemma! All thoughts in this review are my own.
____________________________________
Details:
💘Contemporary romance
🎈Romantic comedy
🏡Small town romance
👀Single, first-person POV
🌹No third act breakup

Characters and Tropes:
🥸Fake dating/engagement
🪢Family ties (half sister’s best friend)
💙He falls first

Spice:
🧨Slow burn
🔥Explicit content (hot)
____________________________________
Emoji Ranking System:
🤩Excellent to Fantastic (4.75-5.00)
😍Very Good to Great (4.25-4.50)
😊Good to Really Good (3.50-4.00)
🙂Just OK to Decent (2.75-3.25)
😒It's A No (1.00-2.50)
🚫DNF

The Fiance Dilemma was such a fun and light romance that encompassed the "Fake Dating" trope without being too Trope-y.

The main characters Josie and Matthew have to convince not only their entire small town but the tabloids as well that their love is "real" until...well you know how fake dating goes. If you liked other books by Armas you will enjoy the character crossover "cameos" but this book can be read standalone and does not need to be read as part of a series.

Huge Thank you to Atria Books for the ARC of this fun romance. I can't wait to recommend it over and over again. All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this one. After The Spanish Love Deception, I’ve found it challenging to connect with the rest of Elena Armas' novels. The Fiance Dilemma had its moments but left a bit to be desired. I enjoy rom-com with some unrealistic scenarios, but this one felt a bit too far-fetched. The engagement of the convenience plot wasn’t entirely convincing, and the situation with the dad felt a little off. Plus, the multiple engagements she’s already had added to the complexity. A lot was going on, and at times it felt like it dragged on with everything happening all at once.

That said, the audiobook lifted my experience. I was about to DNF it at 36%, but hearing that Zachary Webber was going to narrate it kept me going. Although he only narrates the last chapter, it ended up being the best chapter of the book. Brittany Pressley did a wonderful job; she saved the book, in my opinion. I think this story would have benefited from a dual POV to better understand the characters and believe in their chemistry.

Despite some of the issues, there were aspects of The Fiance Dilemma that I enjoyed. One thing Elena Armas consistently excels at is world-building. The feeling of a nosy, close-knit small town was wonderfully portrayed, and I always felt like I could jump into her little world.

All in all, it was an ok book. I highly recommend listening to The Fiance Dilemma rather than reading it.

Josie has had multiple engagements, but it’s never worked out. Her rich absent father comes back into the picture when he decides to retire and a magazine publishes information about Josie’s failed relationships. His PR rep meets with Josie to do damage control. She panics and sees Matthew, her best friend’s brother and introduces him as her fiancé. Will they go from fake dating to tying the knot?

Thanks Net Galley, Elena Armas, and Atria for the ARC! Pub date 7/30/24!

I'm sorry for what I'm about to do here, but it has to be done.

I find this book a little baffling. I enjoyed The Long Game and meeting both Josie and Matthew and the book that was clearly being set up between the two of them. The thing is, though, that if you are going to do a book with fake dating/fake fiance then there has to be a good reason for it. Josie seemingly feels the need to enter into this arrangement because she is worried about...checks notes...ruining the PR of her absent millionaire father who she just learned about. And Matthew? There is literally no reason given for him taking it as far as he does. It's sincerely baffling. I think this book would have benefited from being dual pov because even after finishing it, I have no idea who Matthew is. He wears glasses, he's hot and he is from Chicago.

And Josie. I'm not sure I've ever been acquainted with a more grating character. I think Armas means for her to come across as like...small town quirky? Instead she comes across as naive and silly. She is explicitly told, don't talk to the press. What does she do? immediately talk to the press. This isn't a book. This is a series of inexplicable story beats like, goat yoga and talking about a chicken because these are things people do in small towns I guess. There's no falling in love, there's just the inexplicable decision to enter into a fake engagement that escalates to literally a fake wedding with no one stopping at any point to question what is about to happen or put a stop to it all.

It is introduced that Josie has had four previous fiances. And you know what? This is never really talked about. Who are these people!? how does she have five fiances before she's 30? She also has kept the rings and dresses for all of them and in one scene, we are told she is going to tell Matthew about the dresses and then it like...FADES TO BLACK? This is important! Why would you withhold from the reader all this backstory? Isn't it important??

At multiple points in this book, it is pointed out that Josie perhaps is not only naive but also maybe has some root, daddy issues. This is never delved into meaningfully in any way despite the fact that it is glaring. Again...a BAFFLING choice.

This is a weirdly slow burn for a book that becomes borderline supernatural at the end with all this bs about soulmates.

I'm not trying to be mean. I wanted to like this book. I've enjoyed Armas' other offerings but this entire book from top (why would she think jam would work to get a ring off? Why was she trying on her rings anyway) to bottom made me so angry that it actively put me in a bad mood today. I should have dnf'd this book, but I was hoping I would get some clarity and instead I am leaving more confused.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.