I sadly struggled hard to read this book, I DNF’d at 37%. I was so game for the small town romance, fake engagement, 90s rom com vibes but I struggled. I enjoyed bits of it, the banter coming from Matthew to help give off the “we are in love” vibes was great but Josie, it felt like she was missing something. I also struggled with the writing style, I didn’t get roped in and it felt flat, nothing against the author, it just wasn’t my style.

Elena Armas does it again in this heartfelt fake engagement romance. We all fell in love with Josie and Matt in The Long Game, and now we get to watch them fall in love when Josie hatches a plan to fake an engagement to calm Bobbi Shark. Who knew the tension in a he falls first, friends to lovers could be so good?

I love Elena Armas so much! Her romances are so great to read when trying to get out of slump and you don’t want something super heavy. After reading the long game earlier this year I was so ready for Josie’s story! Can i say her inner monologue was so real lol! It was so realistic to how my brain works it was kinda scary. Matthew ahhh Matthew!! Love him so much! The fake engagement was done so well and I can’t wait to read more from Elena!!

She has written another amazing book!! Matthew is funny and charming. Josie convinced him to be her fake fiancé to help fix a problem that her father caused and she feels like she needs to fix. As the time to the wedding gets closer Josie starts to fall for Matt and doesn’t want to hurt him.

The book was a great read and I’m very thankful I got to read it early.

The Fiance Dilemma was such a fun summer read. I have been a huge fan of Elena Armas’s writing and was super excited to receive an eARC of this book.

The beginning of this book at first seemed so rushed; however, at the end of the book this all made sense. I first off want to say how much I loved the side characters (I’m talking about you Moe). I also love a good fake dating trope. This book follows Matthew and Josie who both come from a small town. Josie is Wonder Woman who own’s a coffee shop, town mayor, caregiver to Moe, and the list goes on but Matthew accepts her for all of it.

I feel like Elena did a fantastic job showing what a healthy relationship looks like between characters. Matthew gave Josie space when she needed it, was the perfect gentleman, and what it looks like to come to a relationship with a past. Matthew is probably one of my favorite romance fiancés to date.

There was a lot of character growth in Josie that I loved. After having 4 failed engagements she at first propositions engagement to Matthew but throughout the story she finds that pleasing others isn’t what was always best for her which I loved. And in the end I LOVED how Matthew protects and lifts her up. Hands down one of my favorite couples in a while.

This was such a good book. Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this eARC I enjoyed it!

A small-town x fake engagement romance novel with quirky characters and family drama. When her famous absentee father is exposed in the media, Josie's usually small-town casual life is interrupted and her past relationship drama is also exposed. With the help of Matthew, her sister's best friend, the two make an agreement for a fake engagement to hold the media over until they can figure out what to do next. Little does Josie know that Matthew has had an ongoing crush since first hearing about her from her sister. The boundaries of the fake relationship get tested as real feelings arise. I would recommend this novel to fans of fake dating, independent FMCs, and found family.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first one in this series, BUT this one was just so sweet! I love a fake dating trope. Some of it seemed just a bit far fetched, but I don’t have a millionaire father so I guess I can’t judge 😂 I want to take Grandpa Moe home with me. Very cute story and characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and the author for this ARC.

If you had asked me when I read the Spanish Love Deception, if I would have LOVED this series the way I do, I would have given you a resounding no. But each book has gotten better and better, and Josie and Matthew’s story is the best one yet,

Josie doesn’t give herself credit for how emotionally strong she is, and Matthew thinks people won’t like the serious side of him. I loved watching the way they learned these sides of each other and grew together and made each other stronger. Not to mention, Matthew and his glasses are 10/10 hot, perfect book boyfriend, no notes.

Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes and this fake fiancé scheme is an incredible version of it. The way they stumble into it is a tad unbelievable, but their chemistry is so intense and fun and sexy that even early on, you just believe they’re perfect together. I’m so glad they didn’t turn physical too early, because I really loved watching their friendship grow during that slower burn.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but the beginning was problematic. Josie feeling pressured to fix her estranged father's PR issues made no sense since she barely knew him. Bobbi's unpleasant behavior was also frustrating, and it's unclear why Josie, who wasn't a pushover, didn't stand up to her sooner. However, once the story focused on Josie and Matthew's fake engagement, it became much more enjoyable. Josie's quirkiness grew on me, and Matthew was a great character. I loved the ending and how everything resolved. Despite its flaws, I still recommend this book.

💍 Book Review 💍

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinions.

Publication: July 30, 2024

Rating: It was okay!

Things I enjoyed:
🔔 The humor and chaos of Josie & Matthew! There were a few times that I found myself snickering

🔔 Matthew was such an amazing character in my eyes. He was a calm force for Josie which she needed.

🔔 The side characters! I think my favorite was Grandpa Moe

Things that didn’t work for me:
💍 Barely any chemistry between Josie and Matthew

💍 Not enough depth to the characters

💍 Story seemed all over the place

For fans of:
🔔 First person POV
💍 Singular POV
🔔 Small town
💍 Sister’s best friend
🔔 Chaotic FMC
💍 Sunshine x sunshine
🔔 Fake engagement
💍Slowwwww burn
🔔 Previous Elena Armas books

🛑 Trigger Warnings 🛑
⚠️ Parent abandonment
⚠️ Death of a parent (mentioned)

The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas 💜
The Long Game, Book 2
Interconnected Standalone

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Adult • Romance
ARC Review
432 pages
🗓️ July 30

💍 fake engagement
💜 he falls first
💍 small town
💜 best friend’s sister
💍 slow burn
💜 no 3rd act breakup

📌“You’re not what I expected. And at the same time, you are.”

📌“Those are the best things to fall in love with. The ones we find accidentally.”

📌“We wouldn’t have an aesthetic. Beautiful things shouldn’t be boxed. It eventually dims their light.”

Uhm mm. Yup. Yes. Very much so. I loved this one probably as much as I loved Spanish Love Deception. Not sure if it’s the fake dating/engagement or the MCs dynamic… but both books are now roommates in my head, rent free.

Of course, I had completely forgotten this was book 2 in the Long Game series of interconnected goodness 🤌🏼 Elena Armas is an auto buy author for me so as soon as I saw this one available, I applied. Immediately.

It was only when I started reading and saw Josie, Matthew and a cute little small town with a stubborn rooster and the most adorable 11 year old that I realized I was back where I met Cam and Adalyn. But sorry guys, Josie and Matthew stan here. They are my favorites and nothing could possibly change that 🫶🏼😌

Josie was absolutely hilarious. Effortlessly too, I should say. But that POV change nearly undid me… in all the good ways a “he falls first” can 🥹😭

Julia Roberts has nothing on Josie.

In case you haven’t noticed… I’m team Josie all the way 😜

Duncan is worse than Andrew. And that’s something. Oof, I needed to get that out of my chest 😓

Not that it matters, but isn’t the cover pretty?! I love it so much 😍

I really wanted to love this one, but for some reason Matthew and Josie’s story felt so fast for me. I think I needed like a months before, meeting to buy into their story more! I did love the banter, but some chapter just ended so abruptly when I wanted to hear more about that plot. I still enjoyed this and the premise was so entertaining, it just fell a little flat for a slow burn.

This was a very fun book to read. Josie is so full of light, and Matthew is a knight in shining armor.

They're both so cute you should hate them, but you can't. Underneath all that light in Josie is layers of insecurity. Matthew is exactly what she needs to see who she truly is. He's almost too perfect, but I'm choosing to look past they because I enjoyed the book so much.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster audio and @Librofm for the ALC! Thank you to @Atria and @Netgalley for the eARC!

I love Elena Armas’ romances and this may be my absolute favorite by her. Matthew is SUCH a great MMC and he and Josie make such an adorable match. I love that this featured the couple from The Long Game too and we got more of that small town vibe. This book had me swooning, smiling, and laughing out loud at times. I’ll read anything Elena Armas writes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing the ARC.

The Long Game was one of my favorite reads last year, so I was crazy excited about this Runaway Bride-esque sequel. Matthew was absolute perfection in this book, from the beginning right to the very end. There wasn't much lead up to Josie ending up in her predicament, but Matthew very much came to her rescue immediately. And stayed there.

Josie was a hard read for me. She obviously has a lot of unprocessed emotions from her past breakups and from her parental abandonment. The fact that her whole relationship with Matthew was connected with a PR nightmare about to explode only exacerbated her issues. The PR manager and her dad randomly showing up made it all that much worse. So it was no wonder she was skittish around Matthew and unable to fully trust what he was telling her.

This book has everything you'd expect from an Elena Armas novel and I ate it up. If you enjoyed her other books, this one will not disappoint you.

Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes. And I love a good slow burn when done right, this slow burn was BURNING. Worth it, though. Matthew and Josie had so much tension between them, I mean, can you say engagement shoot at the fence? 😮‍💨 For someone who was pulled into this relationship on a whim, Matthew had very little reservations about it. I found that pretty interesting, I’d probably have fought the idea a little more, but I guess that might be hard when your name is out in the media so fast (thanks Bobbi 🦈). One thing I enjoyed in their relationship was how they formed a friendship, a true bond as they continued their fake engagement.

Overall, very enjoyable! Thanks for the ARC Atria Books 🫶🏽

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.5⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
Okay but Matthew is the sweetest most supportive book boyfriend and I love him

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Engagement of convenience
Family drama
Sister’s best friend
Slow burn
Podcast scenes
Small town
Romantic comedies
He falls first

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
No third act break up

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
I wanted to more of Matthew’s family
I wish it was a little more fast paced

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ “Sweetheart. It wasn't the word that bothered me. It was the way he said it. Like someone who wanted to protect me. To spare me the heartbreak.”
★ “Only a fool would wait when there’s something so precious to be claimed.”
★ “Beautiful things shouldn't be boxed. It eventually dims their light."

This was quite the sweet story. I am a sucker for fake engagements. However, Josie was almost a bit too quirky to be enjoyable and some of the crazy shenanigans seemed too over the top. I really liked Matthew but wish the stereotypes and quirkiness would have been toned down a bit. Also I would have loved to see more cameos of previous characters.

This book was quite the slow burn. The female main character had me feeling all kinds of ways. She’s got a lot of emotional baggage, which makes her interesting but also frustrating. Leaving someone at the altar? Come on, that got old pretty fast.

But the fake dating in a small town? That was pure gold. Watching them pretend to be in love while their real feelings slowly came to the surface was super entertaining. The small-town setting was charming, and the quirky townspeople added some great laughs and warmth.

Now, the male lead—wow. He was almost too perfect. Kind, patient, and just flawed enough to be relatable. I found myself cheering for him the whole time. Seriously, are all fictional guys this great, or am I missing out in real life?

This book was a mix of humor, fake dating, and the charm of a small town, making it a fun read. If you’re into modern romances that make you laugh and feel, give this one a try.

Thank you so much to the publishers for this read. I truly enjoyed it. EA is a great author and creates amazing characters and scenes on a page. I didn’t necessarily connect well with these characters sadly and am giving it 3 stars. Would definitely recommend others to read it though!