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!

I loved this one. I found myself reading slowly so it wouldn't end. Matthew was just so down bad and I love that. He had me swooning a few times. It was quite spicy, not necessarily my speed but I know people will love it.

There is just something about a slow burn, fake engagement that is just *chef's kiss*.

Josie was one of my favourite side characters from The Long Game, to see her get her own story of love and individuality was amazing. The struggles that she overcomes and the steps of courage she takes are beautiful.

Matthew very quickly took my heart out. The way he would joke and be such a ray of sunshine, then how quickly he could shift into protector and fighter on behalf of Josie was everything.

The love story these two characters embodied is completely their own. The unexpectedness of the ending was exactly what Matthew and Josie deserved. The only downfall is the chapters can be on the longer side.

A quick light hearted read.
Matthew is every man every girls dreamed of, he says all the right things and it nothing but supportive and distracting. Josie is one of the most relatable female characters I’ve read in a long time. Together, they are perfect but do they realize it ?

I wished they had dual points of view so we could hear more of Matthew’s feelings but overall, the book started quickly and continued to progress at the same speed making it an easy read !

The book starts off with one of my least favorite tropes, miscommunication. I had a hard time staying invested so I think this wasn't the book for me at this time.

Elena Armas never disappoints me with her addictive writing. Her stories are always full of humor and swoon moments. The Fiancée Dilemma was a fast paced read and I really enjoyed the concept of fake engagement. I have to say Matthew will forever have my heart because he was so adorable. I really enjoyed the romance between Matthew and Josie but it did take a while to get there. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review! I can wait to get a physical copy.

DNF @15% I couldn’t keep reading this. I don’t like to dnf this early in a book just to see if I can give it another chance but I don’t want to waste my time with this one.

The writing style is terrible (for my preference) the fmc act and think like a child, it’s just Josie pov so I feel like I’m never going to understand Matthew.

It’s just messy in all senses, I’m sorry, I’m sure that there’s going to be a lot of people loving this book but it just wasn’t for me.

I have never read any book by Elena and it’s going to stay that way.

Thank you netgalley for the arc

3.5 ⭐️

This was a super cute fake dating/engagement story. I overall enjoyed the story, but thought some parts weren’t explained enough.

I think anyone who loves a small town setting and this trope would enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

These books just keep getting better & better!!

This love story is so sweet, and so pure. I'm usually an enemies to lovers girlie but this friends to lovers relationship stole my whole heart.

As a pathological people pleaser (iykyk) I heavily related to Josie's character and struggles. I loved reading her thoughts and growth as she learned to choose herself first.

Matthew. Mattsie-Boo. I don't even have enough silly goofy lovey words to describe this man. Absolute perfection

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to @netgalley for this
ARC. The scream I scrumpt when I got this email!!! I will forever be a @thebibliotheque stan!!

Josie is a small town mayor who has recently discovered the identity of her long lost father. He's a big deal, and despite not having had a relationship, she decides to stage a fake engagement with Matthew to help her father's PR campaign. Unfortunately, she has a terrible track record when it comes to engagements, breaking off four in the style of Julia Roberts' character in "Runaway Bride"! Matthew is a sweetie, though, and wants to help her. Their friendship quickly escalates into scorching chemistry. But what can they do about it, when it all has an expiration date?

So, I ADORED Elena Armas' The Spanish Love Deception series. This particular book, The Fiance Dilemma, is the second in The Long Game series. The Long Game was half fantastic, half a bit flat in my opinion. This book performs in much the same way for me. I had a difficult time liking many of the characters, and I didn't find the fake engagement storyline to be super compelling.

Their chemistry was great. Any scenes where Matthew and Josie got to explore their feelings were super fun. And I was glad that Josie got to have her happily ever after!

Bottom Line: If you enjoyed the movie "Runaway Bride" and like a small town romance with plenty of steam, then this book should deliver!

I'd like to thank Atria Books and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

The amount of sexual tension in this book... my god! It's amazing. I loved reading every second of this book. I loved the banter between Matthew and Josie. I love a good marriage of convenience and watching a man fall first. air was everything I wanted in a book. I don't know if I've ever been so close to combusting from a book before. I did not read The Long Game before reading this so it can be read as a standalone, however I will be picking it up as well as the rest of Elena's work because Damn! Also Matthew is a national treasure.

Thank you to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the arc.

i enjoyed the spanish love deception, but i DNFed the long game. i was hopeful i would like this one more, and while i did enjoy it more than the long game, i did find the plot a little lacking. it was a fun romance read and i’m glad i read it, but i would recommend the spanish love deception over this one

A cute, fun romance with a fake engagement. I loved Josie’s quirky personality. I do feel like it was a little hard to get to know Matthew (the MMC). This one really pulled together in the end and made me really enjoy it!

I loved this one more than The Long Game, so it’s absolutely worth reading if you’re a fan of this author’s first 2 books but didn’t love The Long Game.

Thanks NetGalley and Atria Books for a copy of this book!

The vibes were VIBING - 5 stars.
The plot was not plotting - 3 stars.
So, drumroll...4 stars!

I've loved Elena Armas' stories and characters since one of the bookstagram bloggers I followed (hint: Elena Armas) first started posting snippets of a little story called the Spanish Love Deception. Fast forward, and I believe in Josie and Matthew's story she has showcased how truly talented she is at writing incredible relationships filled with chemistry. I believe she has only continued to grow and I am so excited to see what comes next.

My only issue with this one was the plot. It seemed choppy, and was sometimes hard to follow what was going to happen when, what was driving it forward, etc. But the chemistry between Josie and Matthew was so strong, and each character in general so captivating, that I couldn't help but be drawn in regardless.

I can't wait to hold a physical copy in my hands next week!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Firstly, I really like Elena's stories! Sadly, I don't think I had the time to appreciate this one. Took me a while to get into the reason why Matthew would be so devoted instantly. I guess I was waiting for something to click in that way. The story definitely felt better (and hotter) by the end.

Thank you to Elena Armas, NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read an early copy of The Fiance Dilemma!

Josie Moore, with four failed engagements and a recently revealed absentee father, faces a PR nightmare when her father announces his retirement with a splashy magazine piece. Meanwhile, Matthew Flanagan, jobless and stranded in Green Oak, North Carolina, encounters Josie, his best friend’s sister. Mistakenly introduced as her fiancé, Matthew agrees to play along. This fifth engagement, though a stunt, adds to Josie’s complicated romantic history. Despite the temporary arrangement, and the town's belief that the fifth time's the charm, Josie struggles with the prospect of yet another failed relationship while Matthew embraces his unexpected role in her life.

3 stars from me!

What I liked: The balance of the characters was clear from the beginning - Josie is chaotic, scatterbrained and gets in her own head, while Matthew is calm and stabilizing. It felt like a good match early on. I enjoyed the funnier, more uncomfortable and awkward parts of this book - insert the Bachelor/Bachelorette leap and catch at the local baseball game, the literal cock blocker (I'm talk about the chicken!!), and the many attempts at a suitable nickname. All of the references to the Premier League and the local youth club warmed my heart as a soccer fan.

What I struggled with: I found I had a tough time with this fake engagement plot. It felt forced and confusing. I couldn't really understand why Matthew agreed to go along with it, and then also why he got really (REALLY) into it. It would be one thing if he was just really into Josie, but leaned way further into the engagement bits than I would have expected. That said, I also felt like I couldn't get a good read on Matthew's true personality. It felt like it kept changing. Especially during the spicy bits! It was like reading about an entirely different leading man and took me right out of the story.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read, but not necessarily one I would recommend to others. I've heard that The Spanish Love Deception is a winner and I'd be inclined to give that one a go because the readers who adore Elena Armas always talk about that one!

I went into this book with the LOWEST expectations after hating the first book in the series (in my defense - I did not realize this book was part of a series when I requested the ARC, but then of course had to read the first book before this one so I wasn't going in blind), so I was pleasantly surprised that this one was not as much of a dumpster fire of a read. What the first book was lacking in plot and chemistry, I thought this book did a much better job of accomplishing. Is it in the running for a romance novel favorite? Absolutely not. But I did enjoy it more than I thought I would.

When Josie Moore unexpectedly finds herself in the middle of a PR nightmare when her estranged father, Andrew Underwood, real estate mogul and owner of the Miami Flames soccer team, comes back into her life, she needs a distraction. Enter her sister's best friend, Matthew Flanagan, and a fake engagement to get eyes somewhat off of her. The problem? She's already been engaged. Four times. And she's left every man at the altar. So no one actually thinks she's going through with it - not even Matthew or Josie themselves - but they'll fake it as long as they need to, if not just to get Andrew's horrible PR manager off their backs.

I do love a fake dating/fake engagement trope. It's a "we'll pretend we're dating out of mutual convenience/benefit" type of situation, and I think that's what allowed the chemistry to develop a little bit better here, whereas it came out of nowhere in book 1.

I am glad I stuck it out because this book was not a bad read by any stretch of the imagination, but I still found myself not being entirely wowed by it. Whether it's a lack of connection to the characters or just my general dislike of rom-com style romances, it skews on the lower end of 3 stars for me.

Oof. I was excited to get this ARC because I've heard a lot of great things about this author and had been recommended some of their other books. I wanted to like this book, I really did, but I genuinely almost stopped reading on the SECOND PAGE because it was just so awkward and cringe worthy. I painstakingly made the decision to keep reading and regretted it. I did not enjoy this book at all and will not likely read any of the authors books. Honestly, the writing is just not good.





Thank you to NetGalley & Atria for the ARC

3.75 stars ⭐️

I wanted to like this more & was thoroughly intrigued with the premise, but this just didn’t hit me the way I hoped as Elena’s other books did. I love love loved TSLD & TARE!

Josie’s character was extremely colorful & not completely a bad way, but her character was almost too “pop cultural” to me. she just seemed to really care about certain things in the wrong way in my opinion.

matthew, oh boy, did I love him though. the sweetest man on earth & honest to god too perfect in so many ways considering the extreme circumstances & things they went through in the beginning. but he was a sweetheart & I loved his character in the book.

the first about 30-40% of this book was slow & lacking in some ways for me, but it started to get much better coming to the mid point of the book & I started getting fully entranced at this point. the second half of the book definitely had me feeling much better about it & I ended up loving the ending & the finality of the story, the second half definitely gives you more appreciation towards the entirety of the book’