I really enjoyed this book! Josie and Matthew had such good chemistry together and they had really fun banter with each other! I thought the fake dating shenanigans were so much fun! Matthew was such a good MMC, I loved how he follows Josie’s lead and does everything he can help her! I thought the small town vibes were so much fun, I loved how close knit the community is! I thought the podcast parts were really creative and really helped move the plot along!

💖 Tropes
-small town romance
-fake dating
-engagement of convenience
-slow burn

**I received an advanced copy for review.**

I can’t explain it, but this book feels very New Girl. Josie is sort of bubbly and quirky, and Matthew is more Winston than Nick but it sort of works?

This is a light book to get through, perfect if you like cutesy, funny (occasionally silly) people fake dating with a cast of funny small town characters.

3.5 stars rounded up. Thanks to Netgalley, Atria Books, and the author for the ARC.

I read the two books in this series back-to-back, so I had the characters and town all fresh in my memory. We met Josie, sister of book 1’s Adalyn, and their surprise shared father Andrew. We also met Adalyn’s bestie Matthew. Matthew is one of those outgoing folk who everyone loves and goes with the flow, writing for sports magazines and always on the road.

Matthew comes to small town Green Oak to visit his bestie and visit the newfound sister he’s sure is the girl for him, even though they’ve never met or spoken, and in one blurry, rainy glance across a driveway when she seems to be getting harassed by some strange woman, he falls into somehow being her fourth fiancé and is immediately taken by her. Then the wedding is suddenly being planned for real and everything is in fast forward…

This storyline is fun, unique and excellent. It’s so well written. If you’ve read Armas’s earlier books, you’ll know she’s a beautiful storyteller. The characters have so much depth, they’re so dynamic, and I really loved how their instant friendship developed over time from the fake engagement into the something more, how it did - it was perfectly paced and I just absolutely adored every moment. Steam level fit it exactly right.

I completely and totally recommend this book to one and all! If you enjoyed her other novels, this is by far and away the best of them all - and I’m not just saying that because fake relationship/fake engagement is my favorite trope, it’s because it’s truly her best work.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Atria Books, and this is my honest feedback.

I got about 100 pages into this book and I am putting it back on my shelf for now. I realize at this point that this is a single POV book, and it is on me that I assumed that this would be dual POV like The Long Game. For me this was a deal breaker because I loved both Josie and Matt as side characters and was so excited to get into Matt's head, but we don't get that in this book. I did enjoy their characters for how far that I did get, and I may pick it back up in the future, because I think the chemistry is great and they are both so funny - and Grandpa Moe as well - but for me I need both POVs to really enjoy a contemporary romance. I am still going to give it 3 stars for the parts I did read I did enjoy, but I am going to pause it for now.

Josie has been engaged 4 times but never gone through with the marriages-each time she’s ran away at the altar just like runaway bride. Her father Andrew is a famous multimillionaire that’s had some bad PR lately so he sends his people to her neck of the woods to see if they can stir up some kind of good stuff for him. At the same, her sisters best friend Matthew turns up at her door and she pretends that they’re engaged because she happens to be wearing one of the engagement rings so that the PR will not make anything of that and for some random reason Matthew decides to go along with it.
Sadly, the characters fell flat for me. The FMC is written like a bratty 12 year old and we don’t really get a lot of back story on the MMC (maybe you need to read other books by the author?) and it took forever to get to any sort of intimacy despite the fact that they were pretending to be engaged.
This just wasn’t a good one for me
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

This swoony fake engagement, dual POV Runaway Bride reimagined romance grew on me as I got to know Josie and Matthew better. Josie was scared to take the plunge and has left four other fiances at the alter and then her absentee father reaches out through his PR person who mistakenly assumes she's engaged again.

Enter Matthew, the hapless man who gets roped into playing Josie's fake fiance but ends up falling hard for her and helping her see that she deserves to be loved for who she is. Matthew was TOP NOTCH book boyfriend material and I ADORED him!!

This was also excellent on audio narrated by one of my very favs, Brittany Pressley and Zachary Webber. It also featured great cameos featuring Josie's pregnant half sister and her new husband who starred in The long shot and has a heartwarming father-daughter reconciliation moment.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and Simon.Audio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review! I really enjoyed this latest from Elena Armas and highly recommend the audiobook experience!

Steam level: open door

I absolutely loved the first book in the series, The Long Game was very excited for this book about some of the same characters! The story follows Josie as she gets wrapped up Into a situation with her dad, a big deal in Miami. A PR rep comes out for damage control, all the while she begins to fall in love with her sister's friend Matthew she has lied about being engaged to. There were "Hallmark" style moments, and moments that held you on the edge of your seat. It really was a perfect summer read. getting you wrapped in quickly and needing to know how it all turns out. I highly recommend it!

I am a fan of Elana Armas's books. She does romance well - and it is always a slow burn. I found myself absorbed in the story, the characters, and the writing. I was fully invested in the love story, the family drama, the small town warmth and the personal story. I enjoyed the serial engagement breaker ends up in a fake engagement - that turns into a very slow burn story. I loved the shy guy and the social butterfly female characters - their dynamic was hot and the chemistry was clear from day 1. I liked how podcasts and social media were tied into the story - that those connected to the rich and famous can't really hide. I found this to be a really well done, cute read. My only complaint is that it was very long and could have probably been about 50ish pages shorter.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

I've read every Elena Armas book that has been published, so I was excited to get this ARC. However, I could only make it through 15% of the book. I was intrigued by the plot, but the plot was too slow for me- it took me like 3 months to get through what I read, and I just couldn't get into it. It could have been better if it was more fast-paced at the beginning, because it lost me and unfortunately could not keep reading.

This book totally gave me New Girl/90s/2000s romcom vibes! Josie is super quirky and just simply adorable, and Matthew is just the sweetest guy.

📖 The Fiancé Dilemma
📝 Elena Armas
🗓️ 07/30/2024
💜 contemporary romance
📱 read on kindle (arc)
📚 book 2 • The Long Game series

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
🌶️🌶️

💭 overall thoughts:
This was adorable! It took me some time to get into at first, I had to adjust to the way Josie thinks 😅 she’s hilarious and her thoughts are so charmingly odd.

I would have LOVED Matthew’s pov, though it wasn’t too difficult to be able to tell what he was thinking… I just would have enjoyed reading more of his thoughts, especially on Josie, in each moment.

This book is totally a slow burn with LOTS of foreplay, there was so much tension between Josie & Matthew, though she was delightfully oblivious for a lot of it 🙃

tropes + topics:
💍 fake fiancé
💙 he falls first
🔗 forced proximity
💖 sister’s best friend
🌳 small town
☀️ sunshine x sunshine
💞 soulmate
🐢 slow burn
🙅🏻‍♀️ no 3rd act breakup
💜 single 1st person pov

Thank you to Atria Books & NetGalley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

First thank you to Atria books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Josie has had her share of engagements in the past but never made it to the alter. When her father announced his retirement, she realizes that she is a pr issue for her father. When matthew comes to town to visit his best friend, he finds out that he is the fiancée of his best friends sister. Will the fifth time be the charm?

What I liked: when I read the long game, I really like Josie and she was my favorite character. She was a free spirit but own her own business and provided sound advice. She was quirky but fun. I felt like I didn’t really recognize Josie in this book. I miss her quirks and strong independent streak. I felt like the miscommunications and parody of the small town didn’t work this time. It was more annoying this time. I felt like the chemistry between Matthew and Josie wasn’t there and was never fully invested in their story.

I just think this author is not for me.

Was looking for a light read. This was definitely that, the plot was meh. There was not a lot of substance.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars

The next book set in Green Oak, North Carolina is just as adorable as The Long Game. This story follows Josie and Matthew who find themselves fake engaged after Josie learns that her romantic history isn’t great PR for her no-longer-absentee father. Will the two fall in love for real?

Absolutely adorable and excellent on audio. I loved Josie and Matthew’s chemistry and the setting of Green Oaks. I would take all the books set in this town.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

SO GOOD. I am always in to read about desperate pining and intense emotions and people who have more self-control than I do, and that's exactly Josie and Matthew. The only downside of this book is that it's only Josie's perspective and I would do really bad things to read more of Matthew's, but even that wasn't enough for me to give this anything less than five stars.

Matthew arrives at just the right time to be Josie's fake fiance - her newfound father Andrew has sent a PR monster (literally named Shark) to clean up Josie's history and put spin on the building of their relationship. He's by her side - both as her sister's best friend and also because is SO OBVIOUSLY INTO HER and she takes SO LONG to see it. Matthew has such spine and is not afraid to stand up and it's one of the things that I really loved about it. Josie is kind but gets some more steel as she starts to set boundaries for her own life and needs.

I laughed out loud, I teared up, and this was not a predictable book which is always impressive in the romance genre (much as I also adore the predictable moments and dynamics) - this was so much fun, and I want more stories from Green Oak!

Elena also gets points in my book for the Boston accent attention. It's sexy. I will accept no disagreement.

Also, oddly, I would read Bobbi Shark's romance too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC.

Meh. Maybe I've done too many romances lately but this just... wasn't for me. I struggled to finish it.

I was not a huge fan of this story. It was hard to follow at times. I had to really fight and push to finish this book.

Solid 4 ⭐️

I was a little skeptical going into this book because even though I liked Armas' last few books they didn't have the same spark that The Spanish Love Deception had. I was pleasantly surprised with this book and really enjoyed it! I loved the dynamic between Matthew and Josie, they were my favorite characters from The Long Game, (even more so than the MCs) so I'm glad their personalities shined through in this book. Josie is a ball of sunshine and that made this much more enjoyable to read as this is story is predominantly in her POV.

This Fiancé Dilemma has many of my favorite tropes:
💍 Fake Dating
💍 Sister's best friend
💍 Small town
💍 Forced proximity
💍 Slow burn...I mean it, SLOW burn
💍 No third act break-up! I repeat NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP! 💕

Even though while reading this I could predict which way things were going to go, I really enjoyed this read. Sometimes you just want a sweet romance without too much angst and this one hit just right for me. There's nothing ground breaking here, and even though TSLD is still my favorite from Armas, I can definitely recommend this book for anyone looking to read a sweet, small town romance with an FMC you can actually get behind and enjoy spending a whole book in their head.

2/5 🌶️ , 2-3 open door scenes

Thank you to Elena Armas, Net Galley, and Atria books for this early eARC copy for review in exchange for an honest review.

Well, well well... Can Matthew be my new book boyfriend? This was a perfect summer read with great characters, lots of laughable and sweet moments, and a few blushable ones too! 😊 I adored Josie with all her quirkiness, and rooted for her the whole way! I may not have read the long game yet (the first book in this series) but it's definitely going on my list!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the eARC of this book.

4.5 ⭐️

- fake dating (engagement)
- found family
- sister's best friend
- small town
- anxiety rep
- no third act breakup
- 🌶: 3


First, I need it to be known that I squealed when I was approved for this arc!!! I loved The Long Game (4.5 ⭐️) and was SO excited to read Josie's story. I enjoyed this book just as much, maybe even a little more. This was a cute, emotional, hot, and heartfelt story. I heavily related to Josie, her anxiety, and how her brain spiraled (and focusing on helping others out over herself). Seeing how Matthew helped navigate that was like my dreams on paper tbh. I ATE MATTHEW UPPP!!!!!!!! THIS MAN! The way I was having real reactions to the things coming out of his mouth. Truly a fictional man written by a woman. Matthew Flanagan > Aaron Blackford-just saying. The deli scene.....yeah.

I will say that sometimes there were weird time jumps. A chapter would end in what felt like the middle or beginning of one scene and the next chapter starts in a totally different one. It would interrupt the flow for me from time to time. I also LOVED Grandpa Moe, but I feel like I wanted him to have a little *moment* at the end that never came. I'm forever wishing this was dual pov.....because if you haven't figured it out by now, I am obsessed with Matthew.

Thank You NetGalley for the ARC 💓

Once again, the fake dating trope gets me again Matthew and Josie might be one of my favorite couples yet. The way Matthew shows Josie how much he loves and supports her is just perfection. I love that he is willing to let her take the reins in all aspects of their relationship and always gives her an out if she needs it. I hated Andrew and the role he played in this book. But I guess without him, this book wouldn’t have existed. I really enjoyed this much more than The Long Game as well.


Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for this eARC