4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Fiancé Dilemma is a must read if you love rom-com vibes, a fake engagement trope, sister’s best friend and a lovable small town!

Josie Moore is a beloved, small town coffee shop owner and has been engaged a total of four times. She recently found out about her famous father and now she is in the media spotlight as his secret child. Under the media scrutiny, she realizes her failed engagements do not cast her family in a good light and she decides to tell the PR specialist she is engaged once again. Enter adorable, handsome Matthew Flanagan, who also happens to be her sister’s best friend. Matthew agrees to be her fake fiancé and help turn the situation around. In a small town, word travels fast and everyone is invested in Josie’s fifth engagement. Will Josie be able to convince the media and her town that the engagement is real to save her reputation? As Matthew and Josie’s connection grows, the lines and rules they set begin to blur and their charade might just turn into something real.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the privilege of reading the ARC copy of The Fiancé Dilemma! Grab your copy when it comes out on July 30, 2024 💜

Not my favorite Elena Armas book but definitely still good. I'm trying to think back to others and I don't remember them being as verbally spicy. More narratively spicy and not dialogue. Either way I think Josie and Matthew are adorable and it was great getting to see characters from the previous book in new situations. Elena Armas will always be a must read for me. I enjoyed this one.

I really enjoyed this book from the start. I thought the characters were delightful from the beginning. I love fake dating, so I was loving their banter and interactions. I did end up loving Matthew a lot more than Josie. I didn't like how Josie dealt with her trauma at the end of the book (dressing room scene). I really thought she was going to overcome and have her happily ever after in a different way. However, I still really enjoyed this book, and I recommend it to anyone that likes a fast paced, faking dating romance.

I really enjoyed reading The Fiance Dilemma by Elena Armas. It's my second book of hers and having previously read The Long Game #1, it was a nice tie to see recurring characters again. This is absolutely a standalone book though. You just get some bonus treats if you have read the first too. In this book, we meet Josie and Matthew. Josie is a little like Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride, which is even mentioned in the book. Both her and Matthew have their issues, but a fake engagement and PR craziness make their lives even more complicated. I love fake engagement stories and this one also has second chances and found family. Josie and Matthew have great banter and a lot of steam, making this book a fun read!

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5⭐️

Okay, I really really loved this book! Josie and Matthew are fantastic and I'm always a huge fan of the fake dating trope. Honestly Matthew is a dream. I think the premise of this story - including Josie's four failed weddings - was really cute. The end result was a funny, spicy/sexy and beautiful story about finding love and soulmates.

I think this lost the .5 star for me just because it felt loose at points? Almost like not everything was there that I needed and things just jumped quickly at other points. Maybe that was from a lack of reading the first book on my part, but it did feel a little... short? Not fully fleshed out? I'm not sure.

I loved everything with Josie and Matthew. It was the other characters and relationships that didn't feel fully formed.

Overall, a really great romance novel though!! 😍🧡

I did not finish this book. The plot is pretty ridiculous and unbelievable and found the main character really annoying. I know other readers love Elena Armas writing but I’m beginning to think that her books are just not for me. I do like the cover, though.

Elena Armas again wrote a book that makes me fall in love with all the characters. The Fiancé Dilemma is funny, both of the main characters are so lovable, and I read through it so fast. I loved Josie and Matthew’s interactions and how they played off each other’s wit and banter. Can’t wait for her next book!

At times predictable, at time surprising, yet always enjoyable. Elena’s books are so comfy to read and have the perfect level of spice and always leave you hoping for the HEA for her characters.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This book unfortunately just not for me. I found the FMC to be kind of insufferable. The main issue being that the entire plot of this book was such a self manufactured problem. She let two complete strangers, her dad that she never met and his PR agent, completely steamroll and dictate her life. And she played along and essentially forced Matthew (she literally would not take no for an answer after he said it multiple times) to play along as well.

I also just didn’t understand the logic behind the fake engagement plot. Josie had already been engaged 4 times and that’s caused such a the solution is to get engaged a 5th time and not get married…???

I would like to note that this book is said to be able to be read as a standalone but I definitely disagree. I think you have to read The Long Game to understand the family dynamics between Josie and a few other characters. I felt like I was missing out on a lot of information there.

Thank you so much to Atria and NetGalley for a copy do the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Matthew and Josie might be my favorite Elena couple yet! He was so protective of her and truly saw Josie.

🌸ARC REVIEW🌸
Thank you @netgalley and @atriabooks for my copy of The Fiancé Dilemma that comes out on July 30!

Wow I absolutely LOVED Matthew as a MMC. Honestly he’s probably in my top 10 of favourite book boyfriends. I loved the banter, I loved the golden retriever vibes from Matthew, and Josie was a super cute FMC!

BUT!I wanted to beat the crap outta Willa and Bobbi but whatever lmao.
My one gripe is wow are these books ever slooooooooooowwwww burn lmao, so if you’re not in to super spicy books, this would be a perfect one for you!

What you’ll find in The Fiancé Dilemma:
🌸found family
💍fake engagement
🌸small town
💍no third act breakup

This is a sequel to The Long Game (Sept 2023). In that book Josie Moore was an unknown sister to the FMC. Josie was an oops child from a one night fling of a wealthy man. She has never met her father, even after her beloved mother passed away.

The story is a bit convoluted as her dad decides he wants to retire and have a positive family image for his own PR. But Josie is caught off guard by his PR hire and claims to be engaged and greets a stranger as her fiance. Matthew Flanagan is actually her half sister’s best friend and was coming to stay in her husband’s house. For his own reasons he decides to play along and act the part.

Josie clearly has daddy issues and it manifests in the fact that she has walked out on four previous fiances. She is quirky and prickly and I don’t think it is as charming as the author intends. Armas’ writes longer books, and if I’m committing to read 432 pages I want a lot of story for my time. There is a nice amount of heat and Matthew is great but I felt like I could have skipped 100 pages and still had the same book. Personally I liked the author's Spanish Love Deception series more. There are still entertaining moments and I like seeing the main characters from the previous book as well.

DNF. I think it’s time Elena Armas and I part ways. I loved the American roommate experiment, but this one I just cannot. These are grown adults using child-like language. It’s a no for me dog. The words canoodle, sweet baby pie and mattsie boo should not be coming out of an adults mouth. It’s just ..yeah it’s not for me
.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.
Josie Moore has given love a chance and failed, many times. When her estranged father decides to announce his retirement very publicly, she realizes she may cause him a PR nightmare. Matthew Flannagan is out of a job and trying to find himself. When he gets stuck in the mud, literally, he goes in search of his best friend's sister. But he falls into her orbit and gets drawn into a fake fiance scheme. Matthew doesn't mind helping Josie out by becoming her fifth fiance. But neither realize their fake arrangement might very easily turn into something very real.
If you read the first book in this series, The Long Game, you met both Josie and Matthew. It's no wonder Armas wanted to tell their story after introducing them to us!
I enjoy Armas's books. They are cute and fast reads. The romance is always fun with good chemistry and just the right amount of angst. Her pacing keeps me wanting to turn the pages and find out exactly what happens next. And her stories do not rely only on spice, there are emotional aspects that she always hits on that are important to the characters. She also knows how to weave in a good amount of comedy, making me giggle throughout the story. But she also has a knack for giving you realistic drama and characters that are relatable.
Josie is definitely wounded when it comes to love. She's fighting abandonment issues which have lead her to leave a few fiances at the alter in the past. I really enjoyed watching her realize what her needs are when it comes to love. She's also fiercely independent. She's made her way in the world without a father, since he did not acknowledge she existed until recently, and essentially without a mother since she died when Josie was quite young. Matthew is our golden retriever main man. He's the perfect mix of sexy, smart, and protective. He is very tender and yet, underneath his good boy exterior lingers this seductive and spicy side that is brought out when he and Josie are together. And his patience, oh man does he have that when it comes to Josie. So willing to let her take the lead and give her whatever she needs to be comfortable with him.
One thing I will mention is Aramas's writing style. Even though I've read several of her books, I fell like every time I start one I have to get used to it. It comes across as just a bit choppy at times which is hard on a romance for me. I was happy she included a chapter from Matthew's POV at the end. However, I'm not really sure what the point of it was. I wish we had his POV the entire time. I feel like I would have gotten to know him much better if I were inside his head a bit.
The story was a delight to read. It's not my favorite by Armas but I'd would recommend it to anyone who loves a slow burn, quirky romance.

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of The Fiancé Dilemma!

I always find Elena Armas to be such an incredible storyteller, and her books are so funny and genuinely so entertaining from page one. I was in love with Matthew literally from his first appearance, and I felt like Josie had so much growth throughout the duration of the story. The finale of The Fiancé Dilemma had me weeping and kicking my feet in pure joy because I felt like Josie and Matthew truly got the conclusion they deserved.

I did struggle with the fake-dating elements of this book because I felt like Josie was incredibly selfish and failed to consider how this situation would impact Matthew, BUT I think her development throughout the story helped me connect with her.

Overall, I had a fun time reading this one and I can’t wait to see what Elena writes next!

The Fiancé Dilemma is the second book in The Long Game series by Elena Armas. It follows frequently engaged Josephine "Josie" Moore and recent Green Oak transplant Matthew Flanagan.

Our small-town heroine Josie is many things to Green Oak, NC. The problem is she also has a bit of a reputation; frequently engaged, but never a bride for reasons. Even from her small hamlet, word has a way of getting out, especially when her absent father is a powerful mogul. Now caught in a PR nightmare, Josie makes a rash decision---a proclamation and a lie, that she is engaged to the first man in her line of sight; one Matthew Flanagan, who also happens to be her sister's best friend. Roped into a fake engagement and upcoming nuptials, Matthew and Josie play the part. Until they both realize that maybe, just maybe, they aren't actually playing at all.

Besides a few odd plot choices that did have me scratching my head, I enjoyed this book. All the characters were fun (Pedro 🐷😂). Josie was vulnerable with a lot of heart. Her backstory really lent to her reasonings behind all her previous engagements and why they ended the way they did. I also appreciated how much, and how deeply, she cares for and loves her sister and her whole town. Her bruised heart was always on display. Speaking of heart, I do love a golden retriever MMC and Matthew was TOP TIER. He was endlessly supportive and a thoughtful, absolute sweetheart. It was so clear that he was all in from the beginning, and who doesn't love that?

The romance. The steamy scenes. The banter and mishaps. The hurt/comfort. Overall, The Fiancé Dilemma is a cute rom-com that does the fake engagement trope right!

Tropes:
👰 Fake Engagement
☘️ Slow Burn
👰 Small town
☘️ He's a glasses-wearing, golden retriever MMC
👰 Sister's best friend

Enjoyable contemporary romance, heartwarming. This is 2nd in a series, I did not read the first. Absolutely possible to enjoy this one if you haven't read #1, but it sounds like a great story that has now been spoiled, but that is ok. Josie has been engaged 4 times and left 4 to-be-grooms. She is the voluntary mayor (?) of a small town in North Carolina and owner of a coffee shop. What female lead isn't the owner of a coffee shop!? Her half sister Adalyn she met last year. Josie found out she is the daughter of a famous multi-millionaire businessman. Josie doesn't know their father, but needing PR help he is paying for her wedding to her fifth fiancee, Matthew.

-Also- Male lead is Adalyn's best guy friend. Matthew Never Matt. (I hate this).
-Features a teacup pig named Pedro Pigscal. (I love this)
-I can always get on board with a fake engagement trope.

The scene where the fake engagement is agreed upon is in the first few pages, it seems to be a way out of an awkward conversation at best. It seems strange that this very short conversation would result in such an elaborate ruse. That isn't quite believable, but it does create the friends-to-lovers, Bridgerton season 1 fake engagement type which we all know and love.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review, thanks to #netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Book to be published July 30, 2024.

This book had many of the tropes that I normally gravitate towards, but the execution fell short. I felt disappointed considering that Elena Armas’s last book The Long Game was my favorite of hers. I was looking forward to reading Josie‘s story after getting a glimpse of her character in that book. In the end I felt that Josie deserved a better story. I had a difficult time connecting with the characters in the book, particularly Matthew’s character. I don’t feel like the readers got to know much about him and how he developed feelings for Josie. The same can be said about Josie as well since we never get to understand the root of her problem and her multiple failed engagements. Their love story just didn’t seem believable. There were also quite a few moments that made me cringe and I had to skip through multiple pages.

3/5
Thank you for the advance copy.
Starting on the first page I was so confused how these characters knew or didn’t know eachother. It only became apparent later in the book that they had never actually met but had been texting due to a mutual sister? The whole connection there took a while to understand and right off the bat, caused me to be a little disappointed in the book.
I really wanted to love this book and maybe it has to do with the fact that I read it on my phone as an advanced copy and not a physical copy, but I was disappointed.
I struggled with this one a little bit. I couldn’t connect to the characters and wasn’t really sure what the point was from the storyline. The interactions between characters feels awkward and there wasn’t any romance or much sexual tension. The daddy issues were over the top for me and caused Josie to be more annoying that she already was. Everything felt fake and I was bored. It took me a while to finish this one.
The book is about Josie, is in the middle of PR problem. Her father, who she only recently discovered is very rich and Josie’s four failed engagements are reflecting bad on him. As Josie has this problem, a man who is supposed to be staying with her (unsure?) shows up on her doorstep at the same time as Josie’s father’s PR specialist is interrogating her. Josie quickly lies and says that the man walking to her door is her new fiancé and this time it’s for real… but HE has no idea. He goes along with it.. and that’s pretty much the whole book.
I’m not sure why all of the sudden they are reflecting bad on him if she only found out he exists a year ago? There was a lot missing to this background for it to make sense. Why does he agree? There wasn’t enough romance to make it believable that he fell for her right away. Also where did the long lost sister come from? The whole thing was so confusing, I wanted to know more about the why.

Josie Moore, coffee shop maven and mayor of small town Green Oak, North Carolina, has found herself in a bit of a pickle. It’s been one year since she discovered her bio dad is wealthy business tycoon, Andrew Underwood. It seems she’s become a bit of a PR nightmare, since the media discovered Josie has left four fiancés at the alter. She’s been branded a runaway bride with daddy issues and that’s a problem for her high profile father. Backed into a corner by her father’s shark of a PR guru, Josie accidentally gives the impression she’s engaged…again! And to her newfound sister’s best friend, no less. Matthew Flanagan is recently unemployed and licking his wounds in Green Oak when he unexpectedly finds himself pulled into Josie’s high jinks. Now they must navigate a fake engagement, an off the rails wedding extravaganza, and their growing feelings for each other. Will their charade solve all their problems or will they find themselves in the middle of an unmitigated PR disaster?

Elena Armas brings emotional depths, sexy shenanigans, and heart in The Fiancé Dilemma. Josie and Matthew are both a little broken down and wounded by out of control events in their lives. Happy, sunshiny Josie runs herself ragged being all things to everyone in her orbit. Matthew finds himself adrift when he has to decide between his job and his own moral compass. They find each other at some of the lowest points in their lives and in need of emotional support. Matthew gives Josie the safe space to put herself, her wants and her needs first for once. Josie shores up Matthew’s flagging spirits and confidence. They are so good for each other. Armas writes great characters with strong character arcs. They are characters you can root for, laugh with, and sigh over. In fact the whole town of Green Oak is populated with these fun and funny characters making the story even richer. The humor interwoven with the serious aspects of the story provides a more in depth, layered book. A perfect blend of serious, spicy, and silly.