Elena Armas never misses! Her books always give the perfect amount of fun. Such an easy but interesting read

I thought the premise was cute and there were definitely some redeeming qualities, but overall it was a little confusing and convoluted for me. I still don’t understand why Josie’s first thought was to fake an engagement. It just didn’t make sense to me at all. Also, even though I read The Long Game, it felt like there were some missing pieces here that were maybe in the author’s head but not communicated to the reader. Ultimately, The Fiancé Dilemma was too long and not much seemed to actually happen. I do enjoy the small town vibes and characters of this world, though.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I did not rate this book online because it was a DNF for me!

I can totally see where some people could love this book, I don’t want to post online and spread negative thoughts on it, especially since it hasn’t released yet! I will post my online review a little while after the book releases.

I went into this thinking I was going to LOVE it, I honestly hate that I didn’t enjoy it…like at ALL. I wanted to like Josie especially since I really enjoyed her in The Long Game but I just didn’t connect with her in this book.

It really gave me the ick when in the beginning she asked Matt to help her and he straight up told her no… and she did it anyway. Like CONSENT! It really threw me, and then after that I think maybe I was a little off because I just didn’t feel any chemistry between them. Maybe if I would have gotten Matt’s POV it would have helped but I honestly was getting annoyed and quit about 75% through!

Thank you to Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley, for the free E-copy for review.

From the small-town setting to the fake fiance, and the quirky side characters, this book had me grinning and chuckling at Josie's antics. Matthew is a dreamy knight in shining armor, coming to Josie's rescue.

The slow-burn immersion into Josie and Matthew's developing relationship was gripping, and Josie's complexity left me eager to unravel the mystery of the modern small-town runaway bride. The inclusion of steamy scenes added sizzle to their story, and the absence of a third-act breakup offered a refreshing twist, focusing instead on family conflict.

The book's ending, delivering a happily-ever-after that suits the characters' journeys, left me thoroughly satisfied.

I felt the fake dating was rushed in the beginning and wasn’t sure I would like it as much as her other books. The story had a bit of a slow start but halfway through I found myself reading so much faster! And as the story continued, I fell in love with the characters. I loved his attempts at finding a cute nickname. (Won’t give away spoilers but the cutest nickname 💙) I know Elena was going for Matthew McConaughey vibes when she wrote Matthew’s character. And she succeeded! Love him. He was just the right amount of humble and cocky. I love small town romances. And the side characters in this book were adorable. The spice!! Omg I blushed a few times reading this. A couple of times in public 😂 And that ending - mic drop is all I have to say. I truly couldn’t get enough of Matthew. I loved the story - it really was so good! Elena did not disappoint.

Elena Armas weaves a delightful tale of fake engagements, second chances, and newfound family connections in this charming romance. Josie Moore, known as the runaway bride of Green Oak, North Carolina, has a history of failed engagements—four to be precise.

When her influential father decides to retire and Josie's romantic past threatens the family's reputation, she concocts a solution: a fake engagement. Enter Matthew Flanagan, who stumbles upon Josie and unwittingly becomes her pretend fiancé. As lines blur and the small town buzzes with gossip, readers are treated to snappy prose, steamy love scenes, and a perfect romantic hero in Matthew. Armas delivers a swoon-worthy story that will keep you turning the pages!

If you enjoy swoon-worthy stories with fake engagements, relatable characters, and steamy love scenes, "The Fiance Dilemma" is a must-read!

Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of this one. The main character was very unrelatable, naive, and over the top quirky. She just handed over the reins of her life to other people without even thinking about it and it was so frustrating! I also felt like during the story, the main character didn't really grow, all of the problem solving came from the main male character. This just felt ridiculous to me.

Besides the problematic main character, the plot just dragged. This book was too long and I found myself skimming at parts. I also, didn't believe the relationship. It seemed to go from 0 to 100 very quickly and it was pretty much all physical. Neither of the characters talked about anything deep or real and therefore their relationship felt very superficial.

Overall, I like my romances to have more depth. I don't think I'll read other books by this author.

If your manic pixie dream girl was a compulsive runaway bride but also easily recognized her daddy issues, you’d get Josie. And is there such a thing as a manic pixie dream dude? Because I think that’d be Matthew. They’re both extremely likable and easy to root for. I think the author has really grown into her writing, and I can’t wait to read more.

Josie is thrust into the spotlight when she finds out her father is the famous Andrew Underwood (her sister is Adalyn from the first book). Her personal life is now under a microscope, including the fact she's been engaged four times. To avoid any more scrutiny, she pretends to be dating Adalyn's friend Mathew. Things get more and more complicated as they keep up the ruse.

Thoughts 💭
Full disclosure, I found the first book, The Long Game, to just be ok. I've heard so many good things about this author, so I wanted to try something else by her. This one is a little bit better than the first one. Josie is suddenly thrust into the spotlight and is unsure how to navigate things. There's a lot of funny moments and loveable characters. I really enjoyed Matthew and Josie together, and the ending was so sweet. But, just like the first book, it is really drawn out, and the burn is excruciatingly slow. It was entertaining enough to read, but it didn't have that "can't put it down," feeling until the very end of the book. Others may find it more enjoyable than I did, so I wouldn't count this one out if she's a favorite author of yours.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This might be my new favorite Elena Armas book. 🥹 From the moment she hinted at Matthew and Josie’s story in The Long Game, I knew it was going to be a good one. And I was so right! Seeing them stumbling along, pretending to be engaged when they were clearly head over heels made me smile and groan so many times. But seeing them choose each other? That was the best moment, and it made my heart so full. This book has exactly what you want in a romance novel!

Rating 3.5

The beginning of The Fiancé Dilemma immediately hooked me in along with the ending. I gave this book a 3.5 mostly because of the middle. Leading up to their big event I felt like I was just getting lost on the timeframe because there was just so much happening. Besides that, Matthew was such a good MMC, I loved how he cared about Josie wants more than her past relationships and people telling her what she needed to do. Overall, I think it was good, I just wished the middle of the story flowed better for me.

Elena Armas always finds a way of making readers fall in love with characters! I loved the characters in this book and it was really well done. It’s not easy to manage to get this trope to work and she did it!

I absolutely adored this book and never wanted it to end!!

The small town vibes were spot on, the characters were all unique and fun, and the relationships and dynamics were realistic and entertaining! I throughly enjoyed the trip back to Green Oak for Josie and Matthew’s story. They are so sweet and I love a good engagement of convenience story. I beg everyone to pick up this book and witness the absolute joy of Josie and Matthew being desperately in love with each other!


Thank you Netgalley, Atria, and Elena Armas for this arc <3

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE ALL THE CHARACTERS??!! This was such an anticipating read for me! A lot of people did not like this read because they think the Spanish love deception was better but I think they fail to realize that this book was beautiful and Mathew was beautiful!

Thank you Atria books and Netgalley for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!


This is my new favorite of Elena’s!! I loved it right away. The only thing I was mad about was not having dual pov!!!! Gah I just always want both sides!


We fell in love with this town in The Long Game, so I was excited to be back. This was such a fun, unique storyline that had you rooting for them the whole time. They had so much chemistry and build up throughout the book.

I AM SCREAMING!! My favorite author CONTINUES TO SLAYYY! I don’t have words to describe my actual love for Josie and Matthew 🥹 I mean they are so perfect and I would DIE for them. Matthew is utter perfection, like chefs kiss perfect! Josie is so incredibly brave, strong, capable, and I love how real she is. The way this story is written just feels so raw and real and beautiful, I just never wanted it to end. THANK YOU for creating magic 💞

Adored this book! Matthew had a good sense of humour and very loving! Josie has an independent nature and caring side. I love a good fake dating trope! I felt like this book was a bit slow at times but I know from the Long Game, Elena Armas's style is a good slow burn.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️/5

What an absolute delight! This beauty follows Josie’s wild story after she accidentally tells her father’s PR person she got engaged to her sister’s best friend. (Did we mention that she just found out who her dad was and that he’s a billionaire?) Matthew agrees to go along for the ride, even when it’s revealed Josie has been engaged five times. Is she going to make it down the aisle for the fifth (and fake) engagement?

This book was a perfect lil romance with some of my favorites, including but not limited to dirty talk, fake engagement, weird grandpa character, caveman protective throw her over the shoulder moments. I adored it and even more so, adored Matthew. Josie’s story of trying to find herself and trust others to support her when she needs it had me tearing up. Elena Armas managed to take such beautiful, complicated character development and still make me smile and giggle through it. A perfect summer/early fall read!

Emojis to Describe This Book: 🐖(🧢🔄 )*🧁🥰👏
*this counts as one emoji bc ifykyk

This book was so so good. It is easily my favorite Elena Armas book to date. He read the longest ride. You already have a little test of Matthew and Josie, and they were easy to love in that book, but man, you fall head over heels with both of them in this book. Josie is sweet and has had a tough ride with love. Matthew comes in and he is strong and he is steady and he is caring and you just want to hug him. Watching Matthew mend Josie’s heart will have you giggling like a little schoolgirl. This book was perfect.

3.5*

I've really enjoyed Elena Armas' books in the past, but this one just didn't hit the mark for me. To start, I didn't think that Josie's character in this book matched her personality in The Long Game. The inciting incident at the beginning of this book is Josie convincing Matthew to be her fake fiancee to help her father out of a PR disaster. But I didn't think the Josie in the Long Game would let her life or anyone else's be decided by a father she just found out about. I also couldn't get past the quirkiness of Elena's writing. I thought it matched the characters of the first two books she wrote, but her writing style just doesn't match the last two FMC's of her books.

Overall though, this was a fun time, and I would still recommend it because I did enjoy the romance in this. Matthew and Josie had lots of chemistry, and Matthew was clearly a man written by a woman and smitten right from the start.