The Fiancé Dilemma takes place in the most delightful town! I wish go visit it seems like Stars Hollow in North Carolina!

Elena does it again!! I’m convinced she was meant to write small town romances !! You can feel the amount of love she put into these characters which makes it so special.

"Like Flynn Rider. From Tangled?"

This had me grinning, I absolutely love Tangled. This was a sweet romance where Matthew is pulled into being Josie's fake fiancé to help her protect her father's reputation. The real relationship that develops between them, is adorable and I loved when he tries different nicknames to see what would work. Matthew was the perfect protective partner and I enjoyed Josie's growth as she came to understand her reason for not being able to commit.

A quick, easy and enjoyable read that made me add the rest of Elena's books to my ever-growing TBR

3/5 on GR.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.

I was a huge fan of The Long Game. This book picks up a little after the first ended - Josie found out she’s Adalyn’s sister, and that her father knew all along and just chose to not be involved. That whole thing leads to a big PR crisis and uncovers Josie’s multiple failed engagements. She’s now fodder for the gossip pods. Enter Matthew, Adalyn’s best friend, to whom where ends up saying they’re engaged, for some reason?

The premise was fun. The read was easy. However, I really couldn’t buy in to the relationship between Josie and Matthew. I didn’t believe the whole fake dating/engagement trope, and I really didn’t see much, if any, growth from either character. I wanted to see more of Matthew’s family. I wanted there to be more personality from him - rather than the one-dimensional look we had. I loved how supportive and caring he was, but I really struggled to connect with him or Josie on a deeper level.

I wanted more Adalyn and Cam, too. I know it’s a spin-off standalone, but it would really have given more depth to Matthew’s character if we saw more of him and Adalyn. Also, I felt like the ending with Adalyn was literally just thrown in there. I understand the reason after having read the Long Game, but if I hadn’t just read it shortly before, I may have not made the connection.

I think it was a cute story. I loved Josie’s complicated trauma surrounding her past engagements and her abandonment issues. But I just wanted more from it.

I literally DNF on the first page. There were three euphemisms for sex without saying the word sex, and they were childish, and it was all just to say that her mom wasn't sure who her dad was. It just came off incredibly immature and I couldn't make myself read anymore.

Review of The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas
Rating: 3/5

Elena Armas’ The Fiancé Dilemma is a light, trope-filled romance that delivers moments of charm but struggles to rise above a predictable formula. While it features the wit and banter that fans of the genre crave, the story sometimes feels too reliant on clichés, leaving it with a sense of déjà vu rather than originality.

The premise is classic romantic comedy: an engagement of convenience between two polar opposites who predictably end up falling for each other. The book thrives on its playful enemies-to-lovers dynamic, and Armas has a knack for snappy dialogue that keeps the pages turning. The tension and chemistry between the protagonists are well-written, but their individual character arcs feel underdeveloped, leaving readers wanting more depth and emotional payoff.

Fans of Armas’ previous work will likely appreciate her trademark charm and voice, but The Fiancé Dilemma lacks the spark that made her earlier books stand out. It’s a fun, breezy read, but it doesn’t quite reach its full potential.

Verdict: The Fiancé Dilemma is a decent choice for readers looking for a comfort read with familiar tropes, but it may leave others wishing for more depth and originality. Perfect for a rainy day escape, but not a must-read.

DNF. I don’t think Armas has found that magic since Spanish Love Deception. Ugh! I tried so hard to stick with this one.

elena darling, it’s not me it’s you.

i just dont think she’s had a hit since the spanish love deception, and even that was…mid. something about this story was just too convenient? i wanna say? there’s something to be said about romances being formulaic but reading this i could SEE the outline and that took me right tf out.

the fmc (i dont even remember her name) was soooo quirky. oh my lord. like that one millennial tiktok girl to the MAX. i dont like to hate on female characters but honey 😭 what in tarnation

i fear elena’s just done everything by this point, and not very well. but i got the arc and had to give it a shot! that was entirely my mistake 😳

The premise of this book (fake dating) appealed to me, but I was looking for a bit more depth than this one offered. Still, I will look forward to reading more from Elena Armas.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

The Fiancé Dilemma is the second book in the Green Oak series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Fake dating/fake engagement is one of my favorite tropes. But I didn’t particularly like this story.

Josie had been engaged multiple times, and she ran away from each of her weddings. But she kept the rings and dresses, which I found odd, but to each their own, I guess. And Matthew was hesitant to go along with Josie’s plan at first, but then he suddenly agreed? Just weird.

But he was still very sweet and a great MMC. And when he did fall in love, he was very possessive. Josie grew on me as the story went on, as well.

While I didn’t love this story, I didn’t hate it either. It was fun and cute.

Thanks to Atria Books for the ARC!

Funny and sweet fake engagement story. I liked this one better than the first in the series. The characters and vibe felt similar to Runaway Bride while following a different trope. 3.75 stars rounded up to 4

This was kind of meh for me. I couldn’t get super into it, though, even though I love fake dating. I’m not sure if I just couldn’t connect with the characters, or if I didn’t really like how it was set up to pretend to get married without the intention of going through with it. The reason for the fake engagement also just seemed weird. If you’re a big lover of romance, you might not mind these little issues. But it just kept me from really enjoying this book.

I'm not sure why I keep telling myself I'm going to enjoy romance books because I only do when the side plot is actually interesting. That's to say that it felt like there wasn't anything other than the romance in this book (which might be your cup of tea, but it's definitely not mine). Fake dating in adult books doesn't always make sense and I'm happy to say it ~kinda~ did for this one. All my biggest complaints about this are super heavy in spoilers but my number one complaint is that the dynamic between the main character and the love interest annoyed me so much and it never felt like it got better. Maybe I'll take this as my sign to stop requesting romance on NetGalley because I hardly ever enjoy it.

I will always be an Elena Armas Stan but I could nooootttt get into this one. I adored the concept and thought the book was cute but just did not fully grab me in. Thank you for the opportunity to read this early!!!

Gave this a chance, but I really didn’t enjoy the first booking the series and sadly this one was feeling the same. Thank you for the opportunity review, however I won’t be finishing.

Thank you so much to Atria and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review! While I loved The Long Game, this story didn’t hit the mark as much as I wanted it to. While I did find Josie and Matthew to be enjoyable characters, I found the supporting cast to be a little two dimensional for my taste. There’s a PR executive, for example, with a last name of Shark, and repeated mentions of her deadpanned delivery. It honestly took me out of the story a bit. I also thought the pacing could have been managed a bit better, since we were only dealing with a few months of time. At some points I knew where we were in the story, but sometimes a jump would happen and it felt a bit like whiplash.

First of all! Love the cover a lot. Would buy for my bookshelf. This was intriguing in the best way. I thoroughly enjoyed. All the love

The Fiancé Dilemma
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Author: Elena Armas

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Atria Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Josie Moore has given the opposite sex—and love—plenty of chances. Four exactly, if you count all her failed engagements, and five if you include the absentee father who kept her existence a secret until very recently. So when her father decides to announce his retirement with a splashy magazine piece about the family, Josie realizes her romantic history is a complicated PR issue.

Matthew Flanagan is in the mud, literally. Not only has he been fired from his job, but also the tires of his car are stuck in the muck after taking a wrong turn as he enters Green Oak, North Carolina. So, he grabs a duffel with his essentials and goes in search of a place to crash until he gets his life back on track. But instead, he finds his best friend’s sister, Josie, greeting him as her fiancé.

What starts as a big messy misunderstanding quickly turns into an arrangement with Matthew playing a new role as doting fiancé. A fifth engagement—and a stunt, at that—makes Josie’s stomach turn, but every dilemma requires a choice between equally undesirable alternatives, and Matthew doesn’t seem to mind becoming one more number in a colorful list of grooms-that-never-were. Despite the ring on her finger, Josie knows this is only temporary, even if the rest of the small town believes that the fifth time’s the charm.

My Thoughts: This is the second book in the Green Oak series, but can be read as a standalone. This series is a spinoff from The Long Game. Josie’s failed engagements is a PR nightmare for her father who is announcing his retirement. Josie’s father is absentee until her reputation can reflect poorly on the company and now he wants to protect her, or rather hide her. Matthew has hit a low point in his life and he needed a place to regroup, what he gets is thrown into Josie’s fake engagement. A misunderstanding blossoms out of control, or maybe the misunderstanding blossomed into a meaningful, beautiful love story between our MCs. This follows the tropes of small town romance, fake dating, and sister’s best friend.

This was narrated in a single person POV from Josie. While I do not mind the third act breakup and/or miscommunication tropes, it was nice to not have that here. This was a slow burn romance that was done very well with the appropriate amount of tension build up until it explodes on the page. Josie was independent, fierce, however, her inner monologue tended to become infuriating at times. Her character was full of sunshine and resilience. Matthew was shy but would defend his girl to the end. His character really intrigued me with the multiple facets he delivered. The romance was done so well in this story with the appropriate balance between angst and tension spread throughout the story. The support they gave each other with the endless bond they curated really establishes their intimacy and the ability to carry each other during dark, trying times. The characters were well developed with intensity, depth, passion, witty banter, and chemistry. The author’s writing style was complex, creative, romantic, funny, engaging, and connective.

Armas really knows how to write spicy slow burn romances that carry the right amount of angst against tension splashed against forced proximity. This had the perfect mix of establishing the characters through their backstory, building the plot as the intensity between our MCs build. Then the ending was not only deeply satisfying but beautifully written. Armas is becoming a go-to author for me and will read blindly without reading the synopsis. I highly recommend picking up this book, as well as Armas previous works. Always an entertaining, fun, and endearing read.

sadly not my fav armas book and I love her work. For the first time I didnt' connect and want the two to get together, I wasn't invested

I love Elena Armas and I will always read her books. This book, while entertaining, fell short for me in a couple areas. Notably, the plot had several holes like where did Matthew even come from? What's his background? Why is his best friend her sister? The plot progression also felt slow and fast in circles and didn't feel completely natural as a reader.

I did not read the first Green Oak book so that may be why I'm having trouble connecting the dots. Regardless, it was still a fun, light-hearted read and I'm forever an Elena stan.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC read in exchange for my review.