This was a slow burn but so captivating. The spice was a just the right amount for anyone starting in romance. I love fake romance tropes and this one did not disappoint!

This started as a 3 star book, but the last quarter totally changed my perspective and made me add a star. It was adorable!

Set in the quaint small town of Green Oak, North Carolina, The Fiance Dilemma focuses on family and love as runaway bride Josie convinces her sister's best friend Matthew to be her fake fiance.

It's a little hard for me to review this one. Even though I was looking forward to reading Josie's story, I had a mixed opinion. I loved many things about this book, but one important aspect didn't work for me.

Josie and Matthew's journey will make you smile and their antics will make you laugh. Matthew is such a good guy. I loved how he made Josie his priority as she's the one that puts everyone else ahead of herself. He will make you swoon with his attention to all things Josie, his nicknames, and his protectiveness of her.

Although I adored Matthew and how he fell first (and so hard), I never fully connected with Josie in this book. In The Long Game, she was my favorite character. In The Fiance Dilemma, quite a few things about her character bothered me and I couldn’t overlook them. In some ways, she didn't seem like the same character from the prior book. I also would have enjoyed having more than one chapter of Matthew's POV.

I definitely recommend reading The Fiance Dilemma. I enjoyed Josie and Matthew's journey and getting glimpses of Adalyn and Cam from The Long Game.

Thank you to Atria Books for a gifted copy of this book.

2.5 stars! I enjoyed this read overall. It did feel slightly insta-lovey and I think the male protagonists perspective would have been helpful to understand the context of their strong, immediate feelings. I did love the characterization of the male lead.

I love the fake finance trope but this one just fell a little flat for me. I wasn’t as invested in their story and felt the main character’s monologues were a little redundant. Maybe if it was a dual POV I would have liked it a little more. I loved Mathew and wish we got a little more from his perspective. Overall, I enjoyed this, just missed the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I tell you that you will be swooning over these characters, you will fall immediately in love with them. This was the perfect rom com book! Easily top 5 for me!

Josie lives in Green Oak with her grumpy Grandpa Moe, who is quick with the one liners and does not stand for any B.S. Love him!!

Josie knows Matthew through her sister, Adalyn (who is also Matthew's best friend). But they've never actually met in person. When Matthew shows up at her door, Josie sweeps him into a fake engagement story. Now they have to fool everyone around them into believing their story.

Their flirting and banter is fantastic!! You will absolutely fall in love with them. I'm really hoping for more stories out of Green Oak!

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for this ARC!!

This is my third book by Elena Armas and my second trip to Green Oak!

I adore her fun quirky characters and I love the small town charm of Green Oak.

Josie is always the bride but never a wife. When her father’s PR Strategist decides that she’s a problem to his image after four failed engagements she convinces her sister’s best friend Matthew to fake an engagement.

With the impending nuptials growing closer each day the lines of what’s pretend and what might actually be real start to blur.

Elena is absolutely the slow burn queen but she also knows her way around writing an MMC that has it bad in the worst way. What I loved THE MOST about this book was that I could tell that Matthew was an absolute goner for this girl and I didn’t even get his POV! The way this man loves her is evident and intentional in everything he says and does for her.

I loved this book…I love these characters…and I’ll be over here patiently waiting to see what Elena writes next.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Josie has been engaged four times before, but she has never been married. Now that her very well known father (though not to her), Andrew, decides to announce his retirement, she finds Bobbi, his PR agent on her doorstep to try and settle down the issue that is her romantic history. And then Matthew, her brother's best friend, shows up at the same time Bobbi sees Josie's engagement ring (stuck) on her finger, the PR agent assumes she's engaged again, and Josie just rolls with it, taking Matthew down with her.
This engagement of convenience, small town, brother's best friend romance is book 2 in the long game series. You do not have to read book one before you read this one, it's a standalone. I didn't like the FMC much (she's quirky, we get it), but I loved the MMC. The banter was good, but the burn was slow.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I reallllly wanted to love this book after DNF-ing some of Elena's previous books but it just wasn't for me. Personally, I did not vibe with the main characters. Really bummed as The Spanish Love Deception was one of my favorite romance books back in the day.

4.5⭐️s. If you loved Runaway Bride, The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas is for you. Releasing July 30th! Please be sure to check with your local bookstores. #shopsmallbusiness

Josie has been engagement four times. What she doesn’t realize is it’s about to come back and haunt her. When her father Andrew Underwood finally makes himself known, he’s a business mogul with a multimillion-dollar company. Now, she’s got a lot of eyes on her. Especially, her past. When Andrew’s PR executive, Bobbi Shark, finds Josie with an engagement ring on, she is sure this is the answer to all the media nightmares. The only problem. Josie isn’t engaged. A few seconds of panic later in walks Matthew Flanagan, her sister’s best friend. The crazy thing is he agrees to pretend to be her fiancé. Lines of pretend definitely begin to blur as Matthew shows Josie what a true partner in life would look like and his flirting seems very real.

Josie is a strong woman that just wants to see the good in everyone. Matthew is very protective and shows Josie how she should be treated. Once you read, you’ll understand why I had to put Careless Whisper on this. 😂Really enjoyed this romance and am so grateful to @netgalley, @elenaarmas, and @atriabooks for the advanced reader copy. #thefiancedilemma #elenaarmasbooks #netgalleyreview #netgalley #advancedreadercopybooks #romancebooks

This is a perfect summertime romance read. Just a little spicy with some good comedy and a dash of family drama. The Fiance Dilemma is a great companion to The Long Game. Armas is quickly becoming one of my go-to romance authors.

This was a slow burn but so addictive. It had just the right spice to keep you wanting and longing for more. I am a sucker for fake marriage plots and this one was done right!

I liked this, didn't love it. I wanted to give Elena Armas another chance, but I don't think her writing is for me. I find I dont see the chemsitry with her characters. Im sad as I was very excited to read this.

The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas 💍
Release Date: July 30, 2024

“ Beautiful things shouldn’t be boxed. It eventually dims their light. “

whew, i’m a sucker for fake dating so imagine fake engagement.😉

Josie Moore; mayor of her hometown & coffee shop owner, has gone through FOUR failed engagements & doesn’t think much of it until her absentee father decides to no longer keep her a secret. Her father who’s some very famous important man decides to retire with a magazine piece about the family and that Josie’s relationship history is a PR issue.

Matthew Flanagan, has just been fired from his job and has decided to pack up his bags and goes in search of a place to stay until he gets his bag together. When on the night he takes the wrong turn and gets his tires stuck in the mud, he stumbles upon Josie, his best friends sister house, and immediately gets greeted as her fiancé to the person in charge of running PR.

Okayyy so, right from the beginning it started getting right into the story with great characters. When this fake engagement is announced Matthew doesn’t want to do at first but miss Josie is very convincing;). It started with so much pressure because hello it’s a small town?? so of course everyone is involved but maybe the fifth time will be the charm. ✨

Matthew gave me golden retriever vibes but when he needed to be the overprotective fiancé oh he definitely was. & yes he’s a blond but my heart wanted him to be a brunette 😅🫣. Sometimes there were some cringey moments but not too horrible that I couldn’t get over it lol. But phew, I wasn’t expecting the SPICE this book brought on. 🌶️ Another thing I enjoyed was Josie’s character development, she wasn’t my favorite but hey she did good.🤭

I know this is the 2nd book in the series, with the characters from the 1st book, but can be read as a standalone. So yeah we loved the wedding planning ( even if it was all random ) and just how overprotective my new book boyfriend is, but just change his hair LOL soorrryyy.

Also there’s a pig in the book and his name is Pedro Pigscal and I LOVED IT. 🐖

After reading Adalyn and Cam's story in the Long Game I was so excited to receive an eARC of the next one in the series. Josie was my favorite aloof character so I really was excited for her love story. However, I was not expecting the instalove from Matthew.

Josie, after learning who her father is and gaining a sister, is just trying to continue her small town life as Mayer and Cafe owner. That is until she is put in the middle of a PR nightmare by a publicist hired by her estranged father. Josie has been engaged 4 times - and has never been married. Which apparently is a PR nightmare. When Matthew arrives in town, Josie concocts a plan with her sister's best friend. He is to be her fake fiance. Chaos and love follows.

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I enjoyed The Long Game.

3.5 stars rounded. This is a fun, quick romance novel. It is an interconnected standalone follow up to The Long Game. I do recommend reading it first as this book just jumps into things and that may provide a bit more background/setup. While I enjoyed the book, I do think the romance was a bit surface-level. It is insta-love to the extreme. I did not feel like we got to see the two main characters fall in love, which is my favorite part of a romance. That said, if you're looking for an easy, light, beach read... this will do the trick! It does have some great banter, flirting, and tension.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an eARC of this book.

First off, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Atria Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

I have had a very hit or mess experience with Elena Armas' books. This book was a miss for me. The story jumps right in with very minimal set up, so I would recommend having read The Long Game very recently, because I couldn't remember who some of these characters were. The story itself was ok, but a little frustrating because the FMC and MMC just met and immediately entered into this weird fake fiancé plot (I won't spoil anything, that's in the description).

I did enjoy this one more than The Long Game, but it was not my favorite. 3/5.

Thank you Net Gallery & Atria books for the e-arc!
I really enjoyed reading this book. I finished it in one sitting.

This book tells the story of Josie (a kind of runaway bride) which fakes and engagement with Matthew. I love the fake engagement trope.

Josie has been engaged 4 times before and when an important magazine starts to get interested in her life she is deemed as a PR issue for her father. She panics and this is how the story starts.

I feel like at the beginning there weren’t solid reasons to fake the engagement, I really this the PR thing could have been handled differently. But this is a solid romcom and I throughly enjoyed it.

I loved how Matthew falls for her first. I love how romantic and supportive he was. And the best part? No third break up act.

I really wanted to like this… I didn’t even mind the main characters that much. Although, I couldn’t tell if the fmc had mad adhd or just consumed copious amounts of caffeine 24h a day. The mmc was a complete hopeless romantic (while I actually kinda liked that), I couldn’t get pasted the PR agent and the father. To be fair, the father made me angry in the last book and I was disappointed when I saw he was a prominent character in this one. I suffered through 400+ pages of this lady and the father dictating the fmc’s life while she just blindly goes along with it. It was so frustrating to read. I didn’t truly start to enjoy this until she was gone lol. The ending was cute and did make up for a little bit of it! There was potential in the plot but it was honestly a bit of a flop for me :( just not my cup of tea.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Atria Books publishing, and Elena Armas for the gifted arc for an honest review! ◡̈

I have read all of this authors previous work and was so excited to be able to read it! It did not disappoint. There are so many fun things that this book has going for it. We get to see Cam and Adalyn from the first boo. There is the Pedro Pigscal. The small town feels that are so great because Josie and the mayor. And, of course, Josie and Matthew!
Josie's and Matthew's growth separately and together during the story was such a good read. I can not recommend this book enough.