This book was very similar to the movie Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Just like Julia's character in the movie, Josie the FMC has a history of getting engaged and then leaving her grooms sometimes at the alter. She gets a reputation that ends up causing PR issues for her estranged father Andrew. Feeling the pressure from her father's PR assistant, Josie decides to pretend she is once again engaged and to no other than her sister's best friend, Matthew. Matthew the good guy that he is, goes along with her crazy plan and agrees to pretend to be her fiancé. I found Matthew to be so cute and charming and loved his flirting. The author made me wish I was Josie. Loved the banter between the two of them and the slow burn. If you love fake dating and was a fan of the movie Runaway Bride, you will like this book.

I'll be honest, I have a very on-and-off-again relationship with Armas' writing. I thought The Spanish Love Deception was fine and absolutely adored The American Roommate Experiment. I DNFed The Long Game not once, but twice! So, I wasn't sure where I was going to land when I started The Fiancé Dilemma. Ultimately, I think this book lands as my second favorite of hers, behind the American Roommate Experiment.

The book follows the story of Josie, a runaway bride who has been engaged four times, and Matthew, her surprise fifth fiancé. The two are thrown into a fake relationship to help alleviate the PR nightmare her newly discovered father, Andrew, is facing. Like every great fake relationship story, however, they soon find that they like each other a lot more than they expected.

The characters are all from The Long Game, though you don't need to have read that one to enjoy this book (so, if you are like me, and couldn't get through it, you are fine). The book is a (largely) single POV, slow burn, and that really requires that the author build up anticipation and longing, and make you believe that both characters are falling for each other. I think Armas does that, you get an inkling of how much Matthew likes Josie, and how the like pre-dated their convenient arrangement.

There's a lot going on though, lots of side characters and side stories, and quirky small town shenanigans. Ultimately, I think all of Armas books are under-edited. They are just too damn long and that's on the editing team to curb the author's impulse to over-explain and expand the character's world. A tighter story would have been a better story, moving this from good not great.

* Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! *

I should have read the synopsis better. I'm not a big fan of the fake dating or fake engaged trope. Oy. But the ending of this book redeems itself. It also would have been better if I read the first in the series. But I'm not one to follow all the rules. The writing and premise were well done. I love the cover. Overall, a fantastic love story.

I've read two of Elena Armas's other books, and while I didn't love them, I didn't have overly negative feelings about this. I wish this was the case for this book, but unfortunately, I found myself forcing myself to read this book rather than enjoying it. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't read The Long Game so I didn't have all the background information, but Josie and Matthew were the definition of insta-love to me, which I didn't like and I found the whole Andrew storyline to be very unnecessary for the storyline and I just didn't really care for it.

But my main problem with this book is the same problem that I have with a lot of romance books - as someone who works in PR, I'm convinced that romance writers have no idea what a PR strategist actually does. Bobbi was a fun character, but why was she planning their wedding as a PR strategist? And why was she leaving them alone to talk to journalists without actually prepping them? And why was she not doing her job for the most part and working with the media? Maybe this is a very personal and biased experience to me since I work in the industry, but oh man did that take me out of the book. And this is a genre-wide issue - PR people are always so present in romance books but I feel like the authors do little to no research on what a PR strategist actually does.

2.5 stars rounded up.

Amazing! I loved Josie and Matthew’s story more than Adalyn and Cams.
All the same lovable characters from the Long Game, come back in this sequel of a fake engagement story.

This PR whirlwind, puts these two into planning a wedding and dealing with Josie’s failed four previous times at the alter. Will the 5th time be the charm?

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this book.

3.40

This is a cute story overall, but also a bit of a dilemma on its own. It’s my own fault, in part, because the whole concept of a fake engagement, is frustrating to me. Add to that, how naïve, and often weak Josie can be. That said, I don’t know how much more assertive I would be, at least outside of my head.

I had forgotten about “The Long Game“ and didn’t realize ahead of time that this was a continuation. I think this is the last one. I can’t think of who else could have their own love story and book, except maybe Andrew Underwood, but that would be kind of odd and not as appealing to the masses… and not just because he’s older. I do like Josie and Matthew and they were cute together, though their dynamic becomes a little more submissive to dominant as things steam up (not quite that kind of submissive and dominant).

I’ll say it without saying it: I don’t love the ending and I could have used hearing more of the back story. I had two possible resolutions in mind as I read and neither was what eventually took place. I also could’ve used a bit more Adalyn and Cam, though there are reasons why that wouldn’t have worked.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

This book was EVERYTHING!!! Matthew was the best book boyfriend ever! He was sweet, understanding, caring and had a filthy mouth in the bedroom. Josie needed him in the best possible way! Elena your writing is AMAZING!!! This book had every aspect I want in a book! It was excellent writing, wonderful plot, plus like 3 different tropes all in one! I cried, I laughed and I swooned hard!! Thank you for this ARC! I wrote a very detailed review on goodreads!! This book got me out of a book slump! This book brought joy to my life! That is what an AMAZING book should do!!

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

- Small Town
- Fake Engagement
- Sister's Best Friend
- No 3rd Act Breakup

I'm not sure what Elena Armas put in this book, but sweetheart I was in love with Matthew Flanagan from the first scene. He was everything Josie needed.

I enjoyed getting to see a lot of the characters from The Long Game!

It certainly a slow burn but once it starts, it starts.

I enjoyed it even though it's primarily Josie's POV, we are treated to some insight from Matthew.

And come on with Pedro Pigscal!!!!

4.5 stars

Josie is bright and beautiful. She grew up as the only child of a single mom who died when she was young, and she made a name for herself in her small hometown as the volunteer mayor and coffee shop owner. Yet as successful as she has been in her career, her love life has been quite the opposite. She’s been engaged 4 times but she never quite made it down the aisle. And sometimes she reminisces, and tries on her old engagement rings….but this time one got stuck at the worst possible moment.

Enter Matthew, the best friend of Josie’s sister, who is having a bad day. He just got fired from his job and his car got stuck in the road on the way to his best friend’s place where he was going to crash until he got his life back together. While walking for help, he runs into woman in a robe with a face mask and strawberry jam all over calling him her fiance. He then realizes that it’s Josie and he quickly becomes her fifth, albeit fake, fiance.

Armas’ writing is the perfect combination of humor, romance, and drama with all your favorite tropes. And she will make you root for Josie and Matthew until they get their HEA.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved Josie and Matthew’s story. Josie is first seen in The Long Game as the voluntary mayor of the small town of Green Oak, North Carolina - and spoiler for that book - you find out she is Adalyn’s half sister. The reveal of her long lost father has turned everything on its head - especially since he is well known in the media. Josie can’t cause any drama to draw negative attention to her father. So the fact that she’s been engaged 4 times and never married - yeah, that’s not good. Matthew was also introduced in The Long Game as Adalyn’s best friend. He is moving to town after losing his job and happens to be in the right place at the right time to help out Josie. I loved their relationship. The slow burn. How Matthew saw who Josie was behind the mask she put up for the town - and even herself. This book had all the things - quirky banter, well-meaning townsfolk, farm animals, just enough steam, and a perfect HEA.

Ahhhhh this book was amazing. I absolutely love Elena Armas and this book did not disappoint. While there were a few things I expected more of (Andrew), I absolutely loved Matthew and Josie. So so so so cute. I can’t wait for the world to get ahold of this one.

How many chances are too many? Josie has been engaged 4 times and she’s never actually walked down the aisle and sealed the deal. If her trust in men started to dwindle no one would question her, even her own dad wasn’t in the picture until recently. When said dad announced his retirement in a flashy article and Josies romantic history quickly becomes a PR nightmare. Determined to turn the narrative around Josie dives head first into problem solving. When Matthew gets into town he’s quickly dragged into a fake engagement scheme. Fifth times the charm right?

I still can’t believe I got an arc for this one!! Another one of my most anticipated reads of the year by one of my favorite authors. In my honest opinion this is better then TSLD, one of the books that reignited my love for reading. That’s a big deal.

I love a character centered book and the MCs in this one are amazing. Josie is so relatable and didn’t deserve all the heat she got for a few failed relationships. She was never the problem and Matthew helps her see that throughout the book. Speaking of Matthew, he’s too good for this world, we don’t deserve him, other opinions are not welcome. He’s so attentive, always putting her first and his grand gesture in the end. That’s hot. On a serious note Elena Armas is the queen of book boyfriends. Aaron Blackford, Lucas Martin, Cameron Cadani and now Matthew Flanagan. Are you kidding me?

The one thing I always tend too miss when it comes to Armas books is a dual POV. It totally works as is but I want to get into the mmc’s heads so bad. This is the second book in The long game series, the characters overlap and it plays out in the same small town. I suggest you read them in order because otherwise some of the backstory and references will go over you head.

No matter how long your tbr is this is a must read especially if you like the fake engagement trope, slow burn and the dreamiest mmc’s.

Read this if you like
💍Fake engagement
✨He falls first
🏡Small town
🌶️Spice
🔥Slow burn

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of The Fiance Dilemma. I've read all of Elena Armas's novels, and this one is my FAVE. I absolutely loved Josie and Matthew's story. This one is definitely a slow burn, but once it heats up, it heats UP. The whole cast of characters is amazing, but Matthew is just *chef's kiss* -- he's the best! You can definitely read this as a stand-alone, but I highly recommend reading The Long Game first, as it sets this one up beautifully.

Similar to The Long Game, the premise here is something I struggled with. Both books have a premise that is genuinely unbelievable. Here, Josie is the secret daughter of Andrew Underwood, a Miami billionaire businessman. For some reason, the fact that she has had 4 failed engagements is something that reflects very poorly on him. In an effort to rehabilitate her reputation (that no one seems to truly care about) she pretends to be engaged to her sisters best friend, Matthew. She was hoping all this would blow over and instead her father’s PR decides to jump on this engagement and plan a quick wedding. Cue secret-keeping and hilarity (maybe?) as Josie and Matthew inevitably fall in love.

I’ll be honest and say the fake dating trope is not my favorite. It’s a little too formulaic and predictable. Unfortunately, I did think this book is a bit like that, too.

I could not stand Josie at first. She felt very “not like other girls” and was kind of driving me crazy. Despite Matthew telling her over and over again he didn’t want to do a fake engagement, she kept pushing for it. It was pretty uncomfortable and I couldn’t help but thinking of if the situation was reversed and Matthew was the one trying to convince Josie to have a fake engagement. She eventually got better, but then Matthew got a lot worse for me. I don’t know what it was, but he was fine at first and then started to give me the ick.

I couldn’t figure out why Josie felt this need to allow Andrew and Bobbi to walk all over her. She owed them nothing. And similar to Adalyn in the previous book, she’s this very successful and beloved person in her town and just allows people to dictate her life for her. It took way too long for her to finally stand up for herself.

This book just felt sort of unfinished to me. I ended it and still had a lot of questions. Why did the engagements with Ricky and Duncan actually end? Why was marriage so important to Josie in the first place?

I have struggled with Elena Armas’ books since the Spanish Love Deception. Her characters are just not people I particularly care about. If anything, I feel pretty apathetic towards them and their stories are not that memorable. I’m also not the biggest fan of her writing style. I find it clunky and confusing sometimes, which results in me needing to re-read a section several times to understand what is happening.

All that to say, for a book this long I don’t feel like a whole lot actually happens. I know this book was originally supposed to be a novella, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if it stayed that way.

Thank you to Atria Books, Elena Armas, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Matthew is SUCH a green flag book boyfriend. His devotion and warmth to Josie made me swoon. The slow burn was sooo slow and yet sooo rewarding.
Seeing Adalyn and Cameron was such a a treat for us too. Elena has a way of writing the sweetest little love stories.
Only missing a ⭐ because I loved Matthew so much I would have liked to know more about his background/family/history!

*Disclaimer: I was generously provided with an advance copy from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley. However, all viewpoints expressed above are my own!

The Fiance Dilemma left me with mixed feelings. I absolutely adore Josie and Matthew together but their story is cringey. In the Long Game, we were introduced to this fun loving, people pleasing whirlwind of a girl that is Josie, but this story shows us all her cracks, fears, and anxieties. Don't get me started on Matthew. He is easily a new book boyfriend now. He knows when to be supportive and step back, but he also certainly knows when to take charge, both in love and life! The fake dating and slow burn was done perfection with these two and I loved that portion of the story, but the whole background fell a little flat. The PR engagement, lying to friends, and letting Shark and Andrew run the show- along with the surprise ex-fiance showing up was a little ick and turned me off to the story. It also may have been intentional, but we were introduced to all of Josie's character flaws without seeing the character development. I was left wanting with Josie. Overall, it was a cute read, but not my favorite from Armas.


Thank you to Netgalley for this Arc!!

The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas is the second book in the Long Game Series. This is Josie and Matthew‘s story.
 
I absolutely loved The Long Game and was so excited to return to the Green Oak world, but unfortunately this book fell flat for me.
 
It is established in the beginning that Josie is her own person who owns a coffee shop and is the mayor of her hometown which by the way you see barely any of it. She hasn’t had the best of luck with romance and after four failed engagements, she’s given up. If those engagements were anything like this story, I can easily see why they failed. But as soon as she learns of her father and he starts interfering in her life to better his image, she is more like a puppet and chess piece to him and what I disliked most was that she just goes along with it.
 
Matthew comes to Green Oak to start over after he lost his job and only comes to Josie‘s place on a whim. He is a sweet man, but that’s the extent of it. He agreed to their arrangement way too easily and that was also a bit strange, and he seemed willingly to do just everything and that rather seemed to me that he has no backbone and is only a puppet as well.
 
The start of their relationship was very constructed and if it weren’t for a persistent pr manager pressuring her, she wouldn’t have announced her engagement to Matthew. You could often tell that they’re totally faking it and it made a lot of the dialogue absolute cringe. In addition, moments that should have been a bit more intimate like their first kiss or their engagement shoot were brushed over and labeled as them being horny or just doing it to get out of a situation. It was honestly so sad and lackluster and there were some sparks between them, but for me their relationship never got real. The whole story felt like Josie and Matthew were just puppets orchestrated by her father and his PR team.
 
Overall, The Fiancé Dilemma is my poorly executed fake dating romance for me and the story had so much more potential. 2 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

ARC provided by NetGalley.

The Fiance Dilemma is a heartwarming and sweet story of a runaway bride who is afraid of people leaving her. She talks Matthew, her sister's best friend, into pretending to be engaged with her so she can save face for PR reasons. However, Matthew has secrets of his own and he's not ready to let Josie go. Josie's growth in this story is subtle, but done very well. Her affection for Matthew grows through his actions and he gains her trust through his gestures and words. I also really love the slow burn romance aspect. It's done in a way that left me craving for more, and I was definitely satisfied in the end.

I will say I probably would've benefited from reading The Long Game, the first book in this series, because I couldn't understand why Matthew loved Josie. I knew why Josie fell in love with Matthew because I fell in love with him, but I didn't get a good grasp of his affections for her. The writing style peeved me as well. The author uses choppy sentences that worked sometimes, but not all the time.

Overall, this story is very well done. I really enjoy the fake engagement trope and the runaway bride trope is fun as well. The romance is beautifully done along with the character growth.

This was not my favorite of hers, but it was still cute. I liked the plot, the characters, and the banter. If you are a fan of elena areas you should like this one. The book is a romance. Elena's writing style is still the same

3.5⭐️ rounded up!

thank you to NetGalley for giving me the arc in exchange for an honest review!

i have struggled with Elena Armas’ books in the past. i didn’t like The Spanish Love Deception and The Long Game but i loved The American Roommate Experiment. i’m so happy to say that i loved The Fiancé Dilemma!

fake relationships/engagements have so much tension that has you on the edge of your seat and this book did just that. i really love the silly and witty characters so i loved Matthew. Josie was a little too quirky for my liking but i loved reading about their relationship.

i will say the pacing was a little weird. things would speed up and one thing after another would happen but then it felt like nothing was going on. the ending was rushed and felt unsatisfactory but i overall had such a good time reading this!