I absolutely adored the Fiancé Dilemma. Thank you so much to @NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Josie has been engaged four times before... but has never been able to get down the aisle. She learns who her very wealthy, estranged father is and now her life is part of a weird PR stunt. I was so excited to read this because I LOVED Long Game and was soo happy to see these characters again!
Matthew Flanagan is the brother of Josie's best friend. They end up needing to pretend to be engaged to make her father look good. The humor is so on point - Josie is funny but completely relatable. It was fun how the social media aspect was delivered so clearly. Matthew was an amazing cinnamon roll fake (but was it really fake?!?) fiancé who just really wants Josie to feel how special he finds her.
Runaway Bride + Fake Engagement = perfection!

Elena Armas kills it once again!! This hero was the epitome of simp/golden retriever energy. Fake dating was also immaculate. A new favorite for sure!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book. I was a little skeptical at first because I usually like multiple POVs but Elena Armas knew better. Josie has her quirks but she is such a lively and honest character that show such pure love for her community. Matthew is a sturdy, diverting and warm hearted character who will have you swooning. As much as I love the characters, I also loved the depth she brought into this story. With Josie growing up with an absent parent, her feelings of “missing” a part of yourself, learning to tackle challenges and realizing she doesn’t have to do it on her own. I felt all the emotions reading this book and I think Elena Armas nailed the Fake Dating/He Falls First Trope.


"Wildflowers, They make me smile. They grow free. They're beauty and defiance, and the fact that no matter what goes on in the world, they
still continue to bloom, makes me happy."



“Maybe we just need to learn to love who we are and let people around us love us for that, too. Maybe nothing's missing.”

I feel like I was accidentally sent a Mariana Zapata book…was I?
After 83% of reading about angst and quick recaps of relationships that SOMEHOW got to the engaged stage, we finally get a kiss between the main characters. They’re faking being engaged, totally attracted to each other, yet don’t kiss? And it’s not bc either has a qualm with being intimate…she’s been engaged FOUR previous times. It makes zero sense. And it pushes past charming and edging into the brutally boring.

“On a scale from zero being a golden retriever to ten being a rabid raccoon with a taste for pie, how mad… are you? “Be honest, please. I can take it”

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this gifted E-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When it comes to romantic relationships, Josie Moore is no stranger to misfortune but when her absentee father, owner of the Miami Flames, announces his retirement even she can’t imagine how quickly her four failed engagements become an embarrassing PR nightmare. Luckily her sister's best friend, Matthew shows up at just the right moment. Looking for a place to regroup after being fired, Matthew accidentally stumbles into this complicated situation and winds up agreeing to be Josie’s fake fiance.

Things I loved:
I love a quirky main character and Josie has this in spades! She is adorable and funny and just so genuine! I loved each and every scene that she was in! Another standout character for me was Bobbi, the PR specialist sent to help navigate all the craziness. She is fantastic!! For my Park and Rec fans, think -- Kathryn Hahn's character of Jennifer Barkley!!! She is amazing and as I was reading I couldn't un-hear Kathryn's voice every time Bobbi spoke! It was perfection!!!

What didn’t work for me:
Matthew at times -- I thought he was an okay love interest overall but his character definitely takes a few weird missteps during the second half of the book. Also, I am generally not a fan of nicknames especially if they are awkward or overused and the nickname in this one is both. It actually made me cringe at times and ruined some of the more touching moments of the story for me because I was so uncomfortable with it.

Overall, The Fiance Dilema is a maybe for me I enjoyed parts of it for sure but I just wasn’t as over the moon for it as I hoped.

Elena has truly built the perfect MMC in Matthew Flanagan. I can't get enough of the things he said and the actions he did for Josie. I'm obsessed with this blonde haired, glasses wearing hero and I'm not mad about it.

Read this one for:
- Small town romance
- Fake engagement
- Forced proximity
- Sister's best friend
- He's GONE FOR HER
- Man in glasses!
- An adorable pet pig

Josie Moore has been engaged four times and all four times she's been a runaway bride. Now that her mega famous rich father has been in the spotlight for being her secret father, he needs help cleaning up his public image. Enter Matthew at the exact wrong or rather perfect timing for Josie to use him as a small distraction when he pretends to be her fiance. The only problem is that the whole town and world immediately find out and they are forced into a fake engagement.

Immediately you realize how taken with Josie Matthew is. The things this man says and does are too good and Josie takes a lot longer to realize that their fake engagement isn't fake at all. This one is a slow burn which is what Elena does best.

I loved how Josie did find her backbone to stand up for herself. She is so giving and people pleasing that she never really would set boundaries and advocate for what she wanted. Matthew's trust and love helped her to see how worthy she was in all relationships.

Matthew could really see Josie for who she truly was and all the past traumas she endured didn't make him run away from her. He ran straight towards her headfirst loving everything about her.

I'm still thinking about the things he said!

Thank you to Atria books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I’m still SO EXCITED Elena took my request from her signing last year and included a pig in this one! So, obviously, Pedro Pigscal stole the show for me! 😆 I highlighted every time he was in a scene or mentioned. 🐷😂

“𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰.”
𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧. “𝘈𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.”

This one was spicier than I prefer, but the story was really fun. Grandpa Moe was great, and I enjoyed being back in Green Oak and getting to learn more about Josie and Matthew.
Between the fake engagement, PR nightmare, noisy neighbors, Josie meeting her absentee father for the first time in person, and real feelings starting between Matthew and Josie, there was never a dull moment in this one.

“𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥.” 𝘈 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. “𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.”

“𝘌𝘶𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦.” … “𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘺𝘯𝘯 𝘙𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳? 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘛𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥?”

“𝘔𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘫𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴.”

“𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬.”

Thank you so much to Atria Books, Netgalley & Elena Armas for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wanted so bad to love this book, but I just....didn't. It felt like a lot of disjointed, unfinished plot points with no chemistry. I couldn't get into it and almost didn't finish. I really enjoyed the first two book Elena Armas wrote- and even purchased them- but this and The Long Game were not for me at all. I'm not sure that I'll want to read anything further the author releases. I hate giving negative feedback, but this was a terrible read and needed much, much more editing.

I loved the tension between Matthew and Josie. Elena Armas is excellent at bringing the characters so close, only to have something happen to interrupt the moment and leave us hanging on for dear life! I wanted more and more every chapter and Elena delivered. I also loved the ending.....how everything came together for Josie and Matthew in their own way and not how everyone wanted or expected. There were the right amount of moments where I was laughing, swooning and feeling all the feels. Josie's story is one that we all should read--I think we can all relate to her in some way.

**I received a complimentary ecopy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you Atria Publicity Department, Netgalley and Elena Armas.

If, like me, you read Elena Armas’s The Long Game, and found yourself fascinated by Green Oak, North Carolina’s mayor-slash coffee shop owner-slash Jill of all trades Josie Moore, and wanted her to get a happy ending after the bombshell revelation that she and Adalyn were half-sisters, then you’re in luck! Armas’s latest, The Fiancé Dilemma is exactly that and more.

The story follows Josie, now swept up into a PR crisis not of her making, after her identity is revealed in a less-than-flattering profile of Andrew Underwood, Adalyn’s dad and Josie’s biological father. A PR rep arrives in Green Oak in damage control mode, and immediately tries to take control of Josie’s narrative, and things spiral when she’s led to believe Josie is engaged (for the 5th time) to Matthew, Adalyn’s best friend who is in town for a visit.

I’m a big sucker for heroines who clearly have it together, but don’t fit the stereotypical bill of what a “woman who has it all together” looks like. For all that Josie doesn’t always seem to believe in herself, she’s obviously a beloved community leader, someone who makes sure everyone’s needs are met, and runs a successful business. She also just has so much love to give, and I admit I have a soft spot for that too.

For his part, Matthew is every bit the swoony romance hero we like to see. He’s sweet, considerate, clearly head over heels for Josie, even when she thinks their fake relationship is still fake. Really, if there’s one regret I have with the book, I wish we could have spent more time in his head. Luckily he’s the type of hero who wears his feelings openly, and communicates them, but I’d have loved to get a peek at what he’s thinking at some of the story’s more pivotal moments.

I greatly enjoyed what we did get though, and The Fiancé Dilemma was absolutely jam packed with moments that were both Hallmark-sweet and delightfully steamy, making it the perfect beach or poolside read as we head into the warmer months.

The Fiancé Dilemma hits shelves on July 30. Special thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advance copy for review purposes.

I was excited to read this one but the main character was more and more unlikeable. I could not get behind a character thar would ditch 4 guys at the Altar no matter the reasons. After the first time, you'd think she would learn to at least break it off before then. And then she is roping in a fifth poor guy to trick her dad? Nope not for me.

"The Fiance Dilemma" is a companion novel to Elena Armas' "The Long Game," and it feels like it. While some companion novels can stand on their own with teeny comparisons/shout-outs to the originals, "The Fiance Dilemma" is not that. "The Long Game" protagonists, Adalyn and Cameron, have a very well-known presence in "The Fiance Dilemma." I mean, after all, Adalyn is the half-sister of "The Fiance Dilemma" main character Josie Moore and the best friend of Josie's love interest, Matthew Flanagan. That being said, "The Fiance Dilemma" is still very much Josie and Matthew's story of fake dating with just brief hints of Adalyn and Cam's HEA in the background.

I personally found that I enjoyed "The Fiance Dilemma" more than I did "The Long Game," but that is probably because I just vibed with the content more -- not that there is anything wrong with either. Both books showed off Armas' exemplary writing style. Her prose is so compelling that just drew me in completely.

The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas 4 ⭐️ 3 🌶️

Josie has been engaged 4 times yet has never said I do, and when he father who was never in the picture appears and ends up being a wealthy business man and needs some damage control done. When Bobbi Shark shows up as Andrews (father) publicist. Josie fakes another engagement to Matthew her sisters BFF.

This was a cute easy read, with fake engagement and small town romance vibes. Josie and Matthews chemistry was so good, the banter and quick wit from Matthew made it so much more enjoyable and did fall flat. With a little it of spice it adds to the story and makes you feel more for what they are going though and the feelings they are developing.

This book reminded me of the movie 27 Dresses (which I love). When a fake engagement becomes a love story Matthew was such a great male character. The only thing I didn’t love was the length of the book. Some chapters definitely weren’t needed. This was still a great romance book that I’d definitely recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc of this book.

Run-a-way bride meets the modern age! It was an amazing romance novel. I do wish there was more squad time - love the main four: Matthew, Josie, Cam, and Addlyn. Thanks NetGalley for the e-copy.

I think the Fiancé Dilemma is my favorite of Elena Armas’ books. It’s a great romantic comedy. Josie is thought to be a runaway bride. She had been engaged 4 times and never went through with the marriages. Matthew was fired from his job and comes to live with his best friends sister who is Josie. Josie’s extremely wealthy father came into the picture and threw her and Matthew for a loop. The story looks at why Josie never got married. Josie and Matthew decided to pretend to be engaged. They went through planning the marriage and all of the family dynamics that goes along with it. In the end it was revealed that they were faking the engagement. However Matthew admitted in a speech that the moment he saw Josie in person, that she was going to be the one he married. In the end, Matthew and Josie were really both in love with each other and chose to stay together without a formal wedding. I really enjoyed their story. Thank you to NetGalley for an e-copy of the book.

i enjoyed this one. i was really invested in josie and matthew’s story from the jump. read if you enjoy engagement of convenience, small town, fun light hearted rom com, quirky fmc, and dreamy mmc.

This story can be be summed up as "fake-dating." If fake-dating is your favorite trope and you read books solely based on that, you may enjoy this.

But, while one always has to suspend their disbelief a bit with fake-dating stories, this one stretched beyond my limits. We're thrust right into the fake dating with almost zero backstory or explanation. I had read The Long Game, but it's been a while. Since this was said to be a standalone, I would have expected more explanation of things without needing to refresh myself on the characters.

Similar to The Long Game, I never understood the why behind the setup. The entire premise for why the main characters need to pretend to be engaged in flimsy to me. If the setup doesn't work, I'll have a hard time believing the rest of the story. The setup possibly could have been improved with more of that backstory early on, but honestly, it just felt like the justification for everything was "this is a fake dating story therefore the characters need to pretend to be dating."

Not for me, but if you really love the fake dating trope, you might enjoy this.

I really really loved portions of this book. I loved that it took nearly the whole book before the two main characters finally got together. I loved the intimate moments between the two when they were alone several times in the book. I loved that she chose not to be married in the end. I love that their love was enough.

There were things in this book I didn’t love. Sometimes it felt like the book was too quirky. It also felt longer than necessary. Some plot lines didn’t add up or come to fruition like I wanted. But overall I really enjoyed reading this book.

I wanted to like this one so much. But the main female character got on my nerves so much and I just felt like the dialogue and chemistry fell flat. I just don’t think Armas books are for me. Giving it 3 stars.