Josie has been a "runaway bride" four times. She's left four men at the altar and blames herself. Matthew is the best friend of Josie's sister. They've never met until one night when Josie is in a pinch and needs a fake fiance; Matthew just happens to be in the right place at the right time. As Josie puts everyone else's needs before her own, Matthew shows her how her needs are just as important.

If you like the fake dating trope, this book is for you! I really enjoyed Josie and Matthew's relationship that was built up throughout the book. Their banter was great and their growing love for each other was authentic. Josie's character was a little problematic for me as I prefer a stronger female lead who can stand up for herself, but Matthew complimented her so well it worked. Both Josie and Matthew had backstories that could have been explored a little more to give the book more depth. The book had lots of spice and a happily ever after ending.

This books follows the story of Josie and Matthew. They are one of the cutest couples I have read. First Josie is so quick and witty I was so caught off guard from the very start. She is independent and smart and funny and everything I want to be. She is absolutely amazing. Matthew is genuinely the most sweet and ridiculous flirty person. He is so supportive of everything Josie throws his way and we love that in a man. But I could talk all day about how much of a green flag Matthew is. He’s a 10/10 for me. The storyline was super cute and I really enjoyed reading this adorable book. I was giggling and kicking my feet the whole book and I was living for the cute banter. This book genuinely made me laugh too. (And not in a cute giggling way) I ate this whole book up and would absolutely read it again. Oh and did I mention there’s no third act break up?! SIGN ME UP!

Ok, I have never written a review so quickly after finishing a book. I just want to say how much I really thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was so excited to be accepted because The Spanish Love Deception was my favorite audio book I listened to last year. The Fiance Dilemma felt like a y2k romcom and it was exactly what I needed the last couple of days. Josie and Matthew were 👌 All of the supporting characters were so well done also. As a reader I really wanted one more chapter but it was also the perfect ending. I can’t wait to recommend this to my friends.

Thank you so very much for the arc.

It’s cute. Theres parts that gave me butterflies, made me laugh, made me smile. I looove a good slow burn, and this did that. But there’s also parts that just feel so unrealistic and far fetched that it took me out of the story and made it easy to put down.

Hoping book 3 is about Robbie because he’s just such a cinnamon roll and Maria is adorable and needs a bad ass step mom. 🤞🏻

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I regret having to review this book negatively. I read the long game in preparation but I could've never prepared myself for how hard of a read this was. Josie is the epitome of millennial cringe. there are also references in this book that just pinpoint the exact time it was written and take me out of the immersion.

There are so many characters that it's truly difficult to keep up with who is who and who's friends with who, who hates who, who's dating who, etc. They pop up incredibly randomly in the story just so there's an info dump to give us more information on why Josie acts the way she does (which still doesn't excuse her bizarre behaviors as a whole).

In 'The Long Game' we're given Cameron's point of view alongside Adalyn's which makes it a much more enthralling book. we don't have Matthew's POV until the very end of the book and I truly believe it's because he is a surface-level character. His only undercurrent of drama is tied directly to Josie and rectified with a MASSIVE monologue at the end.

I will also point out the very obvious overt gay stereotypes portrayed by the two podcasters, disappointing to see this writing in 2024. When we ask for representation this is NOT what we mean.

This wasn't even a slow burn it was a CRAWL. I genuinely don't understand how we got to where we ended up, I'm blaming it on Matthew being a total creep and disrespecting the solid boundaries she set up at the very beginning of their agreement!

Once again, thank you so very much to NetGalley and Atria Books for entrusting me to leave a genuine and honest review.

I wasn’t a big fan of The Long Game, but I still wanted to try out the next book since it revolves around different characters.

2.5 stars for me. I felt like the entire relationship was rushed and also that I barely knew anything about our male main character Matthew?? And don’t get me started with the endless nicknames he gave Josie…wasn’t cutting it for me. I kept putting this book down and not much about the plot was sticking with me when I would circle back to reading it.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I really loved the characters and the "hired fiancé turned lover" trope. I always root for the hired man in the end. The connection between characters was instant but not in a cheesy unbelievable way. This book made me laugh and smile throughout the whole thing. I loved Mathew more than I typically love the MMC and the spice there 🌶 🌶 🌶. The FMC was relatable and I felt so bad for her and all her failed romances, you will be cheering for her to find love.

I was so looking forward to this book. Armas has become one of my favorite authors in the past few years. These characters were so likeable. Although this trope is done often I loved this take on it. I highly recommend this book- you will fall in love with both Josie and Matthew. Thank you, Elena and keep going! I can't wait for what you give us next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for giving me an advanced reader’s copy of Elena Armas’s The Fiancé Dilemma, the second book in The Long Game series, in exchange for an honest opinion.

Who hasn’t thought about “the one” and “love at first sight”? The Fiancé Dilemma explores some of these concepts and more. Josie Moore, one of the main characters, has already run out of four of her previous weddings, leaving a trail of broken-hearted bachelors in her wake. Her long lost, high-powered father is having a book written about him and it is believed that she might become a PR nightmare.

Enter Matthew Flanagan, Josie’s new-found sister Adalyn’s best friend. He meets Josie in the strangest of instances and is instantly somehow “engaged” to her.

In a typical fake engagement to true love trope, They have some miscommunication, however Josie comes to rely on Matthew and he relies on her.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved the instant connection between Josie and Matthew as well as her instant attraction to him. He instantly was protective of her and made sure that her father and the PR person were not going to hurt her. It was great to finally meet Andrew, Adalyn and Josie’s father and it took the whole book to try to figure him out and what his deal was. Was he a good guy or a bad guy. In fact, I’m still not really sure of the answer.

Armas does a wonderful job writing humor. The podcast was hilarious and Matthew and Josie found themselves in some pretty entertaining predicaments. Can’t wait for Armas’s next book!

Spicy: 4 (R: NSFW and earbuds in!)

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

When I tell you I screamed when I got the notification that I had this at NetGalley…well I guess I just told you. I was so excited to read Josie’s story after meeting her in the Long Game. Armas’ heroines are ones I love to read: complicated women who are just trying to deal with all the sh*t in their lives. They are completely independent but that doesn't mean they don’t want a shoulder to lean on every once in a while. And since the death of her mother, Josie has felt like she needs to be strong for everyone else.

Josie Moore has had a lot going on in her life, she recently found out who her birth father is, and though it has brought her a sister she loves, it has also come with some unwanted attention on her and her lovelife. Cause Josie has FOUR broken engagements and when the hosts of a gossip podcast decide to do a deep dive into her romantic engagements at the same time her famous father is trying to announce his retirement, his PR machine kicks into action, ready to mitigate any upcoming disasters. But Josie and disaster seem to go hand and hand, and before she realizes it, she has a new, albeit fake, fiance, her sister’s best friend, Matthew Flanagan.

Matthew Flanagan,ugh maybe one of my favorite book boyfriends of late. He is just the most adorable, lovable man who gets Josie, even when she might not always get herself. Plus the dear man is from Boston and the riff on the accent had me cracking up (hello Elena Armas have you listened to Matt Nathanson’s Boston Accent??).

This book comes out next month, so if you haven’t read anything by Armas before, I’m ordering you to go get her other books and you will be so ready for Josie and Matthew’s story.

I hope there is a Shark book in the works!

I loved Elena’s first 3 books and was so excited for this one to come out. I hate to admit but I really disappointed, It was unnecessarily wordy. The book picked up towards the end but not enough to redeem itself. I was so looking forward to Josie’s story and in the end got some closure but it took a while to get there.

I was looking forward to Josie and Matthew’s story, but I’m disappointed.

I don’t get why Josie allowed Bobbie to steamroll her and push her into doing PR for her dad that she doesn’t even know like that.

Then Josie is so quirky that it teeters closer to obnoxious.
I really dislike that Josie asked Matthew to be her fake fiancé but couldn’t take a no.
Like we wouldn’t stand for that if it was a guy pressuring a girl to do something.

At just around two and a half weeks from publication, I have finally pieced together my thoughts enough to formulate a review.

Elena Armas’ writing style doesn’t work for me, and here’s why that’s okay!

Because her writing style is someone’s cup of tea, and I don’t have to be the target audience for every book. I think her concepts are absolutely phenomenal but she executes them in a way that feels YA while being adult in both setting and content.

I’ve tried a few of her books in the past with no luck getting past the 20ish percent mark, but I requested an ARC of this one because the concept was right up my alley!

I don’t think liking or disliking a book needs to be so black and white. Overall, I feel very grey about this book anyhow.

I wish I had more to say about it, other than my disinterest in it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an early review copy!

Elenaaaaa! We need to talk because I don’t know what you put in this book that I just finished that I want to start reading again!!! 💕

If you have read The Long Game (which you should!), then you’ve already met Matthew and Josie. Now Josie’s story is unique! Engaged 4 times, married none, but friends with all her exes (?). She’s caught up in a scandal that a PR strategist wants to fix by marrying her and here comes Matthew with the perfect timing to pretend to be her fiancé 💍

Along comes this friends-to-lovers story with an engagement for convenience that will have you swooning, blushing and squealing! The story is told mainly from Josie’s POV so you get to see how human she is, her insecurities, and badassery. Matthew is just the perfect book boyfriend who will literally run to rescue you from whatever, whenever and wherever! 🥰

Matthew and Josie’s romance is one for the ages and if you’ve read TLG, let me tell you that there’s a certain text exchange that gets referenced here that will have you screaming! Elena, the power of your mind! ❣️

I liked it enough, but really it was because of who the author was that I finished it.

There was some really funny banter and great spicy scenes between Josie and Matthew, but that was really it.

The reasoning for the "fake engagement" was honestly so unbelievable that I couldn't take it seriously. It felt like a lazy attempt to just write that trope. Matthew was also just too perfect where it felt like his character had no depth. Also, not one relationship was expanded on at all. Not any friendships, family dynamics, or even the romantic relationship which I felt could have added a lot to the story.

Sadly, this book just wasn't for me.

I am SO glad I was right about this one! I read the long game back in January of this year and didn't really vibe with it. What I did like about that book were Matthew and Josie so I had high expectations for their book.
Once I really got into the story and got to know the characters a little I had the best time!! Was Josie kinda chaotic? Yeah but I adored her and her positivity. I loved Matthew as well! He was funny and protective and I know something like this would probably never happen in real life but the way he just went with it and played along warmed my heart! I think he was one of the first people who was just there for Josie without expecting something in return.
The small town vibes, the side characters (and animals) and to get a look at the other side of gossip pages and what it does to a person made me really like this book.

I'm so happy this turned out so well and I'm curious to see if maybe some other characters will get books in the future!

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher!!

3.75⭐️ Let me start by saying I am a huge fan of Elena Armas and have loved all of her books! Unfortunately, this one falls a little flat for me. For about three quarters of the book, I struggled with the believability of our main characters having never met in person yet are somehow embroiled in an engagement of convenience throttling swiftly toward a wedding day. As a fan of Runaway Bride, which I appreciated the acknowledgement early on, I was pretty sure how this was going to end. For the majority of the book, Matthew’s character is way underdeveloped. I really would have liked to have had some chapters with Matthew’s POV throughout. I was also really rooting for our girl Josie to resolve her issues with Andrew and explore her sibling relationship with her sister a little more. While it wasn’t my favorite, I will still read whatever Elena writes!

Thank you to Elena Armas, Atria Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book!

Love Elena Armas, and I am so glad that Josie got her own book! Josie is definitely a spazzy queen, but we love a supportive king, like Matthew. He is constantly soothing her anxiety, and its really healing to read about characters who can be supportive and loving to women with normal mental health problems. A man who makes a woman feel worthy and beautiful despite her inner voice, YOU GO MATTHEW!! The burn is sloooooow. And I will say, I often had to stop and take distraction breaks because slow burns tend to lose my attention quickly #adhd But Josie and Matthew kept drawing me back in, which really speaks well to the quality of the characters. I did often want to scream, KISS ALREADY!! But I can appreciate a good romantic tension tease.

This was another winner by Elena Armas. It was so enjoyable and entertaining. I just love her work. I can’t wait for the next one.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. I’ve read all of Elena’s books and this may be one of my favorite. I laughed out loud so much and smiled the whole way through. I love Josie and Matthew so much. I didn’t like long game as much so I was apprehensive at first of this one but my worries quickly went away. Recommending this book to everyone