The Fiance Dilemma was a fun, light rom-com following Josie, who is fake dating her "fiance" Matthew in order to distract the press from her past. Matthew is a good sport and immediately plays along. This was a very formulaic read, but funny enough to distract me from that. There is a pig named Pedro Pigscal, and that alone was delightful enough to be rated a whole extra star.

I didn't love some of the ways Matthew spoke to Josie. There was a lot of calling her "good girl" which just felt patronizing. But overall, it was a sweet relationship with very little drama. The quirky levels were turned up to 11 for the whole town, and that was super.

Read this one when you want to turn your brain off & just relax with a super chill romance! Thanks to NetGalley, Elena Armas, and Atria books for the chance to read and review!

This is my favorite Armas book yet! A captivating small-town romance with all the best tropes: he falls first, fake dating, no 3rd act breakup. This is a slow-burn done right with tons of angst and chemistry between the main characters. Thank you so much for this advanced copy!

I LOVE Elena Armas, and was SO EXCITED to get approved for this ARC! I devoured it immediately! This book follows Josie, who has 4 failed engagements. Her long lost father shows up, and he’s kind of a big deal. In order to save face with the press and avoid scandal, Josie teams up with Matthew for a fake engagement.

I LOVE a fake dating romance!! I also loved Matthew. He is perfect. He is Josie’s biggest cheerleader, and is constantly validating her feelings while putting her first. I loved him SO much!! Josie is quirky, insecure, and oh so relatable!

Thank you SO much to NetGalley and Atria publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Publication date- July 30, 2024

OMG I had such a great time reading this book! Elena never fails to make you laugh, swoon, and fan yourself all in the same chapter, it's truly a gift. This book had everything I love in a romance: small town, found family, adorable side characters, a swoon worthy hero, a badass heroine, and chemistry that jumps right off the page. Oh and I can’t forget about all the tension and edging 🥵 These characters were so relatable and I loved seeing them develop both individually and as a couple while navigating their "fake" engagement, and the way they both cheered each other on had me 🥹🥹If all of this hasn't convinced you to preorder this book, I’ll let you know they have SO much fun breaking all the rules they set when they started their engagement 😜

Thank you Atria and NetGalley for the E-ARC🤍🤍

She never fails! Another good book❤️ I loved seeing these two fall in love and let down there walls. Everyone is so rude to her but he doesn't let them knock her down. Instead, he builds her up everyday and shows her what love is. This couple is perfect!

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book knowing that her previous books had not been my favorite, but I have also loved following authors on their journeys to see how they are able to progress and create stories and characters as they fine tune their craft. Unfortunately, that was not the case here.

This book felt like it was lacking in a lot of areas. Josie was soooooo in her head, which means she was in our heads and it was not a fun place to be. The repetitive thoughts and dialogue throughout the entire book were excruciating. Was Matthew a total daddy? Yes. Was I able to fall in love with him because of the depth to his character and relationship with Josie? Not even a little bit. These two had ZERO chemistry. He felt like a melting pot of everything that creates "the perfect book boyfriend" without giving him any legs to stand on. I feel like we were supposed to remember him from his time in The Long Game, which I did not.

If you have enjoyed Elena's other books, I do think you would enjoy this because it felt right in line with the other books she has written.

I really enjoyed this one! I liked this one more than book 1 for sure. Matthew was my favourite of the whole book by far. He is so sweet, such a gentleman and so caring. He’s also goofy, funny, loving and very hot book boyfriend. I really liked the aspect of fake marriage and how it brought them closer together. I liked all the little scenes where we knew Matthew was just so obsessed but he was letting Josie decide her feelings at her own pace. I do feel like we don’t get much closure or dive deep into the problems such as her four first engagements so that’s why I am ranking lower. Some parts were a bit slower and I felt less interested with the podcast aspect of this book. Josie and Matthew really were fun to read about. The tension and friendship between them hooked me and I loved every second. Overall, I definitely recommend.

I just reviewed The Fiance Dilemma by Elena Armas. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]
This was my first book from Elena Armas. I haven't her other books yet. I plan on reading more. I loved the fake dating troupe in this. It was kinda of a slow burn for me. Over it had funny banter it and kept interested.

3.2 ⭐️
I’m a big fan of Elena’s writings and worlds! I realized I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first- I’m a sucker for fake engagements, but the stakes here weren’t quite right for me. I don’t think they were *wrong*, but more in the sense that not every book is going to be perfectly for me.
I did enjoy getting to know Matthew more though!

🚨save the release date of July 30th🚨

Elena Armas is 4/4 on the hits! Thank you to @netgalley for giving me the privilege of reading this ARC. This is the 4th book of Elena Armas I’ve read and she does not miss. This woman is the queen of the sloooowwest burns.

I am more than positive if it hadn’t been for my traveling I would have been able to finish this in one sitting. I loved the FMC Josie. We met her in The Long Game, and I would absolutely love to be friends with a Josie. When we meet Josie (small business owner, mayor, girl boss) her 4th failed engagement is over and she’s trying to navigate her new relationships with her found sister and long lost rich father. In order to save her family from a PR night she finds herself in a 5th (fake) engagement with Matthew 😍🥰🥵 in order to save her reputation and keep her father and herself from a spoiled public image.

Armas knows how to write a MAN. Aaron Blackford, Cameron Caldini, and Matthew Flanagan are some of my favorite book boyfriends of all time. After my binge watching of Bridgerton I was craving a man who yearns and the MMC of The Fiancé Dilemma did not disappoint me 👏🏻

4/5⭐️

I will always be an Elena Armas stan and will forever read whatever she writes. Do not sleep on her! Please pick up The Long Game before reading The Fiancé Dilemma, it will help fill in some gaps.

Josie is a woman on a mission - she's just not sure what that mission is ;-)
I love the relationship between Josie and Matthew and the growth they experience throughout the book - both together and apart. I thought Elena Armas did a perfect job of wrapping up the book without giving a predictable ending. Josie and Matthew's relationship was clear - although not stereotypical - so it was not a disappointment. I think I actually would have been disappointed if it ended any differently. Armas has a way of making the outlandish seem believable (hello, small town characters and animals). This was a fun romance that held some deeper messages as well. My only complaint(?) was the UNBELIEVABLE amount of angst and "will they won't they" moments. OMG I have never been so frustrated by constant interruptions of two characters. Josie and Matthew experienced so many mishaps - I would not have been sad to see one or two of them disappear. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. A definite must read!

I received an ARC for this and I really wanted to like it but it was a miss. The FMC was so annoying and I know nothing about the MMC. They spent no time together other than the random hour here and there mandated by being in a fake relationship and yet I'm supposed to believe they somehow fell in love. I was confused this whole book and it would have been a DNF if I hadn't been trying to finish it in order to leave a review.I received an ARC for this and I really wanted to like it but it was a miss. The FMC was so annoying and I know nothing about the MMC. They spent no time together other than the random hour here and there mandated by being in a fake relationship and yet I'm supposed to believe they somehow fell in love. I was confused this whole book and it would have been a DNF if I hadn't been trying to finish it in order to leave a review.

thank you to netgalley and atria for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

the banter, the tension, the flirting…chefs kiss! the chemistry josie and matthew have in this book is unbeatable. this book had me laughing out loud with josie’s quirky personality and matthew’s constant flirting! the fiancé dilemma is full of tropes and has something for everyone; no third act breakup, soulmates, he falls first, sister bonding, small town, fake-engagement. i adore this book!

First, thank you NetGalley, Elena Armas, and Atria for this book.

I absolutely loved this book!! Elena is a queen of a slow burn romance and this was everything I wanted! Josie is the perfect small town girl who we all loved in The Long Game, and Matthew compliments her in the all right ways. Elena’s writing is fresh and fun and the story moves so well. She has a way of blending humor and emotion so well. And like I said, it’s a great slow burn!

I love the humor of the Filthy-Reali-Tea podcast that was thrown in there. And all the characters we loved from The Long Game are back too. Especially Maria, my favorite 11 year old soccer player always coming in clutch with her words of wisdom. The conversation between her and Matthew about soul mates brought me to tears.

Thank you again, to NetGalley and the publishers for this book, and thank you to Elena Armas for writing this story and sharing it with us. It was wonderful and I truly loved it.

I am going to assume that I am no longer the target demographic for this author, despite being a 29 year old female. I've read each of this author's works, and they've progressively gotten worse. The dialogue in this specific one is trying too hard to be trendy and GenZ, while also being creepy and cheesy. Seriously, the MC was ogling within the second chapter. I'm all for smut, but let's pretend to write intelligent smut, not just for the sake of it. Gross. I could not make myself read past the weird podcast bit, around 11%.

Such a sweet and HILARIOUS, and perfectly spicy fake engagement romance, with a small town + celebrity twist. The way these tropes collided was romcom movie worthy… Netflix, pay attention!

WHAT I LOVED MOST:
Matthew is swoonworthy. Patient. Kind. Witty. Golden Retriever energy with the protectiveness and loyalty of a Dobie. And each attempt at a nickname made me squee, with Sugar Snap at the top of the list. At first I was disappointed it wasn’t dual pov and we didn’t get to see Matthew’s view of the craziness happening around him… but then I got to fall in love with him just as deeply as Josie did.

Grandpa Moe. The Real MVP in this story.

Family & Friendships. From newly found family, to adopted family, to small town family, and BFFs… these side characters and their antics were loveable and gave me all the squishy, happy feels.

Josie’s POV. I felt her heart flutter, stomach drop, panic rise, hope falter… all alongside her. Her story, her thoughts, and hilarious internal dialogue were such a joy.


FAVORITE QUOTES (THERE WERE TOO MANY TO LIST THEM ALL!)
“I leaned down, snagged the checkered pajama shirt on the floor, and threw it at him. “I need to talk to you and your nippies are staring into my eyes, like two beacons of manhood asking to be acknowledged. So if you don’t mind?”

“Based on how my lower belly had perked up at the sight, I seemed to be into glasses-wearing men holding tiny farm animals.”

“Should I tell Mr. Matthew everyone can see his boobies, or will you do that, Miss Josie?”
“No cute euphemisms for sex, please. I’m trying my goddamn best here, Josie, but I don’t think I’ll be able to stay mad at you if you get all sugary-sweet.”

“The world would be boring without magic, so I choose to believe it exists. Regarding the juju matter, well, I’m fully convinced I was cursed at least once in my life. Premonitions are tricky, but there have to be people with a direct line to all those things we normies can’t really see. Ghosts are objectively probable. Fate explains things that would go unanswered otherwise. Manifestation is scientifically proven. And the yeti just makes sense.”

Thank you Elena Armas and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. I can’t wait to add this one to my collection.

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

The thing about having a book surround a fake engagement is that there should be a solid or at least somewhat believable reason for the fake engagement to occur.

Josie’s estranged father (a wealthy MLS-club owner) who she has never met in person is going through a PR crisis (a podcast for a tabloid is calling him out for abandoning Josie as a child). Her father’s publicist shows up at her door, sees a ring on Josie’s hand and decides to clean up the father’s PR mess by having him pay for Josie’s wedding.

Instead of clarifying that she isn’t engaged, she sees her half sister’s friend Matthew (who she doesn’t know outside of a group text) and convinces him to act as her fiancé and go through this engagement. It’s a little uncomfortable as a reader as we watch Matthew tell Josie more than once that he does not want to be her fake fiancé and she keeps pushing him until he says yes.

I feel the need to emphasize that there’s ZERO reason for Josie to go through with any of this, she owes her father nothing. It takes her almost 13 chapters to realize she doesn’t need to take orders from her father’s publicist.

The reasoning behind the fake engagement really soured the book for me. I did really like Matthew and I liked Josie once she realized she didn’t owe her father shit. There were so many characters I was frustrated with throughout the book (her father, her father’s PR person, the podcasters who were constantly calling Josie a “misstep” and digging into Josie’s life after finding out she was abandoned by her dad).

The cover for this book is also really odd. It looks like this is a why-choose book but in reality they chose to put her four exes on the cover even though they’re only ever mentioned in the book. The UK cover is so much better, I wish they stuck with that one for the US version.

This was such a fun, small-town romance! Definite Runaway Bride vibes, and I loved the meddling small town. Josie was such a great main character, and I loved her spunk. The perfect summer read!

There’s something that will always keep me hooked with a fake dating trope, I’m just a sucker for it! I realized shortly into this story that is was the second in a “series”, but I feel it can be read as a stand alone. If you read and enjoyed the first one though I’m sure you’ll be happy to know you get to catch up with a few of your favorite characters throughout and see how their journey has progressed.

What I enjoyed: The male main character, Matthew! His protectiveness and calming nature was so sweet and caring. He is full of himself in just the right dose to be silly and appealing in the best way. He also has a dominant side which was clearly what the FMC needed. I also enjoyed the setting, the small town of Green Oak definitely gives nosey neighbor vibes. Not everyone will like this, but I thought the slow burn romance here was good, and ultimately important to the plot itself.

What didn’t I love as much: Unfortunately I found the female lead, Josie, to be over the top with her awkwardness and anxiety. As an anxious person, I like when this is represented in books and a fake dating PR stunt would clearly cause some, but it felt like it overtook her personality. I also found some of the banter and nicknames a little cringy, but I did laugh a few times while they try to find the “right” nickname. The other thing I would have enjoyed was a little more of Matthew’s POV, but that’s likely only because I enjoyed his character a bit more than Josie. I do understand though, the amount we did get was effective/appropriate to the story.

Ultimately, I would recommend this book to someone who enjoys a light and quick romance read.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me this ARC. It was a pleasure to read and share my thoughts.

This girl is stupid. Only an idiot would do a fake fiance after jolting 4 others. No one would go along with it, or at least they'd run the other direction as soon as they could. Entire book is filled with idiot characters making idiot decisions. Could barely finish it. Just dumb.