Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the ARC in exchange for a honest review!

The Fiance Dilemma is a perfect standalone follow up for those of us who can’t get enough of Green Oak. I loved Josie in The Long Game, so I was really excited to see that we’d get more of her in this book. I’m also a sucker for a fake PR relationship storyline, so this really was for me. We see Josie as a well developed character with a very real and complex history in The Long Game, but we really get to explore that more here - especially her relationship with Andrew. I appreciate that in all of Armas’ books she gives her characters more depth than the average romance novel and that’s never been more true than with Josie. I did struggle a little bit at first with understanding Matthew’s motivation for going along with the stunt as I didn’t feel that was made clear until much later and we didn’t know enough about him to deduce it earlier, but by the end I fell very much in love with him as a MMC. You can absolutely read this without having read The Long Game, but it’ll be better if you do - we get more of Adalyn and Cameron than you might expect for a standalone follow up, which I loved!

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

I was so excited to receive this book for review. I haven’t read the authors other books, so I’m not sure if my opinion would be different had I started with them.

I didn’t enjoy the first half of the book, but I’m glad I stuck with it because the second half made up for it. The premise was cute, I just found the first half to be a little forced and chaotic. By the second half I was more invested in the characters and their relationship felt more authentic to me (which I loved).

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This is my fourth Elena Armas read and just like all her other publications, I absolutely loved The Fiancé Dilemma! I honestly can't believe how quickly I finished it - I couldn't put it down! I love a good romantic comedy and this one didn't disappoint.

It was great going back to Green Oak and all the characters from The Long Game. I also think that Mathew is a top level book boyfriend - my expectations for romance have just risen even higher! The cute nicknames were just adorable. I really loved how he was there for Josie and supported and protected her with everything, and not because she couldn't herself, but because he wanted to and thought she deserved someone to be in her corner.

I highly recommend this novel, especially if you've already read The Long Game.

This book is perfect for you if you like: engagement of convenience, small town romance, fake dating, and best friend's sister.

help I’ve fallen in love with another fictional man🫠

Once chapter in and I was totally invested in Josie and Matthew’s story. Josie is quirky, and needs no help from anyone but when placed in this pr nightmare caused by her estranged father, enters Matthew. omg this man!! THIS MAN!! he’s so ridiculously hot it’s not funny!!! In between the pages they start to catch some feels while Josie is also trying to keep up with the rules and boundaries of their agreement, however rules get broken and hearts get healed💕

Definitely plan to read this is you love:

•engagement of convenience
•small town
•fun, light hearted rom-com
•quirky, sunshine fmc
•hot, supportive mmc

This was such a fun and cute read and I’m incredibly thankful for Netgalley and Atria books for gifting me this arc!!

3 stars.
Spiciness: 3/5

I have read all of Elena Armas’s novels and was thrilled to receive an ARC. I had been looking forward to reading this.

Overall, it was...fine. Just fine. Entirely predictable and nothing terribly exciting.

I had a definite problem with the premise of the story. Josie feels the need to fake an engagement as a PR stunt to appease her absent father who she has literally never met face-to-face. Josie is presented as this quirky, strong, independent woman who takes no shits, but just complies? It just didn't sit well with me.

In terms of the characters: the FMC Josie is described as quirky and cute. So quirky and cute. And you are bashed over the head with her rambling cuteness. It was far too much. It just didn’t work for me. I kept rolling my eyes at her excessive and unnecessary nonsense. The MMC Matthew felt flat and one-dimensional to me. He was also uncomfortably possessive. I did not connect to either of them.

Sadly, the best parts of [book:The Long Game|101144869] were absent. Adalyn and Cam had really tiny cameos. If they really were best friends/sisters and living an hour apart, I sure hope they would be more involved in each other's lives and definitely hope they wouldn't lie to each other as much. I also wanted more of the adorable small town feel, which was just absent despite Josie being mayor. I would have loved some more time with Maria and Brandy. Grandpa Moe and Pedro Pigscal were the definite highlights.

In summary, definitely not the author's best work.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

First and foremost, thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for letting me have early access to this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this book was just okay for me. It had some cute and steamy scenes that I’ve come to love from Armas’s other books, but I did end up skimming bits of the book because I couldn’t get invested in Josie or Matthew’s story. The beginning of the novel was so chaotic that it made it hard to believe the entire book was going to be based off of that one encounter. I think adding Matthew’s POV would’ve helped bridge that connection and aided the reader in understanding why he would so easily jump into a Fiancé Dilemma.

For readers who didn’t read the first book, there are also scenes in this book that may feel very foreign to them and may also lead to a lack of reader to book connection. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for all readers, but should be noted in case some think it could be a stand alone novel.

In the end, I did love how it turned out for Josie and Matthew in a way that worked for the two of them and the story they wish to tell.

Elena Armas delivers another sweet romance in The Fiance Dilemma.

Things I loved: MMC Matthew and how he cared for the FMC Josie. The snippets of Adalyn and Cameron, the main characters from The Long Game. Josie's kind heart and her relationships with the people in her town.

Things I didn't love: Josie could be a bit too quirky to the point of cringe at times. I would have loved for there to have been more regarding Josie's ex-fiances, the possibilities for that part of the story could have been so interesting. No Matthew POV was disappointing.

Overall, this was a fun read and fans of Elena Armas are sure to love this next book!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC!

2.5 rounded up.
This one honestly wasn’t my favorite. It was cute but a little bit too cringey for my liking. I found myself having to skim through a majority of it.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Josie Moore lives a quiet, small-town life as the mayor of Green Oak. But things have become a little more hectic since she discovered her father is multi-billionaire businessman Andrew Underwood. The mogul plans to publish a tell-all memoir, but his team sees Josie as a PR problem due to her "reputation" as having four failed engagements. Andrew sends in PR strategist, Bobbi Shark, to retcon his estranged daughter's image. Somehow, she finds herself caught in a convoluted misunderstanding when Bobbi thinks a previous engagement team stuck on Josie's finger is the real thing. Her sister's best friend, Matthew Flannagan, conveniently stumbles upon the scene and is looped in to play along as her fiancé. Josie makes a deal with Matthew — pretend to be engaged to salvage her reputation and improve her relationship with her father. But Josie finds she's falling for Matthew amidst all the forced proximity, fake flirting and near-kisses. Maybe the fifth time's the charm?
"The Fiance Dilemma" is a sequel to "The Long Game." This is not a sequel where you can get by without reading the first one. It took me quite some time to get back into this world. It felt so discombobulating to be thrown into the scene mid-action with so many characters I didn't really know or remember. The whole setup for "The Fiance Dilemma" is too ridiculous and convoluted to me. She proceeds to jump through all these hoops for a father she's never met in person.
Once you get past that, Josie and Matthew navigating a fake engagement is a joy. Their characters are fun. Josie's quirky in a way that makes it clear she's "not like other girls." It takes a little bit to get used to, but never really becomes endearing. I struggled with Josie's character. The history of four failed engagements just feels so random and doesn't fit her character. We never see anything from her that would justify that sort of behavior.
This gets 3.25 stars from me rounded down to 3. The chemistry between our two main characters is fun, but so many other elements feel almost rushed.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

first elena armas book, and she did not disappoint!!! it’s runaway bride, with a twist and i am absolutely here for this engagement of convenience!

reading this felt like watching a movie, and i personally feel like those are the absolute best books. the writing feels vivid, very descriptive and emotional, it just draws you in. you can feel the chemistry burning between matthew + josie, as if you are there watching it all unfold first hand. i swear ever chapter i was giggling so hard.

A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

Elena Armas must lace something in between the pages of her books, because they are SO addictive and demand your full attention from start to finish! The Long Shot duology has given me the mushiest and warmest of feelings! I loved Josie and Matthew's chemistry and how their story was different from the former in the duology. It was such a sweet, emotional, and happy book from start to finish. Readers will fall in love with this story!

The Fiance Dilemma by Elena Armas was absolutely fantastic - I literally could not put it down. She took the fake dating trope to another level! I loved the tension between Josie & Matthew but I feel like this book was the slowest burn, ugh, I almost feel like she was intentionally edging her readers 😅.

I feel like the people pleasers and “I can do it myself” babes will really enjoy this book and I say that with complete confidence knowing I myself am in those particular boxes 🙃. I expected Elena to deliver & boyyyyyy did she ever! Matthew and Josie may be my new fav out of her couples & they must be protected at all costs. (Side note, where do I get me a ‘Matthew’? Is that on Amazon? 🤔)

This is an obvious 5⭐️ read and should make it to the top of your tbr immediately once published on July 30th, 2024.

4.5/5

Such a fun read and my new favorite Elena Armas book!

Works as a standalone, but is a spin off/sequel to The Long Game.

Takes place is the cutest little North Carolina town. The cast of small town characters was so entertaining!

*Engagement of convenience
*Forced proximity
*Sunshiny, girl-next-door FMC
*Supportive and goofy MMC

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC in exchange for my honest review

I’ve said in previous reviews of Armas’ books that she never misses, but I think I have to eat my words with this one.

The book wasn’t bad, but I was definitely disappointed with what it was. To start, the first half of the book feels really chaotic while not a lot actually happens. I think for the first third of the book I was just waiting for there to be some character development, or at least something that would move the plot forward. We spend a lot of time in Josie’s (the FMC) thoughts, cycling through the same anxieties over and over, and it doesn’t really take you anywhere. You also don’t really get to know any of the other characters until much later because you’re in Josie’s head so much.

Her love interest, Matthew, doesn’t get interesting until the later half of the book, and I REALLY wish this had been a dual POV like The Long Game was. I spent a lot of time wondering what Matthew was thinking, and what motivated him to help Josie with the fake engagement scheme at the center of this book.

The redeeming member of this book? Bobbi, the PR shark turned wedding planner extraordinaire. She was sassy, she was bold, and I feel like she was just the right amount of mysteriously damaged to make m want to read a book about her after being so disappointed by this one.

Overall, here’s how I’d score this:
Plot: 2.5/5
Spice: 2/5
MCs: 3/5 (only because Matthew has potential)
Side characters: 3.5/5

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuester publishing for the eARC!

ELENA! How dare you make me fall for a blonde?! Kidding, kidding, I love all hair colors 🤭 But you guys, this book is just wow. And maybe I finally like the nickname sweetheart. I've been changed!

Welcome to Green Oak, NC! For those who've read The Long Game, welcome back. Meet Josie Moore, coffe shop owner, town mayor and frequent flyer in the fiancé department. She finds herself in a 'jam'. Enter Msthhew Flanagan, sweetheart, glasses toting golden retriever and her sister's best friend.

The way I loved this book friends. I have been a fan of Elena Armas since TSLD. I love her writing style, humor, and characters every single time. And this was no exception. If you're looking for found family, small town romance, second chances, and a very sunshiney mmc, run to the stores on 7/30! Thank you @thebibliotheque and @atriabooks for this gifted arc!

xo

I’m having mixed feeling about this book. Loved the beginning. Got a little slow in the middle and finished strong. The story of a young lady that can’t seem to walk down the aisle. She struggles w a father that hasn’t been present and her mother passes at an early age. While the premise of the story was fun and entertaining, I would have preferred a different lead male character.

I loved this book and the sweet little town of Green Oak and all of its characters. I somehow missed its prequel but I was able to jump right in. Josie was wonderfully flawed and Matthew was every woman’s dream. I do wish that there was more relationship building along the way but the ending was wonderful regardless.

Josie comes across as a pushover being bullied and coerced by two people she has zero connection with, and it rubbed me the wrong way at the start. It seemed to me that she was vulnerable and being manipulated and taken advantage of, paired with the bully/gossip podcast aspect, it felt overall very mean. However, once the story started moving and Matthew started making a solid appearance, it became comical in a stereotypical rom-com way that was fun and sweet. I loved the full circle of the story with their relationship, I appreciated the villain characters taking accountability for their actions and I loved the strength of love and partnership throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC and the opportunity to read and review this title.

I absolutely loved this book. The long game wasn't my favorite but I felt like the author redeemed the town and previous characters so well. The chemistry was great and the character growth was believable. I'll be telling all my friends about this book!