elena armas does it a freaking gain!!! honestly… is matthew flanagan the new aaron blackford?? i think this may be my 2nd favorite of her books because truthfully i don’t think anything will ever top the spanish love deception for me, but oh my gosh!! this came so so close. these characters are so near & dear to my heart. the way they are written is just so realistic and i feel like i could just call up adalyn and josie like they’re my in real life besties or something. i definitely think this will remind readers of why they loved the spanish love deception so much! this book was addictive & the pacing of this relationship was chefs kiss for me! the nicknames AHHH they had me blushing and kicking my feet so hard!! i am an elena armas stan until the day i die!!

I’ll be honest I didn’t read The Long Game so o wasn’t familiar with the characters and felt kind of dropped into the story. The characters were one dimensional and I couldn’t connect with the silliness of the storyline. It felt convenient and overdone. The characters were a bit cringey and the dialogue was lacking depth for me.

Fuck, okay, where do I start? This was such a HORNY book. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I loved it. It reminded of my love story minus the fake dating/engagement thing. These people fell so deeply in love, so fast and it wasn’t that BS insta-love thing. It was cute, and it made sense. Have I said it was horny? Yeah. Well, give it a try when it comes out. It was fun as hell to read about Josie Moore and Matthew Flanagan (yes, he’s from Boston, like my husband. Give me a break). 🤍 thanks NetGalley for the ARC 🥰

Josie Moore, the quirky mayor of a small town in South Carolina, has not only just recently learned the identity of her father, but has been thrown into the limelight due to his status as a sports mogul. Josie’s past engagements (four to be exact), have come under scrutiny by popular podcasters, bringing unwanted attention to herself and her father. After being bombarded by her father’s PR agent, she ropes in her sister’s best friend, Matthew, into being her fake fiancé. What starts out as a fake engagement quickly becomes much more.

I found the main premise of the book to be entertaining, and the characters to be endearing. I haven’t read The Long Game, so this was my first introduction to these characters, and felt like this book definitely stands well on its own.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Fiance Dilemma was a super fun read, and I loved the twist on the fake marriage trope. I was so excited to get a book about Josie and Matthew and The Fiance Dilemma was perfect. I just wished it was dual-POV. I wanted to hear Matthew thoughts and feelings so bad! I also wished the beginning made it not feel like Matthew was being forced into the deal. However, as the book progressed Matthew enjoyed the fake engagement a lot. :) Overall, this was a enjoyable read and a perfect edition to The Long Game series!

I was excited to see a new ARC from Elena Armas land in my Kindle. I loved The Spanish Love Deception and her books since. There's always a delicious build up of tension before all the good stuff happens that makes it even sweeter.

Adalyn's sister Josie is the town mayor of Green Oak, North Carolina and runs her own coffee shop. Adalyn and Josie were excited to learn they're sisters in The Long Game but now Adalyn is off her partner Cameron working on soccer projects. Josie has somehow become a PR liability for her famous father, Andrew, and Bobbi Shark is sent to manage the PR crisis. Walking his daughter down the aisle for good should do just the trick, especially since Josie has pulled a Runaway Bride four times. Now, she pretends Adalyn's best friend Matthew is her fiance and the two run through the motions until it's almost the big day. Sure they've developed feelings, but will they really go through with it?

Read if you like:
✅ Pretend engagement
✅ Small town romance
✅ Sassy female MC
✅ Dirty talking male MC

This was incredibly well done and had that signature tension build of Elena's. Josie was adorable and I love how she was so real through everything. She sorta lost herself and Matthew helped her find herself.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!

I wish I could read it for the first time all over again. All the butterflies, all the feels, ALL THE TENSION. This is by far my favorite Elena Armas couple so far.

This is a must-read. 100%. Period. I thought The Long Game was my new favorite Elena Armas book, but omg, this one is it. This is the one. I adore Josie, and Matthew is so much more than the snarky best friend. Who knew blonde MMCs could get it 😏

Josie is trying to solve a PR nightmare that is not her fault, in comes Matthew, who agrees in a shocked moment to be her fake fiance.

And of course, you know how those fake relationships go. It is absolute chaos, and I'm here for it. I love how scattered Josie is and how unapologetically herself she is. Even through insecurities and trauma, she is still who she is, and she doesn't need to apologize for it.

Also, love that Adalyn and Cam make appearances of course 😏 so maybe read The Long Game before this book is published in July!!

This book was a roller coaster but so worth the ride and journey to the end. Thank you for your the opportunity to read an advance copy. There were the normal grammar items that I assume get fixed before release but those don’t take away from the story. Elena Armas doesn’t write easy love stories, she writes stories with real emotions and hard work for the characters to get their happily ever afters and this book is another example of that. How she takes two amazing characters, and how they don’t just skip off into the sunset but work through issues and together and get a beautiful story. I enjoyed the funny moments, the sad moments, honestly every moment of this book. I cannot say enough good things in this feedback box and can’t wait to review it once it’s released. Thank you once again. This book was phenomenal. 5 stars.

The Fiancé Dilemma is a story that had several expectations, but none of them were achieved. My problem with this book was the plot, mainly. The beginning was not as strong as it should have been. The conflict in which the characters find themselves involved in this false marriage is completely unrealistic and even basic. I don't think it worked as expected. I feel like it was an excuse to start the story. The plot could not stand on its own.

I also want to point out that the narration was very messy, at least that's how I perceived it. It rambled quite a lot, which caused the thread to be completely lost. I think, structurally, it could improve.

Another reason this book wasn't one of my favorites was because of the characters. I couldn't connect with them, nor with their personalities. In Josie's case, her quirkiness was enhanced to a level that did not favor her at all. It was like she was constantly in chaos with everything, even the narration became chaotic when Josie was involved. It was very disappointing. And Matthew, the truth is that he was fine, he was not memorable like other characters the author wrote.

All in all, it was a disappointing read. It was not one of the author's best works.

Thanks NetGalley & Atria for this ARC!

I really wish I liked this but I ended up dnfing it early on. Josie was just too “quirky” and I couldn’t stomach reading the whole book from her perspective.

I LOVE Elena's writing! I've read every one of her books and there is not a single time where I did not rate it as a 5-star read!

This book can absolutely be read as a stand alone, but if you haven't read The Long Game yet, I would suggest to do that first. The Fiance Dilemma follows Josie, who we meet in The Long Game, and we do have Adalyn and Cam in this book as wonderful side characters.

Josie is getting all kinds of attention, but not in a good way, when her father, Andrew is facing scrutiny from the public for not being part of Josie's life all this time. After the passing of Josie's mom, Andrew reaches out with a "Luke, I am your Father" phone call to Josie and to offer his condolences. Not a great way to find out who your dad is or "meet" them for the first time.

Some time later, Josie is met at her door by a PR hot shot named Bobbi Shark while wearing one of her old engagement rings (she was just trying it on again and it got stuck). When Bobbi sees the ring she figures this is just what Andrew's image needs, a big show of a wedding for him to pay for and him to walk his daughter down the aisle to make him look like the dotting father and back in the good graces of the public image.

Insert - a on the spot, fake engagement to Matthew Flanagan, who happened to be passing by after car trouble, dead on his feet to Josie, (his best friends sister) greeting him and his fiance.

This book had me giggling and kicking my feet like a little school girl. I could not get enough and didn't want to put it down!

There is some spice in the book as well, it was wonderful, but didn't over shadow the book at all and was very tastefully done. There are only a couple steamy/spicy scenes throughout but let me tell you they are WORTH IT! phew!

An absolutely wonderful read, highly recommend!

I always love Elena Armas and The Fiancé Dilemma was no exception. Matthew was truly a dream male lead and the pacing of his and Josie’s relationship was really well done. I also enjoyed the role that the supporting characters played and I always love when we get to know a village. The conflict was really well written and was a good mix of internal and external. The book definitely is cheesy at times, but it’s a romcom! It’s a given for the genre and I personally love it! Highly recommend this book for romance lovers and romance newbies alike

Once again, Elena Armas has written a masterpiece! The moment it was announced we were getting a spin-off for Josie and would get to know Matthew's character in-depth, I was ready.

Josie, known mayor of her small town, has a dark romantic history: she's been engaged four times and ran from the altar every time.

After Josie finds herself confronted by her newfound father's PR strategist, she panics and deems a confused, approaching Matthew her fiance to make the Shark go away. What's supposed to be a harmless lie turns into a national spectacle and Josie and Matthew find themselves thrown deeper into the lie and planning a wedding only a month away.

As Josie and Matthew learn how to navigate their friendship amongst the chaos, they find themselves falling for each other faster than they could ever dream. While the internet is betting on whether Josie is going to finally walk down the aisle, Josie has to figure out if she really does want to marry Matthew.

The Fiance Dilemma is a hilarious romantic book that shows the realism of trying to keep your head up and remain happy when coming from a broken family. There's the perfect amount of family angst, learning about oneself, comedy, and steamy romantic tension. When Elena said there was a lot of sexual tension in this book, SHE WAS NOT JOKING. Matthew and Josie had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. (Matthew also had me on my knees but we don't need to talk about that).

The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas is the second in The Long Game series. Josie Moore has had bad luck with the opposite sex with four broken engagements. Her love life has suddenly become a PR nightmare for her rich and famous absentee father and what starts as a big misunderstanding turns into an accidental fake engagement between Josie and the best friend of her sister Matthew. They play along, hoping the gossip will die down before they are to be married, but Josie and Matthew find themselves second guessing how fake their feelings are for each other.

I did not read the first book in this series (The Long Game). Most contemporary romance series don't require to be read in order however I feel like I did not have enough backstory for some of the supporting characters that book #1 focused on. I also thought that the characters' backstory/personalities, especially Matthew, could have been fleshed out a little more. That being said, overall this was a fun read and I think fans of this author and contemporary romance will generally enjoy this story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for granting me an advanced reader copy of the eBook. My review was not influenced by receiving this ARC. The Fiancé Dilemma is expected to be published on July 30, 2024.

The Fiancé Dilemma is a standalone romance novel set in the same world as the previous book The Long Game.

~Tropes:~
- fake engagement
- small town romance
- sister’s best friend
- slow burn
- he falls first and harder

~Plot~
Josie was engaged four times, but she was never able to change the status from bride to wife. After her recently discovered multi-billionaire father Andrew Underwood decides to publish a book, he enlists the help of PR strategist Bobbi Shark to improve Josie's public image. The ridiculous situation at their first meeting leads to Josie getting engaged to an attractive stranger (who turns out to be her sister's best friend Matthew Flanagan) who happens to be standing on her doorstep.

Bobbi sees the upcoming wedding as an opportunity to present Andrew as a caring parent so Josie and Matthew become caught up in wedding fever, thinking their fake engagement will end before the big day. But as they spend more time together, they realize they are too comfortable breaking up. Will they make fake engagement real? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Josie left mixed impressions. I liked that she was very active, lively, ready to help. But at the same time, she was clumsy, overly vulnerable, insecure and I couldn’t understand her actions in some situations.
Matthew was a complete mystery, but as the story progressed, he began to reveal himself more. He is patient, strong, confident and knows exactly what and who he wants. I particularly liked that at the end of the book we got his POV (almost two) and some of the questions that I had during the reading were answered.

However, I didn't feel the chemistry between the characters. Slowburn and hot scenes were written really well, but I didn't understand where their attraction originally came from, as we hadn’t enough scenes with their interaction. Without spoilers, I'll just say that Matthew's feelings were somehow justified, while Josie's feelings seemed to come out from nowhere. Nevertheless, I liked the ending of their romantic story, which turned out to be not exactly we used to, and I personally did not expect such a twist.

I really loved Bobbi as the main side character, her surname speaks for itself. She’s so professional and strong woman and a real jewel of this story. Can we please get her book next? I’d like to see a man who can tame her!

The novel is a standalone, but I still feel that I’d better read Long Game first, as moments from the previous book were not explained and I felt that I’m missing a part of the story. If you are a fan of Elena Armas books then I’ll definitely recommend to read The Fiancé Dilemma, but if you are new to her writing then it’s better to start with previous titles.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of this book.

I love a new spin on an old trope, and this one was so much fun. Our heroine never could've predicted that the near-stranger who saved her from an awkward situation - by faking an engagement - would end up being the one. That means they're quickly falling for each other as a very real wedding day approaches, and that is terrifying to a woman who has been a runway bride (on more than one occasion!) in the past. It kept both the reader and the couple on their toes, ratcheting up the tension in such an interesting way. What I loved the most was the hero though - he was rock steady throughout it all, acting as such an amazing support system to our skittish heroine. I wouldn't quite call it a black cat/golden retriever romance (our heroine is too sweet), but it's definitely close. The hero is an absolute sweetheart who knows exactly what his girl needs, and that made this such an entertaining, unpredictable read - I loved it!

The story follows Josie, a woman who is known as a runaway bride. She's called off multiple engagements in the past, and that's left her with a bit of a reputation. So when her estranged father's PR person accidentally catches her wearing an old engagement ring (it was a lonely moment of longing), Josie has to think fast. And when she sees her sister's best guy friend - a man she's only met via text - Josie claims him as the groom. Josie never meant for it to lead to more, but suddenly her dad's PR person is planning a very real wedding in just a few weeks. Not wanting to tarnish her reputation further, Josie and Matthew play along with the wedding planning, even though they know they'll never make it to the altar. But they make a better team than Josie could've anticipated, and soon she's developing feelings for the man she's set to leave in a few short weeks.

I've enjoyed all of Armas' books, but this is the first of the newer ones that's given me The Spanish Love Deception vibes in such a big way - and that's a major compliment. I kinda loved that we only got Josie's perspective, and were forced to puzzle out how Matthew was feeling for ourselves. He is such a great guy, this incorrigible flirt who seems to genuinely enjoy his time with Josie. Never has a blonde man with glasses worked so well for me, lol, and he was definitely one of the best parts of the book. I enjoyed the first third quite a bit, but once the sexual tension kicked in, this was elevated to a whole other level. Josie and Matthew had TONS of chemistry, which presented itself in some seriously delicious ways. That man is not a golden retriever in the bedroom, even if he is eager to please. Ahem. Anyways, I really loved the direction this took in the back half, and it truly grabbed my attention once it hit its stride. The slow burn to SIZZLE worked so well, and I loved that I really wasn't sure how things would work out. I'm very pleased to report that it's one of my new favorites from the author, and such a fantastic read.

I am a huge Elena Armas fan & The Fiance Dilemma is absolute perfection!! A fake engagement, second chance romance, and family drama combine to make this an amazing 5 star read!! The characters and witty banter in this book are spot on & I actually caught myself laughing out loud. This is an extremely quick, easy read but still had substance. Move this one to the top of your summer TBR!

Thank you NetGalley & Atria Books for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc.

Um,yes! This book was amazing and had me laughing out loud! I loved Josie and Matthew, especially how defensive Matthew always was for a Josie. If fake dating is your trope and you are looking for a sweet romance- this is for you!

I was SO excited when I saw I got an Elena Armas eARC, and I like to think that I had reasonable (but not ridiculously high!) expectations for this story. TLDR: I just don't think that this book was for me.

My main reason for (strongly) disliking it was knowing that not only the relationship, but JOSIE, would have absolutely benefitted from maybe taking a pause until Josie went to therapy and figured herself (and her daddy issues) out rather than having a relationship that's so unstable, it's impossible to root for. I couldn't find any character that was likeable enough for me to care what happened to them, and this was not helped by the millennial-cringe dialogue (which has never annoyed me in past books! I promise I'm not usually a hater of goofy dialogue!)

These two stars are for Pedro Pigscal, and Pedro Pigscal only.

I'd genuinely like to thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly I’d like to thank Atria and NetGalley for the eARC and the opportunity to leave an honest, voluntary review.

This book was so fun and cute. I was giggling and kicking my feet. I loved how Matthew and Josie grew together. I loved how fiercely protective he was over her. And lord the mouth on that man??? He’s described so innocently, he’s definitely not.

Overall I loved seeing previous characters and getting to see the town from Josie’s perspective. I wish we could’ve met Matthew’s family. They sounded so fun and I would’ve loved to see them mingle in the town. I also wanted more Andrew content by the end.

Elena always writes books that make me smile. I’ll never not be excited to read her next book.