I will say that I find Elena’s books quite cute and fun to read, but there’s not a whole lot of depth to these novels. I prefer when there’s a bit more substance but if you’re looking for a light, fun summer read definitely add this to your list.

I really like the setting of this series in a small town in the US, and Josie was one of my favourites from The Long Game so I was happy that she got her character arc in this book. I just wish that Matthew had a bit more depth to him. I felt like, he was way too inclined to help Josie from the start with no real reason to do so. From a reality standpoint when would a guy agree to pretend to be engaged to someone that they’ve never met before?

I still did enjoy this book, but I wish it was a bit more sophisticated. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC!

Wow. I absolutely loved this one.

“I’m not choosing her over something else. I can’t because there was never a choice. I don’t give a shit how corny or cliché this sounds, but I knew when I saw her, and I know now more than ever before. I don’t need her to walk down an aisle, wear my ring, or sign her name on a dotted line. She’s my happy. The rest is only important when you need it and everyone should fucking know that.“

Matthew is a great leading man. He’s funny, charismatic, and doesn’t take shit. I feel like she did a better job developing Josie and Matthew’s relationship than Adalyn and Cam’s. I also loved the podcast excerpts…thought that was a creative track to weave into the story. There was a little bit missing in terms of the development of Matthew’s family relationships (it was kind of like yep, we are coming to your wedding but when it came to telling them the truth about how events unfolded, how it was written was just “shrug, they were fine with it and gave them a day of space.” Other than feeling as if a couple of scenes had been left out (with his family and Adalyn’s primary mention was just of her crying,) this book was so fun. I loved their relationship and I loved Josie’s character in the first book and the bath scene, phew, that bathroom got steamy! And the tie in of Adalyn sending the soulmate text…I loved the little threads like that woven through this book. Well done, Elena!

I was given this ARC by Atria Books in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 stars! This is my favorite Elena Armas book since The Spanish Love Deception. Can we talk about how swoony Matthew is?!? He's the blueprint by which all book boyfriends should be drawn. I just wish we had more of his POV!! I don't enjoy one person POV. I want to know his thoughts about the journey these characters are on as well. This book is part of a series with The Long Game, but you don't have to read that one to understand this one. I do think it would be helpful though since it's set in the same town and many of the characters are in both. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my review.

Very rarely do I simp for a blonde man, but wow, Matthew Flanagan was sickeningly sweet and also surprisingly spicy. I love Elena Armas’ writing because it feels mature and the characters are self reflective.

WOW this was so good. Fake dating/engagement is one of my all time favorite tropes and it was done so well in this book, I was genuinely giggling and kicking my feet at the chemistry between Josie & Matthew. I never thought I'd see the day that a blonde male mc did it for me but I fear that has changed. Matthew...the man that you are...I need him in a way that's concerning. The amount of times I had to stop reading because I was blushing at the things he was saying to Josie!! He knows exactly what to say and do and how to act and protect Josie in all situations. I genuinely think this may be Elena's best book boyfriend yet (Lucas I'm sorry I still love you). While I've always loved Elena's writing style, it feels like she really knows what she was doing when writing this. I could definitely feel like chemistry and love between these characters much more than in book 1. This was so fun & sweet & easy to read & I hope this book gets the hype it so deserves!
Thank you NetGalley for blessing me with this arc, I don't know what I did to deserve it but I will forever be in your debt!

Is it just me, or did Elena Armas just plagiarize herself? I know romance and thrillers are among the most formulaic genres out there, but damn. If you loved Spanish Love Deception, you'll love The Fiance Dilemma because it's basically the main elements of what I recall from that plot of SLD, but set in the same universe as The Long Game.

Also, as bunt as this may be, if one doesn't call the "plot twist" with Adalyn from the very beginning, you obviously haven't been around enough people in the same situation. In that respect, everyone in this book was a flipping idiot for not putting it together sooner.

Thanks, NG.

This book is hilarious. I love this author’s humor. I read the first of this series as well and I do have to say I laughed out loud while reading both books.

Josie is the secret sister to Adalyn, who was in the first book. They are the daughters of Andrew Underwood, the owner of the Miami Heat soccer team, among other things. Josie is a small-town girl who didn’t know she was the daughter to a well-known multimillionaire. All of a sudden, everyone knows Josie’s business. Social media and the press have gotten ahold of all of Josie’s secrets, including the fact that she has been engaged FOUR times. They call her “the runner” as she has left each fiancé before the wedding or even at the altar. To redeem her reputation, Josie lies about being engaged AGAIN to Matthew, Adalyn’s best friend. It becomes too late to back out of this little white lie, so Matthew has no choice but to go along with the fake engagement.

I enjoyed this book. I gave the first one 3 stars, and this one is no different. While I did enjoy reading this book, the burn was slowwww. I got bored in some parts. I wish the romance was a bit more fast paced.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

So I read The Long Game, but it's been a minute and I couldn't really remember the details when I read this book. I'm wondering if that may have helped me understand the characters a bit more in this one. Don't get me wrong-I liked this book! I loved Josie, Grandpa Mo (hysterical), and Matthew! The backstory was a bit off for me, but it wasn't enough to spoil anything! I loved Josie and Matthew's chemistry, and their spice! Wow! This is a runaway bride/fake fiance/MAJOR slowburn book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exhange for my honest review!

This was absolutley adorible. I devoured this book in two sittings, but only becasue I was on a plane and had to make my connecting flight. This baby is a SLOW burn but when we finally get to the spicy bits it's worth it. I loved every chapter, right from the start. Highly recommend.

Small town setting, soul mates,

Josie Moore is the long-lost sister from The Long Game which is probably a good idea to read before diving into this one.
Matthew Flanagan shows up at her door at the *perfect* time, just in time for her to declare that he's her fiancé. But Josie doesn't know that he already has a thing for her. Well, they decide to be fake engaged for PR (Josie's dad is big time) and all of the town (and country) is following the story of Josie's 5th fiancé. They are especially interested because Daddy wants to pay for and be involved in the wedding.

Is Matthew the One???

Overall, I liked it but the storyline was predictable, they don't kiss until 83% (too slow of a burn although there is some spice earlier on) and it kind of dragged on toward the end. There's only so much self doubt I can read before it's repetitive.

Josie Moore has been engaged—for real—four times, so, what’s one more (fake) engagement if it helps put out a few public relations fires for her estranged father who suddenly wants to be part of her life? Fortunately, Matthew Flanagan just happens to be in the right place at the right time when Josie finds herself in need of a (fake) romantic hero. Soon, their upcoming nuptials are the talk of the town, but as the big day nears, the couple is forced to confront the age-old question: What’s real, and what’s just pretend?

One of the things I loved about this novel is how effortlessly it pulls from the first novel in the series, The Long Game. While either book can be read as a standalone, there is just enough crossover between the two to make it feel like one continuous story. I appreciated getting to visit the charming town of Green Oak again, and I loved seeing what Adalyn and Cameron were up to, though these ties never overwhelmed the story; the focus was clearly on Josie and Matthew, and it never strayed. Elena Armas explored Josie’s character beautifully and with nuance and care. While it was initially easy to judge Josie for being a little too trigger-happy when it came to engagements, Armas showed the reader exactly what led Josie to make the choices she did, in a sympathetic and understandable way. And Matthew, while seemingly too good to be true (in the way that most male romance leads are), also had many dimensions, ranging from his relationship with his family to his career aspirations and fears. The classic small-town supporting cast was delightful, and I found myself laughing out loud at their antics frequently. This was a perfect escape read and I was certainly disappointed when it was time to return to the real world! This book is perfect for readers who loved Armas’ other books or for fans of Emily Henry, Christina Lauren, and Abby Jimenez.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for granting me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third book by Elena Armas I have read and like the other books this one did not disappoint. I feel like I was Josie. I really connected with the character and the ups and downs.

Fake fiance, meddling PR agent, and a whole podcast series about your previous failed engagements this makes up the Fiance Dilemma. I loved the characters and their development throughout the story. Josie isn't sure about a lot of things but she realizes she can lean into her fake fiance if needed, especially during their very public fake engagement.

Elena Armas once again takes us to Glen Oaks with Josie's story. I enjoyed getting to know Josie more and her relationship with Matthew. It made me feel so happy when the feelings became more and Josie realized she was no longer alone.

Loved reading the highly recommended romance story. When Matthew's car get stuck, he finds himself at Josie's house, and before he knows what's happening, he is in a fake engagement to Josie. Read the wonderfully written and must read riveting love story.

I really wanted to like this book more. I think i had such high expectations that it’s my fault for not loving it? Some parts made me feel like I needed to reread the long game to remember who was who and what was going on. I enjoyed the book, but it just didn’t do it for me. And by that I mean it wasn’t knock it out of the park five stars and instead was just enjoyable. I’m hoping I like it more after a long game re-read and waiting a bit before I reread the fiancé dilemma. I’d still recommend the book if you like Elena’s other books!

I am obsessed with anything this author puts out, so naturally I was very excited to get my hands on an early copy of this!

I was even more excited to get another Green Oak story and I loved Josie from the previous books.

I enjoyed this one, the only negative is that I felt that we didn’t get to know enough about Matthew and what little we did get I LOVED.

What a fun Rom com, the second in The Long Game series. Josie and Matthew are such fun characters. I love a good fake date/engagement story.

Josie Moore has given the opposite sex—and love—plenty of chances. Four exactly, if you count all her failed engagements, and five if you include the absentee father who kept her existence a secret until very recently. So when her father decides to announce his retirement with a splashy magazine piece about the family, Josie realizes her romantic history is a complicated PR issue.

Matthew Flanagan is in the mud, literally. Not only has he been fired from his job, but also the tires of his car are stuck in the muck after taking a wrong turn as he enters Green Oak, North Carolina. So, he grabs a duffel with his essentials and goes in search of a place to crash until he gets his life back on track. But instead, he finds his best friend’s sister, Josie, greeting him as her fiancé.

What starts as a big messy misunderstanding quickly turns into an arrangement with Matthew playing a new role as doting fiancé. A fifth engagement—and a stunt, at that—makes Josie’s stomach turn, but every dilemma requires a choice between equally undesirable alternatives, and Matthew doesn’t seem to mind becoming one more number in a colorful list of grooms-that-never-were. Despite the ring on her finger, Josie knows this is only temporary, even if the rest of the small town believes that the fifth time’s the charm.

I was somehow unaware that this was a spin-off of one of the author’s other novels. I understand that this book is being marketed as a standalone and the author said you don’t have to read her previous book to enjoy this one, but man I wish I had. The beginning of The Fiancé Dilemma really seems like it’s counting on the reader already knowing all the characters right off the bat. As a result, everything feels incredibly accelerated. I’ll admit, until about the 30% mark of the book, I was not feeling it. However, it’s possible if I had read The Long Game first, that this would’ve been completely avoided. So, it could be a me problem! All that to say, if you read this, start with The Long Game. You'll avoid spoilers for that book and start The Fiancé Dilemma off on a much better foot than I did. Then you can sit back and really enjoy!

What I liked:
Matthew. The MMC was so fun and adorable. He was in on Josie’s charade from the jump, and he never looked back. I loved his confidence and how he worked with Josie to set boundaries in her life, instead of burning herself out people pleasing. Plus, after some initial plot growing pains, the chemistry between Josie and Matthew was through the roof! I do wish we had learned more about Matthew, though. Maybe we do in The Long Game, but that doesn’t help the book he’s a literal main character in. Matthew was the perfect book boyfriend and it’s because his only purpose was to support Josie. That sounds nice, but it ends up feeling a little hollow.

The cover is *beautiful* but, after seeing all the ex-fiancés lined up, I wish we had learned more about Josie’s previous relationships and how that shaped her.

We mostly avoided the miscommunication trope (amongst others) that tend to plague romance books. That alone made me overall happy with the story!

While I loved The Long Game, and Josie's character as the mayor of the small town, I did not feel that the characters had as much development in The Fiancé Dilemma. I enjoyed the story that I read the whole story, but it did not grab me like the first book did.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Trope: Fake Dating
Spice: 🔥🔥

Synopsis: Josie’s absentee father, who kept her existence a secret until recently, has stormed into her life and turn it upside down. The media latched on to the story and started digging, especially when the media got ahold of Josie’s four failed engagements. When the PR consultant shows up on Josie’s doorstep unannounced, Josie is a literal hot mess with a green face mask, a robe covered in jam, and an old engagement ring on her finger. The PR consultant takes this misunderstanding and finds with it. Now, Josie finds herself engaged to #5, who happens to be her sister’s best friend.

Thoughts: I struggled with why Josie felt she needed to follow through with the fake engagement. She barely knew her father and did owe him anything. She could have easily told the PR consultant that she wasn’t engaged and to go away. If you take away that detail, I enjoyed the book. I love it when a fake engagement turns real. Matthew was so sweet and patient with Josie. He knows how to make a girl feel special.

"Beautiful things shouldn't be boxed. It eventually dims their light..."

"Perfection is subjective."

"What if I can't give you any fucking firsts, so / want to make sure I get a chance at being your last?"

I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review, and I'd like to thank Elena Armas, Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.