Okay so this was super cute. The premise is a bit unbelievable, but somehow Elena made it work!

Quick summary:
Josie is the ultimate people pleaser. So much so, that when her past love life becomes a publicity nightmare for her estranged father, instead of telling everyone to fuck off, so pretends she's engaged to her sister's best friend, Matthew. Matthew for his part is a saint.... a hot saint and goes along with it because we ALL know he is in love with her. We all know except Josie, who wont sit still long enough to notice. It all blows up in their face and everyone comes clean-- especially Matthew via the best mic drop pod-cast interview. Read it, you'll get it!

This is definitely a slow burn that is so worth the wait. There were some wonderful laugh out loud moment followed by moments that made me almost shed a tear.

Thank you #NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Do you like being edged? Then this book is for you haha. Josie’s father has created a “PR disaster” that in her mind is up to her to fix - even though he’s the root/cause of the issue. In walks Matthew to help Josie save the day. This is all supposed to be pretend but you can’t help but see the chemistry and heat between them - cue the edging. And holy cow when your girl Elena Armas finally gives you that release - that was not the Matthew I was expecting, woah Nelly! Great book, loved that we got to see more progression of Adalyn and Cameron’s relationship as well as Ada and Josie’s story as new found sisters. Wished there was an epilogue, but who knows maybe she’s leaving the future open for a further story?
Thank you to Atria Books for my ARC.

I don’t know that this book was for me. I definitely know some people who would really enjoy this book and it was good. I do wish there was a Matthew POV because I had a hard time understanding him.

Meh this one did not work for me right from the beginning. The set-up just didn't feel realistic or plausible. Two virtual strangers. Josie pretends Matthew is her fiancé and he just goes with it? And they instantly get all flirty and jealous? The marriage of convenience trope relies on mutually benefiting scenarios or secret pining. We get a bit of understanding at the end, but it wasn't enough to really have it all make sense to me. Maybe would've been better with a dual POV for insight. But then the story felt formulaic rather than character driven and I found myself just waiting for the end for the conclusion.

Note - I have not read The Long Game so maybe I would've felt more connected to the characters if I had?

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

There are no words to express the love I have for Josie and Matthew's story. Elena Armas didn't shy away from complex family dynamics, anxiety, or unresolved hurts. Josie is a perfect example of a strong, independent, lead female character and Matthew is the perfect blend of emotional maturity, strength, and vulnerability. I genuinely felt grief over the ending of the book - I could have read for hundreds of pages more. I cannot say enough about how dear and beloved Elena Armas's characters and worlds have become to me!

4.25/5

This was truly so much fun and if there's anything you should take away from my review, it's that Matthew Flanagan is your new book boyfriend.

I loved reading The Long Game and I was so excited to see the story continue with Josie! I really liked the premise throughout, and I felt that the media storm really spurred the action of Matthew and Josie's predicament and fake engagement. I thought that Elena did such a fantastic job with solidifying the small town antics and the quirky side characters that were sprinkled throughout The Long Game. At times I did want some more shenanigans, but overall it truly added charm and realism of the novel.

I am IN LOVE with Matthew Flanagan. He is truly the most perfect book boyfriend and I loved how thoughtful yet seductive he was throughout the story. The mouth on that man truly sent me into another orbit. The tension was immaculate and there were so many moments between Josie and Matthew that had me SWEATING. Matthew is genuinely the sweetest and sexiest man I have ever read.

I really enjoyed the journey that Josie went through to find her voice and the bond that she and Adalyn shared. I thought that she was a fantastic FMC!

I did wish that we had a moment with Matthew's family from all the backstory that was said about them! I feel like they could have added a whole other level to the story that could tie up nicely at the end.

I really hope that Elena continues in this series of interconnected stand-alones!!! I low key want a Bobbi redemption story where she has to stay in Green Oak for an extended period of time.

Overall, truly such a fun read and perfect for the summer!

Thank you Elena Armas, Atria, and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Although this is technically a standalone, I HIGHLY recommend reading The Long Game first. A lot of knowing who Josie and Matthew are come from that book and, although there is not enough Cam and Adalyn for my liking, I believe it is important to read first to understand who these people really are.

That being said, I feel like I spent a lot of the book trying to understand how Matthew came to feel strongly about Josie previous to when we did, as it really is a beauitful and tender reveal of not only Matthew's character, but his and Adalyn's relationship. More time should have been spent at the beginning of the book recapping the last year or building on the connection that got one line in the epilogue of The Long Game. I needed one of three things: more Matthew POV, more development and the start, or more info from Adalyn about who Matthew is as a person.

The chapters end abrupty and I didn't find the podcast snippets to add much substance to the story. This is not Armas' best work, but a Not Great book from Armas is still a Good book. Three star book, four star vibes.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Elena Armas consistently writes novels filled with compelling characters set in unique situations while still drawing on several beloved tropes. Her latest is no exception.

I was intrigued by Josie, “The Long Game” so I was excited when I found out she was getting her own book.

I was surprised a bit by her arc and by her instant connection with Matthew but enjoyed it nonetheless.

N/A STARS

N/A ⭐️


✨NEW AUTHOR✨

TROPES:

single pov 🌼
second-chance 🌼
fake engagement 🌼
small town 🌼
she’s a people pleaser 🌼
protective mmc 🌼
slow burn 🌼
cinnamon roll mmc 🌼

dnf 22%

I’m sorry but I can absolutely not finish this. the chapters are painstakingly long. and I’m not enjoying the story or characters at all frankly. this story is not for me at all. from the blurb I thought I would enjoy it but it seems not.

I usually don’t tend to not finish arc reads because I do want to give them a chance. and I am forever grateful for this opportunity but reading this book feelings like a chore.


･ﾟ° ｐｒｅ－ｒｅｖｉｅｗ 🌼 —> I’ve never read any of her books and I’m seeing a lot of mixed reviews on this one. hoping it meets my expectations because the blurb sounds pretty decent!

*𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 & 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸. 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯. :)

Once again I just love the characters that Elena Armas writes. I'm so happy we got a story with Josie and Matthew. I love a good fake engagement troupe and this one delivered.

Okay Elena Armas, a redemption from the snooze fest that was the Long Game.

Josie and Matthew find themselves in a predicament - pretend to be engaged until the press dies down on their interest of Josie’s father and their family. But their fake engagement only gathers more interest, especially on one of America’s most famous gossip podcasts (It is Josie’s 5th “engagement” after all.

This book does a lot better showing the chemistry between the two love interests. Their sexual tension was *chefs kiss* and It did a better job showing the evolution of their relationship, i could watch them fall in love. I just wish she did better banter and better development and interactions with side characters.

I’m also not sure if it’s just the ARC so i won’t take points off, but i got kind of confused following the story towards the middle? My ARC was only 305 pages and goodreads says it’s 432 pages so I’m not sure if i was missing some, but there are some points i was really confused by the jump in time or what happened. With that being said, It had me wishing the chapters at minimum had the date so i could tell if the chapter was the same day or not. The flow between chapters was a little off.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book! Overall i really enjoyed It and recommend and these opinions are entirely my own.

3.5 ⭐️
1.5 🌶️

Wow, this was cute!!!! To be honest, I actually DNF’ed the first book but was so pleasantly surprised by this book! The story hooked me immediately and the characters, including the side ones, made me laugh out loud. And the chemistry was 🤪😍

Josie was lovable if not a bit cringe at times. And Matthew seemed smitten from the beginning but I actually hated his excessive use of “Sweetheart” as a term of endearment. It seemed condescending when he first used it at the beginning and I know he for SURE was not meaning it by the end, I just couldn’t unsee it in that way.

Otherwise, I feel like this is one of Elana Armas’ best books!!!!

Thanks NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC!!

5/5 stars! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The Fiance Dilemma is book 2 in The Long Game series. Personally I enjoyed book 1 more but I really liked book 2. This book is released July 30, 2024. Thank you to Atria Books, Elena Armas and Netgalley.

WOW! So grateful to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest opinion on this book. I really LOVED this book..even more than the first one. Josie and Matthew are incredibly loveable characters that I couldn’t get enough of throughout the story. The storyline is engaging and kept me reading. There is a lot of real life “stuff” (family, work, social media and more) in the book that makes it more realistic but Elena does a great job in balancing it all out with the will they or won’t they love story.

I’ll start this review by saying Elena Armas is one of my favorite authors. She’s INCREDIBLE, and The Long Game is one of my favorite novels EVER. Literally, no exaggeration. I was beyond excited to learn it was getting a companion novel! The Fiancé Dilemma is funny, steamy, and builds upon the world of Green Oak that devoted readers know and love.

I enjoyed The Fiancé Dilemma! It was funny, a bit quirky, and super sweet. I caught myself smiling multiple times! Did I love it as much as TLG? No. Did I still like it? Yeah, I did. There are a few reasons why it isn’t my FAVORITE, though:

1. No Matthew POV
2. It moved too fast (and was over too soon)
3. No Matthew POV :(

The Matthew point is in there twice for a reason. I’ll break it down.

1. No Matthew POV: We wanted it, man. Elena is SO FREAKING GOOD at crafting unforgettable male characters. I mean, Cameron? Adore him. Lucas? There is still one particular scene from The American Roommate Experiment, from his POV, that lives in my head whenever I think of the book. I believe there is something special about hearing the story told from a dual perspective. After briefly meeting Matthew in TLG, I was so excited to experience him firsthand in TFD. I was disappointed we didn’t get that moment.

2. I feel the novel moved a bit too fast, and we didn’t linger on specific plot points as long as we could have. For example, in the beginning, I did not fully understand why Josie was so quick to want to protect her father’s image, a father she just learned about, who hadn’t even made an effort to be in her life until recently. In TLG, Josie was confident and comfortable calling the shots. Once Bobbi arrived and literally called her a “misstep” and said she was threatening her father’s legacy, she just caved. I get that she was uncomfortable with the media talking about her and her called-off engagements, but the bulk of Bobbi’s criticisms of her were in relation to her father. Bobbi honestly didn’t give a crap about HER or what SHE wanted. (Side note: I didn’t “like” Bobbi, but her characterization was very well done). Also, I would have loved to linger on a few plot points for a bit longer. Chapter 20?!? I’m trying not to do spoilers, but holy crap. I really wanted to find out what happened and maybe have a scene later that night. But instead, we move days ahead. Again, I LIKED the book; I just wanted more!

3. No Matthew POV part 2: I wanted to dive deeper into his character. I wanted to learn more about his family and the sports career dreams he had. What else has he been up to while in Green Oak? He’s Adelyn’s best friend, yet we rarely got any time with just the two of them to build on that friendship. We did hear about a few man-crush moments between him and Cam, so that’s nice. I love Matthew’s character and essentially just, again, wanted a deeper dive into him.

Okay, so while I just listed the things I wish were in the book, truthfully, it’s because I love Elena Armas and her storytelling so much. I adore her worlds and characters. I didn’t want the story to end and wanted to be more immersed in it. I could’ve read another 50-100 pages of TFD and been super content and not bored. I’m still absolutely going to reread it AND buy the audiobook on release day.

I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to read this ARC and leave a review. Thank you, Net Galley and Atria Books!

Make sure to check out The Fiancé Dilemma when it releases on July 21st! Even though it left me wanting more, more, more, you’re still in for a good time and a good read!

A fun and quirky fake engagement coupled with a FMC that has deep rooted insecurities and a MMC that loves her for real, despite those insecurities. Yes, Elena Armas has written yet another hit! It was so easy to follow the story and uncover all the layers to the main characters. I laughed, I raged, I blushed (🌶️🌶️🌶️ ) and I commiserated. All the stars for this book!
Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review this masterpiece!!

There is something funny and lovely about this book. A true slow burn, with a “he fell first” theme. I love how silly the characters are, it makes them real. I think some of the dialog is cringy, but that’s really subjective 🤷‍♀️

I enjoy fake dating (engagement) stories. They are usually ridiculous and require some suspension of reality, both of which I’m down for. The characters and writing do not make up for the ridiculous aspects of this story. I wanted to like Josie and her small town but she was too quirky for me. And Matthew seemed promising but ultimately did not deliver much that was swoon worthy. Together their relationship seemed based in misunderstanding and miscommunications and that’s one trope I’m not into. Lots of “I’ll just ignore that” or “I’m not gonna touch that statement” from Josie and a lot of interruptions when Matthew’s about to say something. I get the building up to something but it just feels lazy. And don’t even get me started on her ‘father’…

I absolutely love Elena Armas so I couldn’t wait to read this book. It had everything I was hoping for, fake dating and him falling first. I absolutely loved Josie and Matthew was an almost perfect book boyfriend. The only downside was that it wasn’t the first book in the duology so we don’t get more of them in Cam and Adalyn’s book.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5⭐️

This was an ok book. The characters felt like they were trying a bit too hard especially the main female character. The guy didn't care what was going on really and came off as very non chalant but then all of a sudden gets super possessive, like come on man, where was all this for the entire book.

I have read all of Elenas books and honestly hav't loved one since the Spanish Love Deception. I want her to go back to that type of writing

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the arc