3.5⭐️ rounded up!

thank you to NetGalley for giving me the arc in exchange for an honest review!

i have struggled with Elena Armas’ books in the past. i didn’t like The Spanish Love Deception and The Long Game but i loved The American Roommate Experiment. i’m so happy to say that i loved The Fiancé Dilemma!

fake relationships/engagements have so much tension that has you on the edge of your seat and this book did just that. i really love the silly and witty characters so i loved Matthew. Josie was a little too quirky for my liking but i loved reading about their relationship.

i will say the pacing was a little weird. things would speed up and one thing after another would happen but then it felt like nothing was going on. the ending was rushed and felt unsatisfactory but i overall had such a good time reading this!

Thank you to NetGalley and Elena Armas for allowing me to read this book early and share my thoughts with other readers!

This was my exact favorite kind of romance formula - a combination of beautiful immersive imagery and the investment of feeling like you are right there alongside the characters living it while the story unfolds. This book is like all your favorite classic romance movies rolled up into one big sundae of cute and sexy in perfect proportions. It wasn't too sweet and it wasn't too sexy - it was an addictive combination. I felt like I was right there with Josie squealing along at every thing Matthew said.

Josie was an interesting FMC for me because she is very much a paradox. She is both a strong, independent coffeeshop owner, Mayor of the town, neighbour and friend who exudes confidence but also is insecure, vulnerable, has anxiety and panic attacks (loved the mental health rep!) when it comes to herself as a daughter or fiancee. This separation within her character is written in a beautiful way that shows her growth and acceptance of herself.

Matthew is straight up book boyfriend material. Like I want a sweater made of his exact type of boyfriend material! He is a classic, he falls first and harder and the slow burn is just perfectly paced. I've read quite a few of these type of books but Elena Armas does an unforgettable job of integrating book boyfriend quotes that make you want to hold your own partner to this standard!

The spice was SPICY! It is only a 2-2.5 for me since it mostly consists of pretty vanilla scenes and doesn't happen frequently. However, do not get me wrong, it was HOT. There typically aren't many books I've read that can do phone sex right, but special shoutout to Josie's bathtub scene.

Overall, there wasn't any aspect of this book I didn't enjoy. The writing was beautiful, the pacing was perfect, the characters were interesting. It was a fantastic read that I can't wait to keep recommending!

I was so excited for this book but ultimately could not get into it. I don't get why the MC keeps leaving men at the altar (and why she still has all the engagement rings--shouldn't she forfeit that very expensive thing if she's the one to call it off, ESPECIALLY if she waits til the wedding day to do it?). The voice also just did not click for me. I really love fake dating but ended up DNFing because I just wasn't particularly invested in the relationship or the characters themselves.

I really enjoyed this book! One of my favorite tropes is a fake engagement so I was excited to get approved to read this book early! The author takes us back to Greek Oaks where we see Adalyn sister, Josie, get "engaged" to Adalyn's best friend, Matthew, to fix a complicated PR issue due to Josie's last 4 engagements ending. I think the best parts were all of the scenes when Josie and Matthew together. You see how their fake relationship becomes real overtime in the slowest of burns- And it was so satisfying. I did really like Josie. I think she has a lot on her plate and never really takes a moment for herself, but rather wants to help everyone else in town. So, I loved Matthew coming into the picture because he was the perfect fiancé. He was sweet, caring, supportive, funny, and hot. The creative nicknames had me cracking up. I loved that he was really the first person in Josie's life to put her first and actually stay when things got tough. It was such a perfect ending especially having no third act breakup and Matthew getting the final word with the podcasters.

I gave it only four stars just because I don't know if I agree with the way the father seemed to be forgiven. I wish Matthew or Josie would have told him off. I think he was toxic throughout the book, and I wish he did not have a happy ending. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend!

I own all of Elena Armas' books, but this is admittedly the first of hers I've actually read. Thankfully, it was easy to follow the characters' connections to each other and to previous novels, so I never felt lost in the new world. And I did enjoy being in Green Oaks with all its kooky characters.

Matthew and Josie, though. They were very awkward together at first. Or, rather, Josie was very awkward with Matthew. He seemed to roll with the punches, at least wanted to make their rouse convincing, but she kept balking and I eventually grew tired of her waffling. I didn't feel invested in them until the scene where Matthew explains the ring and its design to Josie. After that I was sat -- even more so after the text reveal. And I appreciate Armas not following the epilogue cliche in romance books these days; it wouldn't have felt true to the characters.

This definitely intrigues me to pick up Armas' other books, but I can't say I'll pick this up at the end of the month.

Josie Moore is a PR nightmare for her mega-rich father. The young woman has had her fair share of engagements (plus a few more), but has failed to tie the knot all four times. Her love life has become the fodder for tabloids and podcasts after her father announces his retirement in a large magazine interview. In a last-ditch effort to save face, Josie announces that she is engaged again and deeply committed to her newest beau. The only problem is that she hasn’t had a single date since her last aborted nuptials. With the help of her sister’s best friend, Matthew, Josie begins to spin the tale of love at first sight and deepest commitments. While the couple pretend to be in love and plan a wedding, they begin to realize that their relationship isn’t as fake as they thought and that this time she may have really found “the one.”

I received an advance readers copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review. My first one ever 💃 so here comes the review ( with some spoilers):

I’ve read all of Armas’s books so far and this one was my least favorite. She’s got some good spice in there and swoonworthy moments but I did not buy the beginning. The reasons for which the two fell into an engagement made no sense to me, and it sort of spoiled the rest of the book too. The premise is that after leaving 4 other men in front of the altar and that having a terrible PR impact on her rich dad, the heroine decides that the best way to tackle that is to have another wedding so she pretends to be engaged to a stranger ( at first). So her solution to having 4 incomplete catastrophe weddings is to try to have another one to fix things from a PR perspective? I know all books in this genre have a little contrived action in them but this was nonsensical. When I read the American Roommate experiment - the heroine had a huge hole in her ceiling preventing her from returning home. Sharing an apartment with the cousin of her best friend just made sense.

The chemistry between the two was good, and the arc of their romance increasing was pretty hot too. There were some good characters and villains in the story who all get good growth by the end. I enjoyed it, if I could have gotten over that initial premise thing.

Finally I think the sex could have come a little earlier in the book. It was good but a little overdue.

I would have still bought it I think, and it will make an excellent book read if you can get over the silliness of the beginning.

4⭐️/5
3🌶️/5

This is the second book in Elena Armas’ series The Long Game. It can be read as a stand-alone, but I highly recommend reading or listening to the first book for character introductions and the events leading up to this book.

Josie, coffee shop owner, the voluntary mayor of Green Oak, and Adalyn’s half-sister (FMC from The Long Game), is a PR nightmare to her estranged father’s legacy after a podcast makes a series out of her failed four engagements. Matthew, Adalyn’s best friend, arrives in Green Oak after being fired from his job and feeling unsure of his future.

Josie’s father sends Bobbi, a PR strategist, to clean up this “PR nightmare” and assumes a ring Josie is wearing is an engagement ring. Matthew stumbles upon Josie’s house after getting his car stuck in the mud trying to find his lodge and is introduced as Josie’s fiancé. Matthew reluctantly agrees and news of their whirlwind engagement spreads like wildfire in Green Oak.

The slow-burn chemistry between Josie and Matthew was swoon worthy. The people of Green Oak, Grandpa Mo, and the farm animals (Pedro Pigscal and Sebastian Stan) were all great additions as side characters. I loved Adalyn and Cameron’s appearances from The Long Game flowed with the story. I enjoyed how the transcripts from the podcast provided some context on Josie’s past. I really wish we had Matthew’s point of view, but you could easily follow his growing feelings from Josie’s POV.

Tropes: FMC POV, slow burn, fake engagement, sister’s best friend, & small-town romance.

Thank you to Elena Armas, Atria Books, and Net galley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I finished The Long Game, I was hoping and wishing Elena Armas’s next book would be about Josie and Matthew and boy did she deliver. I loved being back in Green Oak with such a great cast of characters. Josie and Matthew were hysterical together and had me giggling throughout. Such a great read that I can’t wait to recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

DNF at 20%
I think this book would have been really cute. I just really struggled getting through all the dragged out scenes. (I think Josie spends 3 straight chapters on her porch.) I found the story to be kind of boring & nothing made me want to keep reading it. I liked the characters, personally I much preferred Josie to Adalyn but I just couldn't power through. I think I'll definitely pick it up at a later date, now just wasn't the right time for it.

This is the year of women written by men - romcom authors have been stepping it up. Matthew is heading up to my top 5 favorite book boyfriends. I’m not usually a slow burn girl but the pacing and payoff was so worth it. I loved the resolution of their relationship, and watching Josie fall a little more every day.

The beginning had me leaning towards 3 stars because some of the lines were SO cringey, but by the halfway point it was starting to turn around, and then Matthew’s filthy mouth really stepped it up. Plus, NO SECOND ACT BREAKUP 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 praise the writing gods.

Elena Armas has done it again! I have loved all of her books and this one is no different. The Fiancé Dilemma is a slow burn, small town romance with some of my favorite tropes! I absolutely love fake dating/engagement of convenience.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

*slams hand on table* HE. *slams hand on table* CALLS. *slams hand on table* HER *slams hand on table* BABY *slams hand on table* BLUE

this is the cutest book I have read in a while!

it was slow at first but it got so good in the middle and I loved the ending.

Loved this book so much and thank you for letting me read it early! I thought that the two leads were perfect, particularly Matthew - OMG! He's literally perfect! Story flowed well, and although Elena Armas' books are typically slow burn, I wish things would've heated up between Josie and Matthew before the 80% mark. But still loved it and its my favorite of her books now! Will recommend to my girlfriends :)

The mayor of a small town pretends to be engaged to her sister's best friend in order to salvage her reputation as the one who always runs away from weddings. Even though Josie and Matthew quite literally stumbled into this fake engagement and mostly did it to appease Josie's father and his passionate (and slightly unhinged) PR manager, they support each other and convince the town of their relationship.

Elena Armas combines the fake engagement, small town romance, and forced proximity tropes in a magical way that had me swooning and eager to figure out what happened next.

The big theme of this story, in my opinion, was parasocial relationships/celebrity gossip. Josie's father is a "famous" business man, mostly because of the hijinks his daughters get into that gain attention on social media. The fact that a whole podcast segment was based around a daughter of a businessman who broke off four engagements is baffling, especially considering Josie is the mayor of a teeny tiny town and doesn't have any kind of relationship with her father. It seemed like everyone interested in Josie's story only cared about her failed engagements and the drama rather than questioning the men she was with and why they care so much about her love life. Social media and celebrity culture is fascinating and slowly becoming more and more problematic, and I appreciate how Elena Armas showed us the consequences of this. I loved that Matthew went to the podcast, held those women accountable, and set the record straight.

Josie and Matthew are a beautiful couple, and I ADORED that there was no giant miscommunication third act breakup, and no stereotypical marriage in the epilogue; their relationship was validated by their love and connection rather than paper and others opinions, which was a refreshing take on contemporary romance.

I cannot wait for everyone to get their hands on this fabulous book. Thank you NetGalley for providing an advanced copy.

elena armas i love you so endlessly. i'm just so in awe of you.

when i saw the next book would be josie and matthew's, i just knew i was going to be absolutely obsessed and in love with their story. and indeed i was!!!

<b> "beautiful things shouldn't be boxed. it eventually dims their light." </b> I SOBBED!!! matthew is what every man should be. i fell for him instantly. he is such a sweetie pie that was nothing but kind to josie.

josie is someone i found myself comparing myself with. i think her personality and character is so complex and needs to be explained well to understand, which is what elena did. the silly all around girl we knew in book one had much deeper emotions than we thought. we learned about how she coped with her mom dying and how she has dealt with her whole life being changed with finding out who her father is, and that her best friend was actually her sister. she is an extremely strong character whom i admire.

i will never not eat up the fake dating plot. it's just absolutely genius. these two were it for each other from the start and nothing was going to change that. i truly just loved this book so much.

thank you netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review ! <3

Thank you so much NetGalley, Atria Books, and Elena Armas for this advanced readers copy of The Fiance Dilemma. This book comes after The Long Game if you haven’t read that one already I recommend it! But it can also be read as a standalone. I am a sucker for fake engagements and fake dating, it’s my favorite trope. One thing I love about Elena Armas’ writing is how she does fake dating right. We saw that in the Spanish Love deception. Her main characters always have chemistry and have witty banter which I adore. Her writing just gets better and better with time.

While this wasn't my favorite of Elena Armas' books due to its slow burn, it was still an entertaining and lovely read. If you're looking for your next beach read, I would recommend The Finance Dilemma!

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

You know - I’m giving it 5 stars. It gave me so many emotions - laughs, cringe, heartache, rage, heart eyes.

I love josiematt 🩷.

Elena Armas is an automatic buy and this one did not disappoint.

3.5. It was good, but the set up felt off, a little too instant love for me. I don’t know. The chemistry wasn’t quite right, but I can’t pinpoint it. The last 1/3 of the book was really good though.