Cute and easy read, Matthew is PERFECT and the spice is great! But it could have been shorter with less filler, I found myself skimming at times. I also would have liked more dialogue as it was heavy on the inner monologue which isn’t my favorite. Overall I enjoyed it as a low drama, sweet rom-com but Spanish Love Deception remains my favorite Elena Armas rom-com.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC

A funny, cute, entertaining, lengthy slow burn with bits of swoon sprinkled throughout the book. There were parts of the story that seemed open-ended with no real explanation with certain characters. Overall, it's a good book to read in parts as a treat.
Thanks to Net Galley and Atria books for letting me read this ARC for an honest review.

This book was amazing and I devoured this book in just a few sittings! I loved the character development and how the story progressed.

How do you describe an Elena Armas’ book?

Elena has created her own universe in Green Oaks and she invites us readers to join in this ride. It’s pretty amazing how she is able to transport you to this town with just a few words.

Ever since I finished reading this one I’ve been thinking about ways to put into words how much I loved everything about it.

How in this book us, readers, find ourselves watching, learning, earning for Josie to find her happy ending.

How we cheer her on and we cry with her, how we celebrate all her great moments and how we feel for her at each heartbreaking event.

It is an experience to dive into Josie's mind and go through all that she goes through. All the unfairness of the media, all her insecurities, doubts, anxieties, but also all of her compassion, love, caring and kindness.

Josie is the mayor of the town, she also owns her own coffee shop, and she volunteers as a goat yoga instructor, she organizes town events, she is a shoulder anyone in the town could lean on. She knows everyone and she cares for all the people in her town.

In the long game we know how energetic and kind Josie is. In the fiancé dilemma we learn how she truly feels, and how deeply she feels.

Matthew is Adalyn's bff who moves to town and he does arrive with a bang! He truly is a man written by a woman because this guy knows how to use his words, how to express his feelings and how to be there for his fiancé!

This book is SO beautiful, so beautiful it hurts to read it so fast, but there's no other way. It's just too addicting, too good to ever stop.

We have a fake engagement, second chances of finding love, family bonds that are formed and strenghtened. A golden retriver MMC and a sunshine FMC. Growling and protective Cameron and a teary Adalyn bringing all the feeling from The Long Game back, PEDRO PIGSCAL, wise and cute kiddos, and, obviously, grumpy grandpa Moe.

There are so many moments to laugh out lout, to kick your feet and giggle, to cry and to celebrate.

Elena's writing is a gift to us romance readers, and I don't want her to ever stop releasing these masterpieces.

3.5 stars!

My girl Elena Armas you know I would go to bat for you for anything no matter what. That being said, I was not a huge fan of this one. I LOVEDDDD The Long Game and I quite literally jumped up and down when I got the ARC approval for this one. I had incredibly high hopes (and maybe some high expectations??) for this book. Before I get into what I didn’t love, I wanna share what I DID love about it.

I did love the ending. It ALMOST made up for the things I didn’t like about it. I thought the confession of love and the way he treated her (throughout the book yes but definitely at the end) was very sweet. I also was very proud of Josie’s growth through the book. She went on a huge character journey in this book and I’m proud of her!

However, there were also some things I didn’t particularly enjoy about this one :/ I saw this review that said that Matthew (our MMC) doesn’t make any growth and is just there. I was aghast and thought “no way would that happen in an Elena Armas book!” However, that did turn out to be true. I feel like Matthew didn’t make any kind of growth and was kind of just had the sole purpose of helping Josie grow. In addition, without spoiling anything, there are two podcasters in the story. I know we’re supposed to hate these characters but I felt an amount of hatred that made it unbearable. Between very cringy dialogue, weird obsessions with the FMC, and a dig at the people’s princess Taylor Swift, I just could not read another word spoken by them. Finally, the overall pace was not one of Elena Armas’ best in my humble opinion. I had a very hard time getting through it because of that. I felt like it was slow in unimportant parts and moved through really important parts too quickly. I felt like I was sprinting uphill in some parts which made it tough to get through.

Overall, I still love my girl Elena Armas and I will still read literally anything she writes. She’s my girl forever and I’ll defend her still always- I just can’t love every single thing!

Thank you for NetGalley and Atria books for the ARC!! <3

Overall rating: 4.5

I’ve been waiting for Josie’s story since The Long Game. And Elena you never disappoint! Josie and Matthew now have a little piece of my heart ❤️ This book took the fake dating trope up a notch and I ate up every bit of it! I LOVED Matthew!!! This book was everything because of him! My only complaint is I felt like we never got Josie’s full story. The ending was really cute but I’m an epilogue kinda girl and I needed more! Overall I loved this book and thank you net galley for the opportunity to arc read this amazing book!

This had all the popular tropes, sunshine and grump, fake dating, and forced proximity. The plot was just unbelievable and the side catchers lacked depth. The dialogue was ok, but of the MMC called MFC “sweetheart” or “blue” one more time….that is not a favorite of mine!

Elena Armas', The Fiance Dilemma, is a must read! Josie Moore has a complicated relationship with being in love. She’s been engaged four times. Her father, a wealthy businessman, recently came back into her life. And now his sudden reemergence into her life is seen as PR problem. Her father sends his PR specialist to meet with Josie to help clean up his image and Josie's past. Josie doesn’t want to be seen as a burden, which ultimately leads her to her fake engagement to Matthew Flannagan, who happens to be her sister’s best friend. It’s all temporary; the ring, the engagement, the relationship. Josie just needs to help fix her father’s reputation so they will leave her small town, friends, and family alone.

Josie is kindhearted, quirky, loves her small town and gives second chances. Matthew is thoughtful, protective, and loyal. I love how the author took the time to connect the pieces of Josie’s past to how and why she has made the decisions she has in the past and present. It’s thoughtful and real. I love the cameos from Cam and Adalyn and truly hope there is more from these characters in the future. I laughed, I cried, and I really connected with the characters.

"Those are the best things to fall in love with," I heard myself say. "The ones we find accidentally".

Elena Armas is a genius, and I will read anything she writes. Thank you Netgalley and Atria books for providing me the opportunity to read this ARC for an honest review!

OMG, I love Elena Armas so much. This is my first pre-release read and I was beyond excited to finally get the notification for The Fiancé Dilemma. So let's get into it because boy oh boy Mr. Matthew Flannagan. Where on earth can I find a man like that in my life?

I am sucker for romance by nature because I just find it so beautiful when you find your soulmate. Josie believing in the same magical feeling got me so excited and reading how her breath would get caught or belly would get filled with butterflies had me giggling like a little girl. And Matthew just knows how to use his words correctly. I mean I found myself saying "YESSSSS" or "OKAYYYYY!" several times through out.

At the end of the day I feel like relationships have this stigma that it must go a certain way and just witnessing how Rosie and Matthew played against those stereotypes really filled me with hope and encouragement.

Elena Armas is one of my favorite romance authors and she hasn't missed yet. If you're on the fence if you should read this book...DO IT!

Another adorable read by Elena Armas (and better than The Long Game IMO)!

It was fun to revisit Green Oaks and read Josie’s story, and I LOVED Matthew. His only flaw is being a Boston sports fan 😂

I do wish we got a little more of Josie’s and Matthew’s back stories. I still don’t know much about Josie’s past engagements? And why did Matthew keep so much from his family? These things were kind of glossed over. But the chemistry between these 2… 🔥🔥

I am so sad to be making this review because I really wanted to love this book. Fake dating is one of my all time favorite tropes so I had my hopes too high. I feel like I either love or feel meh about an Elena Armas book, and this one sadly is meh.

The flow of the story didn’t work for me. Chapters just ended abruptly talking about them kissing so I was like did they kiss or not? It was just odd, but this is a very slow burn which I enjoyed that.

Also Matthew didn’t have a personality to me until over half way through the book. I think it would have worked better if his POV was added earlier instead of just one chapter at the end.

To me this had The American Roommate Experience flaw where side characters are nonexistent. In TARE Rosie felt isolated and all the great side characters in The Spanish Love Deception disappeared and it was just her and Lucas. The Long Game has great side characters, and they were not utilized. Plus I was sad that Adalyn and Cameron were not in it much.

Sadly this one was just not it for me.

Thank you to Atria Books and Net Galley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I really enjoyed Ms. Armas' first book - the Spanish Love Deception, but this one left much to be desired. The main character is Josie, a small town major/small business owner/baker in North Carolina. She is beloved by her hometown and was raised by her mom in this small town until her passing around the college years. Josie spent her life not knowing who her father was and just recently discovered that he is a famous multimillionaire from Florida. Josie is a liability to this man, in that she has been engaged four times, but not actually married. Josie freezes when her father's fixer comes to see her and says that she is engaged to be married. When asked to whom she was engaged to, she picks a nearby man approaching. One she has never met in person, but knows because he is her sister's best friend, Matthew. Matthew is stunned, but plays along. This ridiculous charade continues and Josie is for some reason unable to find it within herself to say that she is not really engaged and to tell her father's fixer to go away. The fixer is trying to make her dad seem much better by throwing her a lavish wedding, no expenses spared. Predictably Matthew and Josie develop feelings for each other. I didn't really have a liking to this book because it all seems so forced and the character Josie is not someone that I can admire because she doesn't stand up for herself. I read half of this book before I realized it just was nonsense and not worth it at all. Incredibly disappointed.

I received this ARC for my honest opinion from the publisher. I had really hoped much more from Ms. Armas.

This is one of the most popular ARC's I have been approved for so far (thank you NetGalley and Atria books), and one I was most excited for. It was quirky and well paced, the spice was great (2-3/5 🌶). I loved all of Elena Armas' previous books and unfortunately this one is probably my least favorite of the four.. Insta-love is just not my favorite trope. I would still recommend this for a fun summer romance! I felt frustrated with Josie's character (although I do think the things that were frustrating about her made her realistic). I wish Matthew had a single flaw so he didn't seem so clearly a MMC written by a woman. And my (obvious) favorite character in the story would be Grandpa Moe.

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

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it feels a little different from Elena Armas’ other books but not in a bad way. This book felt very cozy and sweet in a way that the other ones don’t quite capture the same vibe. That being said there is also spice and some light drama to look forward to. Although this is technically a sequel or companion novel I definitely think it can be read on its own, but you may miss a little characterization on Matthew’s side because we get to know him pretty well in The Long Game. This book felt like it could stand by itself, and as much as I love Cam and Adalyn, I’m glad they took a back seat in this one. They still appear but it didn’t feel overly distracting and I wasn’t begging to see them because Josie and Matthew consumed my thoughts. I really enjoyed this book and if you’ve had trouble getting into Elena Armas’ other books I’d definitely give this one a try, this book feels different than her other books so maybe this one is right for you.


Spoilers Ahead:
I loved the pacing on Josies and Matthews relationship. Their own personal hang ups and the push and pull was so much fun. I think Elena Armas did a really good job with the fake engagement and not making it super obvious that Matthew loved her early on. Some books make it way too obvious at the start so I think the pacing of their relationship was really good. Even though there’s nothing really truly stopping them from being together for real Josie’s previous relationships cause her to doubt her own judgement. I think Josie and Matthew compliment each other really well, I think some readers will have issues with Josie agreeing to things she shouldn’t or being a push over but I can definitely relate to wanting to take the path of least resistance. Matthew’s willingness to follow her lead and defend her every step of the way is honestly goals.

The podcast was a really good device to relay important information about Josie without it feeling like she’s rehashing her baggage in her own head or having weird conversations with people in town about the past. The podcast wasn’t overdone or used too much which I appreciated. Josie listening to them talk about her and make their theories and take bets contributed to her doubting herself. They were already talking about Josie and Matthew’s relationship failing as soon as it “started” to it makes sense why she was hesitant to fully jump into something real with him.

I really loved the progression of Josie and Matthew slowly admitting their attraction and feelings and eventually letting themselves be together. This book definitely kept me guessing, for a lot of the book I assumed they’d get together right before the wedding and just decide to take the jump but when Matthew called it off I was so surprised. I kind of wish they had an epilogue like 10 years in the future where they get married whether it’s a huge wedding or something simple at court house but I can appreciate that marriage is not the goal for everyone and its refreshing to see a slightly different ending to a romance book.

I was so lucky to receive this book as an ARC from NetGalley. I was so excited, and thrilled as Elena Armas is one of my favorite authors. This was a cute read. I’ve always liked the forced proximity troupe. I loved the banter between Josie and Matthew. I really felt for the characters especially Josie about her relationship with her father.

Plot makes no sense, very chaotic and I feel the author tried too hard to make the characters “quirky”.
Forced myself to get to 50% before I DNF hoping it would turn around but it didn’t, I just couldn't get into it and didn't care at all about the characters. This one just wasn’t for me.

Firstly, thank you, to Atria Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to ARC read The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas in exchange for an honest review.

This book is yet another reason to love Elena Armas and her characters. Elena Armas also did an incredible job of getting her readers to be fully immersed in this story!! We got to see a new side to Josie and learn more about the character we met in The Long Game. We also get to formally meet Matthew!

This book was filled with love, joy, and cute little farm animals. I am personally in love with little Pedro Pigscal. I mean who could not love a baby pig named after… do I even need to say? Set in small town Green Oak Josie finds herself JAM packed in a dilemma of her own making. Matthew who just happened to be going for a spontaneous stroll during a storm finds himself FALLING into Josie’s plan.

I laughed so much in this book! It was so wholesome that you can’t help but wish it was real life. I couldn’t tell you how many times I thought ‘I wish I could just live a simple life like this’. At least I get to live vicariously through Josie and Matthew!

Can they navigate this life through lies and deception or will reali-tea smack them down?

Getting to read this story and help spread the word about it is fantastic! I can’t wait for everyone else to meet and fall in love with these characters and animals.

The Fiance Dilemma by Elena Armas
If you are into:
Slow Burn Romance
Small Town
Fake dating/engagement
Grandpa Moe (because let's face it we all need more Grandpa Moe)

Elena crafts a touching and imaginative tale of love, loss, and self-discovery in this delightful read. Set in the quaint town of Green Oaks, Matthew and Josie's story unfolds in a community where everyone knows everyone else's business. Josie, with four failed engagements behind her, surprises everyone with her fifth engagement to her sister's best friend, Matthew. Elena skillfully portrays the chemistry between these characters, navigating through just the right mix of messy situations. Matthew's unwavering support for Josie is heartwarming, but the question remains: will Josie find her way to the altar this time, or is running her only option? I recommend picking up a copy today and joining the journey.

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for my honest review.

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


First off, let me start this review of by saying I love Elena Armas’ writing style, her adorable book covers, and her relatable characters! The Fiancé Dilemma was one of one of my most anticipated reads of 2024, especially when book one in this series the Long Game was on my top favorite reads of 2023. Mrs Armas did not disappoint with The Fiancé Dilemma. However, even though I enjoyed this one overall, I had a real problem with the beginning.

The incident in question that kicks off the whole story is Josie being pressured to become a pawn to fix her father’s PR issues. This didn’t sit well for me. One because no person real or fictional should be put under that kind of pressure. Second Josie I love you but for the love of all that is holy have some back bone to say no. You’ve never met this man and all of sudden you are jumping through unachievable hoops for him. Also Bobbi is Uber snake witch. (Pardon the language but man it’s been a while since I’ve had character really rub me through the wrong way).

My only wish to make this book truly perfect would be to remove that beginning. But since I can’t do that, the only thing I can do is let it effect my star rating hence why I’m giving this a 4 Star instead of a 5 Star read. Because once we get to navigating Matthew and Josies fake engagement I was hook, line and sinker. I loved both of them, Josie's quirkiness had me giggling And Matthew overprotective nature had me swooning.

Overall loved the ending and how everything resolved. I highly recommend checking this book out when it releases in July. And I can’t wait to add a finished copy to my collection on release day!

This story was really fun, super cute and charming and just an overall enjoyable read. I'm thrilled to be able to read it as I spent an entire in the sun with these lovable characters. The writing is full great wit and banter, infused with humor and showcases excellent chemistry. The writing of Armas is engaging and her story telling is thoughtful and well structured. Josie and Matthews story is one you don't want to miss.