Scan barcode
A review by bribreez
The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
*Thank you so much to Atria for providing me with an ARC of this book, as always I greatly appreciate it!!
4.75⭐️/ 3🌶️
Elena Armas brings up back to the small town of, Greek Oak, but this time with Josie (Adalyn’s half sister), and Matthew (Adalyn’s best friend). With the events following that Josie was actually Adalyn’s sister, now their father, Andrew Underwood was more in the spotlight than ever. Facing judgment from the tabloids and gossip, Josie was then faced with trying to help her father with this PR nightmare. Meanwhile, Matthew was just laid off his job and decided he go to Greek Oak to figure things out. In a surprise of events, when Josie’s past of being engaged multiple times comes up, somehow Matthew gets mixed up in it all as Josie’s newest fiancé! A fake engagement story line set within a small town, a grouchy grandpa, and more of that humor and romance Elena brings to her story, this was going to be an interesting story for Josie and Matthew.
Josie wasn’t a stranger when it came to being engaged, but it was certainly a new experience having Matthew pretend to be her fiancé. Even early on, it was established why Josie needed Matthew to be her fake fiancé, as well as the implication of it, but all the while it was a funny thing to witness. Josie was lighthearted, bubbly, and sweet, and again no stranger to almost walking down the aisle for some certain reasons unknown to me, at least in the beginning. Matthew wasn’t just Adalyn’s best friend, he was now Josie’s fiancé and surprisingly played the part perfectly. With his smooth flirting, infectious smiles, and all around handsome, glasses wearing looking man, Matthew was a great fiancé to Josie. Not to mention, Matthew really stepped up to help Josie which goes to show how much of an amazing man he was. Both Josie and Matthew quickly found themselves in this fake engagement in order restore Josie and her family’s image, but sparks started to fly between the couple.
Now, when it comes to Elena’s books, there’s plenty of laughs as well as the simmering slow burn she knows how to bring to life perfectly! With Matthew and Josie’s fake engagement, they obviously had to “pretend” to be madly in love and occasionally be affectionate with one another. I adored the nicknames that Matthew would try it out with Josie, but of course the one that made my heart flutter was…sweetheart! (Sigh) it was so sweet! There was also plenty of flirtatious moments that progressively got better with each chapter to the point where I was thinking, “umm Matthew…HOW ARE YOU SO SMOOTH AND HOT?!” PHEW! Matthew definitely knew what he was doing, and just like Josie, I was all in favor of Matthew wearing his glasses. Needless to say, Josie and Matthew executed their fake relationship really well that when things actually started to heat up between them, it left me GASPING AT THOSE SCENES! OMG IT WAS SOOOOO GOOD! I’m telling you, when you get to certain parts, you’ll be flabbergasted at what Matthew says in particular because I SURE WAS!
This book was so good that I actually ended up annotating my ARC copy which I’ve never done before! I initially had a slow start to the book, but once I got more into Josie and Matthew’s story, I started to get a better understanding of them, and writing down a bunch of little notes that I liked about them, and even moments that made me laugh. Based off my little annotations, I can now look back at certain moments that caught my eye!
Anyways, Josie and Matthew were absolutely PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER! Kind of ironic how when Adalyn once texted Matthew saying, “I just met your soulmate”, that it ended up being the truth! The way Josie and Matthew were together just made sense! From the way Matthew was always supportive of Josie’s choices, but also understood her point of view in a way that many people never thought to ask her. Josie found someone who stuck through the good, the bad, and even in her moments of doubts and insecurities, Mathew was always there to lend a shoulder, or occasionally “distract” her to take her mind off things. The romance was kind of a slow build, and worth the wait from the tension between Josie and Matthew! Matthew was the kind of man that I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but OH MAN HE WAS AMAZING! Matthew had a variety to him from being, protective, silly, caring, thoughtful, possessive, and downright hot ESPECIALLY WITH HIS GLASSES! (Sigh) I really adored Matthew. Seeing Adalyn and Cameron in the story was also great, and the little reference that Elena included in the story from a “Twilight” reference to Sebastian Stan…the rooster (from the first book) HAHA! This was a great fake engagement romance with lovable character, heartfelt romance that’ll make you swoon, heat up, laugh, and feel like you’re in Greek Oak with Josie and Matthew.