Elena Armas, author of The Fiancé Dilemma, is a chemical engineer by profession. According to her own admission, she is a hopeless romantic and an avid reader of `HEAS`, or `Happily Ever After Stories.` While working as an engineer, she decided to write one of her favourite type of books herself. She produced her debut novel in 2021 and titled it The Spanish Love Deception.

Armas self-published the book and, because she had been blogging, she knew how to market and promote it. Someone read the novel and posted the plot on TikTok. It garnered six million views and the book shot up to the top 100 slot on Amazon. At that point, Simon and Schuster stepped forward and undertook to publish The Spanish Love Deception under their imprint. Since then, Elena Armas has been producing a bestseller every year.

The Fiancé Dilemma, the author`s fourth book, is a rewrite of the 1999 film Runaway Bride but with an ending of her own choice. In Armas` version, Josie, the protagonist of the story, is brought up by a single mother who dies when Josie is 17. Now grown up, Josie owns and runs a café in the small town of which she is also the mayor. But she has some unresolved issues, because she has been engaged to four different men in her young life. One of her fiancés dumped her but as for the other three, she left them standing at the altar and absconded.

Most of the secondary characters in the novel are the ones introduced in The Long Game, an earlier novel by Armas, which is setin the same small town as the one in which Josie lives. The residents are well-intentioned and their concern for their mayor is obvious. But it does not stop them from speculation or from voicing disapproval of her conduct.

Josie`s father, Andrew, is featured as a self-made tycoon who is about to retire. Since all his activities are of public interest because of his wealth, his legacy comes under scrutiny at this juncture. The fact of an abandoned daughter is brought to light. Andrew hires a high powered PR firm to remove this blot on his reputation.

When Josie is confronted with the PR representative, who calls Josie a misstep in Andrew`s life, her go-to defence is to announce her fifth engagement, this time to a man she has just met. The man, Mathew, plays along and the reader suddenly embarks on a roller coaster ride of misunderstandings, make-out sessions, irreconcilable differences, and sprees of crying.

The Fiancé Dilemma ticks every box of the romance novel in aces. The heroine is beautiful but flawed, the hero is gorgeous and devoted, and love conquers all. The plot is highly predictable. Fake engagements have been done to death both in print and on film but in a romance novel, a familiar story line is not a liability. The typical reader finds solace in recognisable situations.

Other ingredients of romance novels are also well represented in The Fiancé Dilemma. The writing style is breezy, simple and easy to comprehend. Almost all emotions are exaggerated and all motivations are explained. There is a liberal use of italics. What will people say, the mantra usually found in Pakistani TV dramas, is also a very immediate fear in our heroine`s life.

Since romance novels target female readers, the portrayal of the hero is key. We are told Josie is good looking but few descriptions of her attributes are forthcoming. In the case of the male lead, Mathew, however, the reader is regaled with every aspect of his face and figure.

His hair, his muscles, even his eye-glasses become subjects of note.

Moreover, Mathew is the perfect fiance. It may be a sham engagement but his only concern is purported to be Josie`s happiness. He is her staunch partisan and reliably charming under pressure. And his male physicality is emphasised in every scene.In fact, The Fiancé Dilemma is laced with spice. . . the vocabulary used to denote overt eroticism in romance novels. Sexual innuendos pepper the entire text. But the openly spicy interludes begin about halfway through the novel and then come one after another in quick succession. Each one is more graphic than the previous one. Even humdrum activities, such as tasting dishes for the wedding banquet, convert into sensual passages till the couple is `ready to combust.

Like many romance novels, The Fiancé Dilemma also bestows a seal of approval on fallacious beliefs: love and sex are panaceas for all ills. Soulmates are real and each person has one. If only he/she can be found, all would be right with the world. It is normal for females to be indecisive and indulge in excessive soul-searching and second guessing, but males are sure of themselves. They fall in love at first sight and then become rocks of strength for their beloveds.

The author, Armas, redeems herself by including two pieces of sage advice in The Finace Dilemma. Josie, and by extension the reader, is told that it is alright to be imperfect. Life can deal very difficult hands.

The wounds of experience sometimes distort personalities. But the trick is to rise above the problems and face reality, not worry about perceived flaws.

The second wise observation which is propounded in the novel is that other people`s opinions need not overshadow one`s actions. `What will people say`, can be and should be ignored. One has to make one`s own decisions based on ethics and individual circumstances, regardless of gossip-mongers and naysayers.

Although romance has always been a popular genre amongst readers, it is especially big these days. It offers an avenue of escape from daily tribulations which appear to have multiplied in modern life and opens up a world of hope and love. Armas has written a consummate romance novel. Far-fetched scenarios and too-goodto-be-true heroes notwithstanding, it is a thoroughly satisfying read for all romance lovers. No wonder, Elena Armas`s novels have been translated into 30 languages.

The reviewer is a free lance writer, author of the novel T he Tea Trolley and the translator of Toofan Se Pehlay: Safar-i-Europe Ki Diary