I am so grateful that this book was recommended to me through NetGalley and the publisher was kind enough to reach out. This book appealed to me instantly with its absolutely amazing cover. Those colors are so fun! Now, keep in mind, that this book does not come out until April 30th of next year. That’s not gonna stop me from telling you about it now though!
This was so much fun! The FMC owns a deli, and I found this part really refreshing. I can successfully say this is the only romance book I’ve read where the character has a deli. Typically, it’s a coffee shop or a bookstore, which I still love, but the deli was a nice change. She meets the MMC, he gets injured, and long story short, now they’re fake dating. Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes so I loved this part.
This was a very easy read, and a good choice when you need something more relaxing and chill. I would recommend reading if you like: fake dating, opposites attract, and a bit of secret keeping. This was also fun because it is the author's first rom-com book!

Such a cute book. Definitely thought it was going to be a while you were sleeping vs you’ve got mail meet cute but it took on it’s own spin. Quick read and enjoyed it

Love You, Mean It is a rom-com that takes place in a small town of Milborough outside of Boston. Ellie left New York five years ago after her father died to run her family's deli so that her beloved grandparents wouldn't have to come out of retirement. She had been trying to make it as a costume designer there but had not had much success. When her grandmother comes home fired up with the news that the local landlord is planning to rent out a recently empty store to a huge food department store, Ellie and her family fear this means the end of their deli. She reaches out to Theo, the landlord's son who also works at the company, in an effort to stop the big store from coming to town. Their meeting doesn't go as planned and ends with Theo getting knocked out. Ellie says she's his fiancée so that she can be in the hospital to explain what happened (and continue to plead her case), but he wakes up with amnesia so he believes her. When his memory returns, he proposes they continue with the fake engagement so they can both get what they want. It seems to be going well until his ex, Sam, shows up and proposes a plan of her own to Ellie.

The beginning of the book did not start off good for me (Ellie was too pessimistic), but started redeeming after the first couple of chapters. I liked Ellie's and Theo's sarcasm and banter with each other. There were several things that were mentioned in passing ((view spoiler)) that I felt would have been better left out or really told through the book instead of being glazed over. Overall, I did enjoy the story and appreciated that Ellie's character development took awhile instead of her just magically realizing her faults/hang-ups and correcting them.

Ellie goes back home to help her family save their deli. a sweet quick read, read in three afternoons.

At first blush I thought this novel was an adaptation of the old Sandra Bullock move 'While You Were Sleeping' and was ready to be frustrated. Well, I was wrong. This meet cute romantic comedy was surprisingly fresh and clever. Ellie runs her family Italian deli in a Boston suburb. When she gets wind of a local businessman, Theo Taylor, planning to turn an old department store into a bougie Italian food chain, she comes up with a clever plan. There are funny moments, family drama situations, and of course a good steamy love scene or two. I couldn't put it down. You will want this in your beach bag or on your summer reading list!

2.5 stars out of 5.

This book was just meh for me. I found the first part of the story pretty boring but it did pick up towards the end. Then the ending came and I was left really disappointed. It felt really rushed and left me with some questions and I felt I was left hanging. Ellie and Theo were pretty unlikable and negative. This book just wasn't for me.

Ellie is running her family deli after her father passed away. She finds out that The Taylors, a predominant family in their town, plans to sell a piece of property to a mega business that could put the deli out of business along with others in the community. Ellie goes to talk to Theo, who is the youngest son of the Taylor family to try and stop it. Theo ends up getting knocked out cold while talking to Ellie, who then tells the paramedics she is his fiancé, to go with him to the hospital. Theo wakes up with amnesia, but quickly regains his memory. He proposes they keep up their engagement to help both of them.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Small town, fake engagement, opposites attract

This is a small town romance told from the perspective of its heroine, Ellie Greco. Ellie is managing the family deli. The business is threatened by the potential opening of a big chain gourmet emporium. Ellie approaches Theo Taylor, the son of the commercial real estate owner developer for recruiting the competitor. In a "meet cute," Theo is knocked out by a falling object at the construction site. To accompany him to the hospital, Ellie tells the emergency medical staff that she's Theo's fiancé.

When Theo is released from the hospital, he suggests that they continue to pretend to be engaged. If Ellie is his fiancé, his father will be less likely to continue with plans that will put her out of business.

Ellie and Theo seem to be opposites. She's a scrappy ethnic working class girl with dreams of being a fashion designer. He's a wealthy WASP with a country club membership and secret dreams of being an architect. Under the surface, they both have dark senses of humor, strong opinions and care deeply about family. They both shut out people to avoid being vulnerable. Both are afraid to chase their dreams.

I think this book might have been more engaging if it had explored Ellie's and Theo's growing connection and individual struggles more in depth. Instead, the plot is diverted during the second half with a storyline involving an ex. It was difficult for me to get my arms around Theo's feelings. I think the story might have been improved with alternating perspectives.

This was a breath of fresh air to the rom-com genre that knocked me off my feet! I enjoyed every delicious second (pun intended) and delighted in the blossoming fake - yet not so fake - romance between Ellie and Theo. It was a perfect blend of friendship, frenemies, romance, drama, comedy...my heart just sang with happiness as I read this book. It was very well written and completely unputdownable - I had to know what would happen next. I highly recommend this book and consider it one of the best I have read in a long time!

Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon has a cute premise. Ellie has taken over her dad’s deli since he passed. She learns a gourmet chain grocery store plans to set up across the street. Ellie thinks her biggest chance at stopping it is contact their property manager, Theo. Until an accident causes Theo to loose his memory and Ellie pretends to be his wife.

I wish Ellie wasn’t so hard on herself all the time. She had a lot to offer. The story is fast paced, lighthearted, and witty.

I was asked to review “Love You Mean it” by Jilly Gagnon, which I went into without any expectations other than knowing I would be reading a romantic comedy. Ellie is struggling to keep the family deli afloat when she discovers a chain gourmet grocer plans to put up shop right across the street. Ellie decides the best way to compete is to convince the property manager (Theo) not to allow the new grocer to set up shop. Yet, in this novel’s version of “meet cute,” an accident leads Theo to develop amnesia and Ellie’s solution is to pretend to be his bride to be. Yet, even when Theo regains his memory, the duo continues their ploy in the hope of getting what they want. Of course, the reader expects that with Theo and Ellie faking being in love, they will ultimately fall in love for real.

While predictable, the novel is still enjoyable. Ellie had her moments, but she also has rooting value. Jilly Gagnon’s writing is filled with witty, light-hearted moments, but there is some depth to the story too. This book was much sexier than your typical Hallmark trope and a quick but laugh-out-loud read.

Three and a half stars.

Thanks to the publisher, Jilly Gagnon and NetGalley for an opportunity to read this book.

loved this romance between opposites and finding one's worth. loved the fake romance that became real. loved the grandma and that she owned a deli and starting figuring her life out and found some romance.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon. This is a fun HEA somewhat steamy romance and it is a fun read.

Ellie Greco is living in a small town running her family deli. She's the queen of mortadella. She quit her job trying to do costuming for Broadway when her family needed her but now she's in a bit of a rut. In comes Theo Tayler, high school boyfriend of Ellie's bff Bella. He's the rich son of a real estate family who is buying up properties all over town. When the Taylor company wants to bring in Mangia, a high=end emporium of all things Italian food related Ellie finds herself fighting for the life of her family deli.

When Theo gets a concussion, Ellie tells the EMT she is Theo's fiancée (think While You Were Sleeping) so she can accompany him to the hospital. After getting his memory back, he tells Ellie he wants to help her save the deli and keep Mangia out but she has to keep up the ruse of their engagement.

There's a lot going on - family issues, scorned ex girlfriends, meetups with families, "wedding" planning. Along the way Ellie and Theo realize that maybe there's more to this fake engagement then planned.

All in all a fun, quick fairly steamy romance.

This is a tricky one for me to review! There is a lot to like about it - I though both Ellie and Theo were fun, funny, charismatic characters. I liked that they weren't quite enemies but were more opposites, in ways. I also love While You Were Sleeping and You've Got Mail, both of which were clearly influences in this book. And Ellie's cousin Bella is a great side character. So is Sam, for that matter! There are great female characters throughout.

That said, it honestly read like this book was written entirely to be adapted into a romcom in the 1990s. For example - we go from Theo and Ellie agreeing to their scheme and jump DIRECTLY to Theo and Ellie pulling up to his dad's house, a few days later. There's a lot we're told - I was expecting to at least see the first time they got together to work on their story, but instead we just jump right to the action.

Not to mention - the third act miscommunication/breakup feels so dated. Theo was 100% out of line for what he said, but how did he anticipate it going any way other than terribly?? It's 2023. Why would you share what your misogynistic uncle said about a girl you're trying to woo?? Be so for real, Theo. And then Sam gave me whiplash going from a decent/kind/cool girl to a total jealous lunatic and then RIGHT BACK to a girl's girl. Make it make sense.

I'm going to give this one three stars because although I did enjoy the read (I read it in 2 days) and there were some parts that I laughed out loud at, and the chemistry between the two main characters is great, there were a lot of plot holes and ultimately it was more style over substance. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

Love You, Mean It was an oddly enjoyable book. It wasn't quite the romance I was expecting. I liked that both main characters had their "finding of self" moments that were growing them as people. I breezed through this in a few hours, and hope to read more by this author.

3.6
The story is a relatively good time, but I can't get over the way the, erm, intimate scenes (which are somewhat randomly interspersed anyway) feel like they were cut and pasted out of a completely unrelated novel.

This was a cute and fun read with just a little spice.
My first time reading anything by this author, but I would definitely read other books of hers.

I enjoyed the characters, and the overall concept of the story. Fake dating, amnesia, family/business/ and similar to a grumpy/sunshine trope.

I will say I felt the beginning was quite slow for my taste and maybe a little too in depth on the business aspect because my attention faltered a little. Once getting past the first few chapters I really enjoyed the story. Did I enjoy every little aspect, no. Did I feel there were some plot holes, yes, I’m just not one to critique every little detail of a book. My opinion is that it is a cute read and I didn’t have to overly think which I appreciated. I enjoyed it and would recommend.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for reaching out to me with this e-arc.

Be on the lookout PUB date 04/30/24

This fun rom com really hit the spot! I found it so enjoyable, and this one packs some heat. I highly recommend this if you aren’t looking for huge plot twists and want an entertaining and feel-good experience. I received an ARC from the publisher.

Love You, Mean It is a fun, saucy romp of a romance with interesting characters and a plot reminiscent of the Sandra Bullock movie, While You Were Sleeping. I knew where the plot would end up and enjoyed the journey to get there.

Coincidentally, this marks the third romance novel I've delved into over the past month, all of which revolve around a plotline reminiscent of the beloved movie trope found in "While You Were Sleeping." Normally, I wouldn't gravitate toward stories that share such a similar concept, especially when they often involve one of my favorite tropes: fake dating. However, each author brings their unique perspective and creative ideas to the table, offering readers fresh and entertaining outcomes.

The story of Ellie and Theo unfolds as a classic enemies-to-lovers narrative, born out of the circumstances that fate has thrown their way. Ellie, determined to rescue her upscale gourmet food store—a cherished family business endeavor—is faced with an unyielding obstacle in the form of Theo Taylor, the strict property manager. Their first encounter takes an unexpected turn when the ceiling literally collapses, and Ellie finds herself escorting the very man who had initially rejected her store's prospects to the hospital. In a moment of spontaneity, she blurts out that she is his fiancée while they wait for his treatment. Enter Theo's short-term memory loss, causing him to forget his attractive fiancée, leading him to take her word as truth and believe in their fictional happily ever after—until his memory gradually returns, and he recalls their less-than-favorable first meeting.

Rather than harboring resentment for her deception, Theo proposes a mutually beneficial arrangement to Ellie, one that may help salvage their Mangia business deal. Ellie, though skeptical and hesitant to trust Theo, finds herself at a crossroads, torn between beggars not being choosers and reluctantly agreeing to play along.

However, the situation takes a complicated twist when Theo's ex-girlfriend, Sam, enters the scene and senses that something peculiar is afoot between Ellie and Theo. Sam is determined to uncover the truth.

Ellie faces a challenging dilemma, torn between nurturing her budding friendship with Sam and grappling with her own suppressed feelings for Theo. Sometimes, doing the right thing can be the most arduous task when the heart yearns for what it wants.

Pros: I relish the execution of the "While You Were Sleeping" plotline interwoven with the fake dating trope.

Cons: My enjoyment was marred by the involvement of Theo's ex-girlfriend, who, ironically, turned out to be a more likable character than Ellie. Ellie's wavering decisions, her tendency to bury her feelings and deny her emotions, as well as her propensity for creating unnecessary angsty and dramatic situations, became exasperating. In fact, I had initially considered giving this book a 3.5-star rating, but Ellie's character pushed me to lower my rating to 3 stars, despite my appreciation for the various tropes, the delightful deli business setting, and the sizzling chemistry between Ellie and Theo.

I remain optimistic about reading more books by this author in the near future, with the hope of encountering heroines who are less prone to self-sabotage and more relatable.

A heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Dell for generously providing me with this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was such a departure from our normal books, but I loved it! I like her normal style, but this was a great stretch for her. It was such a fun and easy read, I blew through this book like it was my job! It was just so hard to put down, and written so well. The characters were relatable and honest and nuanced, I honestly felt like I could know them. It didn’t end with the world being perfect, but it ended with them. Happy enough. That’s the kind of reality that I’m here for! Great story, great characters, great writing.