4.5 stars
Very cute story! A little bit of fake-dating, a kind of enemies to lovers, and just the right amount of trope-y without turning into cliches. Theo is not your stereotypical rich white man, no matter what Ellie’s first impression may be, and she is more than the deli-owner she paints herself to be. I love how these two uncover their layers together as they fight to protect Ellie’s business. The banter is top-tier and the plot is phenomenal - familiar (in the way most romance novels are) without being boring or repetitive. I also love the side characters, especially Sam and Mimi, and appreciate their uniqueness. Where it would be really easy for the author to follow a standard formula, she instead switches up the approach and I enjoyed the difference.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

"Love You, Mean It" by Jilly Gagnon is a romantic comedy ideal for fans of the movie "While You Were Sleeping" and anyone who enjoys a contemporary enemies-to-lovers trope. The main characters, Ellie and Theo, clash from the start of the story but are involved in some trope-y hijinks that eventually bring them together. The WYWS trope was amusing and well done, but I had trouble connecting with Ellie, who was often wishy-washy in her decision making and internal monologue.

Having read All Dressed Up and Scene of the Crime, and loving these mysteries, I was surprised that Gagnon wrote a rom-com. But what a great story...typical trope of opposites attract, enemies to friends, fake dating, small town cuteness. This was just a feel-good fun book to read, although predictable, I still enjoyed it. I loved that the main character Ellie was spicy and unfiltered as was her grandma Mimi, and Theo was really a nice guy. Gagnon just showed her diversity in writing both rom-com and cozy mystery. This would be a great beach read for the summer. Many thanks to #netgalley #jillygagnon #loveyou,meanit for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This one was cute and I didn't want to put it down. I loved the combination of enemies to lovers & fake dating. I loved all the drama and the plot moved quickly. This one was spicy and sweet all at once.

I really thought Love You, Mean It would be up my alley given the premise, but this just wasn't for me.

A classic romantic comedy with some fun tropes: enemies to lovers, fake fiancés, and a small-town Main St business vs a huge conglomerate, among others. The two MCs, Ellie and Theo, engaged me in the action immediately, their initial antagonism swiftly becoming attraction and moving into deeper feelings. Their back stories figure into the present goings on believably, and the supporting characters, especially Mimi, Bella, and Sam, make good foils for the protagonists. The conflict arising because of the differences in their backgrounds and the appearance on the scene of Theo’s former love adds tension to the story without seeming too contrived. The story’s humorous moments are not overdone or slapstick and come mainly through the foibles of the characters. Good fun and thoroughly enjoyable!

I loved this one from the start and didn’t put it down unless I had to (aka walking the doodles). It definitely gave me some While You Were Sleeping & You’ve Got Mail vibes, and I was not disappointed! I found myself commenting, laughing, and exclaiming out loud several times while reading this, and it was so much better than I imagined. Ellie was relatable and endearing, and ‘reading’ as her character evolved kept me glued to the pages. Fabulous witty banter, a bit of spice, and a couple of twists on a classic enemies-to-lovers trope easily made this one of my favorite reads so far of 2024!

My only critiques are 2….I don’t fully understand the choice of title. I kept waiting for the line to pop up somewhere in the dialogue to explain it, but it never did. And I wanted an epilogue or one additional chapter where we could get Theo’s reaction to seeing her in that final dress!! I really wanted to 'hear' his thoughts on how she looked, so I felt a bit cheated. Other than that, I absolutely loved it!! Thank you so much to Jilly Gagnon, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-arc.

Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon is a good fit for people who are in the mood for a lighthearted, romantic comedy with a playful and fun premise, featuring a fake dating trope, memory loss, and a heartwarming exploration of family, friendship, and the importance of following one's dreams.

I really liked the dynamic that Ellie and Theo had - but only understanding why Ellie wanted to keep this giant superstore out of town left me questioning Theo's motives for continuing the fake fiance ruse. Enter Theo's ex-gf Sam, and we learn her motives right away. There were moments when I wanted to yell at Ellie to just say SOMETHING to Theo about Sam and clear the air before the third act was upon us... but alas ;)
Ellie had a lot of growth in these few weeks and that was fun to read, seeing her make new connections and reconnect with old acquaintances after being home for years, seeing that being back in her hometown didn't mean she was a failure at all.

Definitely keep this one on your radar for when it comes out at the end of April!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Ellie learns that a huge competitor is coming to her small town and threatening to put her family's deli out of business. Not sure of what to do, she throws a Hail Mary, going to see the man behind the sale.

This book was adorable and spicy. Such a good combination. Here's what I loved:

Ellie. She's so lost and lying to herself most of the time. But that makes for some good drama as she gets into cahoots with Theo to save her deli. Watching her deal with everything around her and falling for Theo made the book for me.

The movieness of it all. The book reads like a romcom with flickers of While You Were Sleeping and other greats.

Theo. I adored him. Everyone kept saying he was such a good guy and he really is.

The family and town. I enjoyed the side characters in this book so much. Ellie's family was hilarious.

All in all, this was a cute romcom that has some really good spicy scenes in it!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

There were parts of this book I enjoyed and then there were parts that I really didn't like.

This is an enemy-to-lovers story where Ellie and Theo are fake engaged to help save Ellie's family deli. It starts with Theo getting short (very short) term amnesia and Ellie tells the EMTs that she is his fiancé. Theo convinces Ellie to continue to charade as a way to sway his father to not sell to Mangia to help save Ellie's Deli.

For me, I felt the romance fall flat. Ellie was not likable, and I think it was because there wasn't a lot of background about her past dating relationships. All we know is that she isn't good at relationships, but I wish there were more details in this because it would have helped to give Ellie a more well-rounded character. What I did like about Ellie, was how family-oriented she was and how her family supported her throughout the story. I also enjoyed how Ellie talked about how hard it is to make friends in your late 20s (I'm in my late 20s and I agree!!!). I also appreciated how Ellie finds a way to balance her life in the deli with her passion for making clothes.

Theo, I don't think I had problems with Theo. I think he was well-developed and made the romance tolerable. Theo was sweet and while he had trouble opening up, he was more upfront and trying than Ellie. He tried to comfort Ellie in each situation but was blocked by Elli's inability to think out of her comfort zone (part of the storyline). I appreciate his growth in understanding how much his father had the power of his life and his ability to continue to recognize it and grow throughout the book.

3.5/5 stars due to the lack of background on Ellie and how much I disliked her. The romance felt a little flat for me, but this book contained some of my favorite troupes (fake dating/engagement and enemies to lovers). The ending was a HEA and made me like Ellie a smidgen more.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and Jilly Gagnon for sending me a free eARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. Ellie was a lovable protagonist and easy to root for. I wanted to like Theo, but he wasn't as well developed as he could have been.

This leads to my complaint about this book. About 2/3 of the way through, the focus becomes Ellie and Sam's (Theo's ex) relationship, which was a strange choice for a romance novel. At one point I thought, the author should just have Sam and Ellie fall in love and ditch Theo.

Overall, I thought this book was entertaining and I would check out another book by this author. I just wish the focus had been more on the love story.

Love You Mean It is an adorable, quick, and light romance that’s easy to dive into. Ellie & Theo perfectly embody the ‘opposites attract’ dynamic. Honestly, though, my favorite aspect of the book was Gagnon’s descriptive writing about Italian deli items lol.
All that to say, I do think the story could have been even better with deeper communication between Ellie and Theo. Genuine connection is about more than just chemistry; honest sharing of emotions outside the main climax could have enriched the story even further for me.

Set for release on April 30th, this lighthearted romance is the ideal choice for your next beach read!

Thank you to Ballantine/Jilly Gagnon/ NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

There were quite a few things I really liked and enjoyed about this book and a couple things that didn’t work for me. First, the positives.

I liked that both of the main characters were strong and outspoken. Theo and Ellie each had tough exteriors, were a bit cutthroat, and could hold their own, but they each had a softer side as well. The banter between them was great and it had me laughing out loud a few times. I appreciated that there were some tropes in this one that would ordinarily make me roll my eyes, but they were quickly turned on their heads and became something I wasn’t expecting. That element of surprise is always fun for me as a reader. I also liked that Ellie and Theo were both grieving and that their “rivalry” turned eventual alliance to keep a big box specialty grocery store out of their small town was held together because of their mutual love of family and spaces that reminded them of those they’d lost. There were some solid connections between the characters.

So what didn’t work? Although there was a lot to connect Ellie and Theo, I found their communication and emotional depth lacking. The story moved quickly into what I found to be very casual open door scenes, and I would have liked for them to express more of their feelings beforehand. I see why the story was framed this way and realize it is likely not problematic at all for many other readers. To each their own! Ellie’s lack of honesty with herself was a big focus of the book, but it left me feeling very frustrated with her, especially in her handling of Theo’s very not jealous ex-girlfriend. My other minor gripe was that Ellie seemed adamantly dismissive of the wealthy without us getting a whole lot of background on why. Her cousin Bella had dated Theo in high school and I wish she’d vouched for him more a little bit earlier in the story.

The bottom line: I liked but didn’t love this title. I had fun reading it, but there were a couple of plot points and stylistic choices that just weren’t well-suited to my personal taste.

This ARC for Love You, Mean It was provided by the publisher & Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 
The story had so much potential and many of the ingredients that I gravitate to in my books. Fake dating, enemies to lovers, heck a little dash of While You Were Sleeping mixed in it yet it tasted bland and made me feel weird at times. The writing was fine, but my main beef was at our girl Ellie. Her character was frustrating and I would rather her talk deli meats than hear her thought process. Check please!
Overall it was a quick small town romance read that readers might enjoy.

I was drawn to this title because of the premise—I was expecting a cute enemies to lovers to line up with the many adorable sweet romances I’ve been reading lately (I know this probably isn’t characterized as such, but sex on the page or no, it doesn’t really matter if I can root for the characters).

Unfortunately, I just don’t want to continue with this cast. The world is a mess, social media makes everyone seem angsty and angry. In romance novels, I’m looking for “sweet” and this is more about the likability of the MCs than it is about the heat level. Ellie is vulgar and angry, and at less than 10% I was ready to DNF. But I wanted to push through! But I’m out at the rich white guy insult. Girl, you’re a privileged under 25 child that had a family business handed to you. Get over yourself with that attitude.

Thank you to the publisher for inviting me to read this through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This was an okay read of a girl trying to help her family business survive after learning of the threat of a large property developer bringing a franchise to town. I don't love the "While You Were Sleeping" tropes though.

This was a sweet and funny romance with both enemies to lover and fake dating tropes. All of the characters were ones I would genuinely want in my life (except Theo's dad, Ted). It was a fast and fun read -- great for a vacation or a beach read! You might want to have a charcuterie board nearby...

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of Love You, Mean It

A cute rom-com about a woman trying to save her family's deli from wealthy developers bent on gentrifying her neighborhood and bringing a "whole foods" esque supermarket into the area. We've got "While You Were Sleeping" vibes with a fake fiance schtick and amnesia (if you know, you know), opposites attract and fun family dynamics to round everything out.

Ellie Greco has worked for her family-owned deli, aptly named Greco's Deli for her whole life. After a short stint in the city and then the sudden death of her father, she finds herself back home schlepping deli meats, tinned fish, and other necessities for her family and customers. But when a local investor, Theo Taylor, wants to bring a mega store to the area, she decides to confront him and plead her case. Things go from a bad first impression to so much worse when the ceiling of the building they're meeting in caves in and Ellie falsely claims to be Theo's fiance. One hospital visit and a bout of short-term memory loss have these two stuck playing the fake fiance game. Theo's memory loss is shortlived, but he stuns Ellie when he proposes that their fake engagement continue on to manipulate their respective families to get what they want.

A fun rom-com that was a quick read, a great addition to your spring line up.

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine through NetGalley.
A lighthearted romcom that will make a perfect beach read or curl up and pamper yourself weekend.
Ellie has come home from New York City to run the family deli following her father's death. Emotions swirl as she learns about a major store coming into their small town. She sets out to connect with Theo and try to persuade him to change the company's direction, and, as expected, tempers flare and an unusual partnership is formed. The two learn to trust each other and slowly change a fake engagement into a real relationship. Tensions build, disaster strikes, and the two separate after hurting each other. By the end, the deli is saved and so is the relationship.
Gagnon captures the fun and the struggles of connecting and growing when two people are afraid to trust. The additional characters add humor and fun as they all interact.

After reading the first chapter, I wasn't sure if I would finish the book, but I'm glad that I continued. Five years ago, Ellie came back home to run her family's deli after her father died. When she hears a large competitor might be moving to town, Ellie wants to do what she can to keep it open. Ellie agrees to meet the landlord Theo at the future site. When Theo gets hurt and has amnesia, Ellie tells the paramedics that she is his fiancé. Theo's regains his memory and they agree to a fake engagement. His rich snobby father and his ex-girlfriend want different results. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through Netgalley. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. While I didn't connect with the characters as much as other stories, I thought Ellie and Theo are more realistic characters. Both of them have to evaluate what they really want in life.