quick thoughts reviews!

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban. The idea of a Parent Trap-esque romance between two women trying to avoid their own matrimonial expectations & pressures is fantastic to me & I love how we get a bonus romance with their parents. The connection between leads is sweet & hot but the overall plot feels unnecessarily angsty IMO & I didn’t always understand why things were happening like they did. But I definitely enjoyed this book & see a lot of potential for future reads—a good thing, since I have book 2 on my shelves! 4 ⭐️, out now. (Thanks to the publisher for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.)

Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon. I stan a heroine with a passionate hobby & I found myself most invested in this book when it talks about what Ellie Greco is into: fashion, family, & her family’s deli. I was less invested in the romance, which started to grow on me before kinda blowing up in my face somewhat. In the end, this title feels misleading & I would characterize it as HFN. I wanted to like this one more, & in moments I did, but overall the relationship between leads feels tenuous & the third act breakup is pretty brutal. 3⭐️️, out 04/30. (Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.)

Have you read either of these? Are either on your TBR? If not, what’s your current read?

[ID: a gray cat sits on a bed in front of a white bookcase & a yellow wall.]

This is a snarky, sweet, enemies-to-lovers, fake engagement romance. It actually felt more like a new adult or women’s lit, too, because Ellie has a lot of growing up to do. She’s not always nice or likable, but I think that’s more realistic. No one is a ray of sunshine all the time. I enjoyed it, it was very well written, and I look forward to more from the author.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I really enjoyed Gagnon’s turn from mystery into this rom com arena. This is a busy read, lots going on. This is the enemies to lovers trope and done very well. You could feel the tension come off the page!

Love You, Mean It is part "While You were Sleeping" mixed with the indecisive angst of "Runaway Bride". What initially is a faux engagement to allow Ellie to monitor her landlord, Theo, during a medical emergency evolves into a fake dating/engagement plot. I liked watching Ellie grow as a character. She recognized her blind spots and grew, but some of the language (swearing) in the story was distracting and unnecessary. I really liked Love You, Mean It and look forward to reading more of Gagnon's books!

Love You, Mean It is an enemies to lovers story that adds a touch of While You Were Sleeping fake dating and The Shop Around the Corner business drama to the mix. Ellie has a very close family and in order to keep the family deli going she steps in to save it. Unfortunately, now a big corporate food market is about to move to town which will definitely put them out of business. While trying to reason with Theo about the companies impact on the community, a freak accident puts him in the hospital. Not be deterred by an unconscious man, Ellie goes to the hospital and claims to be his fiance to gain access. Theo see the upside to continuing the ruse and so the two are thrown together.

The story has a lot of good moments. The writing and the pacing made the progression of the couples feeling seem right. There is the addition of Theo's ex girlfriend to make the path for these two even more complicated. While I liked the premise of the story and it is told very well, neither Theo nor Ellie had me routing for them. I cared more about the town then the couple I think.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

After her father's sudden passing, Ellie's returned to MA from NYC where she had been trying to make it as a costume designer. She's running the family's deli that's been around for generations. There's talk of a store coming to the area that would likely put the deli out of business. Ellie reaches out to her high school classmate Theo as his family owns the building. While meeting with Theo to discuss stopping the sale of the building, Theo is hurt when a box drops from the ceiling. Ellie tells the EMTs that she is his fiancee so that she can be with him at the hospital. Theo wakes up with short term memory loss but when he regains his memory the next day, he convinces Ellie to continue to pretend they are engaged and work together since Theo has his own reasons for not wanting the building sold. Enjoyable read. I would have liked to see more of what happens after they make things real between them. I liked that Ellie found ways to incorporate what she loves within the deli. First time reading this author and will definitely look for more of her books!

Love You, Mean it got me immediately with the gorgeous cover! Ellie Greco has been running her family’s deli, but when she finds out a major competitor is coming to town, she has to fight her way to keep her dad’s legacy. But when an accident at the job site with the developer Theo Taylor, a crazy fake dating scheme is put into place to stop this plan. I had a really hard time connecting with Ellie and I didn’t love the amnesia plot that happened for a bit. I was glad that went away quickly. It had a While You Were Sleeping vibe with it. I did like the banter between Theo and Ellie, and I loved Ellie’s family. Ellie is extremely negative and has a lot self-worth issues that I feel like didn’t get the growth needed to make it easy to root for her. I feel like having Theo’s perspective would’ve been nice, even just to have space from Ellie and to learn about both of them. I would’ve liked more moments beyond the fake dating. They really don’t resolve that til the end and I liked Theo’s warmth a lot. The enemies to lovers was a lot of fun. I just wanted more overall from the romance and story.

There was humor, amnesia, a fake engagement, a scheme to derail a mega project doomed to wipeout small town shops. I enjoyed the journey the book took me on, it was difficult to predict what would happen next and I just gave up and enjoyed the book.

This was a fun romcom, and I really liked the premise of how the main characters meet. Ellie and Theo meet while Ellie is trying to save her family business, the ceiling falls which leads her to get amnesia and claim that Theo is her finance. The meet-cute happened pretty early in the book and hooked me. After that, the book's pace slowed but was still enjoyable. There is a bit of business rivalry, drama, dislike to love, business deals, and lovely, heartwarming friendships. I liked the romance, especially because I felt like the characters had a lot of time to develop their friendship and the relationship. Definitely read this if you like sweet romcoms with good characters and a smidge of steam.

Thanks to Netgalley for this arc for an honest review.

Ellie is a costume designer in NYC when she finds out her dad suddenly passed away. She has to come home and run the over 100 year old Italian family deli in Milbourough. She is plugging along when word comes that a huge superstore Italian deli is coming to town. This will certainly push her family out of business.

Ellie is loud, brash opinionated. And, when she confronts Theo Taylor, executive of family commerical real estate that owns half the town, they clash. But, Theo has a sudden head injury on the job site and Ellie tells the EMTs she is the fiance so that she can ride along. Theo has short lived amnesia, but the two decide to extend the engangement farce to block the superstore coming in.

This was a cute, quick read. I didn't love the FMC. Bless her heart. Ellie was all over the place--as was the plot and pacing of the story. There was just too much going on and too much of it surface without getting true character development.

That said, it was a fun read. It had cute banter in places and was overall enjoyable.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

3.5 rounded up.

Cute story, but Ellie was quite the downer. Loved the dichotomy between Theo and Ellie, but the constant “down-market” reminder was a bit much. Great ending that wrapped everything up nicely.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying that I am a senior. The first few chapters held my interest - A neighborhood Italian Deli taken over by the granddaughter carrying on the family tradition. When a new shopping development is due to be constructed with an Italian superstore - this means our heroine has to stop it or her family deli will be put out of business. The rest of the plot seemed like a variation of the movie "while you were Sleeping". I must admit I did not finish the book. I think if I were younger I would have enjoyed it, but unfortunately it did not hold
my interest.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this ARC.

“While You Were Sleeping” was one of my favorite movies back in the day, and this book reminded me of it at first. Ellie was a bit more put together than Sandra Bullock’s character in that movie, but I appreciated that fact about her. When the amnesia wore off, the similarities to the movie ended and things became more intriguing for me. I loved Theo, he was a super charming character (who started out in my imagination with bushy eyebrows but had floppy hair by the end)(I hope someone gets that reference), and I ultimately really enjoyed how the story played out.

This was such a cute premise but I couldn't relate to the main character. She just rubbed me a little wrong from the beginning and I couldn't get back to it. I'm sure for the right person this would be the right book!

This book was just okay. I have read so many romance books like this. The plot was not very original and this book was very predictable. But I mean it was a cute romance book.

grief x big Italian family x sassy Italian grandma x fashion design x cynical, sarcastic female lead x guarded but secretly a Labrador male lead x FAKE ENGAGEMENT?!
…sign me up. Please.

I’m starting to question my own sanity because nearly all of the Penguin and/or their imprint/s’ ARCs I’ve read these last few weeks have just blown me out of the water. Maybe my romcom era has just taken over in full force—but it’s highly likely that these books are just!!! so!! good!!

I admit that I may have taken a peek at the other reviews post read, just because I had an inkling that some would find Ellie’s character a little jarring. She’s a bit of a cynical, no bs kind of female lead, which I personally really enjoyed. I love it when leads have the no nonsense, strong personality (the kind that they don’t change or “grow” out of), just because it’s one aspect I haven’t seen around too much. I found her lovable in her own way—and a part of me resonated with how much she prioritized her family! Theo, on the other hand, reiterated my love for men named Theo (my firstborn son will likely be named Theo at this point 🤣)—he was just so charming, without being overly cheesy or anything like that! These two had really amazing chemistry—though I reckon I would’ve loved to see the latter conflict be expounded on a bit more (though I understand that romance books are intentionally kept a bit shorter on purpose). Overall, really enjoyed this book and the kind of themes it tackles! Honestly wish it were longer because I would’ve loved to see a more definitive resolution (or maybe I just want more SWOON LOL. I gasped audibly when I realized there was no epilogue). 4.25!

In Love You, Mean It, Ellie Greco returned to her hometown five years ago due to the death of her father and giving up her dream to design costumes for the New York theater. Now, the wealthiest family in town has decided to lease an older building to an expensive gourmet food store, putting the family deli into jeopardy. Ellie meets with Theo Taylor, the son of the wealthy family. An unfortunate accident occurs while Ellie is meeting with Theo which results in Theo having amnesia. Ellie had accompanied him to the hospital and she said she was his fiancee in order to make sure he was ok. The engagement is then continued much to the dismay and speculation of Ellie and Theo's families. Ellie's family knows Ellie's reasons for what she is doing. Although, they are very different, and Ellie does not expect to have any feelings for Theo, she begins to view things differently as time goes on. This is a fun romantic comedy infused with Jilly Gagnon's humor. It is a quick read with interesting characters in addition to Ellie and Theo that keeps the story from being stale.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read the ARC of Love You, Mean It.

This book was such an unexpected surprise! The characters were well written, easy to like and empathize with. From amnesia to fake engagements to charcuterie this book made me laugh, kept me entertained and made me feel for the main characters as they learned a lot about themselves along the way. Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy. This was truly a fun read!

I was so excited to read the newest book from Jilly Gagnon and was pleasantly surprised how different it was from the galley I've read previously! Ellie Greco is devoted to her family. Leaving her dreams to pursue the family business, she's the dutiful daughter and granddaughter her family expects and loves dearly. When Ellie and her family realize that a grocery store on steroids is heading their way, she decides to take things up with the source- Theo Taylor, the son of the property management company that threatens everything Ellie has worked so hard for.

The two are like oil and water, even though they both have more in common than they think. Gagnon weaves a web of entanglement between the two that will have you laughing and crying in the same chapter.

A romcom that will leave you wanting more; Gagnon knocked it out of the park with this one!

Love You, Mean It

4.25 ⭐️

This was my first Jilly Gagnon book and it looks like her first romance so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was surprisingly cute!

Ellie is trying to save her family owned deli from going out of business due to another larger chain coming into town. Theo’s family is selling the building they own to the chain, when Ellie tries to convince him otherwise and they get caught in a construction accident. She ends up faking to be his fiancé help at the hospital and they decide to keep the fake engagement to force Theo’s family away from the deal.

I really enjoyed this cute story with great character growth from Ellie. I wish it had been dual perspective because I missed Theo’s voice, but still found it a fast enjoyable book!