Love You, Mean It is a book with potential that has some issues holding me back from fully enjoying it–including an off-note ending that made me feel like I too had gotten bonked in the head.

The initial opening left me feeling like the author was clearing her throat–no big deal, that’s pretty typical of first chapters, and I can ignore it as long as the book improves. But the problems only continued and grew.

This book is exceptionally heavy-handed on description, with whole pages spent telling readers what a given place, person, or outfit looks like, even though said descriptions don’t really improve the story whatsoever. It takes a special author–and very special prose–to make heavy description worthwhile. Unfortunately, the prose in Love You, Mean It was uninspiring on that front, and I quickly began to skim these unnecessary details. Surely just a few sentences telling us that a country club looks expensive is enough?? Why do we need an entire page about what the ceiling and the molding and the chandeliers look like? Same for almost every place and person in the book. Even brief side characters would get excessive amounts of physical description accompanying them. I do consider it an exception when something actually adds to the story or characterization–for example, the description of Ellie’s apartment and her cheap furniture, since that is an important part of her life and represents her emotions and choices, or details about the clothing she has made.

There’s also a strange overabundance of italics used in the dialogue that I can only hope will be edited out before pub date. Readers do not need to be hand-held so much in order to understand where the emphasis lands in a given sentence.

Next, we have the characters… Ellie is mean, Theo is a bit opaque, and the “shockingly awesome ex” (according to the blurb) is manipulative and only exists for unrealistic plot convenience. Is Sam “shockingly awesome” because she’s not a massively vindictive bitch, and the narrative chooses not to vilify her? (Honestly, I wished it would have vilified her a little more.) She still conspires with Ellie to manipulate Theo into getting back together with her, which felt so odd (only exists for the plot, there’s absolutely no way a person would ask someone’s pretend fiance to matchmake them) and gross from both Sam and Ellie, given that he had been pretty clear about his feelings already.

The connection between Ellie and Theo is pretty tenuous–it’s not very evident why either of them is into the other, beyond lust/attraction. Ellie’s insecurity regarding him ever wanting something real and lasting with her was grating, and her insistence that anything romantic between them was a mistake felt like nonsense.

There’s one true strong point in this book, and that’s Ellie’s emotional development and movement in the third act. I’m bummed because ultimately the emotional work and her whole realization–about her creativity and failed fashion career, about the deli and her place in the town, etc.–had really good bones. In a better book it could have been a slam dunk for me, but with everything else going wrong here it was just too little too late.

And for the worst of all… Honestly I was vacillating between giving this book two or three stars, and the last chapter ensured that it would be two. The fact that during the third act breakup Theo actually gives his manipulative ex another shot?? This is referenced as both "a date” and also “trying it on for size,” and it made me feel like I’d been bonked in the head just like Theo had at the beginning of the book. I truly don’t know what the author–or editors–were thinking. Theo had already been clear earlier in the book that there was nothing romantic there anymore!! Ellie misinterpreting what was going on between them is one thing–sure, give her that angst–but to actually have it happen? It put a serious tinge on the happy ending and certainly will not jive well with romance reader expectations. Top it all off with the fact that the book ends with their fake engagement completely unresolved (will they tell their community it was pretend? keep faking?) and that there’s no “I love you” between Theo and Ellie (or even just the fact that if ILYs had been exchanged they wouldn’t have been very believable) and we’ve got a book that ultimately left me disappointed.

It was a cute little rom-com, almost like a hallmark movie, which i love, but with some spice. It was a wonderful break from my regular thriller reads and a good palate cleanser.

When I saw this book was amnesia and fake dating, I knew then I would be obsessed! I really enjoyed this cute lil love story. A real life Hallmark movie if you ask me!

I loved this one. It had all the elements of my kind of romance. Fake dating/engagement, small town, some 🌶️, and enemies to lovers. It gripped me from the beginning. Ellie took over her family’s deli and hears of a giant company potentially coming into town. She panicks and tries to go to Theo Taylor whose family’s business is bringing in the big competitor. Cue a head injury, some amnesia, and Ellie pretending to be Theo’s fiancée. It’s a recipe for a great book. I laughed a lot and although Ellie frustrated me in some parts (get it together woman) overall I loved the story and honestly needed an epilogue!!

Although this is a sweet meet cute romance, it wasn't up my alley and I couldn't finish it. The main character was a little bit too insecure for my liking and I had to stop myself from judging too much.

Love You, Mean It was a sweet rom com about deli owner Ellie who teams up with town rich boy Theo to stop a big box Italian market from coming to town, effectively putting her family out of business. Oh, and the people bringing the market to town? That happens to be Theo’s family company. And how are they stopping it? Oh right, they’re pretending to be engaged.

I thought this was a really cute fake dating, prince and the pauper type romance. Ellie was a feisty FMC, someone who gave as good as she got and sometimes more, but we also saw how not all feisty women are fully aware and secure in who they were. Theo was a surprisingly sweet MMC. I kind of expected to get a ton of asshole vibes from him, but he seemed to be puppy dog in love with Ellie throughout the entire book. I didn’t love the use of a third act breakup, and also the miscommunication trope was present which is not my fave, but I felt like the conflict that arose from that was brief enough and resolved quickly enough that it didn’t totally throw me off from the book.

Overall, I thought this was a cute romance book, and gave it a solid 4 stars.

It's been a hot minute since I've read a rom-com, and this was a fun read. It had many favorite elements - enemies to lovers, fake romance, amnesia, horrible families, crossed wires and the list goes on. Our heroine is spicy and spunky. Our hero is a bit gruff, if not grumpy, but has a soft squishy center inside of his candy coating. All in all, this reminds me why I need to not forget about making sure I throw a few rom-coms into the reading mix from time to time.

****Publishing April 30, 2024****

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ellie moved home to help operate Greco’s Deli when her dad died 5 years ago, leaving her dream job behind. Greco’s Deli is threatened by a gourmet grocery store, Mangia, wanting to buy the space of a camping store, owned by Theo’s family. When Ellie is meeting with Theo about this buyout, a metal cage falls from the ceiling and hits Theo on the head, causing amnesia. In order for Ellie to be with him in the hospital, she had to be family, so she told the nurse that she was his fiancée. Theo is first confused and then believes her. He starts to question their relationship, but Ellie plays it off by saying you need to rest. Will this be the way she can convince Theo not to sell to Mangia or will this plan backfire?

A highly entertaining read that will have you turning the pages to find out who wins in the end? Is it Ellie saving her family’s deli or Theo selling their store to Mangia? The characters are fun, entertaining, and will make you laugh! If you need a fun light read, then I highly recommend it!


Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine (Dell), I was provided an ARC of Love You Mean It by Jilly Gagnon via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. #Netgalley #LoveYouMeanIt

I feel like I've read a few books lately that mimic the idea of the movie While You Were Sleeping, which I feel like is a way you can quickly sum up Love You, Mean It. The romance in this one fell a little flat for my liking and I wasn't the biggest fan of both of the main characters.

I really appreciate a rom com that leans in fully- this had ALL my favorite rom com tropes! I loved the Maggie Knox book a few Christmases back with the baking element and loved the delis here. Combine cooking, fake dating, and a little amnesia- the perfect fun book!

Thanks to Dell and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was so cute and fun! I really enjoyed it. The main female character, Ellie, had one of the most sarcastic personalities. Her humor and wit had me LOLing sometimes. I loved her banter and chemistry with the main male character, Theo. It did take me a bit to warm up to him but there’s a generally nice guy hiding underneath his exterior and he clearly cared a lot about Ellie.

Their scenes had me smiling and laughing. There’s a scene where Ellie releases her frustration on a character (he definitely deserved it) that made me clap out loud.

I also really loved the small town. Ellie’s family was also great in this story… particular her cousin and then Mimi. Gotta love Italians.

There’s also a character thrown in that had an arc that I was not expecting. I like that the author didn’t put these females against each other.

There were some instances I really wanted to shake Ellie and I just could not fathom her thought process.

I wish we would’ve gotten an epilogue bc I wanted more scenes with Ellie and Theo.

You’ll like this book if you like:

- fake dating
- great banter between the FMC and MMC
- laugh out loud scenes
- great secondary characters that are family
- small town vibes
- he’s super protective of her
- a sarcastic, witty, and cynical heroine

Highly recommend!

This is the first Jilly Gagnon novel I have read and it was a sweet rom-com with the feels of You’ve Got Mail. Small town business about to be put out of business by a big box store…

With a twist! Ellie and Theo’s characters have an interesting meet cute that ends up with Theo claiming amnesia and fake dating! There wasn’t a ton of depth to them (though the story does include some family drama). All in all this is an easy beach read story which should leave readers happy at the end.

Love this book, mean it. Between the sassy characters, small town, and spirited family involvement, what's not to love? This fake dating story carries the perfect mix of witty banter and sweet moments. My only complaint is that I want more of these characters.

Ellie Greco may have gone too far to save her family’s historic deli in Milborough, Massachusetts, in Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon coming out April 30. She enters into a phony-bologna fling with Theo Taylor, the son of a businessman who wants to bring in a superstore that will put the Greco Deli out of business, in order for each of them to get what they want out of the ploy.

Ellie wants to save the business for her family, even though returning to Milborough means giving up on a career possibility she has been striving for in New York City. Theo, who is not a fan of his father’s, wants a free hand to develop the Taylor building in a way that will not threaten the small businesses like Ellie’s in the downtown area. The two plot a fake engagement that will push Ted Taylor to drop his plans for a gourmet food department store rather than ruin his future daughter-in-law's business.

What could go wrong with the pretend relationship? Will the stuck-up Taylor senior buy into this romance between his elite son and a delicatessen owner he refers to as “a butcher”? How will Theo’s ex-fiancée favored by his father interfere with the plan when she reappears in Theo’s life? In the end, Ellie will have to decide what’s more important: her legacy business or a faux romance that seems to be taking a different direction.

Jilly Gagnon, the author of the young adult novel #famous and the suspense novel All Dressed Up, has had her work appear in Newsweek, Elle, Vanity Fair, and The Huffington Post. A Minnesota native, she lives in Salem, Massachusetts.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting February 26, 2024.

I would like to thank Dell, an imprint of Random House, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

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. Once getting past the first few chapters I really enjoyed the story. There is a bit of business rivalry, drama, dislike to love, business deals, and lovely, heartwarming friendships.

This book was a tough one for me because I just didn’t feel any depth towards the main characters or the relationship they were building. It was hard for me to understand what ultimately made them fall for each other (and no I’m not counting this as a spoiler because this is a romance lol). I like the fake dating trope but I found myself bored by this one. Also, I found the writing a bit too verbose at times which detracted from the overall storyline.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book tickled my heart strings in the best way possible! A sweet book about two people, and of course- they end up together! Would definitely recommend this to other people and might read again!

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

I’ve read one other book by this author and didn’t like it but figured I’d give her another chance with a different genre. This one was also not executed well. I found the main character to be very unlikeable and honestly irritating. It was like nothing seemed to make her remotely happy and she thought the worst of everyone. She and the male character decide to have a fake engagement and I usually loveee those books and there was ZERO chemistry. It was uncomfortable to read. If you told me this was a regular fiction book I’d believe that more than this being a romance. When they got physical it seemed so forced by the author. These characters barely treat eachother like they’re even good people (I won’t even bother trying to say friends) and I’m expected to be jumping for joy?? I really can’t see anyone enjoying this book. All of the side characters are 10x better than the two main ones.

Would not recommend. I pushed through this book when I probably should have given up.

Love You, Mean It was a quick, fun read, sweet with a touch of steamy, and pretty satisfying when it came to character development.

As with any fake relationship romance novel, we already know how it's going to end, but what I appreciated most about this book was watching Ellie grow not just as a romantic partner but also as an individual and a friend. I actually wish more page-time had gone to developing her longstanding and potentially new female friendships. That being said, when it came to watching her reevaluate her ideas about success and belonging? I was all in, hooked, sold. For me, that was what ultimately made this book a four-star read.

I will admit that some of Ellie's behaviors were cringey, which mostly bothered me because the cringe factor could easily have been lessened if some of the time she spent complaining (so. much. complaining.) had instead gone to developing the roots of her insecurities and self-doubt. Also, the forgiveness she was shown at the end of the novel felt too quick and unrealistic. But in the end...yeah, I'm not usually reading romance for the realism, so...

Definitely read this if you enjoy rivals-to-lovers and fake engagement tropes, or if you're just looking for something fun to read on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

This is a cute and predictable read. The premise started out strong. After the death of her father, Ellie comes back to run the family deli business in her hometown. Theo's family is looking to bring in an Eataly like establishment into town that will hurt Ellie's family business. Ellie goes to confront Theo and through an accident he has temporary amnesia and she tells people she's his fiancee. Hijinks ensue. An enemies to lovers trope.

The middle dragged for me and Ellie was frustrating and self sabotaging, which wasn't my favorite.

Thanks for the advanced reader copy Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell.