This one took a bit for me to get into, because I was afraid it was going to be one of those "my big wacky ethnic family is so much more loving than yours" kinda things, but it got better after the first chapter or two. I'm glad I stuck with it, although I did find all of the lying/secret keeping a bit stressful for an escapist read. But the steamy scenes were hot, so there's that.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I enjoyed this for a quick Easy read in between my buddy read with a friend. I enjoyed the fake dating trope (one of my favorites) and was slightly surprised at the amnesia bit. It's a romance, so of course I was expecting a happy ending, which I got. I loved Ellie's family, and how they stuck it to Theo's dad. However, I was a bit disappointed with the ending. Sometimes in romance books the Endings feel rushed, and sometimes they feel just right. This was a case of feeling rushed for me sadly, which is why I knocked off a star. I would recommend for a light-hearted, Easy read.

I was really worried that this book was going to be a re-write of the Sandra Bullock’s movie. I was happily surprised it wasn’t. I loved the twist and turns this book took.

The description of the book seemed interesting, so I wanted to check the story out. Unfortunately, I have since lost my initial interest in the story. I may try and find a physical copy to add the my library when it is released, though, because I think my readers could like it!

I’ll preface my review by stating While You Were Sleeping is my all time favorite Christmassy movie.
This book had major While You Were Sleeping feels to it and I loved that! Of course, it isn’t just a remake of the movie as it has its own different plot, but it made me feel the same way the movie makes me feel.

3.5 stars rounded up.

i thought this book was fun once i got into it, but i can't ever really root for a real estate developer. i was glad the amnesia plot was only like a chapter long--it was enough for a fun twist without feeling like it made the whole book overly unrealistic, because it didn't get belabored. ellie had a real growth arc.

in my head this was all happening in marlborough.

NetGalley ARC.

This was a fun enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating romance story with a little bit of spice. The incorporation of Sam (the ex) into the storyline felt like a fresh take on a familiar trope, and I enjoyed the family dynamics, the author's exploration of grief and how we deal with it, and the evolution of the different relationships between the side characters and our FMC and MMC.

This was an enjoyable read with all my favorite tropes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for this ARC. ~I was given this book and made no commitments to leave my opinions, favorable or otherwise~

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love a fake dating/marriage of convenience romance, so much. This had the potential to be such a great book. But it fell flat for me. The character development wasn't enough for me and I didn't feel the intense need for the two MCs to be together.

Love You, Mean it is a contemporary romance novel that follows the relationship of Ellie Greco (family deli owner and ex-costume designer) and Theo Taylor (working for his dad's company, who is trying to bring a direct competitor to Ellie's deli into their small town). You could see how they would have problems, which is why they decide to have a fake engagement (after Theo gets injured and in her panic Ellie says that she is his fiancé) in order to try to save the Taylor building (where the competitor is trying to move in) and save Ellie's family deli! I LOVED the vibes that felt like a combination of Two Weeks Notice and While You Were Sleeping, I guess overall Sandra Bullock vibes!?!?😂
There is a lot of friend and family drama that swirls around Ellie and Theo's relationship. As well, both MCs deal with grief throughout the story and learn about the others past and try to adapt and learn to change and handle/control it. I think that there is a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions because there are quite a few ups and downs but of course, it's still a mostly happy HEA romance!
Thank you so much to Dell and Random House for a copy of this book to review!💖

Love You, Mean It has all the makings of a great fake dating romcom with some super cute moments and parts that made me laugh outloud. I just wish it had been less rushed and that we’d gotten to know the main characters a bit better.

I wanted to love this book, but it somewhat felt rushed at parts and slow at other parts. I did like the book, but it kind of fell flat for me.

I think this is a cute romantic story. I enjoyed reading it and easily found myself invested in the characters as quickly as possible.

This is such a cute romance! I felt like I was in the book and I knew the characters on a personal level. Super cute, super fun!

3.5 This isn’t my typical book, but for a silly rom-com full of tropes, it was pretty good! It was a mix of you’ve got mail, while you were sleeping, and classic hallmark movies. It was a quick read and there was just one major plot point that seemed a little forced and took me out of the story (the Sam situation). But basically if you want to read a Hallmark movie with a main character with a rounded personality, read this one!

This is a cute rom-com, a Hallmark movie in book format. There’s not a huge plot twist you can’t see coming, but the characters are likeable and you genuinely want things to work out for them. It was enjoyable read that I happened to be reading when there was a lot going on in life, so it was a lovely little escape.

Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon is a new romantic comedy about fake dating.

Ellie Greco returns home when her father passes away and takes over the family business, running the town deli. She went away to college to study designing beautiful, elaborate costumes for theater. But she fights back when her family business is threatened to be non-existent.

Theo Taylor of the property management firm is about to put her out of business, but their meeting goes from bad to worse when he's injured in an accident. His family wants the building rented out to Mania, but Theo intends to keep the building's infrastructure intact.

The story is predictable and will keep you entertained.

This fake dating romance was a lot of fun to read. Ellie and Theo had great chemistry and banter. It has a nice amount of spice too and I loved Ellies close relationship with her family. There were times Ellie really frustrated me and I struggled to stay interested at times which is why I gave it 3 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Cute, sweet romcom wrapped up nicely with some prosciutto and mozzarella. Seriously this book had my mouth watering while reading 🤣 I really liked the characters and their relationship, would’ve liked to see even more development between the two of them but felt like Sam being introduced/her storyline was pretty unnecessary to the story as a whole. Worth a read!

4 Stars

This is my first time with this author and I really enjoyed this book. It had a handful of my favorite movie tropes, like While You Were Sleeping and You've Got Mail. The characters have their personal flaws, but I did really enjoy Ellie and Theo.

Ellie is the small local shop girl trying to save it from a giant super store from causing her shop be obsolete. She tries reaching out to Theo, the son of the businessman threatening her livelihood. After a series of events, they suddenly fall into a fake engagement situation. Them trying to make it seem real so Theo can go against his dad Ted.

This was a really fast read and overall a really good time. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy fake dating tropes and those classic rom-com movies like While You Were Sleeping. I will be checking out more by Jilly Gagnon in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Ballantine for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.