Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell and NetGalley for an eARC of Love You, Mean it!

What first drew me to this book was the title. It’s something that I am forever saying to my own husband! Then, after I read the summary, I knew I had to read this book. It was so cute, fluffy, romantic and funny. I really enjoyed every bit of it and who doesn’t love a bit of a fake engagement trope?!

Very cute! You've got mail vibes but the ending we all actually wanted. I can't get too frustrated with the unreasonably stubborn Ellie because she is me and I am her. Sweet MMC who falls first. Not the deepest romance you've ever read but sweet enough for a lovely romantic comedy escape.

We'll say 2.5 rounded down.

The premise of this sounded interesting and I think the plotline would have been very cute, but the execution wasn't quite there. For one, the pacing of the storyline seemed to be all over the place - it seemed very slow with not much happening until we hit the third-act breakup, and it flew by from there. But a majority of the book was very slow and not as interesting as the premise had promised.

The main issue I had was the main character, Ellie. She, for reasons that were not explained, had a severe dislike of the rich - of all the rich - and never looked past their status to determine if they were a good/bad person. She kept looking at Theo and everyone she met during the book and assuming they were jerks and horrible people, and it was never explained why she had such a negative outlook toward that class.

Ellie read as a judgmental character that constantly pushes people away. It was a little hard to like her, especially since the whole book was from her perspective and her thought process was just... constantly negative. Theo didn't have much as a character; he was kind of there, romantic sometimes, and rich. That was what his whole personality seemed to be (especially to Ellie).

The idea was there, but I think the characters and speed of the storyline really took away from the enjoyment.

Love You, Mean It is a cute romcom. It is slower paced and missing a bit but still a decent read. I lost attention a few times, but I was able to bring it back around.

Tropes: Fake Dating, Amnesia, Small Town, Family Business

Ellie setup a meeting with Theo to try to save her family's deli, during the meeting Theo is met with a concussion and amnesia. Not sure of what to do, Ellie tells the paramedics that she is Theo's fiancé. Theo recovers rather quickly but comes up with a scheme of his own to keep Ellie's deli safe.

One obstacle they had to overcome was Sam, Theo's ex, who seemed to be everywhere in this story. Ellie really wanted to be friends with Sam, but of course Sam wants Ellie to help her get back together with Theo. This becomes a huge debacle.

Ellie and Theo are both kind of hotheaded but also have a very tender side to them. You have your classic fake dating; no feelings will be caught ordeal. However, Ellie starts to see things about herself that others have been trying to tell her, she also starts to feel real feelings towards Theo.

Miscommunication and a hot-headed argument led to your third act break up. Which recovers very well but it would have been nice to see Theo's POV during the separation. There was a decent gap in between the fight and the recovery.

Overall, I would recommend!

This book releases April 30, 2024! Add it to your TBRs!

Tropes:
Enemies to Lovers
Fake Fiancés
Amnesia
Small town

I truly enjoyed this one. After reading a super thick book before this one, it was a quick & easy read. The writing flowed nicely & there weren’t any parts of the book that I was ‘bored’. I was excited to see where to Main Characters’ story went & what obstacles they overcame.

The banter & witty back and forth was awesome & had me literally giggling out loud at some parts. Theo turned into quite the dreamy MMC & became obsessed with him.

One thing I wasn’t a huge fan of the amount of insecurities of Ellie & how prevalent they were when it came to Theo. I do think this was purposefully done, but in my opinion maybe slightly too done.

**Loss of loved ones is mentioned a decent amount of times too; so if that’s a trigger, this one might not be for you

tl;dr
A light and cheery read for fans of the fake dating trope. Also has a ton of great supporting characters. And a deli.

Thoughts
Well, I'm a sucker for a fake dating trope, so here we are. I also really love an ex girlfriend who is actually very cool and not entirely horrible, so that's two points in this book's favor. Although to be honest, Sam makes me realize why the ex girlfriends in books like these are so often terrible. She's maybe TOO good? This is not a complaint! I love her, but I found myself more invested in her and Ellie's relationship by the end. And honestly, that's probably my favorite part of the book. Don't get me wrong - the romance is cute, Theo's a keeper, the whole thing ends on the happy note that we all want. But I especially loved Ellie learning to make friends, especially with other women. The two women who show up alongside Ellie are super cool, and it was a great way to round out Ellie's own realizations about where she wants to be to have a full group of friends in the picture, and not just one dude.

But back to the romance, which is probably why you showed up. Ellie and Theo actually hit it off pretty early on. Not instalove by any measure, but it's never a full-on enemies/rivals situation, and their relationship feels like it clicked into place very naturally. The memory loss plot lasts very briefly, so don't expect that to be a huge part of the story, and the drama is barely between the two leads, and more the MC with herself. Ellie's natural position is to be self-sacrificial, even if it's what no one wants, so she doesn't always make the best choices regarding the relationship. It can be frustrating sometimes to Ellie not grab happiness when it's offered to her, but I'm glad she worked things out in the end.

This was such a cute enemies to lovers fake dating romance. Plus reading about all the food in it made me want to crack open a bottle of wine and snack on a charcuterie board. Overall, I loved the world building and the characters. The humor was executed very well and I found myself laughing aloud many times throughout reading this book. I never wanted it to end, but man was the ending great. I loved the tension that we got from the will they or won’t they scenes as well as the amazing spicy scenes. I honestly wish we had gotten more spicy scenes, but that’s just me. I loved this book and as soon as I finished reading I immediately preordered the physical copy because I just had to own a physical version of it. I loved the Italian family representation as an Italian myself, where food and family are everything. Overall this book was such a cute and quick read, and I wish there was more to the Ellie and Theo story.

I typically really enjoy fake dating and enemies to lovers romcoms, but Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon didn’t quite hit the mark.

The cons:
- The first thing that annoyed me was the dialogue. I just couldn’t get into Ellie’s dialogue and thoughts. I didn’t like her as a character that much because of it unfortunately.
- I didn’t buy the storyline. The “hating each other so much but then losing memory but only for a little then pretending then fake dating then falling in love and it’s us against the world”. I just couldn’t get as into it as I wanted.
- I didn’t love the enemies. They seemed too cartoon-ish.
- Again, I hated Ellie’s inner monologue. So much that I needed to say it again.

Although there was a lot I didn’t like, there were still some things I enjoyed.

The pros:
- Ellie’s cousin (whose name I can’t remember right now). A+, voice of reason, top notch cousin.
- The cutesy moments between Ellie and Theo. Seeing them come around to each other a bit.
- The fact that Theo falls first and harder!

Overall, even though this book wasn’t perfect for me, I still enjoyed my time reading it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!!

If you took the enemies turned partners in Two Weeks Notice and added an amnesia twist like in While You Were Sleeping, you’d get Love You, Mean It… and let’s be honest, you can’t go wrong with a Sandra Bullock double feature. This was a cute story and I really enjoyed the premise, the setting with its local charm and history, and the delightful side characters.

I do think the story could have benefited from having Theo’s POV, especially when the “enemies” tension rapidly shifted and gave way to him and Ellie having heart eyes for each other. I was also slightly frustrated with how Ellie continually doubted her dreams and self worth. But mostly, I wanted more clear communication - like come on, girl, you know that fake engagement wasn’t so fake when he invited you over to get cozy in front of the fireplace.

Both Ellie and Theo were likable characters, but I finished wishing 1) there was an epilogue and 2) that we had seen more growth from Ellie. The small glimpse we saw of her dipping back in to her designing dreams was excellent, but it was so brief compared to all the time she focused on doubts and self-sabotage. I wanted more for our girl and to see Ellie shining bright and regaining confidence to pursue her professional goals and passions.

In the end, the book made me smile and I was delighted to see these former enemies bet on themselves and get their happily ever after.

Ellie and Theo decide fake dating will help them thwart the plans his father's commercial real estate has lease space to a gourmet food chain that would put Ellie's family deli out of business. (This comes after a short amnesia tangent.) As with all fake dating stories, feelings develop, miscommunication complicates things, and a vicious fight brings about the third act break up. Of course the happily ever after comes shortly after.

Was this predictable? Yes. Was it also a lot of fun to read? Absolutely! This story was especially delightful because Ellie's and Theo's families are ones any New Englander would recognize. I only wish we got the scene where Ellie goes to dinner at Theo's family home contrasted with one where Theo went to one of Ellie's family dinners.

The conflict between big-box stores and downtown businesses is one New Englanders know as well. While this was most a fun romp, the chain vs. family business was a good storyline that I enjoyed.

I loved the setting in an Italian Deli, I had a dream of working at my local deli at the meat counter as a child. Ellie Greco is stuck in her small town working at her family deli. A developer is thinking of bringing in a competing deli that threatens Ellie's family new business. The developers son has bigger plans for the building than a deli. Ellie and Theo find themselves in a fake relationship in attempts to persuade Theo's father a deli is a bad idea. At times the fake relationship was hard to believe and it took time for the relationship and chemistry to be believable. Cute concept but it was not my favorite fake relationship trope book.

This book was incredibly cute, but didn’t really have anything special about it.
I enjoyed reading it, but I wouldn’t be necessarily recommending it to others. A great palette cleanser.

Thank you Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC!

Love You, Mean It was a cute book with a lot of heart. It immediately reminded me of “While You Were Sleeping” (one of the best rom-coms ever!), but then went in a direction I wasn’t expecting. I think for me there were a few too many plot points happening, and it got a little muddied. However, I am a sucker for a good enemies to lovers story, and this had plenty of that!

Thanks again for the ARC!

I’ve been following Jilly Gagnon since “All Dressed Up” and I noted a remarkable improvement in her next amateur sleuth book “Scenes of the Crime,” which was well-written and cleverly structured. This time the author is delivering an entirely different genre, romantic comedy (she has written humorous pieces previously), in “Love You, Mean It,” a sort of enemies-to-lovers/fake dating trope.

Ellie, a former costume designer, is a sarcastic, self-effacing and reluctant deli owner (her late dad’s business that she returned to rescue) who is suddenly faced with a prickly property manager (Theo) and the prospect that a large scale gourmet purveyor might be moving into the neighborhood with Theo’s help. During a meeting with him, the ceiling literally crashes down, sending him to the hospital. She tells the paramedics she’s his fiancée and Theo wakes up with amnesia, so he accepts her role. But not for long — Theo is actually a sweet guy who really doesn’t want the superstores deal his dad is foisting on him. He’s all for keeping up the fake engagement.

Sam, Theo’s returning ex-girlfriend, throws a wrench into their plans when she recognizes the ruse. Normally, Sam would be the unlikeable one (she’s not), but unfortunately Ellie’s character is just so flat (even the depiction of Ellie on the cover seemed crabby). Ellie tries to get Theo back with Sam, but since we know that’s not happening, I wasn’t sure who to root for (besides Theo, he was genuinely a nice character).

I liked the story, but the pacing seemed off and Ellie needed more depth. I really loved Jilly Gagnon’s “Scenes of the Crime” so perhaps I’ll stick to the author’s mystery/thriller novels in the future. 3.5 stars.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Only blue and brown eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Ellie does have a talent for incorporating flowers into her costume designs.

Thank you to Dell/Random House and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Dell/Penguin Random House and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

A 3.5 rounding up to a 3.

Ellie loses her father making her responsible in keeping their family business which is a decades old deli. Her passion lies in creating costumes and dresses which didn’t really end up the way she wants it to be. So why not try managing the deli right? But she always believes that she’s meant to do better things than being stuck in the store. Ellie’s life suddenly gets complicated when the local landlord decides to rent the place to a gourmet food department store which is bound to destroy their shop and along with it, their family legacy. She gathers her courage to meet Theo who’s in charge to change his mind about renting the place when an accident makes him loose his memory. With Theo having no memory, Ellie chooses to act like his fiancé because Theo’s father would not let his son’s fiancé’s business to go down right? Theo regains his memory after a while and they together form a plan to save the deli which involves fake dating. But what happens when they start building a strong attraction to each other? What happens when Theo’s ex Sam, asks Ellie’s help to get back together with him?

I really enjoyed the plot set up and the characters. There were some parts that were great. However, overall I found myself drifting away from the story. The amnesia set up didn’t feel right and some family banter was dragged too much. The spice felt disconnected as well. It’s an average read and did not spark anything special for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are of my own.

This was such a fun, quick romcom!!

I’ve read more heavy stuff lately so this was the perfect palate cleanser. I adored Ellie and Theo! Ellie is a spitfire and Theo was a great guy even though at first, I was like “this guy is a jerk” 🤣

Ellie runs her family’s deli and Theo’s dad is trying to bring in a big grocery store that will surely affect a lot of the small businesses that have been around town for so long. It is then that Theo gets hit in the head and suffers from amnesia, with several years wiped from his memories. Ellie panics and says she is his fiancée… is this an opportunity to change Theo’s mind about Mangia, the super store?

The tropes, the characters, and the story made this novel a great one! Definitely read if you need a sweet rom-com to add to your faves!!

Thank you, NetGalley & Random House for the arc 🫶🏻

Another take on "While You Were Sleeping". It was a bit slow in the beginning, but I enjoyed the blossoming of Theo and Ellie’s relationship. I liked the fake engagement aspect and a sort of enemies to lovers. It was really cute and I could see how they started to like each other. Once they solidified the terms of their fake engagement, that is when the story picked up.

This was a fun book. I loved how feisty Ellie and her Mimi are. I love that Ellie was so willing to fight to keep Greco's Deli around. Theo was an amazing guy. I fell for him as I was reading his and Ellie's story.

I think that both Theo and Ellie wanted to keep building/businesses that helped to keep them connected to love ones that they lost. Theo's accident and amnesia was an interesting plot twist to get the characters together. From Theo talking about Ellie in high school, I sort of wondered if he had a crush on her way back when. (This was never mention in the story just my own thought). I liked that Theo's amnesia was more than just a few pages of the book vs almost the entire plot.

The thing that stuck out to me the most was that Ellie and Theo were both stuck and by pretending to be engaged to stay the Traylor Building and Greco's Deli, they found themselves. Theo gave Ellie the confidence to start designing clothes again. Ellie pushed Theo to step away and see if working for his dad made him happy (the way she did this was a bit harsh) I felt like both Theo and Ellie had maybe put their lives on hold when they lost people that meant so much to them and their engagement forced them to live again.

This was a fun book. I enjoyed all the side characters. Some were more enjoyable than others. I would recommend this book to all my friends.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you so much NetGalley & Random House Publishing - Ballantine for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to read this! I love a good romcom… especially one that reminds me of Sleepless in Seattle… however this one just had something missing for me.

I absolutely loved the way that Ellie & Theo met. I was instantly sucked in and wanted to keep reading. Ellie is a Deli Owner, and wants to save her family business and Theo is the son of a huge business mogul, and they have to “work together” to get what they both want… which in this case is Fake Dating!

This really had the bones of a super cute, classic fake dating, kinda-sota-enemies to lovers story… but around the 45% mark, I just started losing interest and didn’t want to pick it up. I didn’t feel the need to find out what happened or even honestly how the story ended.

DNF’d at 52%

A fun, classic romcom that definitely satisfies!

Our main FMC and narrator, Ellie, wants to save her family business and finds herself needing to work with Theo, the son of a local real estate development mogul, to do so. Through rather unique circumstances, they are faking an engagement in order to trick Theo's father and prevent the competitor business from coming into town.

This is a classic hate-to-love, fake relationship trope story, and I loved every second of it. Ellie and Theo had excellent banter and chemistry. Even though I found Elli frustrating at times for being extremely naive to her and Theo's feelings, their relationship still felt natural.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Star Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:
🌶🌶.5 / 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶