I really enjoyed this book! It was like “While You Were Sleeping” with some “You’ve Got Mail” mixed in, plus so much more. I loved all the relationships with the main character, Ellie. From her family elders and cousin to new found friends and allies and, of course, the whole enemies to lover trope and fake dating with Theo. The dialogue throughout the story was chef’s kiss!

If you’re looking for a fun, light hearted romantic story (with just a little bit of spice) I highly recommend this book. I gave it 4.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It was a fun enemies-to-lovers story that also includes fake dating and some amnesia. The amnesia had some twists I didn’t expect, and the way they dealt with their VERY different families and those dynamics were very interesting.

This book reminds me the movie While You Were Sleeping.
It was a fast read. The main character annoyed me a little at the beginning but by the end I was rooting for her.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me this ARC! Love You, Mean It is coming out in April of 2024 & I recommend it to any rom com lovers.

This book focuses on Ellie as she returns home from following her costume design dreams in NYC to take over her family’s small town deli after the passing of her dad. The love interest is Theo, the son of a powerful man that owns many of the small town’s businesses. Ellie finds out that Theo’s family plans on bringing in a chain store that would inevitably lead to the demise of the deli that means so much to her & her family, causing her to reach out to Theo directly.

Theo & Ellie’s love story is a whirlwind take of family drama, fake dating, ex girlfriends, & a touch of amnesia.

One of my favorite parts of this book was that Theo’s ex girlfriend, Sam, wasn’t a villain. It is so common to see ex girlfriends in books as the enemy, but Jilly Gagnon allowed both the main character & the ex girlfriend be strong, likable women.

I wish this book had elaborated more on Theo’s motives & his past experiences with his brother, Chase. I also wish it had more explicitly explained Ellie’s past in NYC. I felt like both of those plots focused highly on context clues, while I think more discussion could have allowed for more character building!

Overall, this is a super sweet rom com with two characters that come from different worlds. I was hungry the whole time I was reading about the Greco’s family deli!

I received early access to this book through NetGalley, and I’m glad I gave it a shot! I gave this a 3.75 rounded up to a 4 ⭐️ here for the sake of whole numbers. I am notoriously hard on romances due to my preferences, but this rom com had a sufficient level of character depth, plot development, and well written ✨spicy scenes✨. I also felt like the book incorporated a good mix of typical rom com tropes that made this book stand out from others!

The plot follows Ellie after she moves back to her home town to take over the family deli business following her father’s passing. When she gets word that a big box competitor is coming into town, she tries to negotiate with hot rich boy development man, Theo, to cancel the deal. Theo then gets a CONCUSSION in her presence and amnesia and she tells the EMD she’s his FIANCÉ (lmao) but then he actually wants to PLAY ALONG w/ her because the ploy is mutually beneficial. But wait! There’s more than just an enemies to lovers trope here…there’s also class warfare, a plotting ex, and meaningful character development.

I really enjoyed reading the dynamic between Ellie and Theo. The banter was almost as good as Emily Henry! I also think the author did a wonderful job organically developing their chemistry without forcing it. And the ending is less predictable than majority of the rom coms I read. By the end of the book, I didn’t want to say goodbye to these two leads!

This book publishes at the end of April 2024, and is a great read for Emily Henry fans who enjoy more 🌶️spicy scenes🌶️ in their reading. This author did a good job capturing and describing sexual chemistry without being overtly graphic (looking at you Ali Hazelwood). This book also goes beyond the boring “she’s tiny! he’s huge!” descriptions, which is deeply appreciated.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this upcoming new release (finished it in one day!) and I highly recommend for you rom-com lovers out there that also appreciate some substance in your books ☺️ Thanks again to NetGalley & Penguin Randomhouse for early access.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC!

Ellie Greco is stuck in Milborough. After her dad died, she took over the beloved family deli and had to move home from NYC, giving up her fashion-based hopes and dreams. At least, that’s the story she’s been telling herself.

When a local property management firm, run by the rich (handsome) snob from high school, threatens to bring a posh food hall into her space, Ellie is forced to rethink her priorities, and the story of her life.

Tropes include fake dating, a charming family business, and enemies to lovers. I thought Gagnon did a great job emphasizing the female friendships and how Ellie valued finding new friends as much as she valued romance. Milborough felt charming and real, and I loved the family interactions, which weren’t as saccharine as they sometimes can be.

I’d call this a solid romance. I thought the slow burn was steamy and I was invested in the outcome.

I give it 7.5/10 stars and recommend it to anyone who loves a good modern romance that’s sweet but not sickly so.

Ellie runs a deli in a small town and is loving her life that is heavily involving her Italian family....that is until she finds out that a rival store is coming to town that could disrupt everything. The project is spearheaded by Theo; a man with a complicated past and very business driven. Ellie tries to talk to Theo, but an encounter leaves Theo developing amnesia....from here calamity ensues, along with a spark that the two of them cannot deny!
Overall I enjoyed the book. It was giving me While you were Sleeping Vibes mixed with a fake dating trope. Definitely would recommend to anyone looking for a cute romance!

I was so excited when someone from Random House reached out to me and asked me to read this book. I love a good romance book and will jump at the chance to read new authors. This book was right up my alley and fun to read. I like to read for fun and to escape, so these type of books are enjoyable for me. I thought Ellie and Theo were cute and I enjoyed their story. Like most romance books, it was cheesy and silly at times, but I still enjoyed the read.

I read this book in a day and I never looked back! The twist and the plot were pretty easy to identify but the different POV's kept me intrigued to see how everything was going to unfold. A couple of the characters were so unlikable that it made it hard to feel bad or connect with them in any way. I do wish that the ending would've given a little more, I wanted to know how the characters dealt with the aftermath.


*I received a copy of this eARC via NetGalley*

A beautiful and exciting story! I loved the characters and was rooting for them the whole time. A must read!

The synopsis sounded like a good rom-com to get into. I read through chapter 5 and decided to not continue. I pushed through chapter 5, it failed to grab me from the start. Ellie’s negative and not very likeable. She felt flat to me during those first couple of chapters.

This is the first time I don’t finish an ARC. I always like to provide my feedback after finishing a book. Sadly, this one didn’t do it for me.

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was super cute!! It had lighthearted moments, business talk, family drama and even some sex thrown in.

Ellie and Theo aren't a match. At least not an obvious one. When life unexpectedly (read: Ellie steps in and immediately gets in over her head) throws them together they come to a mutual agreement to benefit them both, business wise.

I truly enjoyed this book. I only wish the ending took more time to really enjoy how they come back together. I also think this book could use a sequel/followup. It could be about Sam & Everett but, if course, would give updates on Ellie and Theo as well.

I would recommend this book!

Really fun story with well developed characters. It felt believable throughout and not forced. I enjoyed it and would not mind reading it again.

this was pretty mid. we’ve all heard the story of the fmc trying to save such and such, falls in love along the way, and they live hea. unfortunately this didn’t bring anything new to the table. i enjoyed it for what it was but i wouldn’t go out of my to recommend or read again

Ellie is stuck running the family deli after her dad dies. In comes a management company representative, the maddening Theo, who won’t listen to Ellie’s plea’s that the mega store proposed will put the town’s small proprietors out of business. But when a ceiling falls on top of him at that property and he develops amnesia (yep) Ellie convinces him he’s her fiancé to get him on her side. When he realizes she’s lied he amazingly convinces her to carry on the fiancé charade so they can together fight his family’s management company on this issue. She doesn’t quite trust him but the fake starts to turn into… something.

Love me some fake relationship novels and this one doesn’t disappoint. This fake relationship is very believable and realistic. These are multidimensional characters- well written, quirky, and appealing. It’s a sometimes fun and sometimes serious but ultimately delightful story. And there are some really nice naughty bits!

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

“Love You, Mean It” is a rom-com by Jilly Gagnon. I liked the synopsis of this book - it seemed like a rather cute one. Overall, this had fake dating, amnesia (though used effectively I thought), family business, a bit of spice, and some cute one-liners. What I didn’t like was all the focus of the main character on her lack of bust (okay, it wasn’t a huge focus but it was mentioned enough times to remind me how bothersome I found the focus), the over-the-topness of a parent, and the fact that a minor character (I thought) at times was more interesting than the main female lead. This book wasn’t perfect - and it had its moments - but it was an okay read. 3.25 stars overall.

Ellie learns that an Italian marketplace type shop is coming soon to town and is afraid it will run her little family-owned deli out of business. She goes to talk to the guy in charge of the project about it and things take a wild turn when he suffers a concussion which results in temporary amnesia. Ellie pretends to be his fiancee so that she make make sure he's okay, but then he suggests they continue to pretend because neither of them want Mangia to take over the building in question. Ellie agreees, but the lines begin to blur as she spends time with him and gets to know him. Is this fake engagement turning real or is it all in her head?

It's a cute fake dating story with plenty of spice.

Love You, Mean It, by Jilly Gagon, is a fun romantic read with a few good twists. When Ellie goes to plead with the head of a big corporation that threatens to put her small-town business out of business, an accident seems to hand her the answer to saving her family's deli. It seems to be working until her "fiance's" ex shows up and threatens to complicate things. Twists and laughable situations keep things moving. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook to read for this review. My opinions are all my own.

I enjoyed this one for what it was, I liked the idea of the plot!

but truly I didn’t love the involvement of Theo’s ex….that is where my main issue came from. I also just didn’t feel like I could connect to the main characters as much as I would have liked too. but I will say I thoroughly enjoyed the authors writing. while I didn’t love the story, I like how she wrote the story! the chemistry felt slightly off to me as well. I just never felt like it was believable or felt anything between Ellie & Theo unfortunately.

but it definitely doesn’t deter me from reading more from this author in the future, I feel she is a very strong writer & I just unfortunately didn’t connect to this book as much as I thought I would.

This was a light read. It's an enjoyable story with characters to love and characters to hate, but the characterization of the protagonist was uneven- there were several times where I was pulled out of the book by the thought that this character would not do this or believe this or think this. That made it harder to stay invested in the plot. Also, given what happens, I felt the resolution of the various conflicts came a little too easily. Overall, it was an enjoyable read, though.