Ellie has reluctantly taken over her family’s deli after the death of her father. It’s not her dream job. She had that. And now there is a developer in town looking to take that job as well.

Ellie is not a likable person. In the least. It was difficult to get through this one as I could have cared less who did what to who.

No, men won’t magically ‘save’ you and solve your problems.

Netgalley/ RHPG/Ballentine April 30, 2024

Ellie is running her family’s decades-old deli when she hears that a local landlord plans to rent to a large, glitzy gourmet food department store, Mangia. Knowing this will run her store into the ground, essentially destroying her family legacy, she decides to plead her case to Theo Taylor, who is in charge of this project.

Things don’t turn out as she had hoped, though, as he is injured and knocked out cold during their meeting. Feeling responsible, she claims to be his fiancé to gain access to the hospital he is taken to. Unfortunately, with amnesia, Theo believes her at first. But once the amnesia wears off, he decides to keep the charade going in hopes of both getting what they want: an end to the Mangia deal.

But as things progress, an ex-fiancé sees through their ruse and may threaten everything they are working for. Will Ellie get what she wants in this deal, or will she have to choose between her family Legacy, friendship, or the possibilities of a new relationship?

This novel resembles a mashup of “You’ve Got Mail” and “While You Were Sleeping.” While I loved both movies, I wasn’t invested in this story as it’s not fresh or unique to me.

While the characters were interesting, their interactions seemed less engaging than I had hoped. It's almost too predictable for the story.

This novel would be great for a younger generation of rom-com readers—an otherwise quick and easy read for the commute to work or a short vacation in the city.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A fun, fast paced rom-com, Love You, Mean It will make you feel happy!

When Ellie meets with Theo to discuss her concerns about his leasing space to a food emporium that will likely drive her family deli out of business, he suffers a head injury from a collapsed ceiling that gives him temporary amnesia. In order to check on him in the hospital, she claims to be his fiance!

Who doesn’t love a rom-com? This book hit all the qualities of what makes me love Rom-coms and even more importantly the characters were delightful. I love books where I wish the characters were real so I can befriend them. Both Theo and Ellie were those characters. The enemy to romance theme was just enough that it was super enjoyable to read and I was routing for them until the end ( which to me is a hallmark of a great book). I loved the growth of both characters and found myself not wanting the book to end.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

Thank you for the chance to read this book.

I really wanted to like it. I had a hard time getting into it.

Gave Overboard/While You Were Sleeping, with a fake dating troupe when the amnesia wore off.

I did prefer the ex gf over the MFC through. I found her more likable.

This book took a few surprising directions! I enjoyed the characters and settings, as well as the ending.

I feel like I’ve read so many versions of this book that this one just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t like Ellie as a character at all. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I enjoyed the cast of characters and the early 1990's rom-com influences, but the usual end of the book thing that drive the main characters apart felt so dated. Can we not communicate better? I get it, but for heaven's sake. Even so, it's a great story, fun cast.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you net galley and publisher for this ARC. This is the first book I've read by this author. The story sounded fun to me and was a little hard to get into.

Coincidentally, this marks the third romance novel I've delved into over the past month, all of which revolve around a plotline reminiscent of the beloved movie trope found in "While You Were Sleeping." Normally, I wouldn't gravitate toward stories that share such a similar concept, especially when they often involve one of my favorite tropes: fake dating. However, each author brings their unique perspective and creative ideas to the table, offering readers fresh and entertaining outcomes.

The story of Ellie and Theo unfolds as a classic enemies-to-lovers narrative, born out of the circumstances that fate has thrown their way. Ellie, determined to rescue her upscale gourmet food store—a cherished family business endeavor—is faced with an unyielding obstacle in the form of Theo Taylor, the strict property manager. Their first encounter takes an unexpected turn when the ceiling literally collapses, and Ellie finds herself escorting the very man who had initially rejected her store's prospects to the hospital. In a moment of spontaneity, she blurts out that she is his fiancée while they wait for his treatment. Enter Theo's short-term memory loss, causing him to forget his attractive fiancée, leading him to take her word as truth and believe in their fictional happily ever after—until his memory gradually returns, and he recalls their less-than-favorable first meeting.

Rather than harboring resentment for her deception, Theo proposes a mutually beneficial arrangement to Ellie, one that may help salvage their Mangia business deal. Ellie, though skeptical and hesitant to trust Theo, finds herself at a crossroads, torn between beggars not being choosers and reluctantly agreeing to play along.

However, the situation takes a complicated twist when Theo's ex-girlfriend, Sam, enters the scene and senses that something peculiar is afoot between Ellie and Theo. Sam is determined to uncover the truth.

Ellie faces a challenging dilemma, torn between nurturing her budding friendship with Sam and grappling with her own suppressed feelings for Theo. Sometimes, doing the right thing can be the most arduous task when the heart yearns for what it wants.

Oooooh this book was SO CUTE!! I loved every second of it and I caught myself rushing to my kindle any time I had a few spare minutes to get back into the story :)

I truly enjoyed the energy of this book. It was a cute romance that was a quick and easy read. I did struggle at times when words or language were used that seemed to make the story feel a little pretentious. During these times the language didn’t even fit the characters, it seem like the author just used a thesaurus and picked random words.

3.5 stars! This was a super fun romcom. Love You, Mean It follows Ellie Greco, who abandoned her dream of being a costume designer in NYC to return to her hometown and work at her family's beloved deli after losing her dad. Years later, Ellie is stuck in the same place, but determined to fulfill her duty to her family. When she finds out that a local family is planning to bring Mangia, a fancy gourmet grocery store—and huge competition for the deli—into town, Ellie knows she needs to take action. Enter Theo Taylor, who's part of the family that's working on the deal. After an important meeting, a precarious fall, and a few misunderstandings, everyone believes that Theo and Ellie are engaged. A fake-dating scheme could be the perfect way to help save the deli...but what will happen when real feelings start to develop between Ellie and Theo?

The plot of Love You, Mean It definitely hooked me—it reminded me a little of While You Were Sleeping, one of my ultimate favorite romcoms, and I am always a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope. I thought the writing style was great and so engaging, and the small-town setting was very well-developed. Ellie and Theo were both really fleshed-out characters, with palpable chemistry that practically jumped off the page! I ended up liking Theo a lot, but initially struggled to relate to Ellie and her personality. She had some "not-like-the-other-girls" moments which I didn't love, but I did feel like she grew a lot throughout the book. The side characters were also always entertaining to read about, and I especially loved how close-knit Ellie's family was. I really liked both Bella and Sam, but wished they had gotten a little more development as individuals instead of in relation to Ellie and Theo's love story. Overall, I thought Love You, Mean It was such a sweet read, and even though I wished a few things had been expanded on, I still found it enjoyable! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Ellie Greco runs the family owned deli in her small hometown. Having rushed home from NY to take over, after her dad died, she left her dreams as a designer behind. Working the deli can be a lot at times, especially when some of her older regulars come in and talk her ear off. However, this is what her family needs her to do and she is very loyal to her family. When she hears about the plan to bring Mangia, a huge grocery shopping super store into her town, a fire is lit under her to save the family deli. It’s this fire that brings her into connection with Theo Taylor, whose father, Ted Taylor is behind the plans to bring Mangia into an old department store space, that has recently become vacant. Theo agrees to meet with her, at the building where Mangia is set to move in. All appears to be lost, and then Theo has an accident and loses his memory. Through a series of misunderstandings, suddenly, Ellie is believed to be his fiancée. Could this be an opportunity to change Thor’s mind about this business plan? Ellie has to try…

Love You Mean It, is a fun rom-com. Almost all of the characters in this book are so wonderfully created and easily to fall in love with. (The only exception is those characters you are meant to dislike.) The story moves quickly with a lot of fun moments, along with moments that make you think all is lost for our heroine and her family. Of course, you are hoping the whole time that all will work out. Mum’s the word on how the story ends, but it is absolutely worth your time to read it and find out. I’m really glad I did!

Ellie Greco's dream of designing theater costumes was put on hold when she returned to her hometown to run her family's deli. When the threat of a glitzy food department store jeopardizes the deli, she inadvertently claims to be engaged to the property manager's son, Theo Taylor, who has amnesia. They agree to maintain the ruse to save both their interests, but complications arise when Theo's ex-fiancée returns. Ellie must choose between friendship, family legacy, and an unexpected romance.

I really loved the intertwinement of romance and them discovering their life purpose. The author did an excellent job of describing the emotions and process of figuring our hometowns, friendships, and vocation. This is the author’s first romance, and while this is not a suspense novel, there were emotional moments where I was actually questioning what was going to happen. This of course does have classic romance novel quirkiness; amnesia, opposites attract, and fake engagement. There isn’t an epilogue which made the ending feel abrupt. I also didn’t love the MMC right away (I’m pretty sure we didn’t even meet him until about 10% into the book). But by the end I was swooning over their heartwarming story of figuring out their dreams and if they can fit together.

Perfect for you if you like:
Opposites attract (wealthy/common)
Figuring out your dreams
Family businesses
Fake-dating

Similar to:
Love Interest by Clare Gilmore
Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey
A Winter in New York by Josie Silver

⛔️chapters 15 & 21 contain explicit romance scenes (open door)
⚠️explicit language, sexual content, previous death of family members

The synopsis provided was enough to capture my interest, unfortunately, once I began reading, the story kind of just fell flat. I didn’t feel any real chemistry between Ellie and Theo that would make me believe that either would fall for each other. Overall, the story was too plot heavy and didn’t provide enough character development to fully understand how the two would ever get together.

Thanks to the publisher for this ARC provided via NetGalley for an honest review.

Cute, predictable story of girl meets boy from other side of the tracks knowing their backgrounds are not compatible, yet try to make it work. In this case the twist is that he belongs to a family who owns most of the town and who will be bringing in a major restaurant/food shopping experience to a building they own. She is running the family deli after her dad died and it will be forced to close if the new place is allowed to open there.

She tries to convince him that local business is better for the town, but he isn't having any of it. Then he is injured and she tells a few white lies, like she's engaged to him, so she can get him medical care. The story takes on a life of it's own from there. They make a deal to pretend to be engaged so that his family business won't put her family business out of business.

They have to pretend to be "into" one another for appearances and of course one thing leads to another....
His father is awful beyond words and his stepmother is close to him in age. Her family is loving, warm Italians and her grandmother can give as well as his father can.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy. Honest opinions expressed here are my own and are freely given.

This book was ok. I found the side characters to be likable and the leading man, Theo, was easy to sympathize with. Ellie, though, was not an enjoyable character for me. She was not relatable and I quite honestly found her irritating for the majority of the book. She did experience character growth, which was a relief.

If you enjoy snarky, slow burn, romcoms you may enjoy this one.

I received an ARC of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of Love You, Mean It, in exchange for my review.

This book is a change of pace from the other book I’ve read by Jilly Gagnon, All Dressed Up. That was a thriller, but this is a more lighthearted story of two people, Ellie and Theo, getting acquainted in the service of chasing mutually-beneficial outcomes.

The story starts a bit clichéd, but quickly starts to feel more real and the characters become more believable as the plot develops. I had a real sense of the main characters as well as the other characters surrounding them.

I enjoyed this book better than All Dressed Up, so I hope that Gagnon keeps working in this genre. I recommend this quick and uplifting read.

I loved this book. Theo and Ellie are such great characters and Sam and Bella were great as well. The character development was awesome. The scenes so well developed that I felt I was right there in the story.

Ted and Paul were two people I could have definitely disliked very much they were just those type of people.

This had such a great story line and it kept me glued until I finished the book. I would highly recommend this book.

I received this book as an advanced readers copy from Netgalley and Randomhouse Publishing House Group - Ballantine, Dell.