Sometimes, you just need a book that makes you laugh and feel good, and this book delivers! Enjoyed this one!

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Love You, Mean It
Author: Jilly Gagnon
Romance

Thank you so much Netgalley, and Dell for this ARC! I really enjoyed this one. Ellie is stuck in her hometown helping her family with their little deli business. When a new competitor enters the scene, she makes it her mission to confront the owner of the property management companies son, Theo, in an effort to stop their advances! Within an hour of their meeting, Theo suffers an injury leading to some amnesia which gives Ellie the brilliant idea to pretend they are engaged! To make matters worse, Theos ex arrives. It was silly and entertaining, and the story really flowed. I was a little mad at myself for putting this one off for as long as I did. I thought it was YA but it is most definitely not. I really enjoyed this book, and all of the characters involved. It was light hearted and a cute read.

Hot take: fake dating is the worst trope in contemporary romance. Do I still read books with this trope? Yes. Do I love all of them? No, but mostly because I get so frustrated at the characters for deciding that fake dating can solve any kind of real world problem. That being said, Love You, Mean It was a fun and quick read without too much of the cringe that gives me the immediate ick. I didn’t have to think too hard to get immersed in the story so it was a nice break from reality.

3.5 stars. My thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

Ellie had bigger dreams than running her family's deli, but when her dad passes away she is pulled back to her small town to help. When a real estate management company threatens to bring in a big box store that would surely run the deli out of business, Ellie makes a plan to talk to the son of the owner, Theo. During their meeting an accident occurs and Theo is taken to the hospital by ambulance. Ellie wanting to make sure he is alright tells a small white lie to the hospital staff that she is Theo's fiancé. Ellie and Theo agree to keep up the fib in order to convince Theo's father to cut ties with the big box store. During this time, they actually begin to have feelings for each other.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dell for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love You, Mean It is the first book I’ve read by Jilly Gagnon. The colorful cover and back cover copy of the faking dating enemies to lovers tropes drew me to reading.

The Good:

I really enjoyed the positive female friendships and family relationships in this book. Throughout the book, Ellie realizes she’s isolated herself and makes an effort to make more friends, aside from her bestie, Bella.

Ellie’s family and her community are clearly important to her, as she undertakes the scheme to trick the potential developers of an old classic building to not bring in a generic “food warehouse.” Bringing in Mangias would destroy the character of her small town and drive the family business, Greco’s Deli out of business.

The Bad:

Ellie’s inner monologue goes on for too long at parts and distracts from the flow of the story. Improving the pacing would have moved the story along more effectively.

The Ugly:

I like Ellie and Theo’s banter but there isn’t any heat in the love scenes. They seem short and perfunctory and impersonal. After their flirty text and verbal sparring, I expected heat but got a fizzle.

Bottom line: if you want a fast reading tropey read to stick in your bag while traveling, this may be for you.

Although there isn't anything I can think of that really bothered me about this romantic comedy, there isn't anything that stands out enough to make me recommend it to others. The characters are charming and the banter is fine, but I wasn't buying into the sparks between our main characters. There are many tropes in this one: memory loss, childhood friends, etc, and it really did seem like every time I turned around there was another one thrown into the mix. It was a decent romantic read, but wasn't a favorite for me.

This book felt very reminiscent of the 90's movie while you were sleeping however instead of falling for the brother Ellie fell for the guy with the head injury 😍. This book was very cute and I enjoyed getting watching Ellie find true love while also finding herself. The only thing I missed was an epilogue about the future of the couple but it still ended well enough for me to give it ⭐⭐⭐⭐!

This was a DNF for me. I couldn't really sit through it any longer. I just didn't care for the characters and had a hard time connecting to them.

Thank you @dellromance for the gifted ARC!

💚 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 💚
This was such a fun storyline to dive into! Ellie feels stuck in her hometown running her family’s deli. A local property management company might threaten her family’s business if they rent to a large department store, so Ellie goes to reason with a high school colleague Theo about it.

Ellie and Theo have a disastrous meeting that ends with an accident, and Theo in the hospital with amnesia! Not a meet cute but when Ellie wants more time to talk to him, she claims to be his fiance to get into his hospital room.

Things continue to spiral in this funny storyline. They may be opposites but it was fun to see Ellie and Theo have more in common than meets the eye! Also, I enjoyed seeing sparks fly and Theo’s protectiveness of Ellie come out!

The last part of this book really sucked me in when Ellie is confronted by Theo’s ex, who wants her help with something that will benefit them both! It added a fun plot twist!!

I enjoyed seeing Ellie embark on new friendships in this story too! The end result of everything in the book was nicely tied up too!

🎧 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
🩷 Fake Dating
💚 Business Rivalries
💛 Opposites Attract
💙 Amnesia

This was a very cute, very quick read. It fulfilled exactly what I wanted at the time (sweet, predictable, comforting) and when I finished it I felt like I do when I finish a Hallmark movie: warm inside and ready for the next one.,

I enjoyed it! It was giving me the all angsty + cutesy enemies to lovers vibes that I depend on 🖤 Didn’t care for the ex girlfriend showing up though! But overall, it was a quick + fun read

Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon is a delightful romantic comedy that captures the spirit of 90s rom-coms. The story follows Ellie Greco, who returns home to manage her family's deli, only to find herself embroiled in a scheme involving a fake engagement with Theo, who has his own motives for wanting to protect the deli from a corporate takeover. While Ellie starts off as a somewhat unlikable character, she grows throughout the book, making her eventual romance with Theo all the more satisfying. With charming chemistry, humorous situations, and a dose of heartfelt moments, this book is a light and enjoyable read perfect for fans of the genre.

This book was fine. I have found I have a heard time with books where one of the main characters are lying about who they are. While that is not a trope I love I still enjoyed this book.

This has all the tropes I usually love, but I really struggled to get into this and ended up having to DNF it. I would love to come back and reread this sometime,

this was my first from the author and I was pleasantly surprised! I went in pretty blind, but overall, had a really fun time reading this! it had some of my favorite trips and I would definitely read more from this author!

The cover of this book looked so cute and I have to admit I went in blind. It started off cute and it was holding my attention ...until it wasn't. I found the main character kinda annoying. The plot was so reminiscent of the movie While You Were Sleeping. Maybe that's what ruined it for me. I kept putting it down and saying to myself that I would pick it back up. Sadly I did not. This was a DNF for me. Rating it 3 stars because while this wasn't the book for me it might be the perfect book for someone else.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the E-ARC.

All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

Cute read !! I forgot to put in my review after I read it. This was my first by the author , and really enjoyed the style of reading

I’m very picky with rom-cons and I found this plot “unique-ish” — while at its core, broken down, it was a similar formula but different enough that it held my attention throughout. Funny at the right moments and the relationship was built organically from a comical start. A couple of misunderstanding tropes but not long-enough for me to want to chuck the book🤣 I had fun!

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

It was cute, spicy, fake dating, and grumpy/sunshine romance; it was made for me.
Ellie and Theo both had to grow on me a bit before I was able to get into the story entirely, but once I did the story felt too short.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this arc, in exchange for an honest review.

I'll give this a 3.5.

Enemies to lovers
Fake Dating/ Engagement

At the beginning I wasn't really a fan and it was hard to get into, but after the faking dating started I was enjoying myself. It was hard to root for Ellie half the time because she just kept complaining about everything and saying poor her. Theo was fun to read about and how he grew throughout the story. Him turning from a rich jerk that doesn't want to talk about his past and expects a lot from Ellie. To him being vulnerable and caring.
I love the fake dating and convenience trope, but I felt like something was missing. It was a cute read and I did enjoy most of it.