Ellie Greco did not think she would find herself back in Millborough, let alone back running the family deli. After her dad died, she had to go back and be there for family. She loves the deli, but hidden away, has always had dreams of fashion design. Ellie finds out that a local developer is bringing in Mangia, the big time gourmet food department that would surely shut her family deli down. She takes things into her own hands by pleading with Theo Taylor to call the deal off. However, during their meeting at a project site, things go from bad to worse when Theo is hit with falling debris and is knocked out. Going to the hospital with him, she calls herself his fiancee so that she can try and help him. However, once he realizes the truth, he actually asks to keep it going to help him. Now that they have a fake engagement on the books, they both begin to use each other for their own personal gains. It’s only inevitable though that the more they might fake the engagement, the more they might actually begin to like each other.

This fake dating trope had it all. Exes. Work. Families and more. I thoroughly enjoyed Ellie and Theo through this entire book. They were very true to the opposites attract standard. It was great to see the family dynamics on both sides and how opposite they were as well. It was a quick, easy read and certainly one to grab if you’re a fan of the fake dating.

Meet-cute. Enemies to Lovers. A cute rom-com overall that kept me entertained. Gagnon definitely set the stage for a second book.

I must admit that a book of this kind is not my usual read. But, I found this one a really nice break from all the serious reading that I normally do. The main characters are Ellie and Theo and each bring their own family dynamics with them. I found the story very, very predictable and I really expected it to be that way. The saucy banter with friends, family and each other are delightful. As the reader peels away the many layers of the story you will find a smile on your face. If you need a book for fun and laughter you will really likes this one. I liked all the characters and the author pulled me into the story quickly and held my interest.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Random House – Ballantine Books - Dell Publishers for allowing me to read a copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Such a fun rom-com - full of humor, quips, and amazing chemistry between two people who aren’t each other’s types on paper. It starts with a sprinkle of While You Were Sleeping and a dash of You’ve Got Mail energies and evolves in some unexpected and delightful ways.

Ellie has many talents, including fashion design, which she has largely put on hold to run the deli that’s been in her family for generations. When it seems like a famous gourmet food department store Mangia is about to open a branch in town, Ellie is determined to put a stop to it and save her and other local businesses. Her plan is to persuade real estate scion (and former high school classmate) Theo not to rent the building. Theo has his own reasons for not renting to Mangia and soon Ellie and Theo are embarking on a fake dating/engagement adventure that might prove they make a surprisingly good team.

This was an enjoyable read! I was captivated by Ellie and loved how her relationship with Theo progressed and her own understanding of what she wants out of life. I appreciated the vivid descriptions of the clothes Ellie made and all the delicious food everyone was constantly eating. There was a bit of an out of character moment for me toward the end but the story ultimately wraps up in a satisfying manner. Recommended to fans of opposites attract and/or faking dating tropes and readers looking for a warm and entertaining rom-com. 4.5 stars.

Thank you very much to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Not gonna lie, this is basically a Hallmark movie in book form. I liked Ellie’s big boisterous family, especially her cousin Bella and her Grandmother Mimi. The amnesia was a little over-the-top, but it didn’t last long. Also, the whole thing with Theo’s ex felt weird to me. Overall, though I did like it. It was a fun, quick read.

I’ve never read anything by this author and I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. Theo and Ellie are opposite in every way, but actually work well together. When she has a meeting with him and he gets hurt, she acts as his fiancé so she can make sure he is ok. Even though he loses his memory he gets it back quickly and they decide to use it to their advantage where his father is concerned.

As they work together to achieve their common goal they end up falling for each other, but she pushes him away. Here is one of my irritations with this book: for adults they both seem to be slow to realize their true feelings. Although, in my opinion, he had a crush on her when they were in younger but never told her. Another issue is her constant belief that he was to stuck up to actually want to help her, even when he showed her and told her his reasonings.

Their relationship was cute, if not frustrating at times. His ex threw a little bit of a wrench and I wish there would have been some chapters from Theo’s pov because I would have liked to have seen his interactions with the ex. Overall, this was a good book and I would definitely read another book by this author. I received an ARC and this is my honest, voluntary review.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was cute, fun and kept me reading. I enjoyed this book and will look for other books by this author.

For readers who:

- like a good cliche romance
- love the pretending-to-be-dating trope
- like just a leeeeeetle spice in their books
- want an easy beach read for summer

SYNOPSIS: Ellie tried the whole costume designer in NYC thing, but 5 years ago, when her dad died, she came back to her small hometown to run the family deli. When she discovers that a local property management firm is going to open an upscale gourmet food department store, she knows it's the end of the deli. Until she has a run-in with Theo, and next thing she knows, they're fake engaged and planning to save the deli.

MY THOUGHTS: This reads like a Hallmark movie, in the best of ways. Cute, small town girl returns home from big city and has funny best-friend sidekick. Meets rich guy, ends up fake-dating, and the rest is history. It's sweet, it's cheesy, it's a fun read. Not life changing, but certainly entertaining fluff.

I received this book as an advanced reader copy through my email from the publisher and I absolutely loved it!!! Ending my month with a super fun and sweet 5 star read?? Yes, please!! This book officially released today and if you like romcoms, fake dating, enemies to lovers or banter— this is the read for you! Quick and enjoyable! I couldn’t put it down!

This was cute but it wasn’t exciting or something that had me wanting more. I liked the fake dating tropes and some of the characters but I felt underwhelmed.

“Love You, Mean It” by Jilly Gagnon
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: 4/30

Thank you Netgalley for this arc. I really enjoyed this one. It reminded me of a Hallmark movie plot!
Five years ago Ellie’s father passed away unexpectedly and she moved home to Milborough to run her families deli! She already felt like a failure after not having a breakthrough in New York costume design. This is a new low.
When a well known rich family is looking to bring in a big market to fill an empty space Ellie has to do something otherwise her family business will be at risk. Ellie does the only thing she can do she confronts Theo. Theo’s father Ted wants the deal to go through. Theo has other plans.
Can these two work together? Theo comes up with a plan to fake date Ellie so his dad will feel inclined to keep the business of his son’s girlfriend afloat mostly for appearances.

While I liked the basic premise behind Love You, Mean It and it featured a fair number of classic romcom tropes I tend to enjoy, a few things did bother me. Namely Ellie. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but there was just something about her that I couldn’t connect with. I freely admit this could just be me. And while it didn’t really work for me, there’s still plenty to like in terms of the story itself, and I’d suggest romcom fans give it a go and decide for themselves. I’d like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Love you, Mean It.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1MFN6OOANFYD5/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

A fan of the movie Overboard, mention amnesia and a fake marriage, and I'm there for it. This book took a turn from what I was expecting though.

Ellie Greco runs her family's deli that has been in their family for generations. Now, with talk of the superstore Mangia moving in just down the road, Ellie's at risk of losing everything her family's worked for. The person in charge of the project is none other than Theo Taylor, whom her cousin Bella dated in high school. Taking a risk, Ellie get's Theo's information, and nails down a meeting.

The last thing she was expecting out of their meeting was for him to get knocked out at the building site. Ellie doesn't want to leave him alone, but the only way to stay with him in the ambulance is to pretend that she's his fiancée. A lie that the hospital staff helpfully relays to Theo - who's lost the last 6 years of his life, and his very real, very fabulous, very concerned ex Sam when she shows up after getting the emergency call.

Ellie comes clean to Theo as soon as she can, but to her surprise, he wants to continue with the fake engagement. He has his own reasons for wanting to keep Mangia from moving into town, and they join forces to convince his father and the board of directors why it's a bad move.

When flickers of feelings start coming into play, Ellie does what she can to protect herself. Plus, Sam has let her know that she knows the engagement is fake, and that she'll be happy to help in their efforts if Ellie puts in a good word with Theo to give their relationship a second chance. Sam and Theo are perfect together, everything you'd expect when you look at the two of them. But is Ellie sabotaging her chance at something real?

A fun contemporary romance, with very likable characters you want to root for and be friends with. And very unlikable characters standing in the way of everyone's happiness. Once I got started on it, this was a quick read, and I loved the way Ellie was able to grow and take the tough advice that came her way. Even if the timing wasn't always what she'd have hoped for.

Thank you to the publishers through NetGalley for the ARC.

Normally I am noooot here for the fake dating but this one was actually okay. I guess because I could find reason with it and it made sense to me 😂.

I thought the amnesia head injury thing was going to play a bigger part here but that was gone and over with fairly quickly.

This is your pretty standard rom-com, while it was medium paced, I did feel like there was a LOT of long internal narration from Ellie that I started to skim because it was too much. I don’t know that we needed all that. Like pages of long paragraphs it felt like.

I also wish we had the dual POV with Theo, it’s so rare to have a rom-com with just one POV now, I missed knowing that the other guy was thinking.

I also wish we had gotten a public takedown of the villain at the town-hall meeting 😂, and does everyone think they’re still engaged after the third act breakup?

Overall this was a fun time with some minor flaws, but it’s fairly lighthearted, and a lil spicy. If you enjoy a fake dating rom-com you’ll like this one.

If you're a fan of You've Got Mail, While You Were Sleeping, and The Proposal, then you'll love Jilly Gagnon's latest Love You, Mean It. This novel utilizes plot points from all of the aforementioned movies.

Rival businesses? Check. Pretending to be a fiance? Check. Faking a relationship? Check.

This was not a novel that kept me guessing. (Although, I did expect there to be a betrayal plot twist with the Samantha character...)

Essentially, Ellie Greco needs to save her family's deli from the invasion of the big-box food store Mangia. To do that, she's got to cozy up to Theo Taylor, son of the real estate mogul in charge of brokering the deal with Mangia.

Soon Ellie and Theo find themselves working together to disrupt Theo's father's plan. And then working together becomes sleeping together... You get the picture.

Was this novel totally predictable? Yep. Was it a fast read? Yes. Did it get a little steamy in places? Sure.

If that's your thing, then you won't have to convince yourself that you love this book.

Love You, Mean It is published by Dell and will be available to purchase tomorrow. I received a free e-ARC.

This was an adorable, romcom that had the small town charm that I always love in books. Throughout the story, Ellie’s indecisiveness was clear but I loved her sass, wit and honesty. Theo was guarded, sexy and smart. I appreciated the layers and sensitivity that was shown after breaking down his wall. Coming from two very different upbringings, I enjoyed watching them intertwine their worlds and learn new things about themselves. Their chemistry was burning throughout the pages and their vulnerability felt real. I really appreciated the growth in both characters and loved the ending!

I thought that this was a quick, cute, fun tropey read! I think that the best part of this book is the family dynamics. I enjoyed how direct Ellie is, and Theo is very likeable in the end. Overall, if you are looking for something light and breezy, read this one!

Thank you for the E-arc in exchange for an honest review!

A classist enemies to lovers romance with some serious payoff in the end. A story about dreams delayed until they become dreams denied then dreams reaffirmed and embraced. The characters leap off the page, their personalities become the readers’ friends and loved ones. You’ll laugh and fret about missed connections yet feel joy when the rocky trail to love becomes a paved road there. An HEA that is well earned and reminding us all that real relationships need to be earned.

This was a cute, quick read that hit all the right points for me. The start of the book had some While You Were Sleeping vibes, which I absolutely loved. The rest of the book was filled with fake dating, which is my favorite romance trope. ❤️

Our FMC Ellie was a little unlikeable through some of the book, but this made her oh-so-relatable. She was in so much denial about her feelings even though everyone around her could see what she didn't want to admit. I loved the MMC, Theo. He was snarky and sweet and adorable.

I, personally, didn't love the side character of Sam. Her introduction to the story felt forced to me, and I absolutely hated the deal she and Ellie made. She clearly saw something between Theo and Ellie, but instead of believing her eyes, she believed Ellie, who was clearly lying to herself. Then, she got upset when everything came out. 🙄🙄🙄

Overall, I'd say pick this one up if you're looking for a cute, light romance.

Read if you enjoy:
✔️ Fake Dating
✔️ While You Were Sleeping
✔️ Opposites Attract
✔️ Enemies to Lovers

This was such a good one. For many reasons but I really needed to have a huge Italian meal after reading it. Ellie Greco is an aspiring costume designer who ends up going back to her hometown after her father dies to take over their family deli. Theo Taylor is working for his family’s business in his home town. He and Ellie are from the same town and went to the same school but are from very different circles. Theo’s father is trying to make a business deal that will be the demise of Ellie’s family business if it goes through and is not what Theo wants. The only way for them get what they want is to enter a fake engagement. Ellie is from a large Italian family and I really enjoyed the family dinners and her family aspect that’s the complete opposite from Theo’s family. Both Ellie and Theo have a hard Their story is so sweet and I loved that they both had a healing journey to embark on to be capable of being with each other. It was such a fun read and I really enjoyed it!