The writing style had a good flow, and the romantic tropes were well executed. The characters were the right amount of sassy, complex and loveable. This is a perfect summer read that will leave you with the warm and fuzzies.

Ellie Greco feels stuck in the small town she grew up in after coming back to run the family deli following her father's sudden death. She'll complain about it to anyone, but that doesn't mean she won't do anything in her power to keep it from closing. That unfortunately includes approaching Theo Taylor, a rich kid from her high school days she's never liked. One thing leads to another and now Ellie and Theo are pretending to be engaged in order to save Ellie's family's deli and help Theo get what he wants. But can Ellie let herself trust Theo when he's keeping things close to the vest and can they keep things as pretend as they initially set out to?

Ellie and Theo are really great characters that make following along with their story fun. That they're also surrounded by other interesting characters it would be good to get to know better is icing on the cake.

I loved this book but there were some parts that I thought were pretty obvious that they loved each other but it was still a great read! 4.5 stars :)

The synopsis of this one sounded fun, and I thought I would enjoy this romantic feel-good chick-lit. However, it quickly failed to hold my attention. The characters, setting, and narrative pace just didn't click for me.

I will try others from Gagnon, but this just wasn't the book for me.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was super sweet! This was my first time reading this author and I really enjoyed it. Fake dating is my favorite trope and this was a fun one, especially with the added fake engagement and their plotting. Ellie and Theo were fun and endearing and I loved their banter. Ellie's family was hilarious and relatable, while Theo's dad was pretty awful, so these two definitely came from vastly different upbringings and would be an unlikely pairing. That's what made their inevitable chemistry and attraction that much better! Thank you to Dell/PRH and Jilly for the ARC!

I knew I was headed for straight rom com territory with LOVE YOU, MEAN IT by Jilly Gagnon: unlikely pair with the ups and downs of truly diverse individuals trying to make sense of a person they cannot stand and cannot stand to be without. What I did not expect was to fall so completely into the story, feeling the frustration of an indecisive customer, the missed cues, and the quick recoveries that don't quite work out the way you expect. I loved the setting and the relationships which helped with what at times felt snarky and unbelievable, but still managed to keep my interest. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

I am always down for fake engagements, but a fake engagement to save a deli?!?! A dream come true!

I loved the setup of this one with Ellie pretending to be Theo’s fiancée to gain access to him at the hospital a lá While You You Were Sleeping. From there, their undeniable chemistry takes hold and things start getting steamy. It was so satisfying to watch!

Bonus for points for Massachusetts rep and all of the delicious food! Definitely pick this one up to read in the park with a nice picnic lunch.

Thank you so much to Dell and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

I would like to preface my review by saying thank you to Kathleen Quinlan at PRH for sending me an ARC of Love You, Mean It in exchange for my honest review!

When Ellie Greco's family deli is in trouble due to a new development coming into town, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Theo Taylor is the lead on this project and upon their first meeting, Theo suffers from a concussion with temporary amnesia. After being his fake fiancée to visit him at the hospital, they come up with an epic fake dating plan that will benefit them both.

I loved this book so much! I read it in one sitting, that's how much I loved this. This book had moments where I would literally laugh out loud at Ellie's witty comments and the friends she made along the way. I am a huge fan of the fake dating trope so I was interested immediately in this title but I also loved the found friendships in this book. It's not everyday you become besties with your fake fiancé's ex fiancée, but Ellie and Sam were perfect.

Throughout the story, Ellie is constantly painted as the underdog. This girl who owns a deli would only be with someone like Theo for his money. But, the chemistry between these two are electric. Sometimes it's the person you least suspect, and this is a perfect example of that.

If you're a fan of fake dating, found female friendships, and the underdog, I highly recommend this book! I can't wait to see what Jilly Gagnon has in store for us in the future.

Ellie moved back to her hometown in Massachusetts when her father died to take over the family deli. She was fierce about saving what her family had successfully accomplished. She did love her job as a costume designer but family first!
Then lo and behold she ran across Theo and when they were in High School he was an arrogant jock. His family owned a lot of the land and Ellie met with Theo to scheme against his dad to abandon his plans. His Dad was such a despicable person. But it was fun to see Ellie and Theo banter back and forth!

I received this ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Here are the things I loved - a fake engagement with a hint of While You Were Sleeping Vibes. Strong side characters. An adorable and sassy Mimi. Hard working and caring MCs. But it also felt a bit disjointed with too many tropes going on. There was a decent amount of miscommunication towards the end that lead to a lot of problems and that worked less for me too. I still see a lot of things that people will love.

Ellie sets her dreams aside to help out the decades old family business after her father dies. When word gets out there’s a rival store front, Mangia, that has the potential on moving in and ruining her family’s business, Greco’s Deli, she does everything she can to stop it. That something includes wealthy businessman, Theo Taylor, in which his family is behind on the new store. Ellie meets with him to discuss her plans to stop it. While doing so, a freak accident knocks Theo unconscious and Ellie finds herself telling the hospital she’s his fiancé in order to get in the hospital room. After Theo has a slight moment of memory loss, Ellie continues to play along with the fiancé card. Amnesia wears off, and Theo strikes up a plan with Ellie to keep their “engagement” in tact so he can stick it to his family and Ellie gets to continue with the family business. That is until Theo’s ex catches onto their plan and Ellie is forced to join an alliance with her. Only Sam the ex has no idea that Ellie isn’t pretending anymore.

It took me a bit to really get into this one. But I’m glad I held on! I loved the family dynamic of Ellie and her family. As an Italian American, the one thing I will knock is the mispronunciation of some of the Italian words that were used by the narrator. Once I moved past that, the story was great! I really liked Ellie and Theo together and you could see the grump and cockiness start to disappear the more they were together. It was a quick, perfect paced plot!

This was cute!! It was a fun, fake dating/engagement story. I loved the small town setting and charm, the characters were believable and fun to read about and the romance was sweet.

SPOILERS- I really, really didn't like the intentional miscommunication at the end, it just felt mean and unnesscary. Other than that, I really enjoyed the whole book!

Ellie Greco runs her family's deli, which is being threatened by the possibility of a large chain store moving into town. When she meets with the son of the building's owner, Theo, things don't go exactly as planned. First, she hates him on principle. Second, he gets hit in the head and forgets the last 6 years, leaving her to say she is his fiancée to be able to ride to the hospital with him.

This book gave me a few laughs as well as some feelings. I love a good enemy-to-lover trope and adding in the fake relationship aspect? I was all in.

As the first book I've read by Jilly Gagnon, I applaud her attention to detail in character and environment creation. "Love You, Mean It" delves into the demolition and reconstruction of its two main characters, reminding us that the stories we tell ourselves can be dangerously convincing—often holding us back from chasing our hopes and dreams due to a fear of the unknown.

Returning to your small town might seem cliché for most, but for Ellie, it was a bit like becoming a hero. Okay, calling herself a hero might be overstating it, but she wasn't about to force her grandparents out of retirement. After her dad passed away, her New York City dreams had to be put on hold as she decided to take over the family legacy. Fast forward five years, and life in the small town of Milborough hasn't changed—until Mimi returns for a city council meeting, only to learn that a major chain, Mangia, might be moving in. Ellie knows her family's deli can't compete with such a giant, so she does the only sensible thing: try to reason with Theo, the (hopefully more compassionate) son of Ted, who owns most of the property in town. What should have been a calm, professional meeting goes off the rails when Ellie's mouth gets ahead of her. Before she can apologize and regain control, an accident sends Theo to the hospital. As if things weren't hard enough for Ellie, Theo wakes up with amnesia and believes Ellie is his fiancée (how else was she going to get into his hospital room to apologize, right? Just one little white lie!). Now, Ellie has two options: use Theo's amnesia to her advantage to cancel the Mangia deal, or come clean and try to fix things before the accident. Turns out two can play this game, as Ellie finds out Theo has a plan of his own.

I absolutely loved the family dynamics in this book. The Greco family is one that you can't help but admire. Although some characters make brief appearances, they contribute to the understanding of the family's closeness, which later becomes significant in revealing who Ellie truly is versus who she presents herself to be.

Jilly shines when it comes to character development, offering deep insights into the inner thoughts and emotions of Ellie and Theo, either from Ellie's first-person viewpoint or through the third-person reflections of Theo's friends and family. She invites us to understand these characters as closely as the important people in their lives do. While this is crucial for fully grasping the characters and their actions, at times, these introspective moments can drag out the narrative. For instance, Ellie might be asked a question, and, several pages later, after much internal reflection, we finally get her response. This technique is useful occasionally, but its overuse slows the book's pace, leading to over-explanation and drawn-out chapters that stifle narrative momentum.

For those looking for a little bit of heat, the book is incredibly spicy without being vulgar, offering a semi-open door romance where the reader has an unmistakable idea of what's happening without the explicitness and of a fully open door romance.

Overall, "Love You, Mean It" may not be for everyone. For those who love deep inner thoughts and vivid descriptions that paint an elaborate picture of each situation, this book is ideal. For those who prefer sticking with the banter, the interactions between characters, shorter chapters, and easy story progression— they may find this book a little tedious at times.

Love You, Mean It started out promising. We’ve got some interesting enemy dynamics and a fake engagement, but I got bored about halfway through. This was largely my own issue, I think, but I wanted to be immersed and just didn’t feel that way.

Dueling delis (say that three times fast!), a bit of amnesia and fake dating makes for a fun fast read.

Huge thank you to #dell and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon Is the story of two millennials stuck in a life they didn’t anticipate. Who hasn’t felt stuck with their life, family, town? The female main character Ellie feels stuck in running her families deli daily rather than pursuing what she went to college for. Theo Is stock running the family business and battling it out with his dad over the morals of running the company. Ellie and Theo see what they’re missing from their own lives in each other. There were some leaps of logic in this book but that’s what we read romance novels for! I really enjoyed the side characters and there were some truly funny moments in the book.

Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the blurb I was so excited to read it as this book has all the makings of my favorite romcoms, but in the end it was missing that *spark* for me. The FMC was extremely hard to root for and the MMC wasn’t a whole lot better. There were bits and pieces that I loved and a few moments where I actually laughed out loud that pushed me to continue reading. This was my first book by the author and I did enjoy her style of writing so I will give her another go in the future. Overall, I found this book to be an okay read. Just because I didn’t love this one doesn’t mean you won’t though! I definitely think you should pick it up if you’re looking for a fake dating, amnesia, foodie romcom!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Ballantine Dell for gifting me a digital and physical ARC of the new book by Jilly Gagnon. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Ellie's dream career was designing theater costumes in NYC. While her career never took off, it all but disappeared when her father died and she returned home to take over running the family's deli. But after all that sacrifice, it appears that the deli may be a thing of the past if rumors are true about a gourmet food department store moving into town. Theo Taylor is the son of the property management company about to make the deal, but when Ellie meets him to plead her case, an accident happens that renders Theo with temporary amnesia. Eventually the two come up with a plan to help them both.

This was a fun rom-com complete with a fake engagement and tons of food descriptions that had me drooling! In fact, I need Mimi's lasagna recipe! Both Ellie and Theo were faced with familial responsibilities that they allowed to overtake their own dreams. It's a good reminder that happiness comes when we are true to ourselves and others. Ellie's best friend Bella was probably my favorite character, although Mimi was great as well.

I was so captivated by Love You, Mean It that I raced through this books faster than anything else I’ve read recently. It reminded me so much of some of my favorite books - Summer Romance, That Kind of Guy, How to Fake It in Hollywood… it was playful and yet heartwarming. It centers on Ellie, who returned to her hometown about 5 years ago to take over her family deli after her father’s death. She’s been struggling with giving up her dream career as a Broadway costumer in NYC ever since, while also worrying about how to keep the family business alive. When the town council announces that another family business in a beautiful historic property will be closing in favor of a mega gourmet food department store (think Eataly) moving in, Ellie is determined to figure out how to sabotage the deal. Enter Theo Taylor, the son of the property manager and the rich playboy about town. After strong-arming Theo into meeting her to discuss the deal, things go from bad to worse when their bickering turning bloody - their verbal sparring is abruptly interrupted with a construction site accident that leaves Theo knocked out. He awakens in the hospital with no memory of the last 6 years, and no idea of who Ellie is. She panics and claims to be his fiancee so she doesn’t get kicked out of the hospital, because she knows that she can’t afford to let the opportunity to finish their conversation and save the deli slip away. What ensues is a comedy of errors - his ex-girlfriend shows up, Theo gets his memory back, they continue to fake-date, they catch feelings, Ellie really wants to be friends with his ex… I enjoyed every moment of this book!

Ellie Greco feels stuck in the small town she grew up in after coming back to run the family deli following her father's sudden death. She'll complain about it to anyone, but that doesn't mean she won't do anything in her power to keep it from closing. That unfortunately includes approaching Theo Taylor, a rich kid from her high school days she's never liked. One thing leads to another and now Ellie and Theo are pretending to be engaged in order to save Ellie's family's deli and help Theo get what he wants. But can Ellie let herself trust Theo when he's keeping things close to the vest and can they keep things as pretend as they initially set out to?

Ellie and Theo are really great characters that make following along with their story fun. That they're also surrounded by other interesting characters it would be good to get to know better is icing on the cake.

I had a moment of doubt when it seemed like it was going to be a bait-and-switch from the trope inspired by an underrated Sandra Bullock gem, but I'm happy to say that it was just Gagnon taking full possession of it and creating an utterly enjoyable romance. Even the bits where it was obvious how things were going to work out were a joy to read because the journey with the characters is just that enjoyable.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Dell for the wonderful romance read!

We want to thank NetGalley for an ARC of Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon. We reviewed this novel on our podcast and felt it started off great but lost it's way around the 60% mark. It seemed like two separate books with different plotlines.

What we enjoyed about the book:

- Theo remains a good dude from the beginning to the end and ends up getting the short end of the stick.
- The descriptions of the food made us ravenous.
- Just the right amount of amnesia.

What we didn't like as much:
- Not a love story - no "I love you"s are exchanged, or even "I like you"
- What Ellie says to Theo is absolutely unforgivable.
- Why was Sam in this book?
- So many loose ends that were not weaved in - we are unsure if Ellie kept the deli, opened her own shop, what Theo was actually doing with the building, or are they together now?
- Why ellie's grandmother makes her promise she won't marry Theo but seemingly helps in the end to get them back together? With no explanation.

Starting this novel, both of us were extremely happy with the storyline and how the characters interacted with one another, but it almost seemed as when Sam was introduced, Ellie was the one with amnesia. We actually rooted for Theo to be by himself at the end, he deserved better than Ellie or Sam.