Giving this 3.5 ⭐️s!

Let me start by saying I really enjoyed the premise of this book. I also found the writing style very easy to read, and quite enjoyable. I thought it was a fun, quick read. I breezed through this one quickly.

Having said all that, I have to admit that the MCs were not my favorite. I found the FMC very judgy. And the MMC wasn’t exciting enough to carry the weight of the entire book. He was quite sweet, though, I have to say that. I understand the whole character growth aspect of it all, but when you are not endeared to one or both MMCs, it’s not as easy to root for them.

I did, however, really like all the side characters. I thought they were more well-rounded and they all added interest to the story.

Would I still read books by this author? Absolutely. In fact, I hope we get the books of some of the side characters here. Fingers crossed!

Thank you for the ARC!

Honestly I ate this up! With the weather turning warmer, I’m ready for light fluffy romances, and this fit the bill!!

I had a great time following along on Ellie’s quest to save her family deli by pretending to be engaged to a local businessman’s son. I do wish that we had more relationship time vs scheming/plotting time, but it worked out well in the end.

Overall, exactly what I was in the mood for! I didn’t love this author’s thriller release last year, so it is nice to know that I enjoy them writing in the romance sphere.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like a broken record lately with how many romances I've chalked up to boring, but I've gotta say it again. I finished the last page, closed the book, and literally thought to myself, "Boring." Theo and Ellie's chemistry was super off for me. The build-up was lacking and it just felt dull. The intention of this book was great and I think it had great potential, but the execution missed the mark somewhere.

This was such a classic and fun romance! When her business rival gets a head injury, Ellie pretends to be his fiancé to be able to go with him to the hospital and make sure he is okay. But when his amnesia wears off and he realizes that they are not actually engaged, they come up with a fake engagement scheme to save her family business. It had all the sweet and tension filled moments of a classic romance, and I loved the main characters. It was very predictable since I'm sure I have read this plot before, but the writing style was so fun I didn't mind.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dell for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

<i>I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

3.25 stars, rounded down

I thought the synopsis sounded cute and fun, with some intriguing stakes. But this fails to deliver on so many fronts. There are so many better fake-dating romances out there.

The pacing of this is all over the place. It starts moving along at a good clip, flounders in the middle, and then goes breakneck speed to the end. And to get ahead of myself: the ending was such a cop-out. I get that Ellie and Theo needed to grow but the strings Theo needed to pull were there the whole time. We didn't have to go through all this to get the majority of the ending.

The main characters need more work. Ellie wallows too long in her self-doubt and judgement. The chip on her shoulder is massive and clearly heavy but she treats it like a treasured heirloom. And it annoyed the crap out of me that she didn't do more to try to boost the deli. She's given great opportunities to make connections and she doesn't do anything with them! If you're only going to have one PoV carrying a story, readers need to care and connect with that character. And I don't think that's the case here.

Theo's better but he's a bit of a caricature. Straight, handsome, rich white boy who actually has a heart, unlike his cold, calculating, money-grubbing father? It's tired and forgettable.

Ellie's narrative has moments where it's overly descriptive. If it's about clothes, I buy it because Ellie tried her hand at costume design. But the overdone building or room descriptions? It doesn't so much create atmosphere as bog down the plot and make me skim. All the architectural details? Those would've been more at home in Theo's PoV.

On a personal note, I hated when Everett described himself as being "mildly OCD". Neurotypes are not jokes or an excuse for questionable behavior or character traits.

I realize now that if you read the synopsis, you'll honestly have most of the bones of the story. And the details holding those bones together aren't as interesting as you want them to be.

Love You, Mean It was a sweet and spicy romance with a fake engagement trope. After a head injury, there is some confusion and stories that come out, leading to the fake engagement trope through 2 strong willed individuals, with some extra twists. I enjoyed the family involvement of this story, and really wish I had been able to read both of the main character’s POV because they both seemed to think deeply of their thoughts throughout the book, but I felt like only having the female’s perspective had me missing a piece of the story. This story leaned into family roots, familiar small town feelings, friendship, and romance.

Enjoyable rom com read, elements of it reminded me of a mix of While You were Sleeping and You've Got Mail, a homage to the great rom com movies of the 90s. And there was plenty of charm to Love You, Mean it, but I didn't feel enough tension between the leads. It went from tense to falling for each other in what seemed like a matter of pages. The chemistry and the characterization was there, the plot just felt a bit scattered. Overall, a fun, solid edition to the rom com genre. 3.5 stars
Thanks to #NetGalley and #Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for the ARC.

This was a really fun read! Ellie’s father died so Ellie went back home to look after the family’s deli business. A rival was looking to move in near them which could mean the end of the family business. Ellie tries to negotiate with the landlord and while doing so, the ceiling literally falls in, knocking him out resulting in amnesia. Sne panics and pretends to be his fiancee. What follows is hilarious!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNF halfway because I just didn't love the characters so I couldn't get into the story. This may work for other romance readers!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC of Love You, Mean It!

I really enjoyed this one! The blurb stating that it is the perfect amount of amnesia is spot-on. I enjoyed the beginning with the amnesia but once Ellie and Theo were working together is when the magic of the book started. Ellie is a mostly likeable character but does spend a lot of the book in her head and pushing people away for no reason. She doesn't think people like her when they are practically throwing themselves at her feet. I thought the fake-dating trope was well executed and really enjoyed watching them fall for each other.

I will say I usually really like cartoon covers for romances but this one is awful. And I think more imagination could have gone into the title of the book.

Love You Mean It by Jilly Gagnon is a fake dating romance with lots of quips and family drama. The supporting cast is lots of fun to spend time with, but the main characters are tougher to like.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ellie is devastated when she learns big competition for her family’s deli is coming to town. She tries to get Theo, whose family’s commercial real estate company is behind the move, to change his mind. Only he gets injured, has a little amnesia, and somehow Ellie ends up announcing that she’s his fiancé. When Theo’s memory returns the next day, he proposes that they keep up the premise. That way, he can help Ellie save her family’s business while taking care of some of his own. But what happens when Theo’s ex Sam re enters the picture? And those fake feelings start feeling real?

This story is fine, but it was hard to be invested in the romance when I didn’t care about the main characters. Ellie isn’t likable; while likability isn’t a requirement for characters to be effective, in this case she’s simply mean sometimes. And, as much as she claims to develop feelings for Theo, it’s tough to see a romantic connection between them through her single POV.

I really enjoyed the secondary characters in this book, and wish they were front and center more often. Ellie’s family is great, and her grandmother’s quips are a treat. And Sam seems like such a nice person that the overall setup between her, Ellie, and Theo, feels a little icky. Yes, that’s a technical term.

Based on the tropes involved, Love You Mean It should have been a fun romance. But the story and characters never came together for me. The family dynamics are engaging, though, and I’m still a massive fan of fake dating romances.

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

I have so many mixed feelings on this book. Overall, I liked the characters to some extent but also I hated Ellie for like 60% of the book?

Ellie has the same internal monologue for 80% of the book (and I mean, copy paste “I can’t like him…he’s rich! and i’m…poor!!) which got old so fast. I liked them together through out the story though. The tension was good between them and it never felt too overly rushed or insta-lovey, which I think happens a lot with fake dating in books.

Also Sam? Not a fan. I feel like her character could have been something else and it wasn’t. It kinda felt like her character only existed to show Ellie that she could never live up to her even though she was literally just a finance bro.


**spoilers**

Finally, the end SUCKED. The whole fight being blamed on her even though he also had some fault??? Like??? All that build up for very little payoff?? Disappointing. This is a book that needed an epilogue.

Enemies to lovers and fake dating are two tropes that I usually go crazy for. I love the tension and the 'how will they work out?' of it all. However, for me, this book didn't cut it. I had a really hard time getting into the story, like from page 1 it just didn't stand out to me.

Another great read from Jilly Gagnon! This is a nice palate cleanser from my usual psychological thriller genre. Show stopping characters. This was packed with emotion. Such an easy story to fall in to.
Thank you NetGalley and Jilly Gagnon for the opportunity to read and review this book

LOVES:
- They mentioned Cribbage! I love that game 🙃
- The descriptions of her style and designs

CRITIQUES:
- The emergencies at the beginning are dealt with poorly by everyone…
- This is THEE strangest fake fiancée agreement I’ve ever read about
- And it just keeps getting weirder and messier 😖
- I wish I felt their connection more, but I just never really understood why they liked each other
- The FMC is incredibly frustrating the entire time… her head is buried so far in the sand, gah
- This gave me that stomach drop feeling in the worst way 🫥

Honestly, this book wasn’t for me. I could see how some would like it, and the writing was solid, but it just never clicked with me.

This was a fun romcom and entertaining overall.. thank you netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for a review.

Ellie dreams of leaving her small town for a career in costume design. But when her family’s deli is threatened by a gourmet department store, she desperately pleads her case to Theo, the landlord’s son. An accident leaves Theo with amnesia—and believing they’re engaged. Ellie reluctantly plays along, hoping to save her family legacy. When Theo’s ex resurfaces, Ellie must choose between friendship, family, and an unexpected romance.

Ellie and Theo seem very different on the surface, but they’re both scarred by loss. They share the same values and insecurities. While the chemistry between them is strong, they both need to work on themselves before they’re ready for a relationship (Ellie especially). The book really feels more like chick lit than rom com, focusing a little more on Ellie’s character arc and a little less on the swoony romance. The author does a good job of showing the prickly heroine learning to open up and become more vulnerable.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Love You, Mean It was such a cute read! There was so much happening in the book that I was always eager to open it up. The plot is familiar to those who have seen While You Were Sleeping and You've Got Mail. I'm interested in reading more from Jilly Gagnon in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Love You, Mean It hits shelves on April 30, 2024.

I wanted more sparks here. There were so many tropes and it felt messy. Fake dating, enemies to lovers, second chance, family drama, and secrets? I wanted more of ONE of the tropes, so the relationship felt more believable. I did enjoy the dinner scene in the beginning and thought it kicked off the novel with a bang, but was bummed to not see much of her Ellie’s fiery side after that. She got wishy washy as a character and it was hard to root for her amidst all the drama and secrets. Overall, it was cute. For the authors first dive into romance it was still enjoyable and I’d read more of what she comes up with after this.

I received an advance review copy for free via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I went back and forth on how to write this review but I decided ultimately I wasn’t a huge fan! I liked the story well enough but the main character grated on my nerves so bad I had a hard time even finishing!

Not only does she come off as very negative but her attitude towards other people put me off from chapter 1! When I read a book I want to relate to the main character not despise them and roll my eyes at least twice a chapter.

I am giving it 3 out of 5 stars because I did enjoy the storyline.