Thank you to NetGalley and Random House-Ballantine | Dell for the ARC of this book!

I really enjoyed this one! For me it was giving You've Got Mail Vibes with a touch of While You Were Sleeping and who doesn't love a 90s rom com? Ellie runs a deli that has been in her family since the 1920s. She moved back to her hometown from NYC when her dad passed away and gave up her creative dreams of being a costume designer. When she hears that the mega store, Mangia, is planning into town which will effectively put her deli out of business, she tries to hatch a plan to save it. Her plan ends up involving her talking to Theo Taylor, heir to the large property management company that owns most of the buildings in town who she also attended high school with. The plan eventually morphs into a fake engagement that will hopefully benefit both Ellie and Theo. In the process, they catch real feelings for each other . Both characters where very likeable and the book was good despite being just a little cheesy for my taste. I would recommend it and also would read others by this author.

This book took me a could 30%-ish to get into it, but once the fake-engagement really got going along with all the sexual tension between the two love interests, I got pretty hooked. I enjoyed the New England setting, the couple from different social classes thing, and how both love interests were both real good at pretending to be closed off even while they fell for each other. The in-denial pining was pretty great. I'll admit I wanted a bit more emotion at the end, some resolution, some more idea of what the MMC was feeling all along since we didn't get his POV throughout. Overall, I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Fake fiancé/fake engagement is definitely one of my favorite tropes (I pair it with fake dating) - especially when the FMC and the MMC have good chemistry!

I'm also a sucker for the main characters trying to save their family business (in this case restaurant) because I love the backstory that always comes with that.

This was a cute book and one that was hard to put down, but there were times that the FMC was a bit annoying and I kept wondering what the MMC was REALLY up to. I think having this be a dual POV could have moved it from a 3 star to 4 star.

I enjoyed Jilly Gagnon's writing and I definitely will read future books by her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine/Dell for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The premise pulled me in. As a huge fan of While You Were Sleeping, I was excited to see it woven into a cute new romcom! I wasn't as locked in with the main characters, and struggled with the pacing. I also found myself frustrated with the FMC a lot, but she did her best. Thank you for the arc.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6231865825

Ellie returned to her small hometown of Milborough after her Dad suddenly passed away. She had been in New York City, trying to pursue her dream of being a theatre costume designer, and returned to take over the running of the family Deli, Greco’s. When she hears that a gourmet food store, Mangia, is destined to move into their sleepy town, she is worried that the deli will go out of business, and so she tries to talk to Theo Taylor, the son of the wealthy property management family who own the building.
Ellie and Theo come from very different worlds, and immediately dislike each other. Their first meeting ends very badly, when the ceiling literally falls in and Theo is knocked unconscious. As Ellie gets him to the hospital, it appears he has no memory of the last 7 years. Ellie claims to be his fiancé so that she can come into the hospital and make sure he is ok. Once Theo recovers, Ellie and Theo decide to fake their engagement, as Theo doesn’t want the building going to Mangia either and they think that working together will achieve that aim.
I don’t often read romantic comedies, but this was enjoyable. I knew what would happen from the beginning, but the plot went through a few fun twists and turns. Elie was very self critical, which got a bit irritating at times, and Theo was the super handsome stereotype. Theo’s ex- Sam plays an interesting role, from rival to friend and back, while Theo’s father is just awful. Ellie’s grandmother Mimi was a great character who improved any scene she was in. As expected, the fake engagement turned out to be more than a fake…
This was a fun read, while not laugh-out-loud funny, and I found it satisfying.

Love You Mean It
Once I started I couldn’t put it down, but I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers and fake dating.
Stuck in Milborough, Ellie Greco's dreams were sidelined by family duty. But when her deli faces closure due to a gourmet food store, she's forced to fake an engagement with the property manager, Theo. As their charade unfolds, Ellie must navigate tangled relationships and unexpected choices
Thanks netgalley and the publisher for this eARC!

⭐️3,75

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t sure about the amnesia thing because that can go very wrong very quick but I think it was used really good in this book as a starting point.

I liked the characters and I‘m always here for a not-really-the-bad-guy-bad-guy. Theo was so much maturity and even tho Ellie could be annoying sometimes it also made sense.
Bella was also a great addition to the story. I really enjoyed her with Ellie and the whole family dynamic.
I could have done without the whole Sam angst but I guess she was important for some other parts of the story.

I‘m absolutely no fan of unnecessary third act breakup plots and unnecessary drama and to be honest in this book was it beyond an unnecessary and stupid reason. I do get it at some level but it would have been SO easy to just communicate and have a book without a fight.

Overall I really enjoyed it!!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me an earc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

While I did like the While You Were Sleeping aspects, ultimately, this wasn't for me. I couldn't connect with the main characters, and I really didn't have much interest in the plot. It was fine on the surface, but I just didn't click with it, for whatever reason.

This was just...okay. I've struggled with romcoms recently because I feel like none of them stand out and this was kind of the same way. Ellie as a main character was fine--I liked that she ran a small business and that the importance of small businesses was discussed throughout the book--and so was our love interest, Theo. I just didn't think either of them had very stand-out personalities, and therefore they didn't have believable chemistry; even when they were starting to express feelings it didn't feel authentic. I don't have much to say about this except that's a fairly quick read.

This is such a cute romance read that gave me while you were sleeping vibes mixed with you’ve got mail vibes. So freaking cute! Ellie and Theo are the perfect couple you’d never expect to be a couple.

****UNPOPULAR OPINION*****

I usually like fake dating rom-coms but this book was a struggle to read. I really liked Theo and Sam as the strong male characters. However, Ellie is terrible. She is negative, judgmental andvery much unlikeable. It had hard to care about anything she did. I found myself judging her and felt any karma she received back was justified because of her poor decisions and lack of empathy or compassion to other people.

This book was a waste of my time. Not for me. Cannot recommend it.

Thanks to Jilly Gagnon, Random HOuse Publishing Group Ballantine Books and Netgallet for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 4/30/2024

This was a very sweet love story. Ellie is the current owner of the family business, a cute Italian deli she took over after her father passed away. At the beginning of the story the family finds out the big town developers are trying to bring an upscale Italian grocery and deli that will compete with and negate the need for their small deli to town. Desperate to save the family legacy and her business Ellie contacts the son Theo who she went to high school with to try to convince him to stop the deal. When Ellie and Theo meet, things do not go as planned and Theo ends up in the hospital. From there things escalate, and the two cook up a fake engagement scheme to see if they can stop the business deal from going through, both for very different reasons. I enjoyed all the food, and fashion, and the side characters were fantastic. I love enemies to lovers, and fake relationship stories, and this book did not disappoint. I hope a book about Bella or Sam are in the works in the future. I received an ARC and this is my honest review.

Started out so cute and kind of fizzled for me. I really wish the characters had more uniqueness and ability to hold my attention. I feel like since I am very picky about contemporary romances, this one just didn't do it for me.

4.5 - OK!! I did not expect to love this book as much as I did but, WOW, something about this book really hit perfectly for me. Love You, Mean It is a book about Ellie and Theo, who knew each other when they were younger, but are brought together when Theo's family business is attempting to take over the businesses where Ellie's family's small deli operates. This is a typical enemies to lovers, fake dating trope, but something about these characters, their vulnerabilities, the CHEMISTRY and the story hit different for me.

Ellie is someone who has lost her way in life, after losing her father and being forced to take over running her family's small business. She left behind her life and dreams of being a costume designer/working in fashion in New York City and instead got stuck what she always dreamed of escaping: staying in her hometown to run her family's deli. When Ellie is informed that the Taylor family business empire is planning to buy out a lot of the local buildings to build a shopping mall and essentially run her deli out of business, she is forced to confront Theo Taylor to try and persuade him to stop the deal. Theo is a very vulnerable man, someone who also is still struggling with the tragic loss of his younger brother and working with his father, who he doesn't see eye to eye with. Theo hasn't chosen his career or his path either, but refuses to allow his father to run the business in a destructive way. Ellie and Theo make a deal after an accident lands Theo in the hospital: they will pretend to be engaged in the hopes that they can persuade the Taylor family business from pursuing the shopping mall deal.

I think one of the main reasons I loved this romance was because the chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS. I love it when there is the good old enemies to lovers trope, especially when both characters really do not like each other or trust at each other at the beginning, but slowlyyyy you see them tearing their walls down. Ellie and Theo really completed and complemented each other so well and I was living for the moments where you could see one person slowly falling for the other. Honestly, I could have read another 100 pages of this book! I loved the confrontation and how the way that the two felt about each other forced them to truly examine themselves and the mistakes they had been making in their own lives. There was so much growth in this book, with both characters individually and as a couple. I cannot recommend this romance enough and I hope everyone checks this book out when it is released on April 30th!!

Thank you NetGalley and Dell Romance for providing me with this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review!!

🥪 Book Review 🥪

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publication: April 30, 2024

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫

This is my second book by Gagnon and this one was definitely better and easier to fall into than her previous thriller.

I loved the writing style because I was able to easily get swept away with the story. I did have to remind myself that both Theo and Ellie were in their 30’s. There were times that they seemed more juvenile. Also, the dialogue sounded too similar that I struggled with who was talking.

I do have to say the dislike between Theo and Ellie were 🤌. I found myself snickering when they would get heated at each other.

Perfect for fans of:
🥪 1st person POV (Ellie)
🥗 Fake engagement
🥪 A dash of amnesia
🥗 Dislike to lovers
🥪 Business rivalry
🥗 Small town
🥪 Predictable romcom plot line
🥗 Comfort read

This was just not for me. The first 30% I was really interested. I loved the dichotomy of a black cat artsy FMC running a deli (and genuinely enjoying running it). The amnesia aspect isn't overdone and when they both test each other it was honestly quite humorous. There is no amnesia lying weirdness where he is with her under false pretenses, it really is used as a set up for fake dating between them.

My biggest issue with this is how one dimensional the MMC was. Even with single POV I know it's possible to develop the other love interest. He is first presented as a frat-y tech-y dudebro kind of a guy and I'm totally following and ready to see a different side to him. There's initially some animosity hinted at with his father. And yes, there are aspects of him that surprise the FMC and set him apart, he finds value in original structures and supporting the arts for example. But the actual chemistry between them? Nonexistent. I really never believed he was interested in her.

My favorite side character was Sam, the MMC's ex. At first I loved that she clearly communicated no interest in any other woman drama and I thought her and the FMC would become fast friends. But the FMC pretty much ruins all of that by lying to her and basically creating the other woman drama herself. And this book commits a romance ick of mine, warning SPOILER: near the third act breakup the MMC and his ex Sam actually try again (off page). It's one thing to me to have a single date that lacks chemistry during a third act breakup, create some angst that way etc. But no, you're telling me they really tried to make it work? But I'm supposed to believe the MMC ever was and now still is into the FMC and not Sam? This also ends pretty abruptly so there's no settled resolution or epilogue to make you really believe in their love or HFN/HEA. Give me a romance with Sam and this guy (as much as I like and respect the FMC as a person).

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for this eARC.

A couple fake being engaged to get what they both want. He wants to be free from his rich family's business to pursue his own interests. She wants to protect her family's deli shop.

In "Love You, Mean It," Jilly Gagnon delivers a delightfully charming and witty romantic comedy that will have readers laughing out loud and rooting for the unlikely pairing of Ellie Greco and Theo Taylor. With a premise that hooks you from the start, this novel is a delightful escape into the world of fake engagements, family legacies, and unexpected love.

Gagnon's strengths lie in her ability to craft vibrant, likable characters and infuse their interactions with plenty of humor and heart. Ellie's determination to save her family's deli is admirable, and her reluctant partnership with the infuriatingly handsome Theo is a source of endless entertainment. Their banter crackles with wit and chemistry, making even the most far-fetched situations feel plausible and endearing.

The supporting cast is equally well-developed, with Theo's ex-fiancée, Sam, adding an intriguing layer of complexity to the plot. Gagnon deftly navigates the dynamics between the three protagonists, creating a delightful web of misunderstandings, secrets, and genuine emotional connections.

While the premise of a fake engagement may be familiar territory in the romantic comedy genre, Gagnon infuses it with fresh twists and turns, keeping the reader engaged and eager to see how the characters will untangle the web they've woven. The stakes are high, not just for Ellie's deli but also for her own heart, adding depth and emotional resonance to the narrative.

Gagnon's writing style is breezy and engaging, with a perfect balance of humor, romance, and heartfelt moments. Her descriptions of the small-town setting and the mouthwatering descriptions of the deli's offerings add an extra layer of charm and authenticity to the story.

While the pacing occasionally lags in a few spots, the overall momentum and the chemistry between the characters more than make up for these minor lulls. The resolution, though somewhat predictable, is nonetheless satisfying and leaves the reader with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Overall, "Love You, Mean It" is a delightful and entertaining read that will appeal to fans of romantic comedies and anyone seeking a feel-good escape. With its witty banter, lovable characters, and heartwarming moments, this novel deserves a solid 4-star rating for its ability to charm and delight.

"Love You, Mean It" by Jilly Gagnon offers a fresh spin on the "While You Were Sleeping" premise, blending it seamlessly with the fake dating trope. While I enjoyed the story, I found myself frustrated with Ellie's reluctance to confront her true feelings, despite the evident growth and self-reflection needed. It was intriguing to see Theo taking the lead in the relationship, but Ellie's inability to reciprocate, despite his clear affection, left me sympathizing with him and questioning Theo's quick forgiveness in the third-act breakup. I felt so bad for Sam, who tried to give Ellie an out sooo many times and she just wouldn't take it. Despite these flaws, "Love You, Mean It" delivers an enjoyable read with a flawed but relatable female protagonist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A quirkily funny romcom

Ellie Greco feels stuck in her life. Having returned to her hometown from New York City five years prior she took over running the family deli after her beloved father’s passing. As the one remaining place where she still feels his presence in her life it is a labor of love, if not necessity. When she hears rumblings of the wealthy Taylor family’s plans to bring the popular Mangia mega store into a vacant commercial space she is panicked. If the family successfully lures the popular chain to Millborough this could threaten not only her family’s business but many other little mom and pops that make her home unique. When she seeks out Theo, the son in charge of the acquisition, her plans are to talk him out of the deal but a freak accident at the site ends with Theo stricken with amnesia and thinking Ellie is his fiancé. While not the most optimum of situations Ellie tries her best to play it off but she is soon caught when Theo regains his memory but wants to continue the charade. His father may have put him in charge of the Mangia operation, but he is just as opposed to it as Ellie for different reasons. As the pair begin their deception, they have to convince Theo’s skeptical father among others, but it’s not easy especially when the lines become blurred and real feelings start to seep in.
Love You Mean It is the newest book by author Jilly Gagnon and can be best described as a classic chick lit that incorporates a “complete strangers to co-conspirators to enemies to lovers” concept. It’s a very easy and entertaining read that sees our main character (Ellie) initially lying her way into Theo’s ambulance when he is struck on the head and loses consciousness. With the hospital staff and a temporary amnesiac Theo convinced of this there is no real graceful way out of it. And then when Theo regains his memory and suggests the pair continue the farce, it all seems to be too easy. But Theo is no ordinary person, he is the son of one of the wealthiest men in Millborough who rightfully is suspicious of Ellie from jump. Add in Samantha, Theo’s savvy ex-fiancé who seems all too willing to help the pair pull the charade off as long she gets a second shot with Theo and what was a tight situation becomes even stickier. The book is seriously unserious, and I loved every minute of it. As a person who is a fan of K-Drama, Love You, Mean It has many of the tried-and-true tropes that make the dramas so addicting, and I was there for it.
This is the second book by Jilly Gagnon that I have read with the first being last September’s Scenes of the Crime, and while this was a completely different feel and genre, both offerings kept me interested and entertained. If you like K-Dramas and tropey RomComs, Love You, Mean It will be right up your alley.

Thank you To NetGalley, Jilly Gagnon, Dell for granting my wish for a copy in exchange for an honest review. Love You Mean It is scheduled for an April 2024 release