Love You, Mean It is a fun, breezy rom-com with a few tropes, friends to lovers, fake dating, and amnesia. It's a cute story with an unexpected twist that is resolved. It's a good book for a quick weekend read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for my review copy.

This was sweet but a dnf for me—I didn’t connect to the characters and setting. I may pick it up at another time but I have a lot of books to read and it can be hard to stick with a book I don’t connect to. Thanks for the opportunity to read!

Ellie Greco runs her long-standing, family-owned deli. When she hears of a huge competitor scoping out a nearby building, she is determined to put a stop to it. Theo Taylor is the guy in charge of this potential deal; his family also owns the building in question. Ellie plans a meeting with him, hoping he’ll hear her out and help keep the small-town charm in their community. Their meeting goes very wrong, but they soon find themselves scheming a fake engagement because Theo admits he doesn’t want the deal to go through either. If they can convince Theo’s family that they’re the real deal, maybe the Taylors will be sympathetic towards Ellie and the legacy of her family’s business.

I love a good fake dating scheme! The ‘While You Were Sleeping’ vibes at the beginning had me cracking up. Overall, a great read!

Thank you to Jilly Gagnon, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, and NetGalley for the copy in exchange of my honest review.

I had a slightly difficult time with this one. I loved the premise. I love both While You Were Sleeping and You've Got Mail, both which the book seem to be based off of. However, the main characters were just so darn unlikeable. They had overall terrible attitudes and very surface level thoughts, making it hard to root for them. I hope to read more from Jilly in the future!

An enemies to lovers romance with a little amnesia thrown in. Itwas a fun and entertaining read.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

An easy to read sweet and sexy romance in the fake fiancé trope. 4 1/2 stars

Ellie is from a large Italian family, having given up her struggling career in fashion/costume design to run the family deli after her father passed away. Fast forward 5 years and suddenly a large "big box" deli, Mangia, is eyeing her town for its expansion. In a desperate bid to save her family business, Ellie reaches out to Theo, whose family's company owns the real estate Mangia is looking to purchase. An accident and a short bout with amnesia later, Ellie and Theo are pretending to be engaged to stop the Mangia-incursion.

Overall, highly enjoyable read with great characters and good pacing. I especially liked some of the supporting characters (i.e. Sam) and how they contributed to Ellie's growth during the book - though I would have like to have seen a bit more growth from Theo. I encourage you to add this to your "to read" list!

Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Dell for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First off, there was A LOT going on in this book! That being said, it somehow worked. I loved the chemistry between Ellie and Theo. I will say, I am sick of the “I’m not good enough” trope used for the female main characters in these books. The character of Sam was better in that way, she was confident and knew what she both wanted and deserved. I was actually rooting for Sam at one point!
I loved the New England setting, being from RI, any book set even AROUND here makes me happy! Also, the small town/family business aspect I really enjoyed. Overall, this was a cute story with likable characters with maybe just a bit too much going on. This will release on April 30th, so check it out then!

How could you not put this down? There is so much to like! Enemies to lovers, fake dating, with of course the drama! I would have liked a little more steam, but I felt that the build up of the friendship to lovers was good. I enjoyed this book I wouldn’t mind a sequel to Theo and Ellie!

3.75 Stars
Ellie runs a deli in her town that has been in her family for three generations. She comes home from New York, giving up her dream of being a costume designer, when her father dies, in order to take over. But now the possibility that a large specialty food department store will be coming to town has her and her family concerned about the future. Ellie goes to meet with Theo, the son of the building owner to convince him that this is a bad move for the community. There is an accident while she is there and Theo gets a head injury and develops amnesia. Ellie wants to go to the hospital with him so that he doesn't blame her for the injury and is allowed to accompany him when she says she is Theo's fiancé. When he awakes with no memories of the last six years, the nurse introduces Ellie to him and explains that they are engaged.

What ensues is a pretty predictable rom com, including a judgmental father, worried grandmother, beautiful former fiancé, lots of misunderstandings and burgeoning feelings. While the story is predictable, it is also written well enough to be enjoyable. I liked most of the characters that I was supposed to like and really enjoyed the descriptions of the clothing designing and food/deli business. These felt very authentic. If you enjoy a romantic comedy then you should pick this up!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

👍 Fake dating, enemies to lovers, foodie culture.
This book follows FMC Ellie who is trying to save the legacy of her family deli by going toe to toe with Theo. Theo’s family is wanting to put in a competing store that will sink her business. After and accident and some light amnesia, the two embark on a fake finance scheme so they can both get what they want. The plan was convoluted in a good way, and we even get a slight love triangle in the form of Sam, Theo’s ex who becomes involved in the plan. Sam was awesome, and I loved her dynamic with Ellie. I really appreciated all the foodie talk in this book as well. The book has some good spicy scenes, as well as good banter between the FMC and MMC. Although things get pretty tense in regard to their future there towards the end, I liked the character growth they both experience when they stop lying to themselves.

I've been on such a romance kick, so I was super excited when the publishers sent this over to me. Sadly, I just couldn't get into it. I skimmed through a lot of the time. I think I couldn't get into this because I really didn't like the main character. She wasn't being true to herself and others and it just annoyed me. It got addressed in the end but it felt rushed. I just wanted a little more time of the characters being annoyed at her. I'm really bummed about this because I've been really enjoying the fake dating trope but couldn't do it for this one. I'm really bummed about this one.

Cute story, but wish it focused more on Ellie rather than Sam. I liked the premise of landlord vs. store owner, and how they’d certainly be enemies and then go to lovers because of how much time spent together… but it didn’t work out all that well. Also ended up kind of like a love triangle of sorts? Also lacked in warmth and happiness as it was marred in a ton of negativity. Hard to get into, but has the right ideas! Thanks for the opportunity to read!

As always, thank you to NetGalley & Penguin Random House for the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this a lot more than I did. The enemies to lovers & the fake dating was done welll, however I struggled with the amnesia. I adored Theo but had a really hard time liking Ellie. I understood her struggles and where her character was coming from but her negativity was very offputting. There was a perfect amount of spice in this book that was done well.

The ending of the book made me emotional (a few tears may have been shed!) so I am glad that I did decide to finish the book.

Love You, Mean It was a cute fun rom-com with enemies to lovers an amnesia trope thrown in. I really enjoyed reading this book and could connect to Ellie the main character and loved her family dynamic and the family business. I would definitely read more romances from Jilly Gagnon and could see her writing about other characters from this story. Rating this 3/3.5 stars. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

After a glamorous stint in New York City, Ellie Greco finds herself running her family’s deli in the small town of Milborough after her beloved father’s death. She’s (mostly) resigned herself to her fate, with her sewing machine gathering dust and the day-to-day deli operations monotonous. However, with the impending sale of a local building to Mangea, an upscale Italian supply store, Ellie has to team up with an unlikely ally to maybe make both of their dreams come true.

While I’m confident there is something for everyone in LOVE YOU MEAN IT (this book has so many tropes it’s almost eye watering), it missed the mark with me. As a protagonist, Ellie had a frustrating amount of self-sabotage and martyrdom– and while her chemistry with the MMC was impressive, her overall poor decision making made it difficult to see a way the two of them fit (without a lot of therapy and open communication).

Additionally, rather than being quick and peppy– this book seemed to drag on and on and on. Rather than focusing on one or two themes, it felt as many tropes as possible were crammed into this story which made the entire story feel bogged down. And some of the major plot points weren’t even resolved at the end <spoiler> I mean, they were still engaged at the end of the book. Were they going to get married? Keep up the charade of an engagement until they became officially engaged? What was their plan there?? </spoiler>

Overall, LOVE YOU MEAN IT had the makings of something really special– but it felt like it bit off more than it could chew.

This was a sweet and fun romance that helped pull me out of a book slump post-HOFAS. With a similar trope of "While You Were Sleeping", Ellie and Theo's story is a classic enemies-to-lovers who find themselves in a mutually beneficial fake-relationship.

Ellie, determined to save her upscale gourmet deli, faces Theo and his estranged father, Ted, the wealthy property owners of a soon-to-be upscale gourmet superstore. When her tour of the building goes awry due to a freak accident, Ellie follows Theo to the hospital and, to her own surprise, blurts of that she is Theo's fiancée while they wait for treatment. Theo's short-term memory loss doesn't last long, but rather than resent Ellie for her deception, Theo proposes that the two pretend to be engaged: this would salvage Ellie's business from being overrun by Magia while allowing Theo to develop the building his own way. Each are hesitant to trust the other, but they reluctantly agree to play along as twists such as Theo's overbearing father and the entrance of his ex-girlfriend, Sam.

This romance was my first foray into the "While You Were Sleeping" trope and honestly, I'm glad that it didn't last the whole novel, with Theo instead playing along until coming clean to Ellie. I love a good enemies-to-lovers, too, but it didn't seem as natural between Ellie and Theo, if only because of the former. Ellie was a tough character to like: she had an overwhelming tendency to bury her feelings and deny any kind of emotion, leading to overly dramatic situations that left me exasperated. I also would have rather seen Sam, Theo's ex, as less of an adversary and someone more in on the schtick. I think it created an unnecessary extra layer of drama for Ellie especially to work through.

Overall, this was cute and a quick read that I enjoyed and would absolutely recommend.

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Overall, this was a cute, relatively light read! I did find the pacing to be a little off at some parts, and I think Ellie and Theo’s relationship could’ve been fleshed out a lot more — they really went from “enemies” (though not really), to a brief memory lapse, to agreeing to fake date, to actually hooking up, to loving each other, but it wasn’t as seamless as I’d hoped. I did enjoy the writing of the author, but I wish I’d liked the characters a bit more (though I love Sam and thought her and Ellie’s banter was better than Theo’s). Thanks for the arc!

Thank you Netgalley and Dell Publishing for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really, really wanted to love this one but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me and I was dreading the last half of the book. The premise of an amnesia-induced fake engagement scheme was super fun. I'm extremely happy that this part of the story wasn't (unethically) dragged out longer than it needed to and the fun banter between the two characters was well done.

My biggest issue(s) were with the main characters and the secondary plot that overshadowed the originally story. Sam's (Theo's ex) purpose in stirring up drama didn't really serve its intended purpose and by the second half of the book, I was actually rooting for her instead of Ellie, the FMC. The third act conflict was so stress-inducing and its eventual resolution felt choppy and rushed. I'm a raging feminist but I've never been so frustrated with a female character. Me??? Siding with a MAN? 😮‍💨 I honestly would not have been surprised if the main characters didn't end up together or if they didn't stay together past the book, which I don't love feeling after reading a romance book. 😕

This was a cute, easy read, but it didn’t hold my attention and I found myself putting it down a lot. I’m not sure why - maybe it was the characters, maybe because it was predictable - but I don’t think I would read it again.

3.75 stars rounded up to 4

the slowburn was slowburning pls the first time they kissed was 50ish% through the book. I didn't love this book but I liked it enough that I might reread it at some point in the future. (probably when I get the physical copy I preordered)

I liked the vibe between her and Sam and I love that she ended up realizing that she could care about the deli and follow her passion by creating clothes at the same time, that those aren't mutually exclusive paths. we love bella (not just bc that's my name) she was trying her hardest to make sure it all worked out and she was prepared for anything.

idk what it says about Theos judgement that he went along with it but ig he had a head injury so it's excusable.

i didn't love her hate all the rich viewpoint bc it seemed like she just hated anyone who was rich or popular in high school like those aren't defining characteristics in someone's personality they should have no sway on how you treat someone. she was right about some of them but characterizing a large group based on the actions of few is not right. maybe the outliers are actually the people like Paul or Ted and most people are nice.

I also hated the way Theo acted when he was on the defensive during that one fight - that's not the way you treat people you love and his actions afterwards made me not like him

chase = 💔💔💔
ellies dad = 💔💔💔

I was crying actual tears at like 3 points in the book but idk if that says something about the book or me.

yk what I think both ellie and Theo would benefit from? a therapist. they need to talk out their issues and fix them. they both need to work on their coping mechanisms.