Review 4.25⭐️
.Ellie is trying to save her family deli when she learns that a big box Italian superstore is coming to Milborough. Theo is trying to prove to his father that he is capable of more within the family business. This was such a fun rom com! I loved that it blended two of my favorite 90s romantic comedies “While You Were Sleeping” and “You’ve Got Mail.” The amnesia that Theo experiences after getting hit in the head while on a job site is short lived, but the lie of Theo and Ellie being “engaged” is when all the fun happens. The combination of enemies to lovers and fake dating tropes worked really well and the pace of the book was fast and light-hearted. With enemies to lovers, I love getting to see when one character starts falling for the other. However, Ellie’s continued resistance was a little off putting to me, especially when, as the reader, you could tell how much Theo was falling for Ellie. I’m also not a big fan of a third act break up, but in this case, I felt that it was actually necessary for them to be able to make their way back to one another. I would definitely recommend this if you are a fan on 90s rom coms and want a little bit of steam.

Such a good read that I enjoyed! I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

Love You, Mean It is a funny, trope-y, sexy new romance novel. Is it groundbreaking? No. But there's a 100% guarantee that it'll provide you with a day of quick enjoyment. I recommend this one to anyone looking for a quick, easy, fun read for the beach or vacation!

This is such a fun romantic comedy of a book. Imagine You’ve Got Mail but in 2024, it’s a family deli instead of a bookstore, and there’s my favorite trope - fake dating. Ellie Greco runs her big Italian family’s deli in the suburbs outside Boston. Theo Taylor is the heir to their town’s wealthiest family, but he rarely agrees with his dad or his ruthless business decisions. The two of them team up to stop his dad from bringing in an Eataly-esque enterprise, which would surely put Ellie’s family deli out of business. There are hijinks, steamy moments, and plenty of family drama - good and bad. I really enjoyed reading it.

This was a cute fake dating romance. It was somewhat predictable though but by the last couple chapters I couldn't put it down. The characters were ok, I was not really attached to any of them for most of the book. Ellie just seemed to be judgmental of everyone she meets and was very negative about how her life has turned out. There was a lot of snarky humor which I enjoyed. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this read in exchange for my honest review. This was the first book I've read from Jilly Gagnon and I would definitely read more in the future. I love the fake dating trope as well as the grumpy/sunshine trope so this was a great read for me.

II liked this one - it was cute but not cutesy and I will definitely read more from this author! Thank you for my copy!

Love You, Mean it by Jilly Gagnon is the perfect summer rom-com. It follows Ellie Greco as she owns and runs her family’s deli, which has been in their family for generations. When a real estate developer, Theo Taylor, wants to bring in a fancy gourmet food department store, Mangia, it threatens The Greco family’s livelihood. Ellie goes to talk him out of it, but while there, the ceiling caves in knocking Theo out cold. In a state of panic, Ellie tells everyone she is his fiancé so she can accompany him to the hospital. When he wakes up, he has no memory and doesn’t know that Ellie isn’t telling the truth. In too deep, Ellie plays along until she can figure a way out of it, when Theo’s amnesia starts to wear off. Much to her surprise, Theo wants to stay “engaged.” Turns out he doesn’t want this deal to go through either, and his family couldn’t possibly run his future in-laws out of business. Ellie reluctantly agrees and hilarity ensues.

I absolutely adored this book. It reminded me of the films While You Were Sleeping and You’ve Got Mail mixed together. The characters were so loveable and relatable. Ellie in particular had a fantastic character arc and spirit, and Theo twisted the rich-boy character on its head. The supporting characters were also fantastic, and I had a particular soft spot for Ellie’s feisty grandma. There was terrific banter which made for some hilarious scenes, but this book also had a lot of heart and depth. It was a super fun and quick read that I could not put it down, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a good rom-com.

Love You , Mean It is a cute fake date romance. This is not always my go to trope but in this book it worked out well with the storyline. Ellie and Theo are both likable characters and their plan to make things work really made a good plot. I did feel like the last quarter of the book lost momentum and felt a little rushed but overall it was a good read. I would be very interested in seeing more work by this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for providing me a arc in exchange for my honest review.

I simply could not vibe with the amnesia thing but I was also giggling and wanting a sandwich the whole time. Props to Jill for making that happen lol.

Fake dating isn't one of my favorite tropes but after this one, I think I'm going to try it out more. The fake dating worked pretty well with only a few bumps along the way. I did really enjoy both of the main characters and their chemistry together. I feel like the last 50 or so pages felt a little rushed and messy but with a little fine-tuning this could be a 5 star read.

I loved the backstory of the Italian deli that had been Ellie’s family for generations, and how it helped to shape the entire narrative. It was an overall cute enemies to lovers story. Nothing new, but fun.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this review in exchange for my honest review.

✨ Love You, Mean It ✨

Thank you to {Partners} PRH Audio + Random House Publishing + Netgalley for this ARC and ALC.

Let the Deli Wars begin! Ellie came back to her hometown to run her family's beloved deli after her father passes away from a heart attack. She is determined to make it a success by adding her personal touch to the deli that has been a part of the town for generations, but her plan could be completely derailed when the huge, big box deli, Mangia, plans to move in right down the street. To save the Deli, she has to team up with handsome, rich, real estate investor, Theo. But can their plan actually keep Mangia out? And is that really what Ellie wants?

✨ Fake Dating
✨ Grumpy x Sunshine (she's the grump)
✨ Enemies to Lovers
✨ Amnesia
✨ Opposites Attract
✨ Deli Wars

📚 Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🎧 Audio: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🔥Spice Rating: ❤️

The audiobook was narrated by Amanda Ronconi and was such a fun listen!

Spice Rating
🤍 clean romance
💗 closed door/ fade to black
❤️ sexual content (a few detailed scenes)
❤️‍🔥 explicit, play-by-play (major part of the plot)
🖤 graphic, more than vanilla

If you are not head-butting with your family, there are probably limited things you won't do to save them and/or anything belongs them. Ellie did exactly that! When a "conglomerate" decided to take over her small town and threaten to destroy her family business, she decided to play a dangerous game with that conglomerate.

Theo was going to be her salvation. She went to pretty much beg him to not to kill her family's deli, but she left his side as his fiancée. How did things end up like that? One big accident! Aftermath of her engagement to Theo muddied waters even further in this little town. Families start to clash, emotions start to clash. At the end enemies of course turned lovers.

I'm not big on romance, but I needed a palate cleanser between crazy horror and thrillers. If you are into thrillers and enemies to lovers, you'll love this book

Didn't connect with this one as much as I was hoping too. Cute but a bit slow and there are so many books just like it, unfortunately.

The contemporary romance "Love You, Mean It" by Jilly Gagnon weaves in familiar romance themes such as enemies to lovers, a bit of the grumpy/sunshine dynamic, opposites attracting, and the ever-popular fake dating scenario. The story revolves around Ellie Greco, who had always aspired to be a costume designer. However, when her father passed, her dreams were suddenly put on hold, and shifted to managing the family business, Greco’s Deli, in her hometown of Milborough. Ellie has since put her heart and soul into the deli, being fully devoted to it and keeping the business afloat.

Trouble arises when Ellie discovers a local landlord's plan that would threaten the deli’s survival. Determined to save her family's business, Ellie confronts Theo Taylor to explore any possible solutions. Unexpectedly, this leads to them entering a fake relationship, which they hope will mutually benefit both parties.

I'm usually quite fond of the fake dating trope, and love a good opposites attract, but I found myself struggling with this novel. It was not as fluffy as I thought, and the heavy dose of the real-world - while entirely relatable - detracted me from fully engaging with the plot and rooting for the characters' love story to the end. Consequently, while some readers might appreciate this blend of romance and real-world issues, it didn’t quite resonate with me.

Overall, I’d rate "Love You, Mean It" two stars. The book had its moments, but it was a bit challenging to get through, and the integration of certain themes made it difficult for me to fully enjoy the story.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

#loveyoumeanit was a cute romcom that I really enjoyed. I really liked the main characters, charming comes to mind. The story was well thought out. I will be suggesting this to friends and family. Thanks #netgalley for giving me the chance to read this story.

I was immediately hooked as I began to read this book, but about halfway thru I got bored and put it aside. I recently went back to it and finished it and thought it was very cute, while predictable.

This just read like every single other book I’ve ever read. It didn’t feel very original to me. I was hoping for more. It was just okay in my opinion!

So, I love a good fake dating trope, pseudo-enemies to lovers, and the whole "While You Were Sleeping"-esque situation that the story had going on. I'm also a sucker for a small-town romance and the early 2000s romcom feeling this gave me!
I really appreciated Ellie's journey of finding her new direction through her grief and coming to terms with her life not going exactly the way she'd planned and Theo trying to save something meaningful that his father just sees as a possibility for profit. I think where things fell short for me was the lack of communication between the pair. Ellie spent so much of her inner-dialogue saying that she wasn't going to fall for Theo, I feel like we missed when it actually happened. It felt very sudden at the end when she finally realized that she wanted to be with him, and that was a little jarring.
I really loved Sam and Bella's characters and I hope we see more of them in future books if the author plans to expand this little universe.
Overall, I wish I could give half-stars because I think this is solidly a 3.5! I enjoyed it but found myself frustrated which kept pulling me out of the groove of reading. Despite that, I loved the writing style and really look forward to reading more books from Jilly Gagnon!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell, the author, and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my review!