I don't know if I've ever read a romance where I questioned whether the FMC and MMC would actually end up together at the end. I think that the relationships could have been a bit more deeply meted out, but I enjoyed myself all the same and have no problem just rolling with the story and suspending belief of how quickly the characters appear to get over their squabbles.

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

Ellie Greco runs a multi-generational deli in Milborough. In its long history, the shop has amassed a lot of dedicated customers, but things are about to change. A wealthy Milborough family is buying up the local retail space to build a shopping mecca. It will include Mangia, a grocery emporium described as a food department store. True, it lacks the charm and quality of the Greco Deli, but it will easily put the Greco family legacy out of business. Ellie acts to implore the Taylors not to destroy her deli. But her good intentions start to snowball, and she finds herself engaged to the enemy. The fate of Greco Deli hangs in the balance as Ellie’s romantic charade begins to unravel. This is such a fun read. Ellie Greco takes on the rich and powerful Taylors in a big, tangled, delicious, romantic web. Mangia!

This was very quick to read, and I liked the characters. But, overall, the story was too fast paced and not in depth enough. I wasn’t sold on the relationship between the leads, maybe because we didn’t get Theo’s perspective. I also felt as though adding Sam in such a heavy role reduced the meaningfulness of the central love plot.

Ellie and Theo were classmates a lifetime ago. But now Ellie runs a deli shop that is about to get kicked out of business because Theo is in charge of bringing the biggest Italian market into town.

Ellie has to make Theo change his mind and when he gets a case of amnesia she decides to pretend to be his fiancé (ikr?) and get in charge of things.

Turns out Theo has his own reasons to continue to fake the engagement so they go with it. Its a case of fake-dating, hate-to-love, poor-to-rich and it of course brings all the problems and situations you’d expect.

The first half of the book went super fast, even if there were a bunch of times I wholeheartedly disagreed with the way both of them handle some things, but I liked it even if it dragged a little at the end too. Anyway, perfectly fine read for a quick airport book.

This one took a bit for me to get into, because I was afraid it was going to be one of those "my big wacky ethnic family is so much more loving than yours" kinda things, but it got better after the first chapter or two. I'm glad I stuck with it, although I did find all of the lying/secret keeping a bit stressful for an escapist read. But the steamy scenes were hot, so there's that.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I enjoyed this for a quick Easy read in between my buddy read with a friend. I enjoyed the fake dating trope (one of my favorites) and was slightly surprised at the amnesia bit. It's a romance, so of course I was expecting a happy ending, which I got. I loved Ellie's family, and how they stuck it to Theo's dad. However, I was a bit disappointed with the ending. Sometimes in romance books the Endings feel rushed, and sometimes they feel just right. This was a case of feeling rushed for me sadly, which is why I knocked off a star. I would recommend for a light-hearted, Easy read.

I was really worried that this book was going to be a re-write of the Sandra Bullock’s movie. I was happily surprised it wasn’t. I loved the twist and turns this book took.

The description of the book seemed interesting, so I wanted to check the story out. Unfortunately, I have since lost my initial interest in the story. I may try and find a physical copy to add the my library when it is released, though, because I think my readers could like it!

I’ll preface my review by stating While You Were Sleeping is my all time favorite Christmassy movie.
This book had major While You Were Sleeping feels to it and I loved that! Of course, it isn’t just a remake of the movie as it has its own different plot, but it made me feel the same way the movie makes me feel.

3.5 stars rounded up.

i thought this book was fun once i got into it, but i can't ever really root for a real estate developer. i was glad the amnesia plot was only like a chapter long--it was enough for a fun twist without feeling like it made the whole book overly unrealistic, because it didn't get belabored. ellie had a real growth arc.

in my head this was all happening in marlborough.

NetGalley ARC.

This was a fun enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating romance story with a little bit of spice. The incorporation of Sam (the ex) into the storyline felt like a fresh take on a familiar trope, and I enjoyed the family dynamics, the author's exploration of grief and how we deal with it, and the evolution of the different relationships between the side characters and our FMC and MMC.

This was an enjoyable read with all my favorite tropes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for this ARC. ~I was given this book and made no commitments to leave my opinions, favorable or otherwise~

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love a fake dating/marriage of convenience romance, so much. This had the potential to be such a great book. But it fell flat for me. The character development wasn't enough for me and I didn't feel the intense need for the two MCs to be together.

Love You, Mean it is a contemporary romance novel that follows the relationship of Ellie Greco (family deli owner and ex-costume designer) and Theo Taylor (working for his dad's company, who is trying to bring a direct competitor to Ellie's deli into their small town). You could see how they would have problems, which is why they decide to have a fake engagement (after Theo gets injured and in her panic Ellie says that she is his fiancé) in order to try to save the Taylor building (where the competitor is trying to move in) and save Ellie's family deli! I LOVED the vibes that felt like a combination of Two Weeks Notice and While You Were Sleeping, I guess overall Sandra Bullock vibes!?!?😂
There is a lot of friend and family drama that swirls around Ellie and Theo's relationship. As well, both MCs deal with grief throughout the story and learn about the others past and try to adapt and learn to change and handle/control it. I think that there is a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions because there are quite a few ups and downs but of course, it's still a mostly happy HEA romance!
Thank you so much to Dell and Random House for a copy of this book to review!💖

Love You, Mean It has all the makings of a great fake dating romcom with some super cute moments and parts that made me laugh outloud. I just wish it had been less rushed and that we’d gotten to know the main characters a bit better.

I wanted to love this book, but it somewhat felt rushed at parts and slow at other parts. I did like the book, but it kind of fell flat for me.

I think this is a cute romantic story. I enjoyed reading it and easily found myself invested in the characters as quickly as possible.

This is such a cute romance! I felt like I was in the book and I knew the characters on a personal level. Super cute, super fun!

3.5 This isn’t my typical book, but for a silly rom-com full of tropes, it was pretty good! It was a mix of you’ve got mail, while you were sleeping, and classic hallmark movies. It was a quick read and there was just one major plot point that seemed a little forced and took me out of the story (the Sam situation). But basically if you want to read a Hallmark movie with a main character with a rounded personality, read this one!

This is a cute rom-com, a Hallmark movie in book format. There’s not a huge plot twist you can’t see coming, but the characters are likeable and you genuinely want things to work out for them. It was enjoyable read that I happened to be reading when there was a lot going on in life, so it was a lovely little escape.