Review of Uncorrected eBook File

After her father’s death some five years ago, Ellie Greco left New York and costume design behind to return to Milborough, her hometown, where she took over running the family deli. And, although she loves the place, she wishes she were still doing the thing she wanted to do.

And then the possible arrival of a glitzy gourmet food shop threatens Greco’s Deli. Can Ellie find a way to keep Theo Taylor’s property management firm from renting to Mangia? When she goes to talk with him about it, the two end up in a fake engagement that seems determined to become a real romance.

What will Ellie do?

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A romantic story that takes several tropes and weaves them into a narrative reminiscent of a Hallmark movie. Readers who enjoy this genre will find much to appreciate in this tale.

Sadly, Ellie is not a particularly likable character. She’s negative, always complaining; she’s snarky and frustrating . . . readers may find it difficult to connect with her. But her relationship with her family shows another side of the character, one that is more heartfelt and relatable. Theo’s amnesia doesn’t last long, but it serves as a perfect foil for this enemies-to-lovers romance and their fake-dating/fake engagement deception.

The excessive unnecessary crude language/swearing throughout the story tends to pull the reader out of the telling of the tale. It is likely to be off-putting for some readers and it lowers the rating for this book.

I received a free copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
#LoveYouMeanIt #NetGalley

Jilly Gagnon's "Love You Mean It," is the feel good book we all need in our lives. Like Theo's seat warmer's wrapping Ellie in a warm hug, this book was one I really loved cozying up with with a tea and a blanket.

After Ellie's dad dies, she returns home to run the deli that has been in her family for generations. She's making ends meet and left her dreams of costume design in the city when she finds out the richest family in town is about to get richer, and seemingly at her expense. The Taylor family is one of the town's wealthiest, and controls most of the properties downtown. When Ellie finds out one of their larger buildings is about to be sold to a company that would put hers out of business, she's devastated. Think Eataly coming in to a small town and putting out of business a small artisanal been around for generations the owner knows everyone deli. While Ted Taylor is the head of the family, his son Theo- who Ellie went to school with, is running the day to day of the business. Ellie and Theo team up and decide to fake an engagement in order to save her deli, and a building Theo loved as a child. Things don't go as smoothly as planned- how can they? What unfolds is a story of how people are exactly what you think they are, and sometimes they are not at all. That sometimes dreams or plans don't turn out how you expect, but can take shape otherwise. It's a story of family and friends- new and old and still figuring out what you want when you thought it had already been decided for you.

This one is out next April, I'll remind you. Thank you to @Netgalley @Randomhouse @ballantinebooks for the early read. Jilly - author bio says you live in Salem, if you want to meet me in Boston for a glass of wine to talk about these characters I'm buying!

Love You, Mean It is fun, flirty, with laugh out loud humor. Very enjoyable. Thank you to NetGalley.

First time reading this author and I really enjoyed it. I would have finished this in one sitting if not for life and responsibilities getting in the way.

Ellie is trying to save her family deli and she believes Theo is the man that can make that happen. An accident happens and he loses his memory and Ellie claims to be his fiancee.

This was a fun little read with some funny scenes, fake dating, opposites attract, low angst and a little spice.

A fake engagement between two very opposite people becomes a fun and endearing story. The characters of Ellie and Theo are written to show not only their opposite personalities but also how alike they are. Both are in positions they groan about but do not change. A terrific novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was cute. I really liked both Ellie and Theo.

Ellie returned home from NYC after her father passed away. She took over the family deli that had been running for generations. It wasn't her ideal career path, but being there makes her feel closer to her dad. And she's good at it. But if this new superstore opens, that will be the end of the deli. There's no way they can compete. She makes a deal with Theo (who helps run his father's company) to pretend to be engaged. His father is obsessed with appearances, so he can't possibly sell to a business that would hurt Ellie. But it's not a sure thing. It's all about money for him, but Theo just wants to preserve the old building. Ellie and Theo spend a lot of time together and she finds out that he's not what she expected. They are very Pretty In Pink though. Ellie doesn't have money at all and Theo's family is the rich country club type. Theo's ex Sam comes back into town and also tries to make a deal with Ellie. It complicates things even more.

I gave this book 4 1/2 stars.

Thank you to the publisher for sending a Netgalley link.

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!💖