Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the views and opinions in this review are purely my own and not affiliated with any brand.

I adored this book! It was such a fun fast read. I was slightly worried that the fake relationship story line has been played out but Jilly Gagnon wrote this book in a way that made the story feel fresh! I loved the character Ellie and how strong and feisty she is. I love how she is trying to save her family business and how she will stop at nothing. I also really liked Theo and how the two played off of each other.

If you like a fun, cute, flirty romance novel that is also a quick read, this book is for you!

This book was… not good. I’m DNFing at 10%. The writing was weird and I didn’t relate to the characters at all. Thanks anyway for the ARC.

First... the amount of times that the main characters "sucked their lips through their teeth" or "lips curled" was insane. It was really bothersome in the beginning to the point where I couldn't read it again without taking a minute. There was a break from the overused phrases and I was able to get into the book and then at the end during times of conflict it came back.

Ok, moving on... At first I did not like the main character Ellie. She was very negative, super low self esteem, a bit too snarky and just generally off putting. Theo, Ellie's enemies to lovers love interest, was a bit cold and arrogant but it kind of made sense once he was introduced more.

There's a bit of steamy moments in the book but I thought they were well written, realistic and not too over the top.

Much like a Hallmark movie (but not because of the cursing and steamy scenes) there is a misunderstanding but I liked that the author didn't use all the tropes that are often used in books like this. I enjoyed this book. I'm rating it 4/5 just because of the repetition on a weird phrase. I've just not heard sucked her lips between her teeth much at all so it bothers me personally - maybe it's more common elsewhere.

Trying to save her family’s restaurant what else is one to do when the strict property manager gets temporary amnesia? Well tell him you’re dating to help save the restaurant, of course!

Once you get past this plot, it’s a pretty straight forward romcom. I can handle ridiculous plots as long as the story is fun. This story was fun, for the most part. The chemistry was fun as well as the tension between the two leads.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Love You, Mean It is a fun, beach read. I would describe this book as chick lit. Reading it you know how it is going to end up but getting there is the fun! Ellie, who runs the family’s deli, is faced with a big box store coming in and putting her out of business. She teams up with Theo, whose father owns the building where the big box store will come, to try to prevent it. This story has very strong women as characters, Ellie, Sam, Ellie’s mother and grandmother which is nice to read. The only problem I had was I often could not tell who was speaking in the story. The quotes were there but didn’t sound like it came from the person who appeared to be speaking; a little confusing.

Within 10% of the book the FMC has already hated on an old woman who is her customer for taking too long to decide on deli meat, had a grandmother state that green salad “gives her the trots” and then had the FMC describe her love interest/MMC who she hasn’t talked to in at least 10 years as “Little Lord Doucheleroy”
This is not the book for me but thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review it

I really wanted to like this one and the premise was an interesting one. However, I had a hard time rooting for either character, Neither of them seemed like a good person. Or flawed in a way that could be redeemed. I especially didn't care for Ellie after she made bad decision after bad decision. I nearly dnf'd several times but pushed through hoping it would get better. It didn't.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing this ARC for my voluntary and honest review!

This was a fast read with enemies-to-lovers and fake dating tropes. The characters were super likable and it was also really refreshing to have multiple strong, female characters that *gasp* had mutual respect for one another and weren’t intimated by or backstabbing each other.

LOVE YOU, MEAN IT
Jilly Gagnon

It might be trope-heavy, and it might be unbelievable. But I had fun with it, and I think you will too.

In LOVE YOU, MEAN IT by Jilly Gagnon, we’re following Ellie Greco. Ellie came back home to run the family deli when her father died. She knew it would be hard, she knew it would be tough, what she didn’t know is that she would unknowingly walk right into the middle of a 90’s rom-com.

The family deli that Ellie runs is days away from being overrun by a big box chain store called Mangia. (Think YOU’VE GOT MAIL) She would do anything to save the deli and virtually does.

I thought LOVE YOU, MEAN IT was cute and it reminded me of some of my favorite 90’s romantic comedy movies. It read very quickly, was light and bright, and made for easy reading. There was just enough chemistry to make it enjoyable and I thought the coupling was adorable.

This one comes out on April 30, 2024!

Thanks to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Dell for the advanced copy!

LOVE YOU, MEAN IT…⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to the publisher Random House for the invitation to read this early. I was sold and so intrigued by this story from the moment I read the editor's note. Sometimes you just click with a story before you even start it, you know that feeling?

And I did enjoy it. It's a RomCom but more on the character driven, self discovery side. Which is why I didn't give it a higher rating, I expected more romcom shenanigans and less drama and introspection. What bothered me was Ellie's negative outlook on life (probably because she reminded me of myself lol - but hey, this is fiction, she is supposed to get out of her head better!). She had a tendancy to take the wrong way anything anyone did or said to her, which got a little emotionally draining eventually.

But other than that, I loved the story overall. The banter, the meet cute, the accidentally (or not) engaged part, the family connections and slow burn and bickering.

This book will make a great vacation read come next spring/summer and I'm sure a lot of readers will fall under Theo's spell. He is perfect, but in a very imperfect, realistic way, if you know what I mean. He has his faults (just like Ellie) but has a great heartstopping way of making up for it. The ending was movie worthy and will make you swoon.

I have never read anything by Jilly Gagnon but this was a cute romcom that keeps you rooting for Ellie and her trying to save her family's business. Ellie had to give up her dream job when her father passed away 5 years earlier. Now she is working in the family's store, trying to keep it running and make a profit. When Ellie's grandmother tells her that there is rumor of a new gourmet food store going in right around the corner from the family's store, Ellie knows she has to do what she can to stop the new store from going in.

Ellie phones Theo, the property manager for the new store, and sets up a meeting. Ellie thinks that she can maybe talk Theo into not selling the building to the new store. While Ellie and Theo are having their meting, there is construction work going on in the building to get it ready to rent out. When a worker falls off a ladder, Theo goes to see what is going on and is hit in the head with a beam. Ellie is worried about him and the only way she can go in the ambulance with him is if she is his wife or significant other. Ellie decides to say that she is because she wants to go with them to the hospital. When Theo wakes up at the hospital, they tell him that Ellie, his fiance, is there with him. Theo doesn't remember anything and takes their word for Ellie being his fiance which stats out a whole new endeavor for the two of them,

When Theo gets his memory back, Ellie and Theo decide that they should maybe just go along with their charade that they have had going in hopes that they would both get what they want out of the deal. All is going well until Theo's ex shows up and sees right through what they are trying to pull. Sam is not willing to be fooled one bit and is threatening to tell everyone that Ellie and Theo are not really engaged.

You will enjoy this cute read as I did. I always like a quick cute read and this was one of those.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this book.

What a fun and different read! I really enjoyed all aspects of this book, but most especially the development of the relationship between Ellie and Theo. it didn't feel forced or naturally expected. While not overly "different", it definitely was an ending I appreciated.

This book was a cute, quick read! As a Sicilian who was raised surrounded by family, I deeply resonated with Ellie and her family. I'm not sure if I would have had the same willpower to turn down a big Italian superstore, like Mangia lol. I loved the stubbornness of Mimi as it truly emanates the spirit of every Italian nona. Personally, I liked Ellie and her family's story more than the love story between Ellie and Theo. Would love to see a spin off about just them or maybe Ellie's mom finding love again, idk. I too couldn't see the connection between them and felt as though the romance came out of nowhere.

This was a lot of fun, so many schemes with schemes, all topped up with a fake dating where both MCs fall really hard (and one of them may or may not be in super denial about it)

I loved the banter between the MCs!

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

I was definitely intrigued by this book from the premise and I definitely enjoyed it but I also struggled to finish it as well. It was okay for me

This was an ok read for me- to be honest it took me way longer than I expected to finish it. I thought the premise of the book sounded like a fun rom-com feel good book.

Once you get through the first few chapters it gets a little better but I just had a hard time connecting and liking the characters. Ellie just seems so judgy and negative. I wasn’t a fan of Theo either. Ellie running her family’s deli shop was just meh for me. They just couldn’t hold my attention long enough for me to finish this book faster.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for the ARC!

There seems to be a trend for me with books these days where I end up finding the ones with a main female lead who I generally find it hard to like. Ellie is another one, although she did grow on me thankfully as the book progressed. And part of that growth was the actual purpose of the book, because she had to actually figure out that she was an adult before she could embrace the relationships around her.

What kept me from bumping this one up to a 4 star was the fact that I wanted more of the folks around Ellie. There were some genuinely fun characters who Ellie interacted with, but they seem to have been pushed to the edges more than in other books. Maybe the book needed to focus on one supporting character rather than a few, or maybe we just needed to spend a bit less time on the deli meats and more time on the character meat.

The premise is cute. Theo is a good male lead in that he is not too perfect - well I guess his looks are pretty close - and has a personality that pushes back against Ellie. Sure, they kind of fall in love quickly, although the word love never truly leaves either of their mouths concretely. No epilogue either to wrap things up with a bow probably because we'll get a story about one of the other characters as follow up.

Love You, Mean It is a story about a young woman who finds herself thrust into a world of multiple dinner forks and shiny veneers in order to save her family’s deli. Ellie is a resilient and creative person who goes on a journey of self-discovery and grapples with the stagnation of staying versus the guilt of leaving. Theo is funny, brazen and so very charming as he is roped into Ellie’s plot to save the family business her father loved so much before his death.

I really enjoyed the banter and chemistry between Ellie and Theo, and found the pacing to be fast and entertaining. I'm always happy to read about the awkward moments and genuine discoveries that come with the ‘fake-dating’ trope, and this book provided all those moments. I found the writing to be a little long-winded at times and I would’ve preferred more dialogue and less narrator-provided descriptions/explanations. I also didn’t enjoy the plagued romance book arc of having a 3rd act breakup, reconciliation, and then happily ever after in approximately 3 chapters. Despite this, I would recommend this novel and will be looking out for Gagnon’s next work.

I was not familiar with Jilly Gagnon's work so I was not sure what to expect.

Love You, Mean It is a easy "beach/vacation" read. It is a story about Ellie Greco who is running her family's deli after the loss of her father. Despite enjoying the work, Ellie feels like she has no choice but to continue the family tradition.

Theo Taylor, her deli's landlord, is rumored to be bringing in a big conglomerate foody store that would destroy her family's business.

A well-timed amnesia puts Ellie in the position to say that she is Theo's fiance with hopes that her business will not be destroyed. Ellie's charades doesn't last long but Theo and Ellie decide to work together to hopefully get what they both want.

This is a predictable rom-com and was an easy read.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this Advanced Reader Copy, in exchange for my honest review.

Ellie is trying to save her family's deli from the big business that threatens to take over. In the course of this, she becomes reconnected with Theo from her past, the man behind the big business. The story becomes a fake dating trope with a "While You Were Sleeping" twist.

Overall, this was a decent rom com. I did not find myself as into to it as with other books. The characters did not connect with me. But it was not a bad book. It has a good supportive cast, and some fun snarky banter. And your typical HEA.

Not my favorite but a decent read.