Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon is a delightful rom com. It starts out with fun, quirky characters that will interest you quickly. With a misunderstanding, amnesia, and unexpected attraction, this novel will thrill readers of rom coms. It is a fun summer or weekend read. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

Ellie Greco has one responsibility to her family and her late father, keep her family deli open. So when she is threatened by the Taylor group opening up a large scale Italian deli and eatery, she must work together with Theo Taylor to convince his father the plan is a bad idea. And their plan, while good in theory, causes more complications than either of them thought possible. In a highly predictable but effortless read, this book takes you on a journey of finding love in the least expected of places and understanding what is truly important to maintaining happiness.

Thank you to Ballentine and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

This was a cute romance about two people who enter an engagement of convenience, only to fall for each other (naturally). I liked Ellie and Theo together, though at times I got really lost in what was supposed to be happening to get them to their goals, especially when Theo's ex gets in on the game. Ellie trying to play double agent with the ex and Theo was honestly strange and unbelievable at points. No one can be that delusional about their feelings or the situation. I wish we got Theo's point of view in all of this honestly, he comes off as well meaning but I wish he had more depth as a character.

Sadly this was a case of "great premise, characters I could not get behind." At times I found the ex more enjoyable than our female lead.

This was a fun and reasonably engaging story with a good dash of fake dating, opposite attraction, family drama, hot chemistry, love for family and friends, sexual tension, coming home again, small town setting, and redemption. Elly and Theo come up with a plan to save Elly’s family’s deli and Theo’s dream of remaking a historic building into a vibrant town space. All they have to do is pretend to be engaged and make Theo’s dad believe it. I won’t add spoilers but of course the path goes both smoothly and roughly at different times. The lead characters and support cast were interesting, but the wrap-up was a little rushed. I enjoyed the book. Warning that there is a little graphic sex but you can easily skip those scenes without losing anything of the story.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dell for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

3 1/2 stars.

This was a sweet, fun story with main characters who start off with seemingly opposite goals. Elle is in charge of her family's deli business after a dream career in costume designing following her father's death.
When she finds out the landlord plans to rent to a competitor, putting the deli in danger, she tries to deal with Theo to convince him to stop it.

After a situation reminiscent of While You Were Sleeping, they end up agreeing to fake-date to help each other. There's a lot of cute moments, and some misunderstandings as well.

I would have liked to see an epilogue for an update on the characters.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this my honest opinion.

For me, describing a book as a pool or beach read is one of the BEST compliments I can give. There are few things I enjoy. more than laying by the water and devouring a book from cover to cover.

Love You, Mean It was the first book I read on the Canary Island leg of my vacation, and it was an EXCELLENT POOL read. I couldn't out it down, and found myself cackling throughout. What more can a vacation gal ask for?

Ellie is stuck in her hometown out of circumstance - her father passed away suddenly, and she moved home from NYC to take over the family deli. When she gets word that a massive competitor may be coming to town, she vows to do whatever it takes to ensure the family deli won't be forced to close... even if that means pleading her case to Theo, the son of the local real estate magnate.

At her meeting with Theo, a freak accident results in Theo being concussed and losing his short term memory. Ellie wants to ensure she can go to the hospital with Theo, so she claims to be his fiancé. While the amnesia is short lived, the two hatch a plot to keep the engagement ruse going. Ellie isn't worried, because there's no way she could fall for THIS guy... right?!?!

This was my first Jilly Gagnon book, but it will not be my last! The characters, including the supporting cast were great, and y'all know how much I love an enemies to lovers story with humor and FIRE chemistry. What a perfect summer read!! Big thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC :)

Will post to Goodreads, my bookstagram @scottonreads and retail sites

While the premise of this book seemed like it would make for a fun and interesting read, the actual story left much to be desired.

Most of this is just because the book needed to be developed further. The first 40% of the book seemed solid, but it quickly began going downhill as we focused more on the characters and their relationship, rather than the setup.

For one, the relationship between Ellie and Theo felt very unfulfilling. Because it is based on a fake engagement, our main character spends a lot of time questioning whether any feelings involved are actually true, which puts a wall up in between what is actually happening and the emotional significance of it. Any “ship-y” scenes between the main characters felt lackluster and disappointing, solely because we as readers don’t get to treat them for what they are with the looming threat of the fake relationship getting in the way of things.

As well, the ending seemed to just fall into place, with our main character “just so happening” to get everything she wanted. Despite an entire novel’s worth of build up and worry over whether or not Ellie can save her family’s business, the book wraps up this conflict in about 30 pages or so, without the involvement of our main character at all!

I think that the idea behind this book would have made for an interesting read, but the actual execution needed to be done a bit better for me to enjoy this book.

I really enjoyed this book. It had some of my favorite tropes (amnesia, a fake engagement). I thought it was well written and I liked the main characters. It was a lot of fun and a quick read.

I had fun reading Jilly Gagnon’s Love You, Mean It. There is a lot going on in this book including short-term amnesia, a fake engagement, a scheme to get two exes back together, and an attempt to save the family business. If you’re exhausted just reading that, imagine how main character Ellie feels!

I loved Ellie and Theo’s banter and enjoyed the fake dating scenes very much. Ellie’s subsequent friendship with Samantha was another bonus, but the lack of communication on Ellie’s end sent me into an emotional tailspin. I wanted to throttle her when both Theo and Sam gave her multiple opportunities to be honest about her feelings but she continued to bottle everything up. I also wished there had been more resolution at the end of the novel. I felt like I still had unanswered questions and wanted to see an epilogue or time jump to see how the characters were doing.

All in all, this was a very cute romance full of hijinks and familial love. Also, Ellie runs a deli and my mouth was watering picturing the various meats, cheeses and prepared dishes they offered!

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Dell and NetGalley for providing me with this digital ARC.

Ellie Greco has been running her family’s deli, but when she finds out a major competitor is coming to town so she has to fight her way to keep her dad’s legacy. This had a While You Were Sleeping vibe and I liked the banter between Theo and Ellie, and I loved Ellie’s family. I would have loved to root more for Ellie but she was extremely negative and has a lot self-worth issues and would have liked to see more of her growth throughout the book. I would’ve liked more moments beyond the fake dating that didn't really resolve until the end. I liked Theo’s warmth a lot. The enemies to lovers was a lot of fun. I just wanted more overall from the romance and story.

3.5 stars

I was really a fan of how this book started out: the enemies to lovers vibes, the brief amnesia, fake engagement….but I feel like the book quickly lost its steam about halfway through.

I really wasn’t a fan of the main conflict and the sec scenes felt like they came out of nowhere…where was the sexual tension????

I really wanted to like it.

(I got this as an ARC from NetGalley – it will be available on April 30, 2024.) Fake dating isn’t always my favorite romcom trope, but this one was extremely cute, because the tension was there from the start. After a short attempt at creating and selling her designs in NYC, Ellie moved back home after her dad died to run the family’s deli. While she’s not sure that it’s her dream job, it is something that she’s fiercely protective of, which is why she’s extremely nervous and outraged when she learns a developer is attempting to bring in a big-box Italian store which would almost certainly put the deli out of business. Ellie sets up a meeting with Theo, and after a short bout of injury-induced amnesia, the two agree to pretend to fake date, and Theo agrees to help try to stop the new store from moving in. Very soon, though, the fake part of fake dating starts to get blurry, and Ellie gets confused… and a little bit nervous! The tension in this book was so good; I kept wanting to read just a few more pages to see if Ellie and Theo would finally admit that their feelings had become real. I also really liked how Ellie’s story ended – it was a nice reminder that sometimes, we don’t want to admit to ourselves what we really want, and what makes us happy.

I stayed up way too late finishing this book, so know that I eventually got into it. But man, did I want to quit at the beginning. Ellie Gregor, who inherited her family’s deli to run after her father passed away…has a problem with Theo Taylor….the popular guy from school who has a wealthy family. She rants on and on about how big of an asshole he must be because his family has money. I am so tired of judgement on people just based on the economic status. And hello, Ellie. YOU RUN A FAMILY DELI. So while maybe they don’t make as much money as the Taylor family, you can’t be mad at someone for staying in the family business. Lord it took everything in me to keep going, but I was determined. I don’t have a problem quitting books, but for some reason, The While You Were Sleeping style trope kept me engaged in the beginning.

And then the book got good. Theo gets his memory back, and then enters a fake dating trope. The banter was fun back and forth, and there was enough going on with both their families and the deli and everything that it remained interesting the whole time. Then we get another complicated entry of Theo’s ex, Sam. Who honestly, is quite lovely. I went back and forth on if I wanted Sam and Theo to get back together, seeing as how Ellie was so negative and self-sabotaging for most of the book.

And that is another thing, sometimes I felt like the book lacked some chemistry. Maybe it would have helped to have had a few chapters from Theo’s POV. The pacing in the book was a little off. I felt like they hooked up fast, everything came to a halt, then the ending was sort of abrupt. And as many times as Sam asked Ellie if she was sure, I felt like maybe Ellie should have been the bigger person and came clean with either Sam or Theo…but she didn’t. That was very disappointing. Made it harder to root for her in the end.

Bottom Line: Whether you think Theo should have ended up with Ellie or Sam, this book was a fun ride getting to the end. I had a hard time where I wanted to rate the book. As I was between 3 and 4 stars. I had a hard time putting it down, regardless of my feelings for Ellie at times.

**I received an ARC copy of Love You, Mean It from Netgalley and am leaving my review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.**

This was a super cute read from a new author. I really love romcom and all that comes with it. This was a quick read, and I enjoyed every second.

For fans of While You Were Sleeping, Love You Mean It by Jilly Gagnon is a cute romantic comedy involving Ellie Greco, who is trying to save her family’s deli from a larger and flashier food emporium moving in. She tries to plead her case to Theo Taylor, the scion of the property management company bringing in the business that’s about to put her out of business, but when the ceiling literally comes crashing down on their heads and Theo ends up out cold, she panics and claims to be his fiancée. Theo comes to, with a case of amnesia, and believes the ruse, and though eventually he regains his memory, he agrees to keep it up for his own personal reasons.

I found this story to be pleasant, but not particularly memorable. In this classic enemies-to-lovers/fake-dating story, there are a lot of plot devices that seem far-fetched. I enjoyed the chemistry between Ellie and Theo, along with the rest of the cast of characters, but didn’t love the unnecessary drama Ellie kept stirring up.

Thank you to @netgalley @randomhouse and @dellromance for an advanced reader copy.

I was sent an advanced copy of “Love you, Mean it” and it sounded like a cute, quick read- obviously inspired by the classic film “While you were sleeping.” If you’ve seen the movie, you can pretty much guess how this one goes. However, I had a difficult time connecting with any of the characters and DNF about 45% through.
2/5 ⭐️

When this story started, I was not a big fan. Everyone is lying to everyone. It sort of got on my nerves. But as the story moved along, it becomes clear why!
I enjoyed the characters and their connections. And the ending was on target!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random Publishing House for the digital review copy of Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon.

This book is pitched as an enemies-to-lovers "dueling delis" Romance, and that's half right. I wouldn't really say we've got truly dueling delis on our hand, as one of the restaurants remains entirely theoretical, but the fake dating, we've got.

Ellie Greco moved home from New York to run her family's deli, giving up her dream of doing costume design on Broadway. Now, a new superstore might be moving into a vacant building, which would almost certainly put the deli out of business. She hatches a plan to work with the developer's son to put a stop to the project - but of course, things get complicated between them.

What I Liked About Love You, Mean It

The banter between our main characters is fantastic. One of the best parts of enemies-to-lovers is how the antagonism turns to jokey flirting, and we've got that in spades.

I also like the unique setup for the fake dating scenario, which has shades of While You Were Sleeping but manages to avoid the creepier bits. Gagnon plays with tropes throughout this book in a way that keeps it fresh and interesting.

Seeing Ellie's journey of self-discovery and coming to better understand her relationship to the deli and her work life was also a great part of the story, making it about more than just the love story while also adding to the tension there. We also see a desire for platonic friendship throughout, which is a nice (and relatable) touch since romantic relationships aren't the only ones that matter to us or that we are actively looking for.

What I Didn't Like About Love You, Mean It

Honestly, my main issue with the book was that it didn't deliver on that "dueling delis" tagline. The love interest doesn't work at a rival deli, but a developer who might bring a big superstore that sells deli items into town. Not really the same thing.

Ellie's choices were a bit frustrating at times, but I felt like we got a good sense of why she made them that carried throughout the book and made me understand, even if I didn't approve.

Final Thoughts

In all, I very much enjoyed Love You, Mean It. It's a great enemies-to-lovers rom com with a good dash of spice, while still giving us more to root for in the characters than just happily-ever-after. Also, there's some great food talk, which I always enjoy.

In order to save her family’s deli, Ellie Grecco must pretend to be Theo Taylor’s fiancée to stop a deal to bring in a huge store that would put them out of business. Falling in love or even liking him wasn’t part of her plan. Love You, Mean It is a cute, funny romantic comedy full of surprises and emotions. I loved the development of their relationship and the chemistry between Theo and Ellie. Great read for the beach this summer!