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. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Dell Publishing for the digital advance reader copy of this title.

There were quite a few things I really liked and enjoyed about this book and a couple things that didn’t work for me. First, the positives.

I liked that both of the main characters were strong and outspoken. Theo and Ellie each had tough exteriors, were a bit cutthroat, and could hold their own, but they each had a softer side as well. The banter between them was great and it had me laughing out loud a few times. I appreciated that there were some tropes in this one that would ordinarily make me roll my eyes, but they were quickly turned on their heads and became something I wasn’t expecting. That element of surprise is always fun for me as a reader. I also liked that Ellie and Theo were both grieving and that their “rivalry” turned eventual alliance to keep a big box specialty grocery store out of their small town was held together because of their mutual love of family and spaces that reminded them of those they’d lost. There were some solid connections between the characters.

So what didn’t work? Although there was a lot to connect Ellie and Theo, I found their communication and emotional depth lacking. The story moved quickly into what I found to be very casual open door scenes, and I would have liked for them to express more of their feelings beforehand. I see why the story was framed this way and realize it is likely not problematic at all for many other readers. To each their own! Ellie’s lack of honesty with herself was a big focus of the book, but it left me feeling very frustrated with her, especially in her handling of Theo’s very not jealous ex-girlfriend. My other minor gripe was that Ellie seemed adamantly dismissive of the wealthy without us getting a whole lot of background on why. Her cousin Bella had dated Theo in high school and I wish she’d vouched for him more a little bit earlier in the story.

The bottom line: I liked but didn’t love this title. I had fun reading it, but there were a couple of plot points and stylistic choices that just weren’t well-suited to my personal taste.

— NOTES —
Genres: romantic comedy
POV: first-person, singular
Content: strong language; past loss of loved ones (grief)
Romance: open door in chapters 15 and 21

— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 5
Enjoyment: 3.5
Craft: 3.5
My Gut Feeling: 3.5
Total Stars: 3.875 

While this book didn’t work well for me, I think there is an audience that would enjoy it and it did have its moments. I have had it for while and decided not to re-read the synopsis before jumping into it. I’m glad I didn’t because I thought I knew how it would go but then was pleasantly surprised. Theo and Ellie did have some sweet moments but I wanted more connection and communication between them. The romance felt rushed and lusty which isn’t my cup of tea. There was also another plot point involving a side character that just got frustrating. It also has a lot of strong language and was more open door than I expected. 

I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own. 

Content Notes: Strong language, open door romance 

tl;dr
A light and cheery read for fans of the fake dating trope. Also has a ton of great supporting characters. And a deli.

Thoughts
Well, I'm a sucker for a fake dating trope, so here we are. I also really love an ex girlfriend who is actually very cool and not entirely horrible, so that's two points in this book's favor. Although to be honest, Sam makes me realize why the ex girlfriends in books like these are so often terrible. She's maybe TOO good? This is not a complaint! I love her, but I found myself more invested in her and Ellie's relationship by the end. And honestly, that's probably my favorite part of the book. Don't get me wrong - the romance is cute, Theo's a keeper, the whole thing ends on the happy note that we all want. But I especially loved Ellie learning to make friends, especially with other women. The two women who show up alongside Ellie are super cool, and it was a great way to round out Ellie's own realizations about where she wants to be to have a full group of friends in the picture, and not just one dude.

But back to the romance, which is probably why you showed up. Ellie and Theo actually hit it off pretty early on. Not instalove by any measure, but it's never a full-on enemies/rivals situation, and their relationship feels like it clicked into place very naturally. The memory loss plot lasts very briefly, so don't expect that to be a huge part of the story, and the drama is barely between the two leads, and more the MC with herself. Ellie's natural position is to be self-sacrificial, even if it's what no one wants, so she doesn't always make the best choices regarding the relationship. It can be frustrating sometimes to Ellie not grab happiness when it's offered to her, but I'm glad she worked things out in the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for the advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!