This is a very While You Were Sleeping adjacent RomCom, so if you like the movie, odds are you will like the book. Ellie was a designer, and had big dreams, but came back home to take over her family's deli when her father passed away. Now she is stuck in her hometown, and she is faced with the deli going out of business when a hot property manager rolls into town, which threatens to bring in big business. The hijinks start when Theo, said hot guy, takes big hit and has amnesia. Ellie, in order to go with him to the hospital, pretends to be his fiancee. The change in the book from the movie is that Theo pretty quickly realizes Ellie's game and the two decide to work together to get what they want by pretending to be engaged. Ellie and Theo have fine chemistry, but there isn't a ton of humor in this book. There's also a lot of plot. There's a whole side story with an ex of Theo's as well, and Theo's horrible dad. This book has a lot of potential, and if you're looking for some light reading with some Romance in it, it will be fine for your purposes.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun little vacation read where I could just enjoy reading and not have anything too heavy. However, I do think the book was a little bit too cheesy for a higher rating. The beginning was a little slow, the continual reminding that this is just for show none of this is real was tedious, and the ending was rushed. I think this could have used a little bit of editing to flush the idea out better.

There were also just a few preference issues that bothered me but probably wouldn’t bother others—describing his eyes/gaze as hooded constantly, a few chunks of text with repetitive words and/or phrases, a few plot holes, etc.

Thanks Netgally for an ARC of this one.

This was a fun little vacation read where I could just enjoy reading and not have anything too heavy. However, I do think the book was a little bit too cheesy for a higher rating. The beginning was a little slow, the continual reminding that this is just for show none of this is real was tedious, and the ending was rushed. I think this could have used a little bit of editing to flush the idea out better.

There were also just a few preference issues that bothered me but probably wouldn’t bother others—describing his eyes/gaze as hooded constantly, a few chunks of text with repetitive words and/or phrases, a few plot holes, etc.

Thanks Netgally for an ARC of this one.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

After a glamorous stint in New York City, Ellie Greco finds herself running her family’s deli in the small town of Milborough after her beloved father’s death. She’s (mostly) resigned herself to her fate, with her sewing machine gathering dust and the day-to-day deli operations monotonous. However, with the impending sale of a local building to Mangea, an upscale Italian supply store, Ellie has to team up with an unlikely ally to maybe make both of their dreams come true.

While I’m confident there is something for everyone in LOVE YOU MEAN IT (this book has so many tropes it’s almost eye watering), it missed the mark with me. As a protagonist, Ellie had a frustrating amount of self-sabotage and martyrdom– and while her chemistry with the MMC was impressive, her overall poor decision making made it difficult to see a way the two of them fit (without a lot of therapy and open communication).

Additionally, rather than being quick and peppy– this book seemed to drag on and on and on. Rather than focusing on one or two themes, it felt as many tropes as possible were crammed into this story which made the entire story feel bogged down. And some of the major plot points weren’t even resolved at the end

Spoiler

I mean, they were still engaged at the end of the book. Were they going to get married? Keep up the charade of an engagement until they became officially engaged? What was their plan there??

Overall, LOVE YOU MEAN IT had the makings of something really special– but it felt like it bit off more than it could chew.

Love You, Mean It is a rom-com, full of playfulness and sharp humor. Ellie Greco has been managing her family's deli after the death of her father. After the residents and the Greco family learns that a gourmet food department store is looking to move into the neighborhood, concerns rise for the longevity of the family legacy.

Ellie approaches Theo, the landlord of the vacant building. Although they attended high school together, they ran in very different circles, and she has trouble keeping her prejudices at bay despite aiming to persuade him to reject the tenancy of the big-time competition, allowing her family's deli to continue to flourish.

Gagnon uses a mesh of familiar tropes in fun and engaging ways — you know where this is going, but the journey there is definitely a ride featuring tiny unexpected turns and bankable charm. With enemies-to-lovers and grump-to-sunshine paving the way, I enjoyed this gem from beginning to end.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.

This was a fun read. I loved the amnesia mixed in with a fake engagement. And I really love when the fake engagement rules fade into something more.

I loved how Ellie stood up for herself and Theo at that first family dinner.

I enjoyed seeing Theo slowing falling for Ellie, but she didn't see it.

I love a fake dating trope and this one is done so well! It is a small town charm meets wealthy society type of story and felt like a movie to me as I was reading. It had a bit of a slow start but really picked up when the fake dating started.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 rounded up

"Love You, Mean It" is a delightful contemporary romance with a classic enemies-to-lovers plot. The story line is engaging and most of the characters are charming and well-developed. However, I found it difficult to connect with one of the main characters, which slightly dampened my overall enjoyment. Despite this, I couldn't put the book down because I was eager to see how the story unfolded. The writing is solid, and I appreciated this book even more than Gagnon's first novel.

Thank you #NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC. All opinions are my own and freely submitted.

Thank you to Dell & Netgalley for this fun ARC!

I am rating this one 2.5 stars out of 5.

This is may first by Jilly Gagnon and I loved that the book took place in Massachusetts and centered around an Italian-American family. Having been raised in New York and deep in the trenches of Italian-American upbringing, I loved the nostalgia of Mimi being the strong-willed matriarch of the family.

This book was a classic enemies-to-lovers set up with a fake engagement thrown in to benefit both parties. Our FMC is Ellie Greco, (her full name is Eleanor and that warmed my heart because I have a daughter with the same name) and she has moved back to her small town after striking out in NYC for a career in fashion design. She now is the owner and sole proprietor of her families longstanding deli. After news breaks that the wealthier family in town, the Taylors, are in the works to sell one of their properties to a huge Italian inspired grocery chain ( think whole foods but all Italian) Ellie is desperate to try and save her families deli from going under if this giant moves into town.

She meets up with Theo Taylor, the son of the Real Estate Mogul Ted Taylor, and tries to convince him to not bring the giant chain store into town. Theo went to school with Ellie and even dated her best friend and cousin Bella (which seems weird to me later on). After failing to convince Theo to stop the sale, he accidentally gets hit hard in the head by crumbling infrastructure, resulting in memory loss. Ellie partly wanting to save her business and partly not wanting him to go to the hospital alone, tells the paramedic she is his fiance. After realizing Theo has amnesia, she tries to back out of her words but soon realizes he isn't so lost as she might think. The two strike up a plan to mutually help one another stop the big chain store from coming into town and hi-jinx ensue.

One problem, Theo's ex-girlfriend Sam shows up at the hospital and starts questioning whether or not if their engagement is real. Unfortunately, Ellie really likes Sam and wants to befriend her but once Sam realizes their engagement is fake, she asks Ellie to help her win Theo back. No big deal, except Sam is named the new CFO of Theo's dads company and the pressure is on to stop the big chain from coming to town but also has a risk of Ellie failing if she can't get Theo to fall back in love with Sam.

While I enjoyed this book, it felt at times like one big overly dramatic kids show. Ellie refusing to accept she has feelings for Theo and trying to help Sam, his ex-girlfriend, get back together with him felt just unnecessary. There were too many moving pieces at play that messed with the flow of the story. One minute Ellie is telling herself Theo is too different from her, she has to push him away, and the next they're engaged in intercourse and she can't accept she likes him. It felt like Ellie needed to just come clean and tell Theo she liked him rather than keep shoving her feelings down deep. Also, this man was dating her cousin Bella in high school and idk but that feels weird to me. I couldn't really see pass that.

Theo has his own trauma and baggage that he brings to the table. His little brother passed away in a tragic accident and he has a strong tie to the Taylor building they're trying to save from the big chain grocery store. He tried to break away from his overbearing father Ted, but after his brothers death he sort of gave up on his dreams. While I felt like Ellie's situation I understood because the Deli was her deceased fathers and grandfathers store before she took over, with Theo I wish he would have had a stronger background explaining himself more. It just felt surface level to me.

The friendship between Ellie and Sam was my main focal point. The two women complimented each other so well and Sam giving Ellie the idea to expand her business that allowed her to appreciate her life in her small town was truly heartwarming. I wish these two weren't pitted against each other over a MAN. Of all the things in this world...

The conflict resolution at the end with Ellie and Theo was satisfying and I am glad they got their happy ending.