Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon #bookreview #contemporary #romance

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Title: Love You, Mean It

Author:  Jilly Gagnon

Publisher: Dell

Publication Date: April 30, 2024

Page Count:  300

My rating: 2 1/2 stars

About the book:

A playful romantic comedy featuring dueling delis, fake dating, a shockingly awesome ex, and just the right amount of amnesia

Ellie Greco wishes she weren’t stuck in Milborough. For a few brief, shining years, she escaped her hometown to pursue her dream career—designing beautiful, elaborate costumes for theater—until her father’s death five years ago called her home to run the family’s decades-old deli. Yes, she loves the place, but she’d always thought she was meant for more exciting things than stocking the right tinned fish. But when Ellie hears that a local landlord is planning to rent to Mangia, the glitzy gourmet food department store, the very existence of Greco’s Deli is suddenly in jeopardy.

She tries to plead her case to Theo Taylor, scion of the property management firm that is about to put her out of business, but their meeting goes from bad (it’s not her fault he’s infuriating) to worse (no one expects the ceiling to literally fall in).

With Theo out cold, Ellie panics and claims to be his fiancée . . . and almost passes out herself when amnesia means Theo seems to actually believe her. Soon, the effects of the head injury wear off, but Theo proposes that their “engagement” stick around. If they manage to convince enough people, they might both get what they want: an end to the Mangia deal. Ellie doesn’t trust him (after all, if Theo Taylor wants it, how can it be good for her?) but seeing no other option, she reluctantly agrees.

And miraculously, the fake engagement seems to be working—even Ted, Theo’s shrewd, cold father seems convinced—that is, until Sam, Theo’s ex-fiancée, reappears on the scene. Not only does she see through their ruse, but she proposes an arrangement of her own, forcing Ellie to decide between a blossoming friendship, her family legacy, and the burgeoning romance she frankly never asked for.

Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon is a new contemporary romance novel. The story in Love You, Mean It is full of romance tropes such as enemies to lover, grumpy/sunshine, opposites attracting and fake dating.

Ellie Greco always had dreams of becoming a costume designer but five years ago her father passed away leaving the family in need of someone to help run the family business, Greco’s Deli. Returning to her hometown of Milborough Ellie has since put everything she has in the deli.

Now however the deli is being threatened when Ellie learns the Taylor family who are the local landlords are set up to offer a space to a huge box store that may put them out of business. Ellie vows to meet with Theo Taylor and see if there is anything she can do to stop tha deal but before she knows it she is in a fake relationship with Theo to possibly benefit them both.

Considering that fake dating is one of my top tropes in romance I really went into Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon thinking I would absolutely love this story. However, this one starts off with a lot of “white privilege” being tossed around which really turned me off of the main character. I just don’t enjoy this type of heavy real world hot topics with racism being brought into something that is meant to be light and fun and from that moment I just couldn’t bring myself to really root for the romance. Overall, I’ll give this one two and a half stars, some will love it but it just wasn’t for me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Jilly Gagnon lives in Salem, Massachusetts, but is originally from Minnesota, a fact she’ll likely inform you of within minutes of meeting you.

In the past, Jilly has written humor, news, essays, and op-ed pieces for Newsweek, Elle, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Onion, and The Toast, among others.

Jilly loves terrible TV and excellent Manhattans. She often carries on far-too-involved conversations with her cats.