Finally! It’s summertime and the reading is light and funny.

Susan Mallery’s usual summer offering of a trio of Fool’s Gold books has arrived.

Well, sort of.

Okay, not at all.

Mallery released a women’s fiction story earlier this summer. (I loved it!)

And at last, one of my favorite small town writers has released a new, small town, fun, light romance novel. So ignore the calendar, it may be mid-August, but summer is now officially here.

YOU SAY IT FIRST is the first of Mallery’s new Happily Inc stories. Happily Inc is a small town in the desert of southern California. It’s a wedding destination town and many of the local businesses cater to the wedding industry.

Pallas Saunders inherited Weddings In a Box from her former boss and the original owner. Although Pallas had planned to go into the family banking business, she finds she enjoys the wedding planning and is touched by the generosity of Gerald, who willed her the business. She wonders what she did to earn Gerald’s love and trust.

Nick Mitchell (a familiar character to Fool’s Gold fans) has recently moved to town to be further away from his father closer to his two younger brothers. He’s an artist killing time before his next commission takes him overseas. He ends up working for Pallas, restoring some wooden panels she uses in wedding decor.

They hit it off and pretty soon are falling in love. Except they each think it’s a short-term fling, only for fun. Pallas’s mother is demanding and controlling and Pallas isn’t used to dealing with people who don’t expect anything from her. Nick has seen his father’s passion for his art subsume the whole family while his mother’s passion for his father dwarfed her own health and needs. He learned the lesson well: Passion consumes everything. And he’s not interested.

As their relationship grows, Pallas learns that the best love is freely given, not earned and not demanded.

Pallas’s work has some challenges and her circle of friends rally around her to help her grow the business into something special. This also introduces the reader to some of the characters who will soon have their own stories.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I can’t wait for the next one. Although I miss Fool’s Gold, Happily Inc appears to have many of the elements that made Fool’s Gold so special. I look forward to getting to know more of Happily Inc’s citizens and journey with them to finding their own Happily Ever Afters.

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I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. I honestly loved it!