You Say It First: Happily Inc Book 1 by Susan Mallery

    Romance books are not usually my thing.  But every once in a while, I need to take a break from reading about murder and other serious subjects.  When that happens, it’s onto the romances; pretty much always recommended by my mom.  She knows which ones I will enjoy and which ones I’ll want to throw because the story and/or characters are driving me crazy.  You Say It First was one of the enjoyable ones.

    Pallas Saunders never expected she would run a wedding business.  She was supposed to join her mother, Libby, at a bank, but when Libby stopped paying college tuition, those plans were put on hold.  Needing money, Pallas joined a company called Weddings in a Box.  When the owner died, he left the business to Pallas.  Now she is struggling to keep it afloat.  Her very disapproving mother couldn’t be happier.

    There are things that need to be done within the company.  One of them being the refurbishment of some wood panels.  Pallas can only pay so much to have the work done.  A fact she feels even more horrible about when she finds out the man she hired to work on the panels, Nick Mitchell, is actually a famous wood sculptor.

    With as much fame and ability Nick has, Pallas can’t understand why he would want such a low paying job.  She does not know for Nick the project is not about the pay.  It is the project itself that matters to him.  Bringing the panels back to life is too important a task to pass up.  Being around the intriguing Pallas is an added bonus.

    After some dancing around their attraction to each other, Pallas and Nick give a relationship a try.  The problem is, Nick believes passion leads to bad things.  He allows Pallas to get only so close before he pushes her away.  An act that risks him losing Pallas forever.

    An offshoot of Susan Mallery’s Fool’s Gold series, You Say It First was a good start to this Happily Inc series.  Some of the best scenes were when Nick took on Libby.  Something he did before Pallas felt strong enough to do it herself.

    Throughout the book Libby is very hard on Pallas.  She makes Pallas doubt herself, and wonder why she was never good enough for her mother’s love.  Eventually there is an explanation for why Libby treats her daughter the way she does, but it was not one I understood.  And what I did understand, I was unwilling to accept.  Especially since Libby treats her son very differently.

    Fortunately, even before Nick came on the scene, Pallas had a good group of friends to support her.  She also had her Grandpa Frank, a real character I loved reading about.

    As for the friends, I’m sure there is a book for all of them sometime in the future.

Friendship Bracelet/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

    Sadly, there is one character I liked who I don’t think we will see much of as the series goes on.  That character is Alan.  He worked at Weddings in a Box under the old owner.  Now it is under new ownership, and with the fact he lives out of town, Alan feels it is time to start a new stage in his life.  This is understandable, but I will miss him.  He is a good character.  Funny and supportive of Pallas.  I hate to see him go.  Maybe he will stop by for visits in future books.