The Good Ones: A Happily Ever After Romance by Jenn McKinlay

    As I’m sure I’ve mentioned many times before, most romance books I get from my mother.   Although I am starting to find some on my own.   Still, it is not a genre I tend to gravitate towards.   Which is why when my mother looked up author Jenn McKinlay, she noticed the Happily Ever After Romance series a lot faster than I did.

    Maisy Kelly is making some big changes in her life.   She has quit her professorship because her ex-boyfriend, a man who turned out to be married, stole her job.   Her great-aunt Eloise has died, leaving Maisy in grief.   As an inheritance, Maisy now has a large Victorian house full of books.  

    When I say a house full of books, I mean FULL.   Books are everywhere.   It is to the point moving around could be a hazard.   And each and every book is a romance.

    Maisy’s thought is to turn the house into a romance bookstore.   To help her do this, Maisy hires architect Ryder Copeland, a man who looks like her favorite romance hero.   Cowboy hat and all.

    Despite her attraction to Ryder, Maisy swears him off.   Ryder wears a wedding right, which makes Maisy believe he is married.   After she meets his fourteen-year-old daughter, Perry, Maisy becomes even more sure Ryder is off-limits.

    What Maisy doesn’t know is Ryder is divorced.   He wears the wedding ring to fend off his more amorous clients.   Ryder also has a rule to never get involved with anyone he is working for.   This causes a problem when it comes to Maisy.   He is hugely attracted to her.

    It is Perry who sets things in motion for Maisy and Ryder.   She lets Maisy know Ryder is divorced, not knowing Maisy’s feelings for him.   This information is just what Maisy needs to know to move forward and come together with Ryder.   An abandoned kitten helps too.

    The abandoned cat, King George, unites everyone.   He is who everyone goes to when they are upset, especially Perry and Maisy.   With Maisy’s relationship with Ryder running on then off, then back again, she spends a lot of time with King George in a hidden room Perry found.   It is with King George that Maisy; Perry; and Maisy’s two friends, Savannah and Jeri, form a club to anonymously do good deeds for others.

    Sadly, this causes problems for Perry and Ryder.   The club is a secret.   Growing up with an alcoholic father, Ryder can’t stand lies or secrets.   When he finds out Perry has been keeping one, he becomes furious and unwilling to listen to anyone.

Keeping Secrets/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

    What Ryder doesn’t know is there are other secrets Perry has been keeping.   One is she has a boyfriend.   The other is she does not want to go to the boarding school Ryder plans on sending her to.   

    If Perry goes to boarding school, Ryder will have to leave as well.   The only way he can afford the school is by taking an out-of-town job.   It was a plan he made before Maisy entered the picture.   Since Maisy is unwilling to do a long-distance relationship, the new job would mean leaving Maisy behind.

    While Maisy and Ryder’s on-off relationship got to be too much for me, I still found this to be a really nice, sweet book.   I completely agreed with Maisy about building a turret, even though most everyone else thought she was crazy.   Perry and her boyfriend, Cooper, were a really sweet couple.   And I thought the group the women formed to help others was a really good idea.   On top of this, I can say all the characters were good characters.   There was no one to dislike, which is not always easy to find in a book.   Oh, except for Maisy’s ex-boyfriend.   But Ryder took care of him pretty quickly.

    There is a second book in the series, and I am curious to see how the storylines are going to go.   Some are clear how they’re going to end up.   Others are not so sure.   Plus, with a romance bookstore, you never know who will walk through the door looking for love.