4.5 stars.

Not Quite Over You by Susan Mallery is a charming second at love romance. Although this latest release is the fourth installment in the Happily Inc series, it can be read as a standalone.

Silver Tesdal is hoping to expand her business but none of the local banks are willing to give her a loan. So it is quite surprising when her ex-boyfriend from high school, Drew Lovato, offers to provide the funding she needs in exchange for a share of her business. Uneasy about letting him back into her life, Silver reluctantly agrees after she negotiates better terms than his previous offer. Their working relationship hits a few snags but personally? She and Drew are quickly heating up the sheets. However, Silver has been keeping a secret from Drew for the past twelve years and due to circumstances beyond her control, she is going to have to come clean with him. How will Drew react to this stunning disclosure?

Drew is from a wealthy background and in fact, he works in the family owned bank. He is quite content with his life but his mother refuses to give up trying to micromanage his future. Despite the logical next step in his career, Drew has dreams of doing more to help local businesses in the community. Although he knows he and Silver made the right decision to end their relationship years earlier, there is still a simmering attraction between them. He genuinely wants to help her grow her business, but Drew is also hoping to reconnect with her on a personal level. However, Drew is blindsided by her shocking revelation but is his reaction fair to Silver?

Drew and Silver are a lovely couple and they easily slip into a casual relationship. However, despite her business successes, Silver's childhood has left its scars which leads to self-doubt when manipulated by Drew's interfering family members. In spite of Drew's continued refusals to join the family business, his mother will not take him seriously. Drew and Silver both lack emotional self-awareness and it takes both of them an incredibly long time to sort out their feelings for one another. There is a bit of drama since Silver's knee-jerk reaction is to run away when trouble arises but the conflict between them is fairly short-lived.

Not Quite Over You is an engaging love story that old and news of the Happily Inc series will enjoy. Silver and Drew are appealing characters whose strengths and shortcomings are easy to relate to. Silver and Drew's romance is believable and it is quite enjoyable watching them fall in love again. Drew's mother is very irritating but Grandpa Frank and Silver's friends are wonderful. Susan Mallery provides very intriguing glimpses of Wynn and Jasper which will leave readers eager to see what will the future holds for them. ( )

Good second chance romance. It can be read as a stand-alone but is better read in order for the backgrounds of the other characters. Silver and Drew were high school sweethearts and very much in love despite the obstacles. Drew was from a wealthy family, while Silver was from the wrong side of the tracks. When it was time for Drew to leave for college, Silver broke up with him. She felt he would be better off without her holding him back, and could experience college life as it was meant to be.

Twelve years later, Drew is back in Happily, Inc., and still drawn to Silver. Silver has created a good life for herself as the owner/operator of a traveling bar business. She is doing well enough that she wants to expand, but the local bank has turned down her loan application. When Drew found out, he offered to finance Silver's expansion himself, by buying in as a minority partner. Silver isn't so sure that she wants to chance that close an involvement with him.

I really liked both Silver and Drew. Silver is feisty, independent, and determined. She has fought hard to make her business a success, overcoming the obstacles in her path. I loved her creativity in her business as she took her strengths and ran with them. She is also fiercely independent, determined to make it on her own. She has made mistakes in the past, but she admits them and moves on. Drew is a great guy. Silver's background had never mattered to him; it was the person she was that he loved. Though their breakup hurt him, he later admitted that she had been right about his need to spread his wings. He's older and wiser now and wants to get to know her again. Drew also had to fight a battle on a second front, as family expectations butted up against Drew's plans for his future.

I enjoyed the rekindling of their relationship. The sparks between them were there from the beginning, and Drew was all for following up on them. Silver is a bit more cautious, not wanting to risk her heart again. When Silver decided to accept Drew's offer, she also had the strength to negotiate the terms the way she wanted them. I enjoyed the way that Drew was determined to be more than just a silent partner, and the effort he put in to learn the business. He also stuck to learning and backup and didn't try to take things over. I loved seeing them get to know each other again, and how the chemistry between them continued to build. When they finally gave in to the passion, they were determined to keep it casual, but neither could stop the way their feelings for each other continued to grow. Through it all, Silver is haunted by a secret she has kept from Drew. She has to find a way to tell him before he finds out for himself. I ached for Silver because she was afraid it would ruin what had been building between them. I was pretty impressed with Drew, who, once he got past his initial knee-jerk reaction, was able to see things from Silver's point of view. There was also some interference from Drew's mother, whose attitude did a number on Silver's insecurities. Drew had some things he had to face also, and I loved the source of some of the advice he got. The ending was terrific, with a couple of unexpected twists.

There was a secondary story going on that I wouldn't exactly call a romance. Wynn and Jasper have had an understanding for a while. Wynn laid down the rules, and Jasper has gone along. But something happened that went against those rules and Jasper knew he'd been living on borrowed time. If Wynn found out, there would be trouble. Part of the problem is that Jasper seems to have developed a yearning for something more, but Wynn is determined to keep her life as it is. I ached for Jasper, and really wanted to shake Wynn. I'm curious to see if something develops later between them, or if they are destined for other people.

I loved catching up with other residents of Happily, Inc. The previous couples are all moving forward with their relationships, and I loved seeing all the interactions. I especially enjoyed the various meetings that Drew was involved in and his amazement and appreciation for the intertwined businesses. I still want to shake Libby and her uptight snottiness toward those she deems unworthy. The real "winner" of this book, though, was Drew's mother. I detested the way that she had planned out Drew's life and how she completely ignored his attempts to show her that he had his own plans. Her plans to suck up to Bethany's parents were irritating. I hated the way she treated Silver, and her completely callous reaction to what Drew told her was nuts. If I were Drew, I would have cut her completely out of my life. Though I initially thought his father was just as bad, he turned out to be much better than I expected. I liked seeing more of Grandpa Frank. I love how he keeps his fingers in the pies of the people of Happily, Inc., and his help in Drew and Silver's relationship was just what they needed. I also loved Autumn, who was bright and amazingly insightful. She has some interesting conversations with both Silver and Drew. ( )

I have read every book in this series. I really like the people and the town of Happy. Everyone is so friendly and quick to help lend a helping hand. The last two books I really enjoyed. This time I am sad to report that this book felt like it took a tiny step backwards. While, the story was good as well as the characters; I felt like I struggled some to connect with the characters.

Silver and Drew were good. Yet, this is where some of the magic from the prior books seemed to be missing. Silver is a sweetheart but she didn't have as much spunk. Plus, it might have been because she was exhausted from trying with the bank to get a loan approved but she came off as defeated. On the other hand, Drew, was Silver's knight in shining armor. Together they made a good couple. Yet, the sparks for me were "mild". Although, I was not feeling this book as much as some of the prior novels, this was still a good read. ( )

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