Why Not Tonight is the third book in the Happily Inc. series by the talented Susan Mallery. I've been a fan of Susan's for years and I'm loving this series and the people of Happily Inc. We've met both Ronan and Natalie before and this is their story. They know each other, they work together. But they only have being artists in common. They don't know a lot about each other until they are stranded together at Ronan's house. Then they have nothing to do but talk, eat and work. Ronan is actually funny and silly and Natalie loves this side of him. Natalie is light, sunshine, and fresh air. Everything Ronan isn't. But now that he's spent time with her, he wants her. Ronan is living with so much pain that he's not sure he will ever let himself love. He refuses to end up like his father. So he shuts people out, broods and runs whenever he feels anxious. Natalie starts to balance him out. He's calmer when he's with her. Her light is contagious. But Ronan has so much anger inside him. Can he let go of the hurt and move on with his life before he loses the best thing that's ever happened to him? Will Natalie trust in herself and not give up on love? I enjoyed this story! I knew Ronan was going to be a hard not to crack and I loved seeing him with Natalie. He let his guard down and forgot why he was so man at his family and life. I loved all the art and the descriptions of what they were all creating! Makes me wish I were a better artist! I loved seeing the brothers and their women again and I can't wait for more from Happily Inc.!

I fell in love with the Happily Inc series since reading the first page of You Say it First! I've been waiting kind of impatiently for Ronan and Natalie's story as their romance has been hinted at throughout the series! As always, Susan Mallery takes my favorite ship in the series and blows me away. Ronan and Natalie are a perfect match. Natalie's bright light balances Ronan's broodiness. I love how she calls him on his crap! She doesn't let him get away with anything and it's SO refreshing! Ronan truly knows what he has with Natalie and treats her like a queen and it's awesome!
Without giving too much away I want to say if you enjoy a magical small town romance that gives you hope in redemption I highly recommend reading Why Not Tonight!

Great addition to the Happily Inc series! I really enjoyed reading Natalie and Ronan's story. As always, this book was well written and had a nice pace to it. I would definitely recommend.

This series just keeps going strong! Built of standalone books centered around a family of brothers and a town known for wedding weekends, I thought I’d never see the day when Susan Mallery would write the adventures of brooding brother Ronan. But she did. And from the mudslide to the hidden room to Ronan’s sensitive and generous heart, she wrote a winner. There is no better match for Ronan than Natalie… and I don’t know how Mallery imagined such a perfect foil/love interest for Ronan, but she did.

And though the romance was central to the story, there were a few other fun threads happening at the same time, including friendships, family reconciliations, professional successes, and of course the requisite Happily Inc weddings. A fun and worthwhile read.
https://randombookmuses.com/2018/10/14/review-why-not-tonight-by-susan-mallery/

I don’t believe I have read a Susan Mallery book before. I know she has a few series I have looked at, but until recently I just haven’t had time to investigate her. So what do I do about that? I jump into a series that is on book three. Yep, I skipped two books to jump into this one.

Natalie helps run the administrative side of the local art gallery. When one of their artists doesn’t return phone calls or check in, she heads up to his house to check on him….in the middle of a really bad storm. Needless to say, she makes it up there in her dilapidated car when it gets stuck. Hiking to the house, she only gets the door answered when a mudslide takes her car over the side of the mountain. Doing a happy dance, Ronan has no idea how to take Natalie’s glee.

Ronan has lost his mojo. A well known glass artist, he can’t seem to find the will to create. When Natalie shows up, he realizes he left his phone at the studio and can’t believe she would come up to check on him. Nor can he believe her happiness at losing her car until she explains that she can get a new one with the insurance money….a new on in red!

The story seems to moves slowly through time and you get a lot more head time than dialog time. Natalie and Ronan start feel attraction while they are stuck at his house for a few days. He won’t do anything about it because she is his guest. She want’s to do something, but feels rebuffed. The two though, learn a lot about each other and the artistic mediums they both use for their work. Ronan is an established well paid artist, while Natalie is just starting and struggling.

We weave in an out of the lives of several residents of the town and learn why Ronan has lost faith in his life and his family. This seems to be the biggest road block between the two as Natalie had the exact opposite relationship with her now deceased mother. Natalie is ready to move onto the love of life even if she doesn’t know how to be lucky at love. She wants a baby, but isn’t in a place in her life to support one. You can see she just wants a family. Someone to have an attachment too, while Ronan is giving up the gift he has over a lie his parents kept hidden.

While I enjoyed most of the story, the pacing felt off. There was loving scene and then there were more fade to black scenes. I loved the focus on characters, but it seemed the story moved in slow motion with both characters grappling to find what they want from life, art, love and family.

There is some drama, but it is kept to a minimum making this an easy story to like, but not feel passionate about. I am glad I gave it a try and maybe I will pick up another one soon.

Why Not Tonight glows with a warmth and a sense of joy that are totally due to the heroine, Natalie. Her openhearted appreciation for life, for art, and for the people around her shines through in everything she says and does, from falling in love with Ronan to her excitement over the broken “treasures” she finds and incorporates into her art. I also love her dedication to her art and her determination to carve out time to create, even when it means scrimping and saving to live on a part-time salary. (Side note: just how much is Atsuko paying her? Because it’s pretty much impossible to live on part-time wages these days, yet Natalie has a two-bedroom apartment to herself.)

Gifted glass artist Ronan, on the other hand, is broody, angry, and for several years has been retreating deeper into isolation—from his brothers, his abusive father, and the woman he’d thought was his mother. On learning in a previous book that he is the result of one of his father’s affairs, Ronan fled Fool’s Gold for Happily Inc…. but he is anything but happy. Worse, he has lost his ability to create.

Opposites attract, and these two are certainly attracted. And Natalie is perfect for Ronan: she lightens his moods, calls him on his stupidity, and inveigles him into spending more time with his brothers. I’m less convinced that he is perfect for her, but Natalie is, and that’s what counts. He is certainly supportive of her. He may be moody and prone to run away, but underneath, there’s a nicer, happier person, who respects women in general and Natalie in particular, who knows how to play, who loves his brothers as much as his art.

Art is as central to the book as it is to Natalie and Ronan’s lives. All three of the brothers living in Happily Inc. are artists: Ronan and Matthias work in glass; Nick works predominantly in wood, though he knows his way around a glass studio. (The other two brothers, Del and Aiden, stayed in Fool’s Gold; their books fall in that series.)

Why Not Tonight may be my favorite book yet in the Happily Inc. series—and that’s despite the charm of Millie the giraffe in Matthias and Carole’s book, Second Chance Girl. If you’re looking for a warmhearted, feel-good story to go with your romance, Why Not Tonight is an excellent choice.

Right from the start, this book grabbed me. I am loving the Happily Inc. series. I love the way the book starts with the two main characters being thrown together during inclement weather and finding some common ground. It maintains your interest as the two main characters continue to grow closer and yet Ronan can't seem to find his way back from the devastating family secret was revealed. I enjoyed the way he was over time and through a significant event able to move past things so these two could find their way to each other. Another good read in this series!!!

I absolutely loved this book! This was my first read by this author and it was everything I'd hoped it'd be. Natalie's fun & corky character was refreshing. Ronan was oh my gosh all the heart eyes! Together their chemistry was flirty & sexy. They definitely gave me all those giddy butterfly feels.. I could not get enough. Can't wait to read more by this author.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve read a bunch of Susan Mallery’s books. They all seem to follow the same premise of a fairttale type love story—girl and guy meet, fall in love, some wrench is thrown in the relationship, there’s a bit of turbulence, and then they all make up. That being said, they’re still quick reads that don’t require a lot of concentration.

I have a love/hate relationship with Susan Mallery novels. Usually it starts out love, love, love, and then something happens, and I want to toss the book aside. When I first started reading her stories, she had the heroine get pregnant at some point, which is always a bad prop for a romance writer to use as far as I’m concerned especially if it happens in more than two…three…four novels. Fortunately with the Happily Inc., she’s left out the props (or at least that one)…so far.

Natalie and Ronan’s story is sweet. Natalie gets stranded at Ronan’s house when a storm hits, which knocks down trees, totals Natalie’s car, and makes the road impassable. Since Ronan has become a bit of a recluse, spending most of his time at his home rather than the gallery/studio where Natalie is part-time office manager, they have never been in each other’s company much. This all changes.

Inspired by Natalie’s cheerful disposition (she’s almost manic pixie, but not quite quirky enough–maybe), Ronan begins to create again. And they fall in love.

But Natalie won’t enter a serious relationship with Ronan because she thinks he throws important relationships away, which she can’t abide because she lost her mother and wishes she’d been able to spend more time with her. Ronan, on the other hand, feels betrayed by the woman he thought was his mother. He doesn’t think that Natalie can understand where he is coming from. All true.

The problem here is that Ronan has multiple opportunities to give the situation some real thought, and it isn’t until he’s practically hit over the head with evidence that he caves. This is a shame because, for the most part, I liked Ronan, but brooding idiot can only be carried on so long before it becomes annoying.

However, that didn’t ruin the novel for me. The scenes that come after Ronan is “hit over the head,” so to speak, are well done. Those combined with the charm of Ronan and Natalie as a couple made this an excellent read. And, as we had in the other novels from this series, there’s a lot going on so the reader is never bored.

While this can be read as a standalone, I wouldn’t advise it. I missed the novella in the series and felt like I’d missed some important information–and that was just the novella.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It has been a while since I have read a Susan Mallery book. I was reading the Fools Gold series for quite a while but life got in the way and I fell behind.
This is the first story I've read from the Happily Inc series and I can safely say that Susan is just as amazing as she was before. I wasn't confused but I would love to go back and read everything I have missed in both series.
Thank you Susan for your amazing talent.

Its all started when Natalie was sent to check out the reclusive artist Ronan during a down pour. When a mudslide takes out the roads he has no choice but to hang around until its over what they didn't expect was to learn more about each other then they ever have making the crushes between one another develop into more. Ronan has his baggage and don't want the whole relationship thing because of his history, meanwhile Natalie is unlucky in love it seems to be a family trait but shes looking outward to skipping the whole dude thing and look for a donor to have a child. Both have opposite views on love, family, and relationships but they just came help but fall for one another but Ronan still wants to try to keep distance between the two.

I'm a fan of Susan Mallerys books and loved the newest addition of the series to Happily Inc. I loved getting to know both characters backgrounds and seeing from each of their perspective of what was going on. Seeing how Ronan was fighting his feelings towards Natalie because of his family situation, things don't seem to be going well and he refuses to let a sweet person like Natalie get into things plus being worried that he just might be like his father complicates things. Then there's Natalie side when it comes to her family and seeing how Ronan dealing with his family was bothering her, but she still wanted him and knew he was what she wanted. It was such a fun contemporary romance story and I really enjoyed this book. Id recommend you check out this book but even better check out the whole Happily Inc series as well as the Fool's Gold series if you can they really were a fun set of stories seeing the connections between friends and family and just a great series in general.

2.5 stars: Why Not Tonight is the third book in the Happily, Inc series. This one is Ronan and Natalie's story. I have been kind of iffy on this series so far. I'm sad to say this one is my least favorite of the three. Natalie works as an admin assistant in the art gallery in town. She decides to drive her car in a major storm up the mountain to check on Ronan. The weather forces her to stay at his house for a few days. The couple get to know each other a bit better and see a different side of each other.

What frustrates me about this series as well as this book is the lack of chemistry between all of the couples so far. Ronan and Natalie have zero chemistry. Even their friends are surprised when they find out the couple is sleeping together. It's hard to enjoy a romance where there is no chemistry. The HEA was sweet, but not really enough. Ronan and Natalie were also kind of so-so characters. While I liked Natalie's spunk and love of life, she was still kind of annoying. I got tired of the constant reminders of her financial situation and comparing herself to the other more established artists who made more money. Ronan was beyond frustrating in his denial that Elaine was his mom. I felt bad for her and she barely in the book. I still think the man needs some major therapy. I did cheer Natalie on when she called him out on his BS.

It's not a bad book and it wasn't an awful read. I just want more from this series. The next book, Not Quite Over You, comes out next month. It's Silver's story. I'll be reading it, but if that couple isn't any better, then I will probably be calling it a day with this series.

I don’t remember how many books past Susan that I have read each one of them have been inan enjoyable read. Thank you Susan, the publishers and Net Galley for allowing me to read such a wonderful book. Cannot wait until the next one. Thank you Susan, the publishers and Net Galley for allowing me to read such a wonderful book. Cannot wait until the next

~~Reviewed by Amy~~

I’d recently read a couple of dark historical romances back to back. While they were amazing, I felt like I needed a change of scenery. Something contemporary and lighter. Susan Mallery’s newest addition to her Happily Inc series was just the ticket. This one is guaranteed to bring you joy and tug at your heartstrings. If you’re feeling in a rut and looking for a little inspiration, why not try Why Not Tonight?

As part-time office manager of Willow Gallery, Natalie Kaleta was responsible for all the local artists. All 3 of them. The Mitchell brothers were Happily Inc’s local brilliant and extremely lucrative talent. At present, Natalie was dealing with the very handsome but brooding and reclusive Ronan Mitchell. She’d noticed his withdrawal and lack of production the last few months. While she was sure he’d see her as an annoyance, she was determined to get him back on track.

While Ronan Mitchell had made quite a living for himself as an artist, lately whatever creativity he’d had was gone. He’d lost his mojo. He’d come to Happily Inc to find himself again. After discovering the truth behind his birth, he felt betrayed and lost. He didn’t know who he was anymore. He’d distanced himself from the only family he’d ever known. When Natalie showed up at his mountain home with her sunny, excited personality, he was grateful for the distraction. And after torrential rains and mudslides left them stranded together, Ronan, who usually preferred to be alone, realized he didn’t want her to leave.

Ronan and Natalie built a friendship in their time alone together. She realized he was more open than she’d thought. In addition to his mad artistic abilities, he had a great sense of humor. Ronan liked Natalie’s zest for life and feisty attitude. Just being near her made him feel better. It was hard to brood when she refused to let him do it. He found himself slowly opening up to her about things he’d not even discussed with his brothers. Even after the storms subsided and she went home, he anticipated spending time with her. The more time he spent with Natalie, the more focused he became. He felt inspired. Not just to work but to spend time with his brothers too. Natalie looked forward to time spent with Ronan as well. He was kind, affectionate, handsome, and talented. She felt connected to him. Things quickly turned from friendship to something more. And when it did, both Ronan and Natalie were torn. Ronan didn’t want the darker spirit he’d cultivated the last few months to destroy Natalie’s optimistic spirit and vivacity. As quickly as she was falling for Ronan, Natalie couldn’t give her heart to someone who didn’t treasure their connection as much as she did. Ronan had already turned his back on his family. Could she trust him not to turn his back on her too?

Natalie and Ronan’s friends considered them to be too opposite for a relationship to work. There were definitely big differences between them. They came from completely different backgrounds. Ronan had taken his well-to-do upbringing for granted while Natalie had struggled for everything she had. Ronan brooded about his family, the secret that had been kept from him, and his fears of being like his father. Natalie had lost the only family she’d ever known but had worked to make the best of her life and find connections with friends. I think it was what they wanted in life and the way they encouraged each other that made those differences not matter so much. They were both artistic and encouraged and supported one another in their crafts. They both wanted to belong to family. Ronan had never really lost his. He just had to figure that out for himself. Though not related by blood, Natalie found she had formed her own family of sorts with her Happily Inc friends.

Ronan and Natalie really were cute together. I loved their teasing, competitiveness, and snarky banter. I found it funny that, even when Ronan was saying it would be temporary, he was cleaning out his closets and drawers for Natalie at his house. He just needed to quit moping and figure things out. Natalie pushed him to do that, and that’s why I loved her character so much. She didn’t back down. She said what she thought. When Ronan was acting like a butthead, she called him on it. He had sunk so far into anger and confusion about his family that he couldn’t find his way out. Natalie brought him back to the land of the living. With her, the dark things in his life didn’t seem so grim, and the good parts of his life were even better.

While I had read and loved the Fool’s Gold series, this was the first I’d read of the Happily Inc series. I was able to read it as a stand-alone but couldn’t help but feel like it would have been even better had I read the first two books in the series. There were so many references to previous happenings with characters that I felt like I wasn’t getting the whole picture. I’ll be sure to catch up before the next book comes out though because I am definitely intrigued by several of the secondary characters in this book.

It had been a while since I had read Susan Mallery. I’d forgotten just how vibrant and relatable her characters are. I love the wit, warmth, and wisdom I find in her books. If you’re a Fool’s Gold fan, you’ll fall in love with Happily Inc. Like that series, this one is brilliantly written, funny, moving, and sure to make you feel good about life, love, family, and friends, and all the crazy things that come with them.

Natalie Kaleta is the office manager at the art gallery and tries to do everything to keep the artists happy. So when no one has heard from Ronan Mitchell for several days she goes to check on him. She drives her very old, dilapidated car up the mountain during a very bad storm. They end up stuck there for a few days. She and Ronan get to know each other.

A well hidden family secret that was finally revealed caused Ronan to flee his hometown of Fool's Gold and move to Happily, Inc. Ronan has withdrawn from any interaction with his family. Being around Natalie will help Ronan to come to terms with his family and his feelings.

As I wipe the tears away that are streaming down my cheeks, I will do my best to put in print what I am feeling in my heart. Once again, Susan Mallery delivered a heartwarming (and sometimes heart-wrenching), emotion-packed novel of love conquering all with a bit of humor sprinkled in for good measure!

I must admit that I can't seem to get enough of these characters from Fool's Gold and Happily Inc. Although each book can actually be read as stand-alones, we learn more and more about the wonderful characters Ms. Mallery has created by reading all of the books in these series. And they are such great characters! Fully developed and fascinating. I want to pack my bags right now and move to Happily Inc.

WHY NOT TONIGHT concentrates on Natalie and Ronan. They are both artistic and creative and yet they are so different that at first it's hard to imagine that they would ever be together. Ronan is sulky and withdrawn, pulling away from his family. Natalie is curvy and wears glasses, but she is so upbeat, chatty and full of life, even though she has no family and is getting over being left at the alter by her previous boyfriend. A rain storm, a mudslide and a mountain home puts the two together and even after the rain stops they find they are both much happier when together. And Ronan loves curvy ladies!

This story brings to heart the value of family, love, friendship and relationships.

I was a bit surprised when I got this from Netgalley. I hadn't anticipated it but I am so glad I did get to read it (if only because I already had the next book in this series and getting to see something beforehand will help me with that one). Mallery is an author I read sporadically and generally enjoy when I do. It was the description that sold me on this one: bright, happy woman and brooding artist guy. It's an awesome combination (and I love tortured heroes!).

And Ronan is more than suitably tortured. His "type" is right up my alley in so many ways. He's an artist - in this case, glass - and I loved it. He's got a family of brothers (I've clearly missed their books though) and he's a seething mass of hurt and confusion. His gruff exterior and anti-social ways actually show how much of a softie he is because he is hurting too much to be with people. That's super characterization.

And the kick in the pants that is Natalie is exactly what he needs. I'm not saying he shouldn't be surly or anti-social or hurt and confused or angry. I'm saying he needed to stop wallowing and Natalie helped him do that with her sunny ways and her upbeat outlook on life. But Natalie too has some hurts and Ronan has to learn to help her too. Natalie's art is so interesting to read about and I loved how Mallery described her art and her art process. Natalie is the type of person I would love to know and be friends with. As a character, that's how Natalie is loved by her friends and clearly a lot of the town.

I enjoyed seeing Ronan slowly reconnect with his brothers and also struggle to connect with Natalie. There were definitely some ups and downs (and one of those downs was heartbreaking to witness) but Natalie's upbeat sense of life infused this story from start to finish and gave it an extra layer of hope and joy.

This series clearly ties in with both the Fool's Gold series (since that's where the Mitchell brothers hail from and the El Bahar (or however it's called) series as one of the characters is from there. It's obvious I should have read both series before this - and the earlier books in this series - to get maximum understanding and pleasure in this book. Having said that, Ronan and Natalie do just fine as a story without all the other information. But it would have been nice to have all the same.

I'm looking forward to the next book, especially since some of the set up is here in Why Not Tonight. And I suspect I'll be reading a lot more Mallery in the future too.

I am so very much enjoying this spin off from Fools Gold. These are sweet uncomplicated romances that are a nice escape from the day to day humdrum. It's also nice to stay in touch with some of the characters from Fools Gold who make occasional guest appearance while we read about a whole new cast of characters.

Ronan Mitchell is an artist. He's one of those spin-offs who left Fools Gold and settled in Happily Inc. He is a gifted artist who creates magic with glass but he has the artistic temperament honed to a fine edge being moody and stand offish with a chip on his shoulder. When he doesn't communicate with anyone in town for more than five days, Natalie the office manager at the art gallery where he displays his work is deputized to go check on him. As it turns out she sets out in the worst storm of the century and barely makes it to his front door drenched and bedraggled. From the get go the repartee between the two characters will sweep you in and hold you captive until you find yourself reading the last few pages of the book totally engaged with the characters.
While readers have known of Ronan's angst we finally get to understand a bit more about the family dynamics and thanks to Natalie, Ronan finally gets it too though I want to slap him silly in how he interacts with his mother. This is a tender love story with two very strong and very likeable characters though if you've been reading the series so far, Roman is not a likeable character at all so far. Natalie is also adorable and so giving, completely on the opposite of the spectrum from Ronan as she engages him in her projects to teach art to the local school children and in general give back to the community. I know readers will rejoice with her as just as I did when she starts to make good money for her art, especially with Ronan's encouragement in pursuing some of her creative ideas.
All in all a great episode in Happily Inc.

This is such a fun and sweet opposites attract romance. Ronan and Natalie are absolutely darling together! They are a perfect study in contrast. His dark to her light, his brooding to her sass and his intensity to her quirkiness. An emotional and involving storyline keeps you fully engaged and rooting for this couple. With plenty of witty banter and humor to go hand in had with some drama and angst; you have a well balance smartly crafted and completely enjoyable romance.