I absolutely adore this series and it only gets sweeter with time. Jasper and Renee are both transplants to Happily Inc. where they are healing their brokenness. Susan Mallery has a distinct style of writing that always puts you in a happy place. The cast of characters, human and animals, are always exciting and lovable. As Jasper and Renee start their relationship they have amazing conversations filled with fun and wit. The introduction of Verity added a unique and charming bent to the story. Reading this book, if you have read the previous ones, will be like catching up with old friends and hearing about all the new changes in their lives. The friendship and community, as in all Susan’s books, is on magnificent display. I was happy to go for this visit.

I’ve not read any of the previous books in this series. And I don’t think you miss anything. 
Renee is a wedding coordinator, she enjoys her job, but she’s got no plans to EVER get married!! It’s not for her, a good time yes, but marriage hell no!! Is the reason she is against the concept of marriage a failed marriage? A family who didn’t care? Or something else? We do get to find out, but you do have to get a good way into the book, before anything is revealed. 
Jasper doesn’t think he will ever be ready for a relationship, seeing the things he did whilst serving in the army (he was a military policeman) has left him empty, so how the hell does he expect a woman to understand, he doesn’t understand it himself. 
Jasper is now a writer, he’s good at what he does (a detective series) but is getting pressure to end the series, that’s not the problem.... it’s the ending. It’s suppose to have a happy ending, his character meets and falls in love!!! How the hell will he pull it off?? 
Renee and Jasper meet and it’s almost instant attraction. And a one night stand has both of the characters thinking of one another. 
Renee is happy to “sleep” with Jasper, but doesn’t want or need the “white wedding” at the end. Jasper wants Renee’s opinion on the female psyche!! 
The interaction between these two is funny, but there are a few moments where you want to smack them!! And the wedding planners that the author either interviewed or followed around, really paid off, she made it informative rather than full of “co-ordinator” speak. 
So will Renee finally fall in love? Or will she be proved right? Will she have her heart broken? And can Jasper move from friend to the “unsafe” zone of possibly husband?

🦋

Meant to Be Yours is an entertaining and well written romance. Susan Mallery always serves up a good plot with believable characters and great settings. I throughly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend this book to fans of romance. My thanks to the publisher for my advance book. This is my unbiased review.

Meant to Be Yours is the fifth book in Happily Inc. Can be read as a standalone, I haven't read previous stories and I had no problem following it. Author Jasper needs some help with his latest book in the romance department, who better to ask them a wedding planner right? I like stories that have family dynamics, past characters, and drama. The characters were realistic, and showed true feelings. I have already grabbed the first book to read so I can get more of this town and characters

We return to Happily Inc for Renee Grothen story. She's the assistant extraordinaire at Weddings Out of the Box. Only she's relationship adverse, which is really odd since her entire life is spent planning the perfect wedding for her clients. And to say she's had some interesting issues from her past is putting it lightly.
But she is not prepared to deal with the drool worthy suspense writer, Jasper Dembenski, when he wants a no strings attached fling. And then he really takes the cake when he proposes to use a wedding as the backdrop of his current writing project. Renee is definitely not on board with this approach. He needs help with the hands on aspect and he's never tackled the challenge of writing a female character. Boy does Jasper need a little guidance on the "dealing with females" part of life. Yet he's just trying to deal with his version of normal. Here's to Renee and Jasper figuring out if there pasts and issues can work for a future.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

SImply said Susan Mallery is my go to. She is the first name I mention when people ask me my favorite author and I have never been disappointed in a book. And I wasn’t with this book either. Far from it.

Renee and Jasper are so different and yet the same. They do not know what they want and have no idea how to find out. At least that is how I read them. Renee thinks she wants a FWB relationship with Jasper and Jasper is looking to understand women for his new book.

They are a great couple who like all of Mallery’s couples have a moment of heartbreak before they come back together for the HEA.

I really enjoyed Jasper trying to figure out women by watching “chick flicks” and such. It was too funny. And Renee just seems like an every woman. We think we have been through it all until something more happens.

Another great story from Mallery… but I expect nothing less from her.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Wedding planner Renee thinks she will never marry because men have always dumped her. She doesn’t believe in love, yet works in a place that goes over the top to celebrate love. Jasper is a veteran writer suffering from PTSD who believes he is too broken to love. Of course, they are both wrong! Great to see the other characters from Happily Inc. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

Happily Inc, is the small town where marriages happen. The characters are deverse and you'll love getting to know them. You'll find that two people who have damaged past will help heal each other.

Renee is a wedding planner that never wants to get married. That being said it seems like a weird choice for a career. Growing up she had some problems with a unique gift her mother has. She loves her but basically avoids having her mom visit her if she can. Jasper is a military veteran whose had some intense action while deployed and it's haunted him for a long while. He also doesn't think he's cut out for love and marriage because of his PTDS and everything that goes with that. I liked both characters. Basically right from the start they have a one night stand that turns into a friends with benefits agreement and but immediately it doesn't follow that. Overall i enjoyed the book but pacing was strange. There's this big getting together at the beginning of the book and then it's like that didn't really happen. They kept seeing each other and spend time together but the benefits part of friends with benefits didn't really happen much. Renee's mother shows up and her "gift" is a odd gift that seems a bit off the wall. When it all comes out Jasper doesn't believe it until he sees it and then that's it everyone is OK with it. It makes Renee's reaction to the gift seem over blown. Disappointed in how over the top Renee is with the whole i can't trust love especially toward the end of the story. This story was ok but definitely not my favorite of the series. I feel the secondary characters really helped this one along.



Find out more about Susan Mallery and this series here www.susanmallery.com

Renee Grothen may not be the marriage type, but that doesn't stop her from planning epic weddings for her clients. Jasper Dembenski is ex-military turned thriller author who believes himself to be too broken for relationships. When the two get together, they both expect it to be a fun fling, they were definitely not expecting an engagement. Jasper's convinced he's found his new muse in Renee, and now the always cautious Renee must decide if she's ready to take the plunge for love.

I've actually never heard of this series before, and overall I thought it was just okay. I found the characters and their interactions pretty middle of the road. As with most in this chick-lit genre, I did find it unnecessarily dramatic at times and slightly cheesy. Overall, I felt the writing a bit clunky and wish the story as a whole was more developed, but it's good for just a light easy read.

I enjoyed this well-written book. Renee has had bad relationship experiences in the past and now prefers coordinating other people's weddings. Jasper feels he is too damaged for a relationship and can only handle a fling - fun without a future. The attraction between them is strong and Renee is happy to accept Jasper's suggestion for some light, no future fun. This was an entertaining book and I would recommend it to others.

The new entry in the Happily Inc series brings together Renee and Jasper, two characters that both carry past baggage and at first do not appear to be any sort of match, but they each recognize something in each other that, despite setbacks, continues to grow. I really enjoyed their story and their happy ending. And as always, the town and its inhabitants play a major part with characters that readers love re-visiting.

I love Happily, Inc. and the cast of characters that make life there so interesting. We met both Jasper and Renee in previous stories. I would not have guessed they would end up together. It was great seeing Jasper realize he could have a life outside the books he writes; for so long he was convinced he had to be alone. It still took a lot for him to recognize how happy Renee made him and translate that into a lasting relationship. I loved how he messed up, Renee called him on it, and after thinking about it could see things from her point of view and apologize. Renee is carrying around a lot of baggage due to her mother's unusual talent. It was shocking to her when Jasper learned about it and didn't turn away. It was very heartwarming how all of Happily, Inc. accepted her mother and Renee could see she did have a home here. Japer and Renee's relationship grew gradually and realistically. It's another happy, satisfying ending for Happily, Inc. folks.

Jaspar and Rene both have stuff, for want of a better word, in their backgrounds. Jaspar is a veteran with PTSD; he's also an author who is sorta stuck because he needs to and can not quite write a realistic woman in his novel. Rene is a wedding planner who keeps her secrets until pretty far in but know that she's got a phobia about dogs, which poses a problem. They meet at a game night, sparks fly, and then they have to figure out how to have a relationship and move forward in their lives= together. There are some delightful moments here, such as when Jaspar is researching female characters, and some really touching ones. You know it's gonna work out (well, of course) but the joy in this is in reading how it happens. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A happy read to cheer you up.

Meant to be Yours tells the story of what we all want - someone who is ours. Susan Mallery displays her special talent for putting the reader in the story and making it come alive.

This is a fun enjoyable story! Great characters with a great plot. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and was very happy with the bonus story also. It makes me want to read all of the Happily, Inc. stories in the series. Ms. Mallery doesn't disappoint in this one, and I look forward to reading more from her.

I've been a fan of Susan Mallery for years and I feel the Happily Inc series has really brought some extra life back into her work. This story is centered around Renee and Jasper. Renee is one of the wedding coordinators in town and Jasper is a mysterious thriller writing that has been living in town for the past few years. He has been an intreaguing character hanging in the background for a while and it was nice being able to get to know him better and see the romance unfold between these two. Any fan of Susan Mallery will love this story and readers who are not familiar with her work (is that even possible?! She's a legend!) can easily pick-up this story without having read any other books in the series.

2.5 stars

I’ve enjoyed most of these books, so I couldn’t help but request this one.

I liked Renee and Jasper well enough. They’re both good people and I feel like that is the best thing I can say. The inner monologue from both of them is little bland and the chemistry was non-existent. I did love Renee’s mom, even if that thread was sort of ridiculous.

Plot wise, it was okay. I loved the addition of the pets and the weddings are always a fun aspect. My main complaint is that the story didn’t feel fully developed to me. There were several pointed mentions of her getting sick towards the end of the story and then nothing. The conflict wasn’t really there and the ending was very abrupt. I didn’t expect it at all because the page count says 464 and the e-arc was at the end at 70%. Maybe it’s missing something?

Overall, I kept reading to get to the HEA, but I was expecting a lot more.

**Huge thanks to HQN Books for providing the arc free of charge**

The synopsis of this one immediately drew me in. I love unexpected love stories and this one sounded like one I would really enjoy, but unfortunately it didn't wow me like I expected.

I loved the small town setting of this book. Happy Inc (and the story of how it was named) was cute and quirky. I have a soft spot for small towns with a great community vibe and this one definitely didn't disappoint. Renee and Jasper were likeable characters and their love evolved from a friends with benefits situation (ladies remember they are the exception, not the rule 😂). While their relationship wasn't without a few bumps and misunderstandings, I still wanted them to end up together at the end. I enjoyed watching them both evolve and grow together as they dealt with mental issues and insecurities. Even though I enjoyed them both, at sometimes their repetitive instance that they were too broken for love was a bit frustrating. I also found Renee's reveal about her past and fear of animals to be underwhelming. I just couldn't understand how it could ruin her life over and over. Overall I liked this one, but I didn't love it. While this one may not of been my favorite, you should give it a shot. Reading is so subjective so the chances are you may enjoy it more than I did.

I read The Summer of Sunshine and Margot a few months ago and loved it so I was excited to check out another Susan Mallery book. Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I haven't read the other books in the Happily Inc series but I can safely say this one was pretty standalone. Wedding coordinator Renee Grothen has decided that marriage isn't for her after her rough childhood and broken engagement. Famous thriller author Jasper Dembenski is convinced he's too damaged for relationships after his tour in the military. But their attraction to each other is too strong to ignore, so when Jasper suggests having a no strings attached physical only relationship, how can she say no? Soon she becomes his muse and feelings start to develop and they have to overcome their personal struggles to find the love they both deserve.

I liked this book - the romance was cute but the writing was not as smooth as the Summer of Sunshine and Margot. They got into their little arrangement within the first 10 pages of the book - they met and pretty much went to your place or mine? I wished there was a bit more development. Renee is kind of annoying - she gets mad easily and leaves abruptly and then Jasper is left to grovel his way back into her life. It's still a light and easy romance though!