A receptionist falls for the ambitious salesman at her office, who just so happens to be her high school flame. A saucy office reunion romance!

Yukino is a receptionist and rumored to be a quiet, timid beauty with low self confidence. But in reality, she’s just putting on an act, and is hung up on her unforgettable first love.

Just when she’s about to give up, she runs into her first boyfriend from high school, Haru! He’s grown into a handsome salesman, and he pursues her wholeheartedly, teasing her with passionate kisses… She can’t contain her excitement!

Is it okay to fall in love again…?

This manga was refreshing to me because I’m so used to exes having negative stories surrounding them–like someone cheats, or the breakup is really hard, and there’s a scorched-earth element to them. This is not the case in EX-Rank Lover.

Yukino is someone who’s never had a lot of self-confidence, and her relationship with Haru ended after a few weeks in high school due to her feelings of insecurity and inferiority. The relationship is never mentioned as being a hard breakup; more like a dissolving.

That’s why it’s refreshing when Haru and Yukino reunite. There’s still some feelings there from their early times together, and Haru especially wants to reignite things with Yukino.

The two start their romantic dalliance pretty quickly. Haru, knowing how timid Yukino can be, proposes a trial relationship with her until she can ease into a real one, but the truth is, Yukino wants a real one no matter what!

In the meantime, they do everything couples do–go on dates, fool around…there are a lot of spicy scenes in the manga to be sure! But Haru is also a gentleman–he won’t go all the way with Yukino until she says she wants to. A lot of it has to do with Yukino’s confidence–she can’t quite believe someone like Haru would be with her, and that it’s possible that he could love her. But she begins to come out of her shell and slowly become more daring and assertive the longer she is with Haru.

It takes a while for them to come outright and share their feelings though, despite it being obvious to the reader how head over heels the two are for each other.

Overall, this ends up being a wholesome, nurturing relationship. It’s nice to see mutual love occur so quickly, and how people can get over their pasts and start life over again. With Haru and Yukino, it’s not like stepping back in time–both of them have changed as adults–but in a way, it’s like mending time for them. They never stopped liking each other and should have stayed together, but alas, they didn’t, and now they are fixing things after the years have passed.

They’re a cute couple. I like how they are designed, and the art is very expressive and lovely. Haru doesn’t get undressed as much as Yukino, which is my only complaint, lol. But they’re a sweet, loving couple in bed and out of it. I liked watching them go on dates and become closer with each other.

All in all, this was a sweet confection of a story. No bitterness, no anger–maybe some regret–to a high school breakup, but rather coming to an understanding about it, and letting time heal and personal growth reunite a good couple. If you want a spicy, sweet romance that is all positive (with the exception of some self-doubt and low self-esteem on Yukino’s part), you should check out this manga. It’s a romance with an HEA and good feelings throughout.