An album of romantic ballads, Just for Lovers eschews the comedic impressions of featured on Davis' previous album but ends with Danny Kaye's upbeat song "Happy Ending".[1]
The Allmusic review by William Ruhlmann awarded the album three and a half stars and said that Davis's performance on the album showed him "as a ballad singer, he revealed the powerful influence of Billy Eckstine." "Davis broke out at the end with a bravura reading of "Happy Ending," here, at least for a couple of minutes, Davis threw in the kind of dynamic elements he so enjoyed showing off in his live performances. Otherwise, this was a surprisingly subdued recording for him" [1]