Donovan Legacy
paranormal romance
Series · contemporary romance
Those Manning Men
The Those Manning Men series by Debbie Macomber has 5 books and is best read in publication order, starting with Marriage of Inconvenience (1992).
- Books
- 4 novels + 1 novella
- First published
- 1992
- Status
- completed
- Last checked
Start here: Marriage of Inconvenience (1992) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Marriage of Inconvenience
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Marriage of Inconvenience - Book 2:
Stand-In Wife
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Stand-In Wife - Book 3:
Bride on the Loose
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Bride on the Loose - Book 4:
Same Time, Next Year
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Same Time, Next Year - Book 5:
Silver Bells
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Silver Bells
About the Those Manning Men series
Those Manning Men is the direct continuation of Debbie Macomber's early-1990s Manning family saga, picking up where The Manning Sisters left off and turning to the Manning brothers and their extended circle. Marriage of Inconvenience, Stand-In Wife, and Bride on the Loose -- all released in quick succession in 1992 -- follow three Manning men (Rich, Paul, and Jason) into marriages of convenience, grief, and reluctant attraction. Same Time, Next Year (1995) widens the family circle to a Manning-adjacent match made in Las Vegas, and Silver Bells (1996), a Christmas novella, closes out the saga with a plot set in motion by a Manning daughter playing matchmaker for her widowed father.
Like The Manning Sisters before it, this is classic Silhouette Special Edition-era Macomber: short, efficient, trope-forward category romances, each resolving its own central couple within its own pages while steadily filling out one extended Pacific Northwest family.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in Those Manning Men?
Five: Marriage of Inconvenience, Stand-In Wife, and Bride on the Loose (all 1992), Same Time, Next Year (1995), and the Christmas novella Silver Bells (1996).
What order should I read Those Manning Men in?
Publication order: Marriage of Inconvenience, Stand-In Wife, Bride on the Loose, Same Time, Next Year, Silver Bells.
Is Those Manning Men connected to The Manning Sisters?
Yes -- it's a direct continuation of the same Manning family saga Debbie Macomber began with The Manning Sisters in 1990, turning from the Manning daughters to the Manning sons and their circle.
Is Same Time, Next Year part of a different series called 'That Special Woman'?
Same Time, Next Year was published in 1995 under Silhouette's shared "That Special Woman!" branding, a promotional line used across many different authors' Silhouette Special Edition releases that month -- it was never a standalone Macomber-authored series of its own. The book's actual continuing story belongs to the Manning family; Open Library and Goodreads both independently confirm it as the direct continuation of the three 1992 Manning titles, and it is tracked here rather than under "That Special Woman," which this site does not track as a Macomber series.
If you like the Those Manning Men series
Reading order last verified .