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Series · contemporary romance

Those Manning Men

by Debbie Macomber

The Those Manning Men series by Debbie Macomber has 5 known books (5 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with Marriage of Inconvenience (1992). Same Time, Next Year is the latest book with a fully recorded publication date.

Books
5 known books (4 novels + 1 novella)
Published
5
First published
1992
Status
completed
Shelved under
Romance
Start here: Marriage of Inconvenience (1992) — then read straight through in publication order.
Book one
Cover of Marriage of Inconvenience
Marriage of Inconvenience (1992)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. Marriage of Inconvenience

    Novel
    Marriage of Inconvenience (1992) opens Those Manning Men, the direct continuation of Debbie Macomber's Manning family saga, following brother Rich into a marriage of convenience as the series turns from The Manning Sisters to the Manning men.
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  2. Stand-In Wife

    Novel
    At 253 pages, Stand-In Wife is the shortest book in Those Manning Men to date, published in 1992, following Manning brother Paul through grief and reluctant attraction.
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  3. Bride on the Loose

    Novel
    Those Manning Men continues with Bride on the Loose, the third entry, released in 1992 at 256 pages, completing the trio of Manning brothers -- Rich, Paul, and Jason -- released in quick succession that year.
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  4. Same Time, Next Year

    Novel
    Same Time, Next Year is the fourth book in Those Manning Men, published in January 1995, widening the family circle to a Manning-adjacent match made in Las Vegas.
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  5. Silver Bells

    Novella
    Published in 1996, Silver Bells is the fifth and final installment of Those Manning Men, a Christmas novella closing the saga with a plot set in motion by a Manning daughter playing matchmaker for her widowed father.
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Key facts about the Those Manning Men series

The Those Manning Men series has 5 books on our list. Since all 5 are out now, you can read the whole list today. 4 are novels, while the rest is a novella.

Start with Marriage of Inconvenience, since it opens the publication order in 1992. Stand-In Wife is book 2, from 1992. Bride on the Loose is book 3, from 1992.

Same Time, Next Year is book 4, from 1995. Silver Bells is book 5, from 1996.

Each title links to its own page, while the list keeps them in date order. Each book page shows its dates and editions.

Same Time, Next Year is the latest book with a full release date, out on 1 January 1995. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.

The books came out between 1992 and 1996, while their length runs from 253 to 400 pages. That is a run of 4 years.

Debbie Macomber has 107 books on our list. Additionally, they write Legendary Lovers, Navy and The Manning Sisters, plus 11 more series. We shelve the books under contemporary romance.

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.

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