Bride on the Loose - Bride on the Loose is the third story in Debbie Macomber's Those Manning Men series, and I'd have to say it's probably my favorite in the series so far. Carefree bachelor, Jason Manning was the last of the Manning men still standing, but he's finally brought to his knees by a little thing called love, when a matchmaking teenager tries to fix him up with her mom in hopes that having a man in her life will make her mom more lenient about her dating. Jason wasn't too pleased about this and turned the girl down flat, until her machinations brought him and her mother together, leading them to discover they had some things in common. Unfortunately, his new lady love is quite skittish due to a terrible first marriage in which she was abused. This doesn't stop Jason from marrying her and finally giving his family their hoped-for big wedding to attend, but the occasion isn't quite the joyous one it should be when the bride gets cold feet.

Jason has a breezy attitude and tends to be a pretty easy-going guy for the most part. He's a caring veterinarian who gets to save the day by rescuing and treating a badly injured dog that the heroine and her daughter found in the street. When he's not working, Jason is a sports nut who spends nearly all his free time either watching every sport imaginable on TV or playing softball on a team with his brothers. There was one point early in the story when I had misgivings about Jason, because he made a few off-handed comments that seemed rather chauvinistic and which gave me unpleasant memories of his sister's hero, Russ (The Cowboy's Lady). Even though I wasn't terribly amused, I think it was meant to be a humorous battle of the sexes conversation. Other than this incident and one on his wedding day when Jason got extremely ticked off at Charlotte when she told him lies out of fear, with the intention of stopping the wedding, Jason was a pretty good guy who was patient and gentle. Early on in their relationship, it was rather cute how he started falling in love with Charlotte and didn't even realize it at first. He's essentially the consummate bachelor who spends some time protesting his own feelings, but once he makes up his mind, he's pretty much unstoppable. At the end, when Charlotte finally fessed up about everything that happened in her first marriage, Jason was very kind and compassionate.

Charlotte is a single mother who's been through a lot in her life. Her father walked out on her and her mother, and then her mother died when she was only a teenager. She ended up marrying young, and it was an awful marriage that caused her heartache and heartbreak in so many ways. The only good thing that came out of it was her daughter, Carrie, and now that she's divorced, the two of them are basically alone in the world. That doesn't stop Charlotte from longing for a family to call her own, but she was so traumatized by her first husband that she's avoided men like the plague until her daughter decides that her mom needs a man in her life and approaches Jason, who is their landlord, about filling the position. From the beginning, Charlotte is unperturbed by Jason's love of sports and him being a slob. She even held her own when Jason made his lame comments about women. She's also an excellent mother, who obviously adores children and would dearly love to have more. However, the abuse she suffered has made her extremely nervous around men and also something of a people pleaser, who has to learn to stand up for herself and that she's not the woman her husband led her to believe she was.

Since Jason is the last Manning sibling to get married and the only one to have a big wedding, of course, the entire Manning clan is on hand. Still, it was primarily Paul and Leah (Stand-In Wife) and Rich and Jamie (Marriage of Inconvenience), who played the strongest roles, and it was nice to see them and their growing families. As far as I can tell, Debbie Macomber's characters never ever have sex outside of marriage, so it's always amusing to see what schemes she'll come up with next to get her couple hitched quickly before falling into bed (although the door is always closed on these scenes). This time, the well-meaning but overbearing Manning parents played a role in that. Despite how ridiculous some of these scenarios are, I somehow still manage to enjoy the story in the end.

Overall, I really liked Bride on the Loose. I think the only thing that could have made it better is if it had been a bit longer to develop the characters and plot a little more fully. Because of the emotional nature of Charlotte's past, it isn't quite as light and breezy as some of the other stories in the series have been, but it was still a fairly easy read. Now I'm looking forward to finding out what's in store for Christy's ex-fiancé and family friend, James, in the final full-length novel of the series, Same Time, Next Year. Bride on the Loose was originally published as a stand-alone novel in the Silhouette Special Edition line, and was later reprinted in the single-author anthology The Manning Grooms along with the fourth book of the series. Star Rating: ****

Same Time, Next Year - Same Time, Next Year is the fourth and final full-length novel in Debbie Macomber's Those Manning Men series. As with pretty much all the books in the series, it's a sweet, light romance. Although thankfully, Ms. Macomber doesn't gloss over sexual attraction, there are no explicit elements, making it suitable for most romance readers. In this book, James, Christy Manning's ex-fiancé and the man she left in the dust, finally gets his HEA. While James isn't a Manning by blood, he's been a friend of the family for years and is basically an honorary Manning. The Manning parents definitely treat him like one of their own and welcome Summer into their lives as well, but of course, they each have their own parents too, so it makes for a large, warm, family-oriented story.

James is a hard-working attorney who has just been appointed to serve out the term of a retiring Superior Court judge. At thirty-seven, he's the youngest person to be appointed to the bench in Seattle, and he has every intention of running for office in the fall in hopes of making his new job permanent. Most people seem to view James as something of a stodgy, stuffed shirt, which could kind of be seen in some of the previous books of the series. Although he does begin the book seeming rather reserved, he gets over that pretty quickly when Summer comes into his life. Once he realizes how much in love with her he is, he's transformed into a very loving and passionate man. I suppose it could be said that Summer simply brought out the best in him.

Summer is a light and breezy character most of the time, but her emotions still occasionally get in the way of her making the best choices. She's an actress and singer who performs at Disneyland. She really enjoys her job, but when she falls for James, she's more than willing to give it up to stand by his side as he pursues his career. Much like with the other heroines in this series, her parents are well-meaning, but a bit overbearing, and she kind of allows them to run rough-shod over her, though not nearly as much as Christy did in her book. I'm glad that Summer stood up to her cheating ex-fiancé, although I did question her judgment just a little when she didn't tell James about her ex continuing to call her even after they were married. I also felt like she let James's campaign manager get to her way too easily. I kind of understood that she wanted to do what was best for her husband and his campaign, but the man was obviously an idiot. Ultimately, I felt like she was a bit naive and should have had an open, honest conversation with James about it before essentially running away.

James and Summer are a cute and well-matched couple, but I have to admit the beginning of the story was a little slow for me. I just didn't really feel that building attraction like I wanted to. They met in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve right after Summer had discovered her fiancé's infidelity, and James consoled her. Having gone through a similar break-up himself, he understood her and assured her that she would feel much better within a year, which led to them making a 'date' to meet in Vegas again the next New Year's Eve. Throughout the coming year, they exchanged letters monthly, which I thought was a sweet gesture since few people actually write letters anymore. Supposedly a deep friendship built between them during that time, but we don't really get to see that happening. When they meet up again, Summer initially isn't even thinking of James in a romantic way, so the sudden attraction to one another and the quickie marriage felt like they were going from 0 to 100 within only a few days time. It might have been nice if they'd actually started experiencing romantic feelings for one another through their letter writing. Once they're married, though, the love and passion they feel for one another is very obvious. They can hardly stand being apart (honestly I don't think the long separation was all that necessary, but will grudgingly admit it added conflict and tension), and when they're together they can hardly keep their hands off each other.;-) I was so glad when James's dad finally put an end to their misery and brought Summer home to James.

With all the family ties, there are secondary characters aplenty. James's dad was my favorite. He's been wanting James to marry and give him grandkids for a long time, so he's crazy about Summer. He very much treats her like the daughter he never had, and has lots of great fatherly advice to dispense to both James and Summer. He's very involved in their lives, without being overbearing like Summer's family and the Manning parents can sometimes be. Of course all the Mannings who reside in Seattle show up at some point in the story, and it was fun to see them and their growing families.

Overall, Same Time, Next Year was a sweet story that I mostly enjoyed. Having read the entire Those Manning Men series now, plus The Manning Sisters duet, I know that Debbie Macomber sometimes uses soap-opera-style plotting that makes me want to groan, yet somehow it all works out in the end and I can't help feeling happy for the loving couple. Not to mention, her stories always express the all-important emotion I look for in a romance. There's one more wrap-up novella in this series, Silver Bells, that is supposed to reunite the entire Manning clan for Christmas while telling a new story. I have no idea who the main characters might be, but I'm looking forward to reading it this coming holiday season. Same Time, Next Year was originally published as a stand-alone novel in the Silhouette Special Edition line, and was later reprinted in the single-author anthology The Manning Grooms along with the third book of the series. Star Rating: **** ( )

Bride on the Loose: Jason Manning, middle Manning brother, confirmed bachelor, slob and sports fan. Charlotte Weston, prim and proper executive assistant and divorced mother of 9th grader, Carrie. What happens when Carrie offers to pay Jason to date her mom? While the sparks fly, so do Cupid’s arrows. Will Eric and Elizabeth manning finally get to organise the big fancy wedding they have so very much wanted to, but missed out on with two sons and two daughters? Same Time, Next Year: James Wilkens, almost a Manning groom, almost married Christie Manning. A year later, James is in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve when he meets Summer Lawton, newly broken-hearted. He promises her she will be over it in a year, and they arrange to meet Same Time Next Year. Surprisingly for both of them, they end up married. But James is a Supreme Court Judge and budding politician, and Summer feels that her career as a singer/actress will adversely affect his future prospects. Elizabeth, Eric and several of the other Mannings make an appearance. Macomber leaves us feeling good, once again. ( )