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The Manning Sisters #1-2
The Manning Sisters
A beloved New York Times bestselling author takes readers to Montana in two classic tales about sisters Taylor and Christy Manning. The Cowboys Lady and The Sheriff Takes a Wife previously appeared in the Silhouette Special Edition series. Reissue.
528 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
48 people are currently reading
2213 people want to read
About the author
Debbie Macomber
908 books20.7k followersDebbie Macomber is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers with more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. In her novels, Macomber brings to life compelling relationships that embrace family and enduring friendships, uplifting her readers with stories of connection and hope. Macomber’s novels have spent over 1,000 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Fifteen of these novels hit the number one spot.
In 2023, Macomber’s all-new hardcover publication includes Must Love Flowers (July). In addition to fiction, Macomber has also published three bestselling cookbooks, three adult coloring books, numerous inspirational and nonfiction works, and two acclaimed children’s books.
Celebrated as “the official storyteller of Christmas”, Macomber’s annual Christmas books are beloved and six have been crafted into original Hallmark Channel movies. Macomber is also the author of the bestselling Cedar Cove Series which the Hallmark Channel chose as the basis for its first dramatic scripted television series. Debuting in 2013, Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove was a ratings favorite for three seasons.
She serves on the Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet, is a YFC National Ambassador, and is World Vision’s international spokesperson for their Knit for Kids charity initiative. A devoted grandmother, Debbie and Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington, the town which inspired the Cedar Cove series.
In 2023, Macomber’s all-new hardcover publication includes Must Love Flowers (July). In addition to fiction, Macomber has also published three bestselling cookbooks, three adult coloring books, numerous inspirational and nonfiction works, and two acclaimed children’s books.
Celebrated as “the official storyteller of Christmas”, Macomber’s annual Christmas books are beloved and six have been crafted into original Hallmark Channel movies. Macomber is also the author of the bestselling Cedar Cove Series which the Hallmark Channel chose as the basis for its first dramatic scripted television series. Debuting in 2013, Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove was a ratings favorite for three seasons.
She serves on the Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet, is a YFC National Ambassador, and is World Vision’s international spokesperson for their Knit for Kids charity initiative. A devoted grandmother, Debbie and Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington, the town which inspired the Cedar Cove series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews
January 21, 2012
1.5 stars
These stories are both updates of older versions and it shows. Not just in that there aren't any cell phones, but in the stories themselves as when the heroine keeps insisting that she can't love the hero, she can't, she can't, she can't but then does a 180 for no reason and admits that she does. That type of poor plotting/motivation worked at one time, but not anymore. Not for me.
These stories are both updates of older versions and it shows. Not just in that there aren't any cell phones, but in the stories themselves as when the heroine keeps insisting that she can't love the hero, she can't, she can't, she can't but then does a 180 for no reason and admits that she does. That type of poor plotting/motivation worked at one time, but not anymore. Not for me.
June 23, 2014
Reviewed for THC Reviews
"3.5 stars overall"
The Cowboy's Lady - The Cowboy's Lady was my first read by Debbie Macomber. I know that Ms. Macomber is a prolific writer who seems to be a romance fan favorite, and the impression of her writing that I had gotten over the years, made me think that I would really enjoy her books. Unfortunately, this initial foray into her work didn't do a whole lot for me. I think this is owing in large part to there not being much to the plot of the story and the character development being weak. The basic gist of things is that the heroine moves from the big city to the back woods of Montana to take a teaching job in an effort to get over her cheating ex-boyfriend's betrayal. There she meets a stubborn, chauvinistic rancher and becomes a mentor of sorts to his teenage sister for whom he is guardian. The two butt heads constantly over women's issues yet inexplicably fall in love, then after she puts him off for a while, he talks her into a quickie wedding. The end.
The other thing that didn't really work for me in this story was the hero. Russ is extremely chauvinistic, harboring very antiquated notions of a woman's place in society, so much so that he felt like a throwback to a much earlier generation. He thinks that women should stay at home and be completely responsible for the housework, cooking and child-rearing, and he doesn't think women are suitable to hold public office. He's constantly at odds with his fourteen year old sister about things like make-up, clothes, cheer-leading uniforms, and dating. Granted Taylor does get him to lighten up on a few of these things to some extent, but he often put up a fuss getting there and it was never quite enough to make me believe that he'd truly changed by the end. In fact, every time I thought he was making headway, he'd take two steps back by making yet another lame-brained comment about women which made it very difficult to warm up to him at all. For me, there's also a pretty fine line between an alpha hero laying claim to his heroine and him simply making arrogant assumptions, and in my opinion, Russ definitely had a tendency to step over that line. Additionally, I didn't really care for the jealousy game he played when Taylor stubbornly pushed him away. To me, that was kind of childish. I felt that if he had been emotionally gentler with her to begin with, maybe she wouldn't have felt the need to distance herself from him and would have been more open to communicating. While I don't necessarily consider myself to be a true feminist, I do harbor enough feminist sensibilities that Russ certainly rubbed me the wrong way. However, I suppose there is something to be said for heroes who are the pursuers in a relationship, so readers who enjoy this type of thing or are fans of hard-headed, stubborn alpha males may like him more than I did.
Initially, I liked Taylor quite a bit. I loved the way she wasn't afraid to go toe-to-toe with Russ when he was being pig-headed, and she was a great buffer between him and his sister, Mandy, almost always eventually getting him to see reason where the girl was concerned. That said though, Taylor inexplicably melts every time he's around which didn't make a lot of sense to me. After growing up with a dad who was just like Russ and with whom she didn't really get along, I'd have been running the other way. Taylor did have a few misgivings, but almost always gave in anyway, until Russ really started putting the pressure on by saying he was in love with her. Then, she started pushing him away which was equally nonsensical to me. Her hesitation seemed to be rooted in what her cheating ex did to her, but I was never sure if she was afraid Russ would cheat on her too, or if she was afraid to trust any man, or what. Whatever Taylor's issues, they didn't last long before she did yet another about face, agreeing to a quickie wedding in Reno which seemed more like an excuse for them to finally have sex, but then disappointingly, all we get is a cut-scene. I may have liked Taylor in the beginning, but she made a lot of odd decisions along the way that begged for more explanation. I really felt like the author needed to dig much deeper with her characterization for me to fully understand Taylor.
When I first started reading The Cowboy's Lady I thought that it was going to be a humorous romance. Some of the butting of heads that Russ and Taylor do early on could be rather funny, but as it continued over and over, the novelty wore off for me and it simply became annoying. I just didn't feel like there was enough reasons given for these two even being attracted to one another, much less falling in love. After all, they were polar opposites with virtually nothing in common which just didn't work well for me. I simply never felt a real love connection between them, so ultimately, this was merely an OK book for me.
The Cowboy's Lady introduces the hero and heroine of the second book in the Manning Sisters duet, The Sheriff Takes a Wife. Cody is the local sheriff and best friend to Russ. He's also attracted to Taylor and goes out on one date with her while she's pushing Russ away. His heroine will be Taylor's sister, Christy, with whom Taylor has a late-night phone conversation. Even though The Cowboy's Lady failed to wow me, in the interest of finishing both the series and The Manning Sisters anthology in which I read this story, I'm sure I'll give Cody and Christy's book a try sometime in the near future. The Cowboy's Lady was originally published as a stand-alone novel in the Silhouette Special Edition line, and was later republished in the single-author anthology The Manning Sisters along with it's companion book in the series. Star Rating: ***
The Sheriff Takes a Wife - The Sheriff Takes a Wife is the second book I've read by Debbie Macomber and the second in The Manning Sisters duet. I liked it quite a bit more than the first book of the series. It is a very sweet story, but it contains some elements that I know won't be very popular with many modern romance readers. Therefore, I know it won't work for everyone, but it worked pretty well for me. In fact, after getting off to a rocky start with this author, The Sheriff Takes a Wife has restored my belief that Debbie Macomber can write the kind of stories that I will enjoy.
Christy was a wonderful sister to come all the way from Seattle to the backwoods of Montana to help her sister, Taylor, who is about to give birth to her first child. That's not too surprising though, because Christy is nice to everyone, perhaps a little too nice. She's the consummate 'good girl' who always did what her parents asked of her and never gave them a moment's trouble or worry. She's newly engaged to James, an attorney in the law firm where she works, but the moment she meets Cody, there's an instant spark of chemistry that makes her realize that she never truly loved James and only accepted his proposal because he was a comfortable choice of whom her parents approved. Unfortunately though, Christy is the ultimate people pleaser who doesn't like to rock the boat and can't bear to do anything that might upset someone else even if it means giving up her own happiness, but in the process, she not only hurt herself but ended up hurting Cody too with her wishy-washy way of handling things. At first, she doesn't want to break-up with James over the phone which was completely understandable. She promised Cody she'd end the engagement and tell her parents about them as soon as she got back to Seattle, but she returns to a surprise engagement party that her mom went to great lengths to plan and her fiancé embroiled in a court case that could make or break his career. A part of me understood why she didn't want to break up with James immediately and tell her parents that the engagement was off, but another part of me felt like she was kind of allowing them to railroad her into it. Of course, the more she allows them to do without telling them the truth, the deeper she buries herself in a horrible mess. There was one point where she decided that she couldn't tell them even if it meant losing Cody, and that really started to call into question in my mind whether she loved Cody enough to make their relationship work. Quite frankly, if Cody hadn't saved the day, I'm not entirely convinced that Christy would have ever broken off her engagement. Like Cody said, if something didn't happen to stop the madness, she'd eventually have ended up married to James and have no idea how she got there, and on some level, I had to agree with him. For that reason, I didn't 100% respect Christy even though I understood how difficult it was for her to disappoint someone else.
Based on the one date Cody had with Taylor in The Cowboy's Lady, I already knew I liked him. Even though he's best friends with Russ, the hero of that story who I could barely stand, Cody is definitely not the pig-headed, chauvinistic man that his friend is, for which I was truly grateful. In fact, Cody is a sweet beta hero, because no alpha would have ever stood for all the stuff that Christy put him through. Cody was badly hurt by an ex-girlfriend who turned out to be nothing but a con-artist, and although he wants to be upset with Christy for not initially telling him the truth about being engaged and then not keeping her promise to break things off, he understands her and sees the good in her. In fact, her sweetness and kindness toward others was part of what drew him to her in the first place. Eventually, Cody found a touch of alpha possessiveness and went after Christy to save her from herself and her well-meaning but overbearing family. Without him doing this, I'm not sure they ever would have succeeded as a couple, because Christy just couldn't seem to say 'no' even though it was tearing her apart to be in love with one man and engaged to another. Cody was a good, honest, honorable man who fell head over heels, madly in love with Christy at first sight and couldn't let her go no matter what lengths he had to go to. As a result, I couldn't help but fall for him.
As a couple, Cody and Christy started out by bonding over the birth of her sister's baby. Their attraction to one another is immediate and palpable. Normally, I'm not a big fan of love at first sight, but somehow Ms. Macomber made me really sense Cody and Christy's burgeoning feelings for one another and made me believe they belonged together in spite of her being engaged to another man. They're like a couple of teenagers who can't seem to keep their hands off each other or stop kissing which was really cute. I thought it was very romantic how Cody followed Christy part way out of town when she left Cougar Point, and pulled her over with his sheriff's car to say goodbye one more time before following her the rest of the way to the county line. These two could hardly bear to be apart from one another and that was really sweet. Considering that this is a pretty short book, having them apart for even a short amount of time was difficult, because it didn't leave a lot of time for relationship development. However, the author made excellent use of the time they did have together to show just how crazy in love with each other they are.
The only downside to this story other than Christy's seeming inability to stand up for herself was the whole love triangle aspect. This is something I typically have a hard time with, especially when the third wheel isn't a jerk. Both Christy and Taylor repeatedly talk about how nice James is, although Taylor contends that he's boring and not right for Christy. This is somewhat apparent in the fact that he seems to be a workaholic who lacks the sort of passion and ability to express his feelings that Cody displays, but underneath it all, he was a good man who got left out in the cold which is something I always hate to see. Otherwise, The Sheriff Takes a Wife is a really sweet enjoyable story. The madcap race to get Taylor to the hospital to have the baby was a fun way to start the book, and Taylor and Russ play pretty significant roles. Russ still had a tendency to rub me the wrong way, but I liked that Taylor put him in his place when he needed it.;-) We're also introduced to Taylor and Christy's three brothers, Rich, Paul, and Jason who get their own stories in the spin-off series, Those Manning Men. Rich is up first in the opening book of that series, Marriage of Inconvenience, and now that I've had a much better experience with Debbie Macomber this time, I'm very much looking forward to reading that book soon. The Sheriff Takes a Wife was originally published as a stand-alone novel in the Silhouette Special Edition line, and was later republished in the single-author anthology The Manning Sisters along with it's companion book in the series. Star Rating: ****
"3.5 stars overall"
The Cowboy's Lady - The Cowboy's Lady was my first read by Debbie Macomber. I know that Ms. Macomber is a prolific writer who seems to be a romance fan favorite, and the impression of her writing that I had gotten over the years, made me think that I would really enjoy her books. Unfortunately, this initial foray into her work didn't do a whole lot for me. I think this is owing in large part to there not being much to the plot of the story and the character development being weak. The basic gist of things is that the heroine moves from the big city to the back woods of Montana to take a teaching job in an effort to get over her cheating ex-boyfriend's betrayal. There she meets a stubborn, chauvinistic rancher and becomes a mentor of sorts to his teenage sister for whom he is guardian. The two butt heads constantly over women's issues yet inexplicably fall in love, then after she puts him off for a while, he talks her into a quickie wedding. The end.
The other thing that didn't really work for me in this story was the hero. Russ is extremely chauvinistic, harboring very antiquated notions of a woman's place in society, so much so that he felt like a throwback to a much earlier generation. He thinks that women should stay at home and be completely responsible for the housework, cooking and child-rearing, and he doesn't think women are suitable to hold public office. He's constantly at odds with his fourteen year old sister about things like make-up, clothes, cheer-leading uniforms, and dating. Granted Taylor does get him to lighten up on a few of these things to some extent, but he often put up a fuss getting there and it was never quite enough to make me believe that he'd truly changed by the end. In fact, every time I thought he was making headway, he'd take two steps back by making yet another lame-brained comment about women which made it very difficult to warm up to him at all. For me, there's also a pretty fine line between an alpha hero laying claim to his heroine and him simply making arrogant assumptions, and in my opinion, Russ definitely had a tendency to step over that line. Additionally, I didn't really care for the jealousy game he played when Taylor stubbornly pushed him away. To me, that was kind of childish. I felt that if he had been emotionally gentler with her to begin with, maybe she wouldn't have felt the need to distance herself from him and would have been more open to communicating. While I don't necessarily consider myself to be a true feminist, I do harbor enough feminist sensibilities that Russ certainly rubbed me the wrong way. However, I suppose there is something to be said for heroes who are the pursuers in a relationship, so readers who enjoy this type of thing or are fans of hard-headed, stubborn alpha males may like him more than I did.
Initially, I liked Taylor quite a bit. I loved the way she wasn't afraid to go toe-to-toe with Russ when he was being pig-headed, and she was a great buffer between him and his sister, Mandy, almost always eventually getting him to see reason where the girl was concerned. That said though, Taylor inexplicably melts every time he's around which didn't make a lot of sense to me. After growing up with a dad who was just like Russ and with whom she didn't really get along, I'd have been running the other way. Taylor did have a few misgivings, but almost always gave in anyway, until Russ really started putting the pressure on by saying he was in love with her. Then, she started pushing him away which was equally nonsensical to me. Her hesitation seemed to be rooted in what her cheating ex did to her, but I was never sure if she was afraid Russ would cheat on her too, or if she was afraid to trust any man, or what. Whatever Taylor's issues, they didn't last long before she did yet another about face, agreeing to a quickie wedding in Reno which seemed more like an excuse for them to finally have sex, but then disappointingly, all we get is a cut-scene. I may have liked Taylor in the beginning, but she made a lot of odd decisions along the way that begged for more explanation. I really felt like the author needed to dig much deeper with her characterization for me to fully understand Taylor.
When I first started reading The Cowboy's Lady I thought that it was going to be a humorous romance. Some of the butting of heads that Russ and Taylor do early on could be rather funny, but as it continued over and over, the novelty wore off for me and it simply became annoying. I just didn't feel like there was enough reasons given for these two even being attracted to one another, much less falling in love. After all, they were polar opposites with virtually nothing in common which just didn't work well for me. I simply never felt a real love connection between them, so ultimately, this was merely an OK book for me.
The Cowboy's Lady introduces the hero and heroine of the second book in the Manning Sisters duet, The Sheriff Takes a Wife. Cody is the local sheriff and best friend to Russ. He's also attracted to Taylor and goes out on one date with her while she's pushing Russ away. His heroine will be Taylor's sister, Christy, with whom Taylor has a late-night phone conversation. Even though The Cowboy's Lady failed to wow me, in the interest of finishing both the series and The Manning Sisters anthology in which I read this story, I'm sure I'll give Cody and Christy's book a try sometime in the near future. The Cowboy's Lady was originally published as a stand-alone novel in the Silhouette Special Edition line, and was later republished in the single-author anthology The Manning Sisters along with it's companion book in the series. Star Rating: ***
The Sheriff Takes a Wife - The Sheriff Takes a Wife is the second book I've read by Debbie Macomber and the second in The Manning Sisters duet. I liked it quite a bit more than the first book of the series. It is a very sweet story, but it contains some elements that I know won't be very popular with many modern romance readers. Therefore, I know it won't work for everyone, but it worked pretty well for me. In fact, after getting off to a rocky start with this author, The Sheriff Takes a Wife has restored my belief that Debbie Macomber can write the kind of stories that I will enjoy.
Christy was a wonderful sister to come all the way from Seattle to the backwoods of Montana to help her sister, Taylor, who is about to give birth to her first child. That's not too surprising though, because Christy is nice to everyone, perhaps a little too nice. She's the consummate 'good girl' who always did what her parents asked of her and never gave them a moment's trouble or worry. She's newly engaged to James, an attorney in the law firm where she works, but the moment she meets Cody, there's an instant spark of chemistry that makes her realize that she never truly loved James and only accepted his proposal because he was a comfortable choice of whom her parents approved. Unfortunately though, Christy is the ultimate people pleaser who doesn't like to rock the boat and can't bear to do anything that might upset someone else even if it means giving up her own happiness, but in the process, she not only hurt herself but ended up hurting Cody too with her wishy-washy way of handling things. At first, she doesn't want to break-up with James over the phone which was completely understandable. She promised Cody she'd end the engagement and tell her parents about them as soon as she got back to Seattle, but she returns to a surprise engagement party that her mom went to great lengths to plan and her fiancé embroiled in a court case that could make or break his career. A part of me understood why she didn't want to break up with James immediately and tell her parents that the engagement was off, but another part of me felt like she was kind of allowing them to railroad her into it. Of course, the more she allows them to do without telling them the truth, the deeper she buries herself in a horrible mess. There was one point where she decided that she couldn't tell them even if it meant losing Cody, and that really started to call into question in my mind whether she loved Cody enough to make their relationship work. Quite frankly, if Cody hadn't saved the day, I'm not entirely convinced that Christy would have ever broken off her engagement. Like Cody said, if something didn't happen to stop the madness, she'd eventually have ended up married to James and have no idea how she got there, and on some level, I had to agree with him. For that reason, I didn't 100% respect Christy even though I understood how difficult it was for her to disappoint someone else.
Based on the one date Cody had with Taylor in The Cowboy's Lady, I already knew I liked him. Even though he's best friends with Russ, the hero of that story who I could barely stand, Cody is definitely not the pig-headed, chauvinistic man that his friend is, for which I was truly grateful. In fact, Cody is a sweet beta hero, because no alpha would have ever stood for all the stuff that Christy put him through. Cody was badly hurt by an ex-girlfriend who turned out to be nothing but a con-artist, and although he wants to be upset with Christy for not initially telling him the truth about being engaged and then not keeping her promise to break things off, he understands her and sees the good in her. In fact, her sweetness and kindness toward others was part of what drew him to her in the first place. Eventually, Cody found a touch of alpha possessiveness and went after Christy to save her from herself and her well-meaning but overbearing family. Without him doing this, I'm not sure they ever would have succeeded as a couple, because Christy just couldn't seem to say 'no' even though it was tearing her apart to be in love with one man and engaged to another. Cody was a good, honest, honorable man who fell head over heels, madly in love with Christy at first sight and couldn't let her go no matter what lengths he had to go to. As a result, I couldn't help but fall for him.
As a couple, Cody and Christy started out by bonding over the birth of her sister's baby. Their attraction to one another is immediate and palpable. Normally, I'm not a big fan of love at first sight, but somehow Ms. Macomber made me really sense Cody and Christy's burgeoning feelings for one another and made me believe they belonged together in spite of her being engaged to another man. They're like a couple of teenagers who can't seem to keep their hands off each other or stop kissing which was really cute. I thought it was very romantic how Cody followed Christy part way out of town when she left Cougar Point, and pulled her over with his sheriff's car to say goodbye one more time before following her the rest of the way to the county line. These two could hardly bear to be apart from one another and that was really sweet. Considering that this is a pretty short book, having them apart for even a short amount of time was difficult, because it didn't leave a lot of time for relationship development. However, the author made excellent use of the time they did have together to show just how crazy in love with each other they are.
The only downside to this story other than Christy's seeming inability to stand up for herself was the whole love triangle aspect. This is something I typically have a hard time with, especially when the third wheel isn't a jerk. Both Christy and Taylor repeatedly talk about how nice James is, although Taylor contends that he's boring and not right for Christy. This is somewhat apparent in the fact that he seems to be a workaholic who lacks the sort of passion and ability to express his feelings that Cody displays, but underneath it all, he was a good man who got left out in the cold which is something I always hate to see. Otherwise, The Sheriff Takes a Wife is a really sweet enjoyable story. The madcap race to get Taylor to the hospital to have the baby was a fun way to start the book, and Taylor and Russ play pretty significant roles. Russ still had a tendency to rub me the wrong way, but I liked that Taylor put him in his place when he needed it.;-) We're also introduced to Taylor and Christy's three brothers, Rich, Paul, and Jason who get their own stories in the spin-off series, Those Manning Men. Rich is up first in the opening book of that series, Marriage of Inconvenience, and now that I've had a much better experience with Debbie Macomber this time, I'm very much looking forward to reading that book soon. The Sheriff Takes a Wife was originally published as a stand-alone novel in the Silhouette Special Edition line, and was later republished in the single-author anthology The Manning Sisters along with it's companion book in the series. Star Rating: ****
June 9, 2011
While I love Debbie Macomber, I wasn't thrilled with this book. Both stories were contrived and over before they even started. You could tell where the plot was headed within the first few pages. It was a nice fluff read, but not one of Macomber's best.
March 16, 2021
I loved the romantic story line, but I agree with some of the readers that it should've included the current technology especially using cell phones rather than home phones and old fashion voicemail recordings.
June 30, 2019
I really enjoyed this book, a bit cheesy for my taste but over all a lovely book.
October 12, 2023
There are two stories of two sisters in the book. Both were good.
January 3, 2013
The Manning Sisters is 2 love stories in one book: The Cowboy's Lady and The Sheriff Takes a Wife.
In 'The Cowboy's Lady', we are introduced to Taylor Manning. Trying to heal from a difficult breakup, she moves from Seattle to a small town in Montana for a teaching position. Her first week there, she meets Russ, an attractive rancher with antiquated views on women. Although they are both opinionated and often at odds, they can't help their attraction to one another.
Picking up where 'The Cowboy's Lady' ends, 'A Sheriff Takes a Wife' introduces us to Christy Manning, Taylor's younger sister. Christy comes in town to help Taylor with her new baby and immediately meets and starts to fall for the Russ's best friend and the town sheriff, Cody. One problem-she is already engaged. Christy struggles to accommodate everyone around her-her fiance, her parents, her family. Can she break free and do what she wants?
Like Macomber's Cedar Cove series, these books are quick reads. Although the characters have real life issues and concerns, they are all a little too wholesome and 'goody goody' to be real. There is little to no suspense as to how the romances will turn out and the back and forth between the characters becomes repetitive after awhile, but for some reason, I still couldn't put the book down!
Recommend: if you are looking for a clean, old fashioned romance (very G rated), this book is for you.
In 'The Cowboy's Lady', we are introduced to Taylor Manning. Trying to heal from a difficult breakup, she moves from Seattle to a small town in Montana for a teaching position. Her first week there, she meets Russ, an attractive rancher with antiquated views on women. Although they are both opinionated and often at odds, they can't help their attraction to one another.
Picking up where 'The Cowboy's Lady' ends, 'A Sheriff Takes a Wife' introduces us to Christy Manning, Taylor's younger sister. Christy comes in town to help Taylor with her new baby and immediately meets and starts to fall for the Russ's best friend and the town sheriff, Cody. One problem-she is already engaged. Christy struggles to accommodate everyone around her-her fiance, her parents, her family. Can she break free and do what she wants?
Like Macomber's Cedar Cove series, these books are quick reads. Although the characters have real life issues and concerns, they are all a little too wholesome and 'goody goody' to be real. There is little to no suspense as to how the romances will turn out and the back and forth between the characters becomes repetitive after awhile, but for some reason, I still couldn't put the book down!
Recommend: if you are looking for a clean, old fashioned romance (very G rated), this book is for you.
October 28, 2021
This novel contains two series - The Cowboy's Lady and The Sheriff Takes a Wife.
In The Cowboy's Lady Taylor Manning moves to Montana falls in love with Russ Palmer. Even though I enjoyed the romantic chemistry and bantering between Taylor and Russ it became tiresome halfway through the story.
In The Sheriff Takes a Wife Christy Manning spends two weeks in Montana helping out her sister, Christy, who has just given birth to her son, Eric. Meanwhile, while visiting Christy falls in love with Sheriff Cody Franklin.
In The Cowboy's Lady Taylor Manning moves to Montana falls in love with Russ Palmer. Even though I enjoyed the romantic chemistry and bantering between Taylor and Russ it became tiresome halfway through the story.
In The Sheriff Takes a Wife Christy Manning spends two weeks in Montana helping out her sister, Christy, who has just given birth to her son, Eric. Meanwhile, while visiting Christy falls in love with Sheriff Cody Franklin.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2015
Very cute girl meets boy, girl and boy fall inexplicably and immediately in love. Usually I like my characters to wrestle with the idea of love more--but this was beautifully written. Good descriptors, emotional drive and character connection.
Worth a pick-up, I don't have any complaints (well, other than spirit is spelled 'spirt' in the second installment of this book. Let's go editors, pick it up).
Worth a pick-up, I don't have any complaints (well, other than spirit is spelled 'spirt' in the second installment of this book. Let's go editors, pick it up).
February 18, 2016
Tried and tested City Girl - Cowboy romance. This is a first of a series featuring the Manning family. I liked that the book had entertaining moments (feminist vs male chauvinist disagreements, city life and country life advantages and disadvantages to having no premarital sex). A fast paced breather book, its still a nice chiclit that would make you believe in love at first sight (or hate)
February 7, 2009
I didn't like this one as much as the other "Manning books" but come on, these are romance novels, so one can't expect too much from them. (FYI: If you are like me, the heroine in the 2nd story, will really annoy you.)
June 14, 2011
I oved it so much. The first story was my favourite. It was very cute and romantic. A quick read.
August 25, 2012
This book contained two of Macomber's earlier novels. While they were light enjoyable reading, the plots and dialogues seemed a little contrived at times. Not her best work.
July 30, 2020
2 1/2 stars
The first story was alright. Definitely a dated book written in in 1990 but republished in 2015. I seriously doubt Montana is as backwoods as this book makes it out to be. However, I fully plan on traveling there to find out for myself. But I digress, Taylor & Russ’s story was nothing special but it wasn’t terrible. Russ is certainly NOT my favorite type of male, his misogynist attitude was disgusting. Taylor was like-able but she cried entirely WAY too much in the book. For lawd sake, mop it up already! I think the kid sister way my favorite character.
Christy & Cody story= NEGATIVE Stars! ......oh gawd where do I even begin? Awful. Just purely an awful story. Cody was a like able fellow but Christy was a weak willed, pushover and I loathed her entirely. The “romance” between her & Cody happened so fast they were in absolute LOVE right off the bat. Idk but their whole relationship was just WAY too far fetched and unbelievable. Christy needed to be smacked upside her head so many times for being such a worthless, weak person (disguised as caring *pssh).
Anyway....overall it’s a HARD PASS on this book. :(
The first story was alright. Definitely a dated book written in in 1990 but republished in 2015. I seriously doubt Montana is as backwoods as this book makes it out to be. However, I fully plan on traveling there to find out for myself. But I digress, Taylor & Russ’s story was nothing special but it wasn’t terrible. Russ is certainly NOT my favorite type of male, his misogynist attitude was disgusting. Taylor was like-able but she cried entirely WAY too much in the book. For lawd sake, mop it up already! I think the kid sister way my favorite character.
Christy & Cody story= NEGATIVE Stars! ......oh gawd where do I even begin? Awful. Just purely an awful story. Cody was a like able fellow but Christy was a weak willed, pushover and I loathed her entirely. The “romance” between her & Cody happened so fast they were in absolute LOVE right off the bat. Idk but their whole relationship was just WAY too far fetched and unbelievable. Christy needed to be smacked upside her head so many times for being such a worthless, weak person (disguised as caring *pssh).
Anyway....overall it’s a HARD PASS on this book. :(
March 2, 2024
This book contains two stories, The Cowboy's Lady, and The Sheriff Takes a Wife. These stories were originally printed in 1990. This is worth noting, as despite the forward saying the stories were updated a bit before the reprint I read, the stories are still a bit dated. They are both light reads, and probably best suited to someone over 50 or 60 due to some anachronisms and the inherent chauvinism. I don't think younger readers can get past most of those things in the novel.
Despite the dated material, the stories are light and quick, and I found myself thinking of the television series, Heartland. Both romances are way too quick for me, Russ and Taylor fall in love in a few months, and quickly marry. They marry suddenly in Reno while acting as chaperones for a school sport trip for Russ's younger sister. There are a bunch of problems with that situation, but so be it. Taylor gets pregnant within weeks of the wedding. The story ends with her being pregnant.
In the second book, Taylor's sister Christy travels to Montana to help her with her new baby, not yet born. Upon her arrival, the baby decides to be born. The Sheriff has to transport the two sisters to the hospital, and Christy meets the Sheriff. They fall in love within days. And, get married within weeks of meeting. There are a ton of complications, like Christy is engaged to an attorney from work (back in Seattle) when she goes to Montana. Upon her return from Montana, her parents throw an engagement party the next night. Christy goes through with it, despite planning to break off the engagement to have a relationship with Cody, the Sheriff.
As a modern woman, I found both sisters to be very emotionally fragile, and prone to weeping. I did not understand their relationship with their parents, or much of any of their thought processes. I chalk a lot of this up to when it was written, because I have read other books by Debbie Macomber, and really liked them. These seem simple and more than a little bit unrealistic. I found out there are more books in this series, and I am not sure I would read them. But, never say never !
Despite the dated material, the stories are light and quick, and I found myself thinking of the television series, Heartland. Both romances are way too quick for me, Russ and Taylor fall in love in a few months, and quickly marry. They marry suddenly in Reno while acting as chaperones for a school sport trip for Russ's younger sister. There are a bunch of problems with that situation, but so be it. Taylor gets pregnant within weeks of the wedding. The story ends with her being pregnant.
In the second book, Taylor's sister Christy travels to Montana to help her with her new baby, not yet born. Upon her arrival, the baby decides to be born. The Sheriff has to transport the two sisters to the hospital, and Christy meets the Sheriff. They fall in love within days. And, get married within weeks of meeting. There are a ton of complications, like Christy is engaged to an attorney from work (back in Seattle) when she goes to Montana. Upon her return from Montana, her parents throw an engagement party the next night. Christy goes through with it, despite planning to break off the engagement to have a relationship with Cody, the Sheriff.
As a modern woman, I found both sisters to be very emotionally fragile, and prone to weeping. I did not understand their relationship with their parents, or much of any of their thought processes. I chalk a lot of this up to when it was written, because I have read other books by Debbie Macomber, and really liked them. These seem simple and more than a little bit unrealistic. I found out there are more books in this series, and I am not sure I would read them. But, never say never !
March 2, 2023
I've read many of Debbie Macomber's books. Maybe too many. These 2 stories-in one book-were not the kind of stories that keep my attention. I felt that the 2nd story was better than the 1st. The stories included a woman falling in love with a man but not wanting to fall in love at that time and her sister who was already committed to one man and suddenly in love with another. The 2nd story did perk up a little when the woman has the necessary task of getting out of an engagement but also trying not to hurt the man or her parents. She dragged it on too long though.
I like Debbie Macomber's style of writing but I feel I'd better concentrate on her current works than her previous ones.
I like Debbie Macomber's style of writing but I feel I'd better concentrate on her current works than her previous ones.
March 28, 2023
The first story was so much better than the second.
Cowboy’s Lady : Typical love story of a woman wanting to be on her own but meeting the guy and can’t resist. Taylor does stand her ground on her beliefs, her stance on sex. She is a teacher that believes woman should have a career so when she meets a cowboy who wants a woman home cooking and cleaning, Taylor’s hackles are up. They fight over raising his teenage sister, Mandy as well. Of course all works out in the end.
Sheriff takes a wife : Couldn’t believe how Christy just could not do anything to disappoint her parents. Understood the initial engagement but the continuing procrastinating got ridiculous. Then to marry the sheriff without a wedding after what her sister had done was so out of character and done so quickly.
Cowboy’s Lady : Typical love story of a woman wanting to be on her own but meeting the guy and can’t resist. Taylor does stand her ground on her beliefs, her stance on sex. She is a teacher that believes woman should have a career so when she meets a cowboy who wants a woman home cooking and cleaning, Taylor’s hackles are up. They fight over raising his teenage sister, Mandy as well. Of course all works out in the end.
Sheriff takes a wife : Couldn’t believe how Christy just could not do anything to disappoint her parents. Understood the initial engagement but the continuing procrastinating got ridiculous. Then to marry the sheriff without a wedding after what her sister had done was so out of character and done so quickly.
February 1, 2024
Debbie Macomber series on The Manning Family. This is in regards to the first Manning Sisters Book #1 - excellently written with Debbie’s style and flair. The angst, fighting the urge of attraction for each other because opposites shouldn’t attract especially in such obvious ways! But sometimes it’s all that much better in the end!
1/31/24 - 2/1/24 The Manning Sisters Book #2 - continues with the Manning Family Saga. Much to the chagrin of their parents both daughters seem to have a mind of their own and are going to do as they please regardless what their parents want and their three brothers are enjoying every minute of it! There was more angst and heartache in this book compared to the first book it all worked out in the end with some yelling and hollering!
1/31/24 - 2/1/24 The Manning Sisters Book #2 - continues with the Manning Family Saga. Much to the chagrin of their parents both daughters seem to have a mind of their own and are going to do as they please regardless what their parents want and their three brothers are enjoying every minute of it! There was more angst and heartache in this book compared to the first book it all worked out in the end with some yelling and hollering!
August 12, 2018
This was definitely a fast paced story. Macomber does another excellent job of portraying two lovers who fall madly in love with each other but not without baggage. I feel that the older Macomber books follow the same story line as that of a Hallmark movie. Girl/guy falls for each other, something happens to disrupt their love, they separate, come back together and marry at the end. Even though you can guess how the story will end doesn't make this any less of a fun read. I enjoy the simple love and loyalty of her characters.
August 11, 2017
enjoyable story, although predictable at times. Almost felt like Ms. Macomber didn't use much imagination when writing these two stories. I felt like these two selections fell a bit short of what I expect from this author. Girl meets boy, hates him, loves him, denies him, wants him, denies him, wants him, denies him and so on. Again, not a bad story, just not challenging. I know this author has much better out there so I will give it another go with the next in the series in the future.
April 17, 2020
I am not an avid fantasy reader! So my review should be taken with many grains of salt! I would still recommend this books to those who like a light, feel-good, very surface romance. I don't like the troup of insta-love, so those parts of the book really bothered me for a few chapters, but after I got over myself, and let that go, this was a fun light-hearted read. So if you like a romance with rugged hard-working country boys then this book is definitely worth a read!
December 8, 2025
Not a bad read, though not my usual. Typical romance with a pari of opposites panting over each other, avoiding and not avoiding each other, and of course falling for each other. A decent story though I liked her series of books set in the village much better. Since this is also a separate novel, I'm counting this as read.
September 11, 2020
This was truly a good book I thought. I thought some parts quite comical. It was nice having a few laughs as the story was told. Truth is u never know who may b the love of your life, but when u find that person; Don't b so quick to let them go!!!;)
June 1, 2021
Manning Sisters Macomber, Debbie* * 3 F Rom.
One sister comes to Montana to teach from Washington & falls for country & rancher. When the other sister comes visit, she meets the sheriff & falls for him even though she is engaged to man back in Seattle. 2008
One sister comes to Montana to teach from Washington & falls for country & rancher. When the other sister comes visit, she meets the sheriff & falls for him even though she is engaged to man back in Seattle. 2008
December 19, 2021
I hate all the chauvinistic 1950s male junk! However, I really did enjoy the second book with her sister. That is the only reason why this is a three. But guys, it barely made it to three! Only because of her sister and the sheriff.
May 28, 2024
Originally published back in 1990. It was a quick read. Given the simplicity of the characters and the formulaic nature of the stories, I wonder if there were time and page constraints that hindered the story from being (in my opinion) "just okay" to one I would have enjoyed more.
November 29, 2025
Two stories in one novel about two sisters finding love in Montana. When you are looking for an easy and fun read, this book is for you, especially if you like the West, such as Montana. What is not to like about reading Debbie Macomber's novels? Enjoy it with a good cup of coffee or tea.
May 15, 2017
Two sisters who are city slickers end up in small town Montana for different reasons and fall in love with country boys.
July 11, 2017
Well....I guess I didn't realize it was a sort of tame romance novel. The story is too contrived and predictable. People fall in love in a few days?? Just not for me...
July 18, 2017
very predictable light reading
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