Review: The Virgin Manny by Amy Lane

Title: The Virgin Manny (The Mannies)

Author: Amy Lane

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press/Dreamspun Desires

Length:  228 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: The Virgin Manny is the perfect light-hearted way to finish out 2016 and start over with a fresh palate.

Reviewed By: Cassie

Blurb: Growing up and falling in love…

Sometimes family is a blessing and a curse. When Tino Robbins is roped into helping his sister deliver her premade Italian dinners when he should be studying for finals, he’s pretty sure it’s the latter! But one delivery might change everything.

Channing Lowell’s charmed life changes when his sister dies and leaves him her seven-year-old son. He’s committed to doing what’s best for Sammy… but he’s going to need a lot of help. When Tino lands on his porch, Channing is determined to recruit him to Team Sammy.

Tino plans to make his education count—even if that means avoiding a relationship—but as he falls harder and harder for his boss, he starts to wonder: Does he have to leave his newly forged family behind in order to live his promising tomorrow?

Review: I have enjoyed all of the Dreamspun Desires titles I’ve read; they’re all fun and light-hearted, the perfect distraction reads when &$@#ing 2016 was just too real to deal with. All the titles are category romances, full of delicious trope-y fun. The Virgin Manny is my favorite so far. There’s no real angst, though it is Amy Lane, so there’s still a bit of off page sadness. The love is sweet, the thrills are big enough to lend conflict, but not enough to cause real concern, and as a Dreamspun Desires title, the happily ever after is guaranteed!

Tino and Channing feel real and sympathetic, even within their tropes. I really loved reading about them and their interactions. Amy Lane always writes wonderful characters, and the self-imposed limitations of this type of romance certainly don’t prevent her from providing the depth and development her readers expect from one of her books.

At 228 pages, the length on this one is very satisfying. It covers the primary relationship, interactions with robust secondary characters, a whisper of intrigue, and that wonderful category romance resolution. I kept checking the completion count on my kindle as I read, and I was always thrilled to find more book left than I thought I’d have. (Surely, I’m not the only one who does that?)

The Virgin Manny is the perfect light-hearted way to finish out 2016 and start over with a fresh palate. It’s fun and easy to read, so it won’t tax what’s left of your holiday brain, and its happy resolution feels like the perfect, hopeful start to the new year. I highly recommend picking this book as your first read of 2017.

You can buy The Virgin Manny here:
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