Springtime Sunshine by Debbie Macomber ~ an Audiobook Review

by Donna Huber

If you are like me and only recently started reading Debbie Macomber's book, now is a good time to catch up on her older titles. Several of her early works (from the early 1990s) are being re-released as duets - 2 books in one.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free audiobook was provided for an honest review.

March 2025; Harlequin Audio; 9781488233821
audio (12h 17m), ebook, print; romance

Springtime Sunshine contains the first two books Those Manning Men series: Marriage of Inconvenience and Stand-in Wife. Both were originally published in 1992 and then released as a set in 2008. 

Marriage of Inconvenience made me very angry - I was so angry that I couldn't even think about going back to it without getting angry all over again. I did not like the main character Rich at all. I think he was abusive - his short fuse was scary and I didn't like how he treated Jamie. I know things were different in the 90s and the whole "no means no" was just gaining prominence but Rich's attitude about sex rubbed me wrong. He also confuses lust and love but I know that is often how it goes in romance novels.

What really made me mad was that he wanted the wife and kid without the work of building a relationship. Jamie wants a baby, and because she rather not have a stranger as the father, Rich takes advantage of her desperation. He makes thin excuses about the stigma of a baby born out of wedlock (though his concern is for the baby's reputation and not Jamie's) and that the baby won't have his last name if they are married. A baby gets whatever last name that you put on the birth certificate and I think by the 1990s the stigma of a divorcee or single mother would be about the same as a baby born out of wedlock.

I'm not sure how well their relationship will stand the test of time as we know that a relationship focused on the children rarely lasts after the children leave home.  We do get a glimpse of Rich and Jamie in the next book.

Stand-in Wife was better than the first book in the duet. Paul is much more mature than Rich. Even though he has an unconventional marriage with Leah, he at least makes an effort to court her.

Leah is the sister of Paul's first wife who died during childbirth. Leah moves into Paul's home to help with the children. Because the Mannings believe marriage solves everything, Paul's parents encourage Leah and Paul to get married (that way she will have health insurance - that's the reason Paul's dad gives anyways). 

Paul and Leah seemed to recognize that there needed to be more to their relationship than the kids so I have higher hopes that their marriage will survive.

The audiobook was easy to listen to. The cast of characters is pretty small and is mostly focused on the main two characters. Both books are read by Lisa Zimmerman and she gave the characters their own unique voices.

Buy Springtime Sunshine at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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