Review: Stand by Your Manny (The Mannies #3) by Amy Lane

Learning to trust and falling in love.

Sammy Lowell has his hands full juggling his music, college, some pesky health problems, and making the uncles who raised him proud. He needs help fulfilling his after-school duties with his siblings. Nobody can be in two places at once—not even Sammy!

An injury puts Cooper Hoskins in a tough spot—if he can’t work, the foster sister he’s raising can’t eat. But years in the foster system have left Cooper short on trust, and opening up to accept help isn’t easy.

Luckily, family intervenes—Cooper needs a job so he can care for Felicity, and Sammy needs someone who can see past his illness to the wonderful things he has planned for his life. Each heals the damaged places in the other’s heart. But falling in love is a big responsibility for young men deep in family already. Can the two of them get past their fear of the immediate future to see forever with each other?


I am so in love with The Mannies series and knew reading about Sammy finding love would be amazing and I was right. Cooper is the perfect fit for him and he and his sister Felicity are a match for the Lowell-Grayson clan.

This book was really emotional for me, yeah I know that’s nothing new, but with Sammy and his aplastic anemia and how much Cooper took care of him, made me think of my son and his newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes. It’s not a bother to care for those you love, regardless of the type of love, and seeing Sammy struggle with trying to be all adult and take care of himself made my heart ache as a mom. But thankfully Sammy has his uncles who would move the world for him and the love of Cooper to make sure he is healthy and doing everything he can to stay that way.

So…

I adored this book but that should be a given because I love the Lowell-Grayson-Robbins clan with their mass amount of children and the needed flow chart for them all but I get a kick out of reading every story in this series.
I am going to keep this review short so I don’t ramble on and on.

Cooper is a boy who has always felt unwanted from his mother abandoning him to the numerous foster families that just didn’t care. When his last foster sister runs away twice to be with him, he takes her in even though it’s not quite legal and Felicity becomes everything to Cooper. But when Cooper takes a fall off the roof and needs taking care of himself, his boss Brandon and Brandon’s hot boyfriend Taylor introduce him to the one family that always has room for one more to love.

Sammy, we met in the first book as Channing’s nephew who opened the door on a Wednesday night hoping everything would start over when the Dinner Box girl came and instead, he opened the door to Tino who would become his new Uncle and the love of Channing’s life. Sammy has known struggle and privilege through his uncles but never let himself be ungrateful for it. When Brandon suggests Cooper be the new manny for Sammy’s younger siblings as a way for him to recoup from his injuries and give Felicity a stable home, the pieces all fall into place and young love finds its way.

This was so stinking sweet and I liked getting to know Cooper and Sammy as they fell in love. Both young men are inexperienced in everything beyond kissing and really take their time with one another and each intimate moment is so special. I got a kick out of Tino being himself with all his wisdom and how he had to calm Channing down. It was such a pleasure to see more of them as well as Brandon and Taylor who get a special bit at the end.

This series is all about family and how it chooses you, you aren’t born into it. Cooper learns to love those who care about him and trust they won’t disappear and Sammy learns he can love and depend on someone who doesn’t consider him a bother.

These two were just adorable as heck and I can’t wait for the next book…Dustin and Quin??? Really? Bring it on, Amy Lane. Bring it on.



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