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Mansfield Brothers #1
The Return of Connor Mansfield
One of the Mansfield brothers was dead to everyone else…except her
Having mourned the "death" of her fiancé, Darby Kent isn't prepared for the moment they come face-to-face. For years, the man she loved and lost has lived in hiding. Until now. Connor is the only person who can save their ailing daughter, a living testament to the passion they once shared. But time is running out. And while Darby prays for their daughter's survival, she must confront old desires…and powerful new enemies who've patiently awaited Connor's return.
Having mourned the "death" of her fiancé, Darby Kent isn't prepared for the moment they come face-to-face. For years, the man she loved and lost has lived in hiding. Until now. Connor is the only person who can save their ailing daughter, a living testament to the passion they once shared. But time is running out. And while Darby prays for their daughter's survival, she must confront old desires…and powerful new enemies who've patiently awaited Connor's return.
- GenresRomanceRomantic Suspense
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 20, 2013
6 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Beth Cornelison
185 books59 followersBeth Cornelison started writing stories as a child when she penned a tale about the adventures of her cat, Ajax. She received her bachelor's degree in Public Relations from the University of Georgia and after working in public relations for a little more than a year, she moved with her husband from Tennessee to Louisiana, where she decided to pursue her love of writing fiction.
Since that time, she has written many more stories of adventure and romantic suspense and has won numerous honors for her work including the coveted Golden Heart prize for unpublished authors awarded by Romance Writers of America.
Beth is active on the board of directors for the North Louisiana Storytellers and Authors of Romance (NOLA STARS) in Shreveport, LA and stays involved with her sons Boy Scout pack and her church. For fun, she loves reading, traveling, playing Pokeno once a month with friends and spending down-time with her family.
She writes from her home in Louisiana, where she lives with her husband, one son, and three cats who think they are people. Beth loves to hear from her readers. You can write to her at P.O. Box 52505, Shreveport, LA 71135-2505 or visit her website at www.bethcornelison.com"
Since that time, she has written many more stories of adventure and romantic suspense and has won numerous honors for her work including the coveted Golden Heart prize for unpublished authors awarded by Romance Writers of America.
Beth is active on the board of directors for the North Louisiana Storytellers and Authors of Romance (NOLA STARS) in Shreveport, LA and stays involved with her sons Boy Scout pack and her church. For fun, she loves reading, traveling, playing Pokeno once a month with friends and spending down-time with her family.
She writes from her home in Louisiana, where she lives with her husband, one son, and three cats who think they are people. Beth loves to hear from her readers. You can write to her at P.O. Box 52505, Shreveport, LA 71135-2505 or visit her website at www.bethcornelison.com"
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 26, 2014
Plenty of action right from the beginning. It starts with an introduction to the backstory and the violent death of Darby's fiance Connor. Four years later, an insurance company is checking up on Darby's medical claims for her daughter who has leukemia. By pure luck, the employee assigned to check is "Sam" who just happens to be Connor in his new WitSec identity. Stunned to discover he has a daughter, and just how sick she is, he insists on getting tested as a donor. From there it's not long before everyone knows he's alive - including the ones who want him dead.
Connor really wanted to get in and out without anyone, especially Darby, knowing he was alive, but he hadn't counted on the test also pointing out his relationship to Savannah. Now that the cat's out of the bag, he really wants a chance to stay around for a little while and get to know her before he has to disappear again. And he has to disappear or the whole family will be in danger. He also wants the time with Darby, to try to make her understand why he let her believe he was dead. He has never stopped loving her but he couldn't ask her to give everything up to follow him. Connor is one stubborn man and there was nothing the marshals could do to keep him from being there for his family. I loved seeing him get that stubborn attitude going and watch as everything fell before him. The only thing he couldn't do was get Darby to accept the reasons he left in the first place. I loved seeing them grow closer as the days went on, even knowing that they were going to be torn apart again.
Darby was devastated when Connor died. The only thing that kept her going was the daughter they made together. She is terrified that they won't find a compatible donor and she'll be left with nothing. Discovering that Connor is alive both thrills her and infuriates her. She is so angry with him that he left without telling her, without even asking her to go along, that she can barely stand to look at him. She has some abandonment issues because her father walked out on the family without giving any reason and she sees Connor's actions as the same thing. She's grateful that he can be a donor, but she doesn't want to get involved with him again and have both she and Savannah hurt when he leaves again. She can't justify keeping him away from Savannah and watching him with her starts to melt some of the anger away. More time with him only shows her that she never stopped loving him. The only question is, will there be any way for them to be together as a family? I loved the way that Darby used a quote that one of the marshals told her about love "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to see and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." (Rumi) to get them to try to find a way.
The suspense part of the story was very well done. I was captured by the story from the beginning and was rooting for a way for Connor, Darby and Savannah to be together. I found the dissension between two of the bad guys very interesting, especially with the effect it had on the end of the story. With every page I wondered what was going to happen next. I had a great time watching the agents' frustration dealing with both Connor and Darby, though they certainly got to inflict their own later in the book. There were so many moving parts to trying to keep them safe that it only added to the suspense of seeing if it all worked. I had a question at the beginning of the book about why the third brother was going to have his own story, but that was answered later.
Connor really wanted to get in and out without anyone, especially Darby, knowing he was alive, but he hadn't counted on the test also pointing out his relationship to Savannah. Now that the cat's out of the bag, he really wants a chance to stay around for a little while and get to know her before he has to disappear again. And he has to disappear or the whole family will be in danger. He also wants the time with Darby, to try to make her understand why he let her believe he was dead. He has never stopped loving her but he couldn't ask her to give everything up to follow him. Connor is one stubborn man and there was nothing the marshals could do to keep him from being there for his family. I loved seeing him get that stubborn attitude going and watch as everything fell before him. The only thing he couldn't do was get Darby to accept the reasons he left in the first place. I loved seeing them grow closer as the days went on, even knowing that they were going to be torn apart again.
Darby was devastated when Connor died. The only thing that kept her going was the daughter they made together. She is terrified that they won't find a compatible donor and she'll be left with nothing. Discovering that Connor is alive both thrills her and infuriates her. She is so angry with him that he left without telling her, without even asking her to go along, that she can barely stand to look at him. She has some abandonment issues because her father walked out on the family without giving any reason and she sees Connor's actions as the same thing. She's grateful that he can be a donor, but she doesn't want to get involved with him again and have both she and Savannah hurt when he leaves again. She can't justify keeping him away from Savannah and watching him with her starts to melt some of the anger away. More time with him only shows her that she never stopped loving him. The only question is, will there be any way for them to be together as a family? I loved the way that Darby used a quote that one of the marshals told her about love "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to see and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." (Rumi) to get them to try to find a way.
The suspense part of the story was very well done. I was captured by the story from the beginning and was rooting for a way for Connor, Darby and Savannah to be together. I found the dissension between two of the bad guys very interesting, especially with the effect it had on the end of the story. With every page I wondered what was going to happen next. I had a great time watching the agents' frustration dealing with both Connor and Darby, though they certainly got to inflict their own later in the book. There were so many moving parts to trying to keep them safe that it only added to the suspense of seeing if it all worked. I had a question at the beginning of the book about why the third brother was going to have his own story, but that was answered later.
March 14, 2022
Connor Mansfield had to fake his death after putting organised crime boss William Gale in prison, and go into witness protection. Gale's sons, James and Vincent, have always sworn revenge. But Connor convinces his handlers to let him come out of hiding after he learns that he has a daughter, Savannah, who has cancer, and that he could be the possible only bone marrow donor match for her. So, he winds up back in the life of Savannah's mother, Darby Kent, four and a half years after abandoning her. Not only must he try and repair their fractured relationship, he must avoid the Gale brothers, who immediately start coming after him.
The idea of a hero coming out of witness protection so that he can provide bone marrow for his cancer-stricken daughter is a good one, because it provides one heck of a motivation for our hero. However, a really insufferable heroine and a relentlessly stupid plot undo the effectiveness of the initial premise!
First off the bat, I had trouble believing that US Marshals would spend this much time and effort protecting someone who has willingly left the witness protection program, as well as all of those around him. As far as I'm aware, once you're out, you're out. You're on your own, good luck! Of course, I'm no expert, and it's the sort of stretch of credibility that I could ordinarily let slide if the rest of the book was really good, but it's not. Stupidity piles on top of stupidity. It just took me right out of the book when the US Marshals effectively kidnap Darby to take her into protectively custody, which includes making it seem like a real kidnapping - throwing a hood over her head and handcuffing her! What the actual f***?!? It would never happen! Connor and Darby then plot to escape protective custody...despite effectively being told ealier that they're free to leave at any time!
Although Darby probably does need protection - from herself! At one stage in the book, she actually drives out to the prison that William Gale is housed in and asks him to call off his hit on Connor, effectively revealing that Connor is indeed out of witness protection and available for killing! We've got our Too Stupid To Live crown of 2022 right here, folks! (Albeit, this was published in 2014.)
The conflict between Darby and Connor was believable. And I really did appreciate that, unlike a lot of books in this genre, Darby and Connor took time to discuss their issues. Connor feels awful having to fake his death and abandon Darby like that, but he knew it was the only option available to him in order to keep Darby and his family safe. Not only that, but I felt it was an enormous sacrifice on Connor's behalf to give up his entire life in the way that he had to.
And as for Darby? Well, she just guilt trips Connor about it for the entirety of the book. Darby tested my last nerve. She did my head in. She was a selfish, melodramatic pain in the behind! As I said, truly insufferable! Darby has never gotten over her father leaving her without a word, so she feels as if she wasn't worth loving. Connor abandoning her without a word has made her feel the same way. After slapping and hitting Connor a few times when her emotions get the better of her, Darby would guilt trip Connor about leaving her alone as a single mother to fend for herself.
Except Connor didn't know Darby was pregnant. Savannah was born eight months after his "death".
Connor reminds Darby of this several times, but that's not good enough for her, as she just keeps on bringing it up. And although Darby recognises the sacrifice Connor made for her - not expecting her to give up her entire life and family to enter witness protection with him, that's still not good enough for her. No, siree! Connor should have discussed his decision with HER, and he should have asked HER to come with him into witness protection with him even though she couldn't have, because then it meant that Connor truly wanted HER. She complains endlessly about the choices Connor didn't let her make, without ever once acknowledging all the choices that Connor had taken away from him.
Darby's unrelenting me-me-me melodrama sucked a lot of the enjoyment out of this one, followed by the moronic plot. Also, it's just depressing reading a book where a major side plot involves a three year old child suffering from cancer. And having our H and h wind up back in the witness protection program, where they can never see any of their family again? Not a happy ending in my book!
The idea of a hero coming out of witness protection so that he can provide bone marrow for his cancer-stricken daughter is a good one, because it provides one heck of a motivation for our hero. However, a really insufferable heroine and a relentlessly stupid plot undo the effectiveness of the initial premise!
First off the bat, I had trouble believing that US Marshals would spend this much time and effort protecting someone who has willingly left the witness protection program, as well as all of those around him. As far as I'm aware, once you're out, you're out. You're on your own, good luck! Of course, I'm no expert, and it's the sort of stretch of credibility that I could ordinarily let slide if the rest of the book was really good, but it's not. Stupidity piles on top of stupidity. It just took me right out of the book when the US Marshals effectively kidnap Darby to take her into protectively custody, which includes making it seem like a real kidnapping - throwing a hood over her head and handcuffing her! What the actual f***?!? It would never happen! Connor and Darby then plot to escape protective custody...despite effectively being told ealier that they're free to leave at any time!
Although Darby probably does need protection - from herself! At one stage in the book, she actually drives out to the prison that William Gale is housed in and asks him to call off his hit on Connor, effectively revealing that Connor is indeed out of witness protection and available for killing! We've got our Too Stupid To Live crown of 2022 right here, folks! (Albeit, this was published in 2014.)
The conflict between Darby and Connor was believable. And I really did appreciate that, unlike a lot of books in this genre, Darby and Connor took time to discuss their issues. Connor feels awful having to fake his death and abandon Darby like that, but he knew it was the only option available to him in order to keep Darby and his family safe. Not only that, but I felt it was an enormous sacrifice on Connor's behalf to give up his entire life in the way that he had to.
And as for Darby? Well, she just guilt trips Connor about it for the entirety of the book. Darby tested my last nerve. She did my head in. She was a selfish, melodramatic pain in the behind! As I said, truly insufferable! Darby has never gotten over her father leaving her without a word, so she feels as if she wasn't worth loving. Connor abandoning her without a word has made her feel the same way. After slapping and hitting Connor a few times when her emotions get the better of her, Darby would guilt trip Connor about leaving her alone as a single mother to fend for herself.
Except Connor didn't know Darby was pregnant. Savannah was born eight months after his "death".
Connor reminds Darby of this several times, but that's not good enough for her, as she just keeps on bringing it up. And although Darby recognises the sacrifice Connor made for her - not expecting her to give up her entire life and family to enter witness protection with him, that's still not good enough for her. No, siree! Connor should have discussed his decision with HER, and he should have asked HER to come with him into witness protection with him even though she couldn't have, because then it meant that Connor truly wanted HER. She complains endlessly about the choices Connor didn't let her make, without ever once acknowledging all the choices that Connor had taken away from him.
Darby's unrelenting me-me-me melodrama sucked a lot of the enjoyment out of this one, followed by the moronic plot. Also, it's just depressing reading a book where a major side plot involves a three year old child suffering from cancer. And having our H and h wind up back in the witness protection program, where they can never see any of their family again? Not a happy ending in my book!
September 16, 2020
I read this second of the 3 book series and it makes the last one make sense but I still like the 3rd one better.
November 1, 2016
Never read one of Harlequins Romantic Suspense Books before but now I cans at that I did. Last night I finished reading THE RETURN OF CONNOR MANSFIELD book 1 of The Mansfield Brothers series by Beth Cornslison. The Return Of Connor Mansfield was gut retching and heart braking mixed all together. You have the return of Connor from death only to comeback and save his very sick daughter and to have a second chance at love with the Women he left behind to go into the Witsec Program to save his life and of his family's too. A very surreal store to read.
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January 12, 2016"Cornelison gives us a story that touches the heart with an interesting plot, vulnerable characters and solid storytelling". (RT Book Reviews)
Miniseries: The Mansfield Brothers
Miniseries: The Mansfield Brothers
February 6, 2016
Amazing
This was an amazing story. What a heartbreaking stormy so well written. Loved the happy ending. I highly recommend this book.
This was an amazing story. What a heartbreaking stormy so well written. Loved the happy ending. I highly recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews