Cooper Manning and his five brothers were true dragons. Centuries ago, when the humans had turned on their kind, their father sacrificed himself to save his sons by casting a powerful spell which allowed them to walk among the humans. Even centuries later, Cooper couldn’t seem to let go of the past and despised most humans.Carson Langley was exhausted. After being forced to work thirty-six hours … hours straight, she unwittingly complained to the new plant owner, now she knew she was fired. There was nothing left to do but go home and cry about it later.Cooper was sent by his brother to retrieve the helpful woman and bring her back to the plant, and he wasn’t happy about it either. It didn’t help that when she answered the door she shared his sour mood, and when he touched her hand, the magic that surged between them meant only one thing–she was his other half, and she was human…. Cooper was seeing red.
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‘Cooper’ is the first book in Kathi S. Barton’s “The Manning Dragons” series. This isn’t a new series by any means, but I have somehow skipped over in my library and decided to take the time for it. There are six manning brothers: Cooper, Hudson, Lincoln, Lucas, Tristan, and Xavier. Unlike most shifter books, the Manning Dragons are originally dragons who now have the ability to change into humans rather than vice versa. You see, their mother was killed by humans when dragons were prevalent along with a mass of other dragons. Their father, and king of all dragons, had gone to a witch and gotten a powerful spell that would give his sons everything that he was, along with the ability to transform into human men and blend in so they would survive. Cooper is the oldest son and now king. The brothers have been alive for thousands of years and have done quite well financially and socially. They buy businesses that are failing and help to transform them into making money, securing reliable employees, and contributing to the overall benefit to the community. That’s how Carson came into the picture. Cooper had talked Lucas into buying a distribution company that was close to shutting down for lack of profits. Lucas was there to have a meeting with the Supervisor but his car wouldn’t start and he needed a jump. Carson was sitting in her car trying to rest after having been bullied into working three shifts in a row and then had to be clocked back in within two hours. If you know anything about Ms. Barton’s writing style, then you know the female characters in her books are strong, no-nonsense women who have no problem saying what’s on their minds. And Carson does just that not realizing until it was too late that she was talking to the new owner. The characters were terrific, filled with moments of humor, sadness, evil, and goodness, along with dragons, fairies, and wolf-shifters. I’m anxious to start ‘Hudson’ next to see where she’ll take us on the next journey.
As true dragons Cooper and his brothers are dragons who can shift into humans, thanks to their father. To help them survive the humans killing the dragons their father sacrificed himself and cast a spell to allow them to blend in with the humans.
Carson Langley just wanted to go home and sleep. But after working for 36 hours straight and talking bad about the company to the new owner, she just knows she’s lost her job. However, the company is in more trouble than the new owner’s, the Manning’s, thought and they need Carson’s help to train them about the company.
Cooper isn’t having the greatest of days. Now to make matters worse, the woman he was sent to pick up for his brothers has turned out to be his mate, and she’s human! Cooper may have been living as a human to blend in for hundreds of years, but that doesn’t mean he still doesn’t blame them for the loss him and his brothers have suffered.
Although Cooper wants nothing to do with his human mate, he knows he must protect her from the Slayers who would kill her just because of what she is to him. Can Cooper get over his hatred of humans and see that Carson is the woman who will balance him and complete him? Cooper has a lot of groveling to do and Carson doesn’t make it easy for Cooper.