Mackenzies' Honor: Mackenzie's Pleasure＼A Game Of Chance [ペーパーバック]

In December 2005, I stumbled across this book (MACKENZIE'S PLEASURE) in a Silhouette edition twofer combining books by two different authors. Mackenzie's Pleasure, my Buried Treasure find for 2005, is the story of Zane Mackenzie, the youngest son of Wolf Mackenzie and his wife Mary Elizabeth (hero and heroine of Mackenzie's Mountain); I would love to see a twofer combining Mackenzie's Mountain with Mackenzie's Pleasure. Unfortunately, I have to settle for this book, which combines an excellent book with a less successful one.

Zane Mackenzie is called upon to execute a mission to rescue an ambassador's kidnapped daughter Barrie Lovejoy out of Libya. The first third of the book is about how the rescue takes place and with what consequences. In the second third, Zane and Barrie are separated by circumstances until they manage to find each other. Since there is a mystery and a bit of romantic suspense to the plot, I will not go further with the plot summary. It is probably sufficient to say that Barrie's kidnapping and rescue is somewhat more complicated than either Zane or Barrie realized.

MACKENZIE'S PLEASURE is one of the few stories where I genuinely liked the hero and heroine from the outset, and where I also felt that they were right for each other. That this contributed to my liking the book is not in question. Linda Howard's writing style also helped, as did her characterizations. Zane is an alpha male but not an overbearing alpha, but a protector and leader. The other SEALS came alive as did the heroine and her Ambassador father. What didn't work so well for me was the villain and his motivation (especially as explained to Barrie at the end).

Unfortunately, A GAME OF CHANCE is a very different kind of story about Chance, the adoptive son. Putting Chance and Zane together in the same "twofer" makes some sense, given that they are about the same age and apparently fought together regularly. The problem is not that Chance is the adoptive son, but that he is a different person from Zane. Whereas Zane makes it a point to protect the woman he loves (whether he realizes it or not), Chance uses the woman he loves (the heroine) as a bait for a dangerous trap. Arguing that he is not in love with the heroine does not change this fact. Chance's story is thus a disappointment for those who love heroes in the mold of Wolf and Zane Mackenzie, men who would do almost anything (save betray their country) to protect their families and their mates. I keep wondering if Chance would again put his wife in the line of fire in the national interest; the trouble is that I cannot convince myself that he had changed by the end.

MIRA's reprints: Mackenzie's Mountain (Wolf) goes with Mackenzie's Mission (Joe) in one volume. While Mackenzie's Magic (a story in an anthology) is left out, Mackenzie's Pleasure (Zane) is combined with A Game of Chance (Chance) in another volume. Of course, we have no stories for Michael and Josh, but have to find out what happy ending was in store for them from the first and last chapter of Mackenzie's Pleasure. I wish MIRA would reprint just the strongest stories Mackenzie's Mountain and Mackenzie's Pleasure.

Written by bookjunkiereviews 22 January 2006

This book contains two stories, described below.

4 stars to MACKENZIE'S PLEASURE.
Nice story. I liked it. I plan to read most of Linda Howard's books. She is an excellent author. Although this was not one of her best, it was still worth reading. Story brief: Ambassador's daughter Barrie is kidnapped. Navy SEAL Zane rescues her. She falls in love with him. She continues to be in danger.

Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: seven or more. Setting: current day Libya and a few places in USA. Copyright: 1996. Genre: contemporary romantic suspense.

3 stars to A GAME OF CHANCE.
Pretty good. Not great, but I'm glad I read it because I plan to read most of Linda Howard's books. She is an excellent author, although this was not one of her best. The story and characters were reasonably interesting. She wrapped it up a little too quickly and easily at the end.

CAUTION SPOILERS: Chance lied to Sunny through most of the book. When she learned the truth, he didn't try to soften it, justify it or make her feel better. He acted like he couldn't care less how she felt. At that point, she appeared to hate him, and I didn't blame her. A couple of weeks later, in one short conversation, he said he loved her, he got her back, and they married. It seemed too easy. I would have liked to have seen him suffer a little more. Story brief: Terrorist's daughter is on the run, hiding from her father for most of her life. US government agent discovers her and uses her as bait to draw her father to be captured.

Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: four. Setting: current day, various locations in USA. Copyright: 2000. Genre: contemporary romance with mild suspense at the end.

Along with Linda Howard's "Mackenzie's Legacy" (which includes "Mackenzie's Mission" and "Mackenzie's Mountain),

this is one of the best romance series I've read.