Holly‘s review of The Mackenzie series, Mackenzie’s Mountain, Mackenzie’s Mission, Mackenzie’s Pleasure, Mackenzie’s Magic and A Game of Chance by Linda Howard.

Linda Howard is, by far, one of my favorite authors. I’ve read and re-read her books so many times they’re starting to fall apart. With the exception of her two earliest releases and a few of her later ones, I adore everything she’s written. Her earlier category romances are some of her best work. Especially the Mackenzies.

I recently re-read the series. Rather than doing a full review for each book, I thought I’d just review the entire series in one post.

Mackenzie’s Mountain (book 1)
A small Wyoming town is about to learn a few lessons — from a new schoolteacher with the courage to win the heart of a man who swore he had nothing to give….

Wolf s not sure he — or the town of Ruth, Wyoming — is ready for the taming of Wolf Mackenzie.

At its heart, this novel deals with prejudice, acceptance and letting go. Having grown up in the upper mid-west and dealing first hand with Native Americans, I think Howard pretty well nailed the general mindset of the average white American during this time period. It was easy to believe that people would automatically assume the worst about Wolf simply because of his heritage. I’d like to say we’ve learned our lesson since then, but I don’t know that we have. But that’s a post for another day.

It’s been ages since I read this book. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed Wolf and Mary. Esp the way Mary stood up for herself and those she cared about.Wolf’s past and the opinions the town had of him did nothing to stop Mary from caring for him. She believed in doing what’s right, and she knows nothing is more right than loving Wolf and his son Joe. 

Wolf and Joe were both over-the-top characters. I liked that Wolf was determined to protect Mary from his reputation – and from herself – but couldn’t stay away from him. It was interesting to watch him fall. 

Of all the books in the series, I think this is my favorite. And, as GrowlyCub recently said on Twitter, the best of them all. 

4.75 out of 5 

 Mackenzie’s Mission (book 2)
HIS MISSION…

Night Wing–the revolutionary test plane with a top secret weapons system–was Colonel Joe “Breed” Mackenzie’s number-one priority. And weapons expert Caroline Evans was his number-one distraction. True, the stubborn blonde was giving him the cold shoulder, but Joe hadn’t become the best of the best by giving up. Then he discovered someone on the inside was sabotaging Night Wing, and with her late hours and specialized expertise, Caroline seemed the obvious choice. Now Joe had to choose between allegiance to his country and love for his prime suspect…

 I remember really enjoying this novel the first few times I read it, but I had a harder time letting some things go this time around. Maybe because I read it directly after I finished Mackenzie’s Mountain, but Joe seemed like a different character. He wasn’t the same boy I’d come to love in the first book, and it wasn’t just because he’d grown up. There was something fundamentally different about him. I can’t put my finger on just what.

Caroline was a good match for Joe. She’s strong willed enough to not let him get away with anything, but caring enough to get him to open up. My heart broke for her when she realizes Joe doesn’t trust her or believe her.

Joe was determined to keep Caroline at a distance, the same way he does everyone. He doesn’t want her to get close because he knows he’ll have to give all of himself to her, even the darkest parts he’s kept hidden from even his family. When all evidence points toward Caroline as the one who’s sabotaging the project, it sends him into a tailspin. He was beginning to open himself to her and he feels like she betrayed him, not just her country.

Even though I wanted to beat Joe over the head a time or two, I still loved this book.Howard is really a master at capturing the reader and pulling an emotional response from them. 


4.25 out of 5

Mackenzie’s Pleasure (book 3)
Navy SEAL Zane Mackenzie was a pro. No mission had ever gotten the better of him—until now. Saving the ambassador’s gorgeous daughter, Barrie Lovejoy, had been textbook—except for their desperate night of passion. And though his job as a soldier had ended with her freedom, his duties as a husband had only just begun. For he would sooner die than let the enemy harm the mother of his child.

 I’d forgotten that Linda Howard was anti-birth control in the early days. Of course, society as a whole wasn’t as concerned with it as we are now, so I can’t say too much.

This book begins with a prologue from Wolf’s point of view, detailing the happenings of the Mackenzie clan since the end of Mackenzie’s Mission. Approximately 20 years have passed since then and there were a lot of things that happened for the Mackenzie’s. I think it’s important to read this book and the prologue before continuing on, because it explains a lot about the family as a whole, as well as each individual sibling.

I’m not sure I ever read this book before now. I thought I’d read it, but the details were very hazy. I enjoyed both Zane and Barrie, though I do wish there had been a bit more to their story. The long separation between them didn’t allow for enough in the way of the romance. 

4 out of 5

Mackenzie’s Magic (book 4)
Meet Maris Mackenzie and the sexy stranger she woke up to find in her bed! Unfortunately, she had no memory of Alex MacNeil, the previous day…or the prize Thoroughbred she’d apparently stolen…

This is the least satisfying of all the Mackenzie books. Because of the length, both Maris and Mac were shortchanged. Though Howard did a credible job with the limited word count she had, the story would have been much improved if it were 50pages longer.

All-in-all not a bad novella, it was just too short to have the same emotional impact as the other books in the series. 

3.5 out of 5

A Game of Chance (book 5)
A Mackenzie story from New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard.
One the trail of a vicious criminal, agent Chance Mackenzie had just found the perfect bait for his trap. The solitary agent discovered that the elusive evildoer had a daughter no one knew about. And so Chance made himself the only man vibrant courier Sunny Miller could trust — and then arranged for her long-missing father to find out about them.

What Chance hadn’t foreseen was that Sunny had reasons of her own to be hiding from her father — and now Chance’s deception had brought them both one step closer to the end of everything they held dear . . .
My heart breaks for Sunny every time I reread this book. Although Chance tried to justify his actions, it’s hard for me to accept that he did what he did. I didn’t dislike him, but I had a hard time letting it go. I think Sunny forgave him too quickly.

I liked her enjoyment in life and the way she made the best of every situation. I liked Chance’s intensity and the way his emotional ties baffled him.

He needed to grovel more.  Simple as that. 

3.75 out of 5 

As a whole, this series is just as endearing as I remember. Though I found more flaws with it this time around, I still thoroughly enjoyed them.  If you haven’t already, you really need to read them.

Total series grade: 4 out of 5

The series:

This series is available from Mira. You can buy it in bundles here or here in e-format.