UNTAMED

Author: Pamela Clare ISBN: 9780843954890 12/2008 HISTORICAL Publisher: DORCHESTER
Time Period: 1758 Colonial

MacKinnon’s Rangers They were a band of brothers, their loyalty to one another forged by hardship and battle, the bond between these Highland warriors, rugged colonials, and fierce Native Americans stronger even than blood ties. UNTAMED Though forced to fight for the hated British, Morgan MacKinnon would no more betray the men he leads than slit his own throat—not even when he was captured by the French and threatened with an agonizing death by fire at the hands of their Abenaki allies. Only the look of innocent longing in the eyes of a convent-bred French lass could make him question his vow to escape and return to the Rangers. And soon the sweet passion he awoke in Amalie had him cursing the war that forced him to choose between upholding his honor and pledging himself to the woman he loves.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

UNTAMED was a long awaited read for me as I completely fell in love with Pamela Clare's SURRENDER, the first offering in her MacKinnon brothers trilogy. SURRENDER's breathtaking action scenes, detailed historical descriptions and characters that I remember as vividly today as I did when I first read it, left quite an indelible impression upon me. Ms. Clare is such a fantastic storyteller, an author who completely engages me as a reader with her exceptional plots and lilting dialogue that naturally, my anticipation and expectations were overly high for UNTAMED. Yet somehow I knew she wouldn't disappoint me, and as a matter of fact, not only did she not disappoint my expectations, she exceeded them.

This is Morgan's story, yet many of the players from SURRENDER have vital roles here, including Connor, Joseph, Annie and Ian from that first book. It was as if I had never left those characters behind and they all were as they had been, in personality and make up, and yet somehow stronger, wiser and more resilient than ever. Amalie, Morgan's convent-bred love who at first despises him and then grows to love him, is not as courageous, strong or quick-thinking as Annie as a main character, and yet she finds her strength and determination through her love for Morgan, even though differences of religion, ways of life and current events all seem to conspire against them. Their relationship and bonding is intense, with love scenes both sensual and tender. With his protective instincts stronger than those of his two brothers, the fragile and vulnerable Amalie becomes the perfect mate for Morgan; their epilogue (my favorite parts of romance stories) is both poignant and tender, leaving me completely satisfied but yet sad that their love story had to end.

Just as in SURRENDER, there's plenty of action scenes in UNTAMED that have you holding your breath and leave you literally on the edge of your seat. No one pulls you into this time period and keeps you there like Pamela Clare. Her ability to impeccably intertwine historical tidbits, breathtaking backdrops and mesmerizing characters into action-filled, romantic drama is second to none. Fast-paced, with a storyline and reading rhythm that never once wanes, historical romance just doesn't get much better than Pamela Clare's UNTAMED.

Nancy Davis