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Mackenzie Family #3

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Linda Howard vuelve a deleitarnos con otro irresistible personaje de la familia Mackenzie. Esta vez nos presenta a Zane, jefe de un comando de la Armada de los Estados Unidos. Su misión es rescatar a Barrie Lovejoy, la hija mimada de un embajador, que había sido secuestrada por un grupo terrorista. Lo que debiera haber sido algo sencillo, se convertirá en la misión más importante de su vida. Y también en la más peligrosa...

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

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About the author

Linda Howard

253 books6,980 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Linda S. Howington is an American best-selling romance author writing under the pseudonym Linda Howard. After 21 years of penning stories for her own enjoyment, she submitted a novel for publication which was very successful. Her first work was published by Silhouette in 1982. She is a charter member of Romance Writers of America and in 2005 Howard was awarded their Career Achievement Award.

Linda Howard lives in Gadsden, Alabama with her husband, Gary F. Howington, and two golden retrievers. She has three grown stepchildren and three grandchildren.

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5 stars
2,719 (42%)
4 stars
2,228 (34%)
3 stars
1,178 (18%)
2 stars
240 (3%)
1 star
57 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 277 reviews
Profile Image for Esther .
924 reviews197 followers
September 24, 2022
REREAD! And again another fantastic book by Linda Howard. The EPILOGUE WAS 10 STARS!!! Loved reading about the entire family and kids. The interaction fantastic and last scene was priceless. Caroline and Joe, the best.

Okay, I know I'm sounding redundant here, but I just love these Mackenzie men. Oh boy!!! And another great read.

Zane is one wonderful Alpha male, but yet so sweet too.

And Barrie was strong and sweet. Class act.

These two were wonderful together and as well as complimentary.

I love everyone of these epilogues, LH sure knows how to write them.

I will say so far though Joe and Caroline are my favorite of the Mackenzies series and then Zane and Barrie).
Profile Image for Duchess Nicole.
1,270 reviews1,546 followers
November 27, 2017
I love this book! Usually, the older books of my favorite authors seem to lack refinement, and in the romantic suspense genre, also lack believability. But Linda Howard is almost always spot on. This is a fabulous book, and its only better that it's smack dab in the middle of the Mackenzie series. I loved Barrie...she's sweet and innocent, but steps up when she has to. And Zane...Oh, Zane! The true alpha!!!! Forever will he be one of my favorite heroes! Rescue the girl, divest her of her innocence, and unwittingly fall in love in the process. It's books like this that set the bar so high for me. Linda Howard is simply the shiz-nit!!!
September 12, 2021
September 5, 2017
I feel like I need to revisit one of my favorite family sagas....Linda Howard's MacKenzie Family is like comfort food....kinda soothes the soul.

5 MacKenzie Men Stars!!

I absolutely love Zane MacKenzie and Barrie Lovejoy! Barrie is the daughter of an US Ambassador who is kidnapped and it's up to Navy Seal Zane MacKenzie to save her.

Barrie Lovejoy is a breath of fresh air. She's spunky and definitely not a damsel in distress. She proves to Zane she can and will do whatever necessary to make it out of Benghazi alive.

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Naturally, things don't go as planned and their escape takes a detour. Meanwhile Zane and Berrie grow closer while hiding out, waiting to meet up with his team . Classic LH story with her signature alpha, definitely well worth reading even if it is a bit dated.



*Originally read: October 2012
Profile Image for Karla.
987 reviews1,105 followers
September 8, 2012
Love Zane MacKenzie!! The book was exciting, sensual and I enjoyed it from the first page to the last!
Profile Image for Dee.
1,500 reviews173 followers
March 16, 2014
This is Zane’s book and is set quite a few years into the future from the previous Mackenzie story which was Joe & Caroline’s story(Mackenzie's Mission ), but a brief update is given. Yes, any reader could have read the book as a stand-alone but that update was a little more special to those who had read the previous two stories as we got a glimpse at what had happened with the Mackenzie family in those years – Well done Ms Howard for including that!

Wolf & Mary now have a total of ten grandchildren:

Joe (Wolf’s son & Mary’s step-son) has been promoted many times and is now at the Pentagon; he has four stars and now sits on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Wanting to discover exactly what her husband feels like when he is flying, Caroline got her own pilots licence and is qualified to fly small jet aircraft. They had 5 boys (At end Joe’s book Caroline had just had their first child).

Michael (Wolf and Mary’s oldest son) is now a rancher living with his wife and 2 sons in Laramie. He married Shea Colvin who was daughter of Pam Hearst Colvin (she was Joe's girlfriend when he was 16), but Pam's father was Ralph Hearst who had hated the 'breeds' and threatend to disinherit Shea but pam stood up to him. Shea nearly died at delivery of second son and doctor advised she not have any more kids.

Josh (Wolf and Mary’s second son) now lives with his wife Lauren and their 3 sons in Seattle. Josh follows in Joe’s footsteps and became a pilot, but chose the Navy rather than the Air Force. Unfortunately Josh had a very serious crash that ended his career and left him with a stiffened right knee. On the upside he did manage to meet his doctor who quickly became a special lady in his life who later became his wife. Josh now works at an aeronautics firm developing fighter plans.

Maris (Wolf & Mary’s only daughter) followed in her father’s footsteps and loves working with horses, she is currently working as a horse trainer in Montana. She takes after Mary in that she is slight in build but had Wolf’s eyes.

Chance (Wolf & Mary’s adopted son). Chance, a part American Indian like Wolf, was adopted by Wolf and Mary when he was 14, Mary found him along the roadside when he was seriously ill with pneumonia. They soon discovered that Chance was living rough and never really knew a proper home as he avoided social care. Mary’s motherly instinct immediately kicked in and she quickly decided he was going to become their son.

Zane and Chance who initially mistrusted and disliked each other became very close. They both had entered Navy together - Zane became a SEAL whereas Chance went into Navy Intelligence. Chance had eventually left and went out on his own and is now described as a soldier of fortune who worked undercover jobs for the government.

Zane was now a SEAL team leader.


Zane and his team are sent on a mission to find and extract an ambassador’s daughter who had been kidnapped. Entering the Libyan complex Zane finds Barrie bruised and tied up naked to the bed, believing that she had been probably been raped Zane’s instinct kicked in and he took tender care of her. Fortunately Barrie hadn’t been raped as yet, but only because the group were waiting for their leader who wanted Barrie for himself. Unfortunately the rescue wasn’t as smooth as it should have been and Zane and Barrie were forced to find a secure place and sit tight for 24 hours until they could run to safety. It is during these hours that Zane and Barrie become close and knowing that they could be captured at any time and that she would likely be raped, she decided that she wanted her first time to be something she could remember and propositions Zane.

During their escape Zane gets injured and they are separated. Once back on US soil Barrie tries to find Zane to make sure he is ok but information of his where abouts is constantly blocked by the Navy. What Barrie doesn’t realise is that this information is being blocked because her father has requested it to be and not because Zane’s location needs to be kept secret because he is a SEAL. In the meantime Zane starts to recover and tries to make contact with Barrie but is blocked by her father, but Zane is determined as he wants to see Barrie again and to find out if there were consequences of the time they had spent together in those 24 hours in hiding. Barrie soon starts to put the pieces of the jigsaw together and realises that she is still in danger and could be kidnapped again, and now that she is pregnant and needs to protect her baby as well as herself she decides to leave her father’s house and go into hiding, but a few hours before she is due to leave Zane arrives and discovering Barrie is pregnant he declares she is safer with him.

The story was good and in usual Howard style the words flowed making it an easy read. I really loved the beginning when Ms Howard brings us up-to-date on what had happened since Joe’s story. Barrie is a great Heroine; she is strong and resilient but also has a soft and gentle character. Zane is also pretty incredible and is a typical sexy alpha SEAL who would make any heroine fall in love with him. I was all prepared to give this a five star rating as it all seemed like the perfect package but had to drop that to 4 stars as I really don’t like ‘insta-love’ in contemporary romance. They had only spent 24 hours in each other’s company but both believe they loved each other. I can accept that the beginnings of feelings can be established in those few hours and I can believe that both would have that natural instinct to seek each other to pursue it, but I don’t believe it can be solid, lifelong love.

A recommended read to all readers of romance and especially to those who like Ms Howard’s work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Robin.
1,850 reviews86 followers
March 11, 2017
Daughter of the American Ambassador to Greece, Barrie Lovejoy has been kidnapped from the Ambassador's residence. The terrorists have quickly moved her to an abandoned building in Libya. As luck would have it, there is a U.S. Navy SEAL team training within hours of the site. Led by Navy SEAL Zane MacKenzie, the mission is to rescue Ms. Lovejoy and get out of Benghazi without anyone noticing. Zane finds Barrie beaten and tied to a bed in an empty room. He moves her to another part of the building where they must wait for a signal from the rest of the team. Barrie and Zane grow closer as the long night turns into an equally long day of waiting to rendezvous with his team.

This story is classic Linda Howard. It is a category romance that was written in the 90's and feels a bit dated. Howard's alpha heroes are a little too much for me to take sometimes, but I do seem to easily forgive the MacKenzie men in her books. My rating: 5 Stars.
Profile Image for Cristina.
514 reviews465 followers
September 6, 2017
I absolutely loved this book!! It was perfectly written and Zane was so easy to adore. The epiloque made me laugh a lot and I don't laugh at books so easy. 5 stars can't even express how much I liked this story full of action, romance and suspense! Just one word for it: perfect!
Profile Image for Joanna.
452 reviews
December 7, 2019
Uff, el prólogo más largo pero satisfactorio que he leído... me encanta que la autora me haya logrado actualizar e informar mejor sobre la familia Mackenzie, sentía que después del epílogo de Mackenzie's Mission estaba completamente perdida.

Zane me ha encantado, la pareja que hace con Barrie es muy bonita pero sinceramente lo que más me gustó de este libro fue ver a TODA la familia Mackenzie. De verdad que ha crecido demasiado, irreal ya quiero leer el libro de Chance porque desde que me lo mencionaron he tenido demasiada curiosidad por su personaje.

En fin, Linda Howard ha logrado que me encariñe una vez más con sus personajes, me encanta el humor y la actitud que le otorga a cada uno y aunque el libro pasado no fue lo mejor que pude haber leído, aún así me fascina toda la cadena que va formando la autora y me sorprende demasiado la cantidad de gente que se ha unido a este clan que inició con tan solo dos personas.

Otra cosa más, leer sobre los SEALs me hizo querer leer más libros de Suzanne Brockmann, uff les recomiendo la saga llamada Tall, Dark & Dangerous Series, apenas llevo tres de esos pero me parecen muy adictivos y continuaré con ellos más adelante.
Profile Image for Kay.
1,901 reviews119 followers
September 21, 2012
4 1/2 Stars! ~ Navy SEAL Lt.Commander Zane MacKenzie, Wolf and Mary’s youngest son, was in the midst of a training exercise on the USS Montgomery; an exercise that resulted in two of his men injured and taken off active duty. So when his team is called in on an emergency mission, Zane himself must take the lead in rescuing the US Ambassador’s kidnapped daughter. He finds Barrie Lovejoy battered, bound and naked in a cold, dark room in a Libyan complex. It’s his job to get her out of the building while his team takes care of the terrorists. Plan A doesn’t follow and Zane has to hide out with Barrie while his team leads the terrorists away from them. Barrie is nothing of the pampered socialite that Zane thought she’d be; this woman has courage and she’s smart and resourceful. Knowing that should they be captured the rape the terrorists had promised would happen, Barrie propositions Zane and asks him to be her first lover. Needing to remain in hiding for at least 24 hours, Zane can’t refuse Barrie’s request. After their rendezvous with the Team, Zane is seriously injured and once rescued they are separated. Back in the US, Barrie is still very much afraid for her life, and now she has Zane’s child to worry about too. Marrying the sexy SEAL seems is the only option to keeping her and the child she carries safe.

I think this one is my favourite MacKenzie book so far. I liked that Ms. Howard gave us a very detailed prologue with an update on the MacKenzie clan, keeping Wolf and Mary very much a part of the series. There are actually three stages to this book, the rescue, the separation, and the reunion with the threat being resolved. Zane and Barrie are awesome characters. Once again, Ms. Howard’s hero is very alpha, but he’s not arrogant and actually very intuitive, esp. when it comes to Barrie’s needs. Barrie has a remarkable strength that pushes her to endure all that she must to survive. Her instincts recognize Zane as her protector and she leans on him without being clingy or needy. The action is very well done, the lovemaking scenes sizzle, and the epilogue a pure delight. If you haven’t had a chance to read Ms. Howard’s, MacKenzies, I encourage you to.
Profile Image for Sometime.
1,703 reviews155 followers
May 24, 2019
I spent most of my time either loving this or rolling my eyes. I think the loving it part won out.

The first 50% of the book takes place in Libya when Barrie gets kidnapped and swiftly rescued by Navy SEAL Zane. The plot was exciting and interesting but the romance was insta-lust on steroids followed quickly by a large dose of insta-love. *Cue Eyeroll* These two were only together for about 24 hours so the way things went was a bit speedy for my romantic sense.

After the rescue, the story took off again with Zane and Barrie being kept apart by circumstances. When they reunite, they take off for Las Vegas to protect Barrie from the danger that still follows her. And once again, whenever I wasn't rolling my eyes, I was loving the story. Barrie made some really TSTL (too stupid to live) choices that put them all in danger but it was near the end and didn't last too long.

I really love this series and the Mackenzie family. Linda Howard is such a good writer that she made up for the parts of this book that were iffy. Zane was a sexy beast and Barrie was stronger than she knew. Their characterization was well written and I liked them both. And it's always great to check in with the rest of the MacKenzie family.
Profile Image for Zubee.
667 reviews30 followers
April 16, 2019
So I planned to reread this for sometime and finally managed to do so ...
I love this book; the way H and h meet, he looks after her, she bonds to him and the bond lasts ...
she is pregnant and he marries her ... the chemistry between them was wild and hot ... overall I love this one ... and of course the surprise of Nick is amazing ... sometimes I read Chance's book just for Nick ... I dont like his story as much but Nick plays a large part there so I read it ....
Profile Image for Anita.
2,385 reviews194 followers
February 15, 2014
The prologue and the epilogue are reason enough to give this book 5 stars. The rest is just icing on the cake and a sweet treat it is too. I am an unabashed Mackenzie family fan. If we all had parents like Wolf and Mary, there would be no lazy butts on welfare and no one would be in prison. Alas, this is fiction and six perfect children don't really happen that often.

This is the story of Zane Mackenzie (Linda Howard skipped a few kids). Zane is a Navy SEAL who has been bored silly since being promoted and doing mostly desk duty stuff. He gets back into action when in the middle of exercises two of his team are shot by live ammo. On the heels of that, an ambassador's daughter is kidnapped, so off they go with Zane as team leader.

Barrie is kidnapped and held in Benghazi, Libya. Zane rescues her and things do not quite go as planned and they end up together for 24 hours. Things naturally take their course, but all good things come to an end and on the extraction Zane is shot and seriously wounded. Barrie is carted off kicking and screaming the minute she touches down on the Carrier. Back in Athens no one will tell her anything other than Zane will fully recover. Barrie fears her dad, the Ambassador, is mixed up is something. She takes off for the US, because she thinks she is safer there. She is right, someone is still after her.

Back home two months later, Zane can’t forget Barrie, which is a good thing because she is carrying his child. He tracked her down the day she is planning to flee that night. With a quickie Las Vegas marriage behind them, Barrie tells Zane her fears about her father. Zane calls in Chance, his shadowy adopted brother, and together they handle the threat to Barrie.
Note to Self: Start on page 375
Profile Image for Eve.
724 reviews49 followers
January 11, 2021
Series: Mackenzie Family, #3

3rd book in the Mackenzie Family series about Navy SEAL Zane Mackenzie's and the ambassador's daughter, Barrie Lovejoy. Another good addition to this series. I really enjoy Linda Howard's writing style and her characters. Good mix of suspence, romance, action and passion.
Profile Image for Gemma G. Gegargas.
603 reviews29 followers
November 1, 2022
Realmente le habría dado un 2,5⭐️, pero a diferencia del primero que redondeé al alza, este lo redondeo a la baja por la mala traducción.

¿Como pudo decaer todo así? De más a menos fue la historia y de regular a horrible la traducción. Llegando a mitad del libro fue como su hubiesen metido el texto original en un traductor malo, haciéndome releer en varias ocasiones los párrafos para entender algo.

Otra cosa cierta es que no soy mucho de los “instant love”, pero esto fue peor que “instant” fue excesivo. Todos los libros anteriores también fueron “instant love” pero fueron más…reales.

En cuanto a la trama comenzó muuy interesante. Puedo decir que la parte que más disfruté fue el comienzo del libro donde Wolf hace un repaso por la vida de sus hijos, todos ya adultos, con sus respectivas familias e hijos. ¡En ese momento ya eran abuelos de 10 nietos!
Después comienza la historia de este libro donde Zane es el protagonista. Me encantan las tramas de Seals, y él era uno. La primera parte está bien e interesante pero llega un momento que todo cambia, la historia y situaciones se vuelven ridículas y destrozan el libro. A la autora comienzan a entrarle prisas por acabar, mete dos escenas incalificables y acaba el libro.
Reconozco que no he empatizado con Berrie, la protagonista.

En resumen, se ha dejado leer pero no he podido evitar que durante la lectura escapase de mi boca en varias ocasiones la expresión “ridículo”. Una pena porque la autora en si no escribe mal, aunque la traducción haya sido horrible. Aclarar también que de los tres libros de esta serie que llevo leídos, este ha sido el único que estaba mal traducido.
Profile Image for Lauren.
2,436 reviews159 followers
June 26, 2017
Mackenzie's Mission
4 Stars

Navy SEAL Zane Mackenzie is accustomed to dangerous missions, but his current assignment, rescuing Barrie Lovejoy, the daughter of a United States Ambassador, is turning out to be far more critical and personal because Barrie has come to mean everything to him. Zane can only hope that the feeling is mutual…

Linda Howard’s books, in general, and the adventures of the Mackenzie family, have been a highlight of my 2015 reading year. Although Barrie and Zane’s story isn’t exactly a literary masterpiece, it is a fun read for when one is in the mood for some lighter fare.

Like his father and siblings, Zane’s gorgeous facade conceals a darker side. His experiences as a Navy SEAL have exposed him to the dangerous face of humanity and it has made him rather cynical. Barrie’s sweet innocence brings out the protector in him, but that isn’t to say she is mild or meek. She faces the circumstances of her abduction with a strength and courage that one does not expect from the spoiled and pampered daughter of a diplomat.

Zane and Barrie’s romance is somewhat unrealistic given not only the situation in which they are in (on the run from terrorists in Libya), but also their backgrounds and personalities. Nevertheless, it works mainly due to Barrie’s openness and Zane’s possessiveness.

While the first half of the book focuses on Zane and Barrie’s intense and steamy relationship, the second revolves around the mystery of her kidnapping and exposing those behind. This is the weaker aspect of the story as the explanation is underdeveloped and contrived. That said, the climax and resolution are action packed and exciting.

All in all, a sweet romance and the updates on the other Mackenzie’s are an added bonus.
Profile Image for Jae.
433 reviews15 followers
July 12, 2017
So, obvs, Linda Howard just telling readers that the couple is in love is pretty much just how she rolls. Generally, the lady decides she is in looove with the dude, even though she knows jack-all about him and the dude decides that the lady is "his" but he "doesn't know what love is" but clearly something is up (that's how to tell it's true love btw, because the dude has a perpetual boner). She does this in a lot of what books of hers I've read, but the Mackenzie series in particular relies very heavily on this.

I mean, I really liked this book, even though Instalove bugs the fuck out of me. It's just really lazy. I mean, it's a romance novel, yeah? I know it's going to end with the couple in love, so what I want is the journey to the I<3U. For the most part, I think that Howard does end up showing why they end up in love, but she puts the cart before the horse and I just can't understand it.

Anyway, that's a lot of complaining for a book I did actually like, but like most of Howard's stuff, even when I'm kind of annoyed, I just can't stop reading ?
343 reviews73 followers
October 9, 2020
Reviewers seem to love this one, but I'll be the contrarian. So Zane is the one with mom Mary's gray-blue eyes and Chance is the (adopted) one with the hazel eyes and the awful backstory, but other than that, there didn't seem to be much difference between LH's two alpha heroes, each with his own book. I liked Mackenzie's Mountain quite a lot but these flyboy/secret-Ops sons of Wolf Mackenzie just don't have the same hot appeal for me for some reason. Maybe it's because the spy-games kind of bored me and I ended up skimming a lot. At least this one had less of the annoying lisping plot moppet.

LH is hit or miss for me--I seem to either love her books or to kind of roll my eyes and shrug. This was the latter. Not terrible but definitely not a keeper for me.
Profile Image for Jane Stewart.
2,462 reviews924 followers
June 14, 2017
Nice story. I liked it.

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.

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR:
Dennis Boutsikaris was ok.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 239 pages. Swearing language: none that I recall. 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.
Profile Image for Jenny.
3,135 reviews542 followers
June 18, 2016
Love Zane MacKenzie!! The book was so sexy and romantic! I am so glad LH wrote stories about the whole family!
Profile Image for Bona Caballero.
1,453 reviews62 followers
December 17, 2022
Una novelita genérica que todavía se lee con placer. Yo la leí (y releí) de un tirón. Zane Mackenzie (31), Navy SEAL fortachón, tiene que rescatar a Barrie Lovejoy (25), la hija de un embajador, a la que han secuestrado. Mucha acción y pasión de esa que te tiene pegada a la página.
Ahora hay un montonazo de novelas con este esquema, Navy SEAL/damisela en apuros, pero en aquel entonces (1996) no eran tan frecuentes. En aquel año salió la primera de los Tall, dark and dangerous de S. Brockmann, así que os podéis hacer a la idea.
Cuando la leí por vez primera, en 2014, dije que era de las buenas de Linda Howard y le puse 7 sobre 10. En una relectura, redondeo al alza, porque me tuvo enganchada hasta que la acabé.
Crítica más extensa, en mi blog.
Profile Image for Lyndi W..
2,043 reviews200 followers
April 16, 2018
I think I want to have Linda Howard's babies. I'd find a way to make it happen, believe me. I've read 3 of her books recently and I either got totally lucky, or Linda Howard makes a habit of writing strong female lead characters.

I was so happy to read about a female lead with guts, common sense, and realistic emotional responses. Barrie was delightfully strong and courageous in the face of serious danger. No squealing, no running headlong into danger, no freaking out and losing her cool. *sigh* It was lovely and she kicked ass (not physically, but you know what I mean). =)

Barrie was a wonderful female lead and Zane was the perfect counterpart. He was compassionate, tender, and understanding. He treated Barrie just right after her kidnapping. I would wrap him in bacon and chow down on him any day. He always knew what Barrie needed and was right there putting her and her needs first. I want a Zane of my own, please.

The story was paced very nicely. Drama, lull, drama, lull, drama, ending. It was a fairly short read, but I was really into it. I didn't stop for anything short of the doorbell ringing until I hit the last page. Though I haven't read any of the other Mackenzie books, the prologue gave me a sizable rundown of the other family members that were featured in previous books. Even though I had no clue who those people were, a few things mentioned piqued my interest and I'll be looking for Joe and Caroline's story in the future.

As odd as it is to say, everything was very believable and felt right. The characters, the suspense, the threats, the familial interactions, etc. I'm glad I gave this book a chance (the cover made me doubt myself for a while) and I hope I can find more strong heroines by Linda Howard. You guys have no idea how amped I am to not want to kill a heroine myself. It's really rare. =)

I will be recommending this book to my romance reader friends.
Profile Image for Christa.
2,217 reviews589 followers
February 1, 2009
Linda Howard is one of my favorite authors of full length novels, and I enjoyed this much shorter book by her. I enjoyed the story, and the characters were likeable. I have not read Howard's other books about the Mackenzie family, but I did not feel like my enjoyment was diminished because of this.

Barrie Lovejoy, daughter of a U.S. ambassador is kidnapped and spirited away by terrorists. The team of Navy SEAL Zane Mackenzie is sent in to rescue Barrie. When complications arise during the rescue, Barrie and Zane must hide until they can rendezvous with the rest of his team. During the short time that they are together, Barrie and Zane develop a strong attachment for one another and begin a relationship. After their rescue, the two are separated by circumstances. When Barrie tries to find Zane, she is thwarted by her father, who doesn't believe Zane is good enough for her. Zane finally seeks Barrie out and is then faced with the fact that she is still in danger. As the two begin a life together, Zane must keep Barrie safe while he finds out who is behind the danger to her.

I liked this story, and I enjoyed the almost immediate trust that was between the two main characters. I liked the ease with which they both accepted their feelings for one another and the relationship between them. I will be looking for more of Howard's books about the Mackenzie family.
Profile Image for Mtve41.
635 reviews21 followers
November 2, 2019
My first time reading this instalment of the Mackenzie collection. It was a decent enough book for its specific genre : romantic thriller/ suspense. Not my usual pleasure-reading pick but it was a Linda Howard and everyone I know had read and praised it.

Zane was a very sexy super hot alpha. A navy seal, guess they don’t get more alpha than that! Barrie also seemed sweet and cutesy. I guess I didn’t like her name that much and it kept bothering me the whole time. It sounded like a male name to me..

I disliked in this book what I dislike in any book: way too much focus and screen space for side characters. If I’m focusing on one couple, I want to stick with them and not have other make out scenes pop up based on other couples. It just waters down the hold the story has on me.

I also couldn’t keep up with which brother does what or how many kids he has. A little bit of a stretch on that family tree! Won’t be trying out any other Mackenzie book any time soon. Maybe later!
Profile Image for fleurette.
1,534 reviews158 followers
April 10, 2017
I'm quite surprise with this book. I didn't like the first two stories so my expectations weren't big. It is still not my favourite book from Linda Howard but I have enjoyed it enough not to roll my eyes over and over.

This is the love almost at the first sight story, like other books in this series. The plot is really not complicated and the characters, even though likeable, are not really developed. The story starts with detailed description of the life of the other children of Mary and Wolf, which is bit boring. Especially, that we don't really know them, except for Joe. I would just prefer for them to have their own books.

The suspense part is also neither developed nor complicated. But all in all, the book is okay, especially regarding my dislike for the previous ones. I will probably read some other books in this series, at least to have it done.
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