Outlander/Last of the Mohicans Remix

I stumbled on the MacKinnon’s Rangers trilogy by Pamela Clare while looking for Clare’s more contemporary work.Untamed (2008) is the second book in this series and involves the second MacKinnon brother–Morgan.

Morgan and his two other brothers are Scottish, but grew up in the wilds of America after the Battle of Culloden decimated their clan. Now that Morgan’s older brother Ian is happily settled with a wife and child, Morgan is in charge of the Rangers: a separate, elite armed force set up to support the English in the French and Indian War. Morgan and his brothers were forced into service with some treachery, a false accusation of murder, and blackmail. The only thing that keeps them fighting is their loyalty to each other and their men.

Morgan gets himself wounded and captured by the French during an attack against Fort Ticonderoga. After valiantly rescuing one of his men, Morgan wakes up, seriously wounded in a hospital bed–his men and his brothers believing him dead. But the French want him to live, recover enough to withstand torture, and eventually be given to the Abenaki for retribution from a previous battle.

And this is where Amalie Chauvenet comes in. Her father, a French officer, was commander of Fort Ticonderoga, but he was recently killed in battle. Amalie’s mother had died earlier, so Amalie found herself an orphan and under the guardianship of the current commander of Fort Ticonderoga. Amalie is sent in to nurse Morgan MacKinnon and is encouraged to talk to him to gain information. Although they are enemies and Morgan is doomed, the two hit it off. Amalie, desperate to save him, talks the Commander into offering Morgan a deal. There are betrayals and rescues, some fighting, and some more rescues.

To be honest, I let myself get way too far behind in my reviews and I’m having some trouble remembering the details of this book. I know that it kept my interest and I read it quickly. One of the problems I had with the first book in this series was the asshole, alpha antics of the hero. Fortunately, this was not a problem with this book. I still have some discomfort with how Clare uses the character, Joseph, as something of a stereotypical sidekick who pops up whenever he’s needed to be helpful. However, I also think Joseph’s role was less concerning in this second book than the first. So, even though this one didn’t really stick in my head, I’d call it overall entertaining and worth reading if you’re into slightly unrealistic, historical romances. Apparently, I like reading slightly unrealistic, historical romances because I will be picking up the third book in the series soon.

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