A Game of Chance

Undercover agent Chance MacKenzie is trying to capture a terrorist and uses the man's daughter as bait. Sounds cruel and heartless? Chance is neither of these. If you like romance, anticipation and sizzling sex, Linda Howard is the writer for you. This is the fifth and last (?) of the MacKenzie series. I, along with hundreds of other readers, waited years for Chance's story. I wasn't disappointed. Chance is as sexy and exciting as we all knew he would be and Sunny is his match. Sure, we all wanted all of the individual stories to be longer, but Ms. Howard was writing for the Silhouette series which is not known for its length. Linda Howard is an extremely gifted writer; she is my favorite and I read extensively in all genres. I loaned MacKenzie's Mountain (1st of the series)to my sister-in-law (who was not a reader). When she was finished, she would not let my tall, handsome brother cut his black hair. She wanted it long like Wolf's. Readers, give Linda Howard a break when she says the MacKenzie series is over...... On the other hand, please, please, please, Linda..

In order to take down terrorist Crispin Hauer, Chance Mackenzie must track down his daughter, Sunny Miller, and use her to lure the terrorist out into the open. Wielding a great deal of power and influence, he intercepts her at an airport posing as a charter pilot. Used to playing the game and living out many roles, Chance finds himself stunned by the power Sunny comes to wield over him through her strength of will and positive attitude. Despite the myth surrounding the Mackenzies, which started years ago, A Game of Chance is a well-written story. While Chance succeeds at living up to the expectations of readers, the main delight of this story is Sunny Miller who is the cause of his long-awaited fall. Sunny is an admirable heroine whose dark heritage is first a cause for suspicion and then a source of relativity between her and Chance. She refuses, throughout the story, to play second fiddle to what she suspects are Chance's true domineering and protective tendencies. And despite the fact that Chance does play the game well, Sunny suspects almost from the beginning, that he is hiding his true nature.Linda Howard seems to have faced a great deal of pressure living up to the expectations her audience had for Chance but she deals with them well. Her success lies in the strength of her characters and they seem to truly drive the story even though the tone is edgy enough to retain the reader's attention when the showdown takes place and Sunny and Chance are forced to confront all their fears.

Set in the barren western United States, Linda Howard brings two very lonesome people together. From the fast beginning these characters are romantically drawn to each other, although both have sworn not to marry or reproduce. This story moves right along and within the first few pages the reader knows what's up and is hooked. Remember, in Mackenzie's Pleasure & Mackenzie's Magic there was the hint that Chance is just a good-look playboy whom they have not caught yet? There was a reason for that and it surprised me. The main plot is basic. Chance is dedicated to finding a terrorist, by way of the terrorist's daughter, first as an informant then, as the bait. The attitude is romance though on both sides, and Chance & Sunny are lying to each other about themselves. One person is protecting their own heart and a futures they do not want to see happen, ever in their life. The other person is protecting someone else. This book will answer questions "Mackenzie" readers have, and some you didn't realize you had, within unusual ways. What a wonderful ending including the whole family. For new "Mackenzie" readers, do yourselves a favor and read book one through five, in order if possible. You'll be glad you did. I had hoped for a more exciting ending involving the entire family, maybe a little more kick but, the book was action packed and the ending was pleasant and quick. This remains the best series I have ever read! Thank-you Linda Howard. Please think up another plot for this family as a whole. Go for John.

OK, so we all loved Wolf's story, we all loved Joe's story, we even liked Zane's story. We hated Maris' story - NOT worthy of Maris OR Linda Howard. Guess what? Chance's story, the one we have all been waiting for... is SO worth it! Even though he is not Wolf's biological son, it shows in this story that he is truly Wolf's son in every way that counts. I loved it! You will, too!