Untamed by Pamela Clare

This is the 2nd book in the MacKinnon's Rangers Trilogy.

Following the events in Surrender Morgan MacKinnon has taken over leadership of the Rangers. During a raid Morgan is captured by the French after being badly wounded while saving the life of one of his men. The French commander, Brigadier de Bourlamaque, knows that Morgan has information that the French need in order to turn the tide of the war, so he orders his doctor to save Morgan's life. Bourlamaque makes it very clear that if Morgan doesn't talk he'll first be tortured by the French, then turned over to the Abenki who will burn him to death as revenge for a Ranger raid on one of their villages.

Amalie Chauvenet was raised in a convent after the death of her mother. Her father, the former French commander, brought her to the fort in order to spend time getting to know her better. When he was killed in an attack on the fort he left Amalie in the care of Bourlamaque. Instructions were left that Amalie should be allowed to chose her own future, either returning to the convent or picking her own husband. More than a year after her father's death Amalie hasn't been able to decide which she wants, so she remains at the fort. She passes the time helping in the surgery and cultivating a garden.

Amalie initially fears Morgan, but as she helps with his care she comes to see him as an honorable man. After Morgan tells her the story of how he and his brothers came to be fighting for the English Amalie persuades Bourlamaque to spare Morgan's life and give him an opportunity to spy for France. Morgan can never betray his men, but he knows that pretending to go along with Bourlamaque is his only chance for escape. He also knows that he can't give in to his growing feelings for Amalie because he can't stay with her.


I enjoyed this book more than Surrender. That's mainly because I had far fewer reservations about Morgan's behavior than I had about Iain's. I also had real sympathy for the position in which Morgan finds himself. Ms. Clare does a good job of exploring the contradictions and divided loyalties that result from the Jacobite MacKinnon brothers being forced to fight for the British.

She also does a good job with the secondary characters. I continue to be impressed by the fact that she doesn't write the MacKinnon's nemesis, Wentworth, as a cartoon villian. He is given dimension, even though it would be easy to write him as a one note character. He's selfish and self-centered and has bad attitudes about women, but he's not pure evil.

Grade: A-. There's no indication of when the 3rd book will be published, but I look forward to reading it when it is.