Review: Surrender by Pamela Clare
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Surrender (A MacKinnon's Rangers Novel) by Pamela Clare
Historical / Colonial
2011-12-06 (Berkley)
Heroine: Annie (Burns) Campbell – Mistaken Identity, Hanoverian
Hero: Iain MacKinnon – Ranger/Soldier, Jacobite
Setting: New York, USA
Review:
Pamela Clare writes a different kind of historical romance – a historically accurate romance. Full of real places and real events that add dimension and layers to a genre that can often feel… flat. And she does it so well. The setting almost becomes a character in itself.
The setting for Surrender is colonial America during the French and Indian war. A very tumultuous and incredibly dangerous point in time. And our hero and heroine are caught in the thick of it – Annie, forced to learn frontier life in a sink or swim, succeed or fail, life or death kind of scenario; Iain, made to fight in a war he doesn’t believe in and on a side he doesn’t truly want to win. And thanks to fate or happenstance or cosmic forces unseen, Annie and Iain find and save each other from an otherwise bleak future.
Our heroine, Annie, has had her life turned upside down when the book starts. Orphaned by foul means, she finds herself branded a thief and sent to America to be an indentured servant. Once a pampered and gently bred lady, Annie finds strength and resolve within herself to meet the challenges of her new life. She is a very brave lass, indeed. And though she may not have been qualified to survive the wilderness on her own, she has determination and fortitude aplenty to make up for her lack of frontier survival skills.
And then there is our hero, Iain. Facing immediate death at the gallows, on false charges, or a life sentence of facing death on the battlefield – Iain chooses life. But it isn’t much of a life. Having once dreamed of a home, a hearth, a wife and bairns, Iain has only death and war… and no end to either in sight. It would be understandable if Iain were bitter and coldhearted. Instead, he is brave and honorable and a leader among his men.
Iain and Annie together was a beautiful thing. You couldn’t have two more vastly different individuals – their backgrounds and beliefs oppose one another so greatly – and yet, despite the fact that they should hate one another, they see each other for more than who their clans were, what side of the Battle at Culloden their families were on, and what religion they were raised with. Annie see’s only the man Iain is within, and Iain see’s only the woman Annie is inside.
I adored these two together. Their relationship slowly simmered, the intensity growing as they grew to know and trust each other. Miz Clare writes the passion between these two so beautifully. Really shows us their dedication and devotion to one another. So many scenes had me in tears. And fanning myself. Whew. There is a scene involving Annie, Iain, and a straight razor that is… titillating.
Can’t wait to see what happens next in Untamed, Morgan MacKinnon’s book. And I’m curious to see how things progress for Lord William… Call me crazy, but I’m hoping he’s redeemable!
Favorite Quote:
And it had been passionate—beyond anything he’d known before. Certainly he'd taken pleasure in his share of women, but never had he felt anything like the rapture he'd found with Annie. Never had he been so aware of a woman's every breath, every heartbeat, every tremor as he'd been with her. When at last he'd let himself go, it had been him—his life, his very essence—that had spilled from his body and into her.
Thoughts While Reading:
65.0% - "Drats, William, you and your meddling... I really don't want more of Annie's Uncle Bain.
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