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A review by acesarrows
Mackenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard
4.0
This was an amazing romance novel. Fantastic, believable characters, a good story and a sweet romance - the kind of romance that surprises each of the main characters.
Despite the old-school trope vibe to this (sheltered virgin schoolteacher?), it a has a timeless feel to it. It could easily have taken place in the 1800's or the early 1900's. I can picture Wolf working his ranch just as he did in the novel, only with horses instead of cars, and Mary being the exact same kind of schoolteacher she is, just with long dresses and horses and buggies.
There are some triggering scenes regarding, so if that is an issue for you please be aware of it.
Truly, an enduring romance and one that speaks to the unifying and uplifting power of love, and how prejudices and stereotypes hurt and impact everyone. I can see why this is considered a classic of the genre, and a classic Linda Howard.
I finished this on a plane, and while waiting for my connecting flight was just reading about an NPR Fresh Air interview with Patrick Phillips, author of [b:Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America|28789644|Blood at the Root A Racial Cleansing in America|Patrick Phillips|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1456514346s/28789644.jpg|48998545]. It's frightening how true parts of this novel could have been... one is a novel dealing with prejudice against a Comanche, and the other a non-fiction account of what did happen to an African-American community in Georgia. A sobering reminder that although romance novels always have happy endings, in real life the kind of prejudice and mob-justice that is at play in Mackenzie's Mountain never ended happily.
Despite the old-school trope vibe to this (sheltered virgin schoolteacher?), it a has a timeless feel to it. It could easily have taken place in the 1800's or the early 1900's. I can picture Wolf working his ranch just as he did in the novel, only with horses instead of cars, and Mary being the exact same kind of schoolteacher she is, just with long dresses and horses and buggies.
There are some triggering scenes regarding
Spoiler
rapeTruly, an enduring romance and one that speaks to the unifying and uplifting power of love, and how prejudices and stereotypes hurt and impact everyone. I can see why this is considered a classic of the genre, and a classic Linda Howard.
I finished this on a plane, and while waiting for my connecting flight was just reading about an NPR Fresh Air interview with Patrick Phillips, author of [b:Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America|28789644|Blood at the Root A Racial Cleansing in America|Patrick Phillips|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1456514346s/28789644.jpg|48998545]. It's frightening how true parts of this novel could have been... one is a novel dealing with prejudice against a Comanche, and the other a non-fiction account of what did happen to an African-American community in Georgia. A sobering reminder that although romance novels always have happy endings, in real life the kind of prejudice and mob-justice that is at play in Mackenzie's Mountain never ended happily.