I love Barrie and Zane! They are my favorite Mackenzie couple and this is my favorite story from the series. Full of danger and passion, this is an action-packed, emotional story featuring several wonderful secondary characters and of course some members of the awesome Mackenzie clan.
Navy Seal Zane Mackenzie and his team are on a mission to rescue Ambassador Lovejoy's daughter, Barrie from the terrorist group that is holding her hostage. In the chaos that ensues during the rescue operation,...

I love Barrie and Zane! They are my favorite Mackenzie couple and this is my favorite story from the series. Full of danger and passion, this is an action-packed, emotional story featuring several wonderful secondary characters and of course some members of the awesome Mackenzie clan.
Navy Seal Zane Mackenzie and his team are on a mission to rescue Ambassador Lovejoy's daughter, Barrie from the terrorist group that is holding her hostage. In the chaos that ensues during the rescue operation, Zane and Barrie are separated from the rest of the team and must go into hiding until it is time to meet up with his men and travel to the location of their scheduled extraction from the hostile country that they are in. Holed up in an abandoned building, they have nothing better to do than to get to know each other while they wait. They talk quietly between naps and Zane is surprised to discover that Barrie is not the spoiled little rich girl that he'd assumed that she was but an intelligent, kind and quietly brave young woman. Not to mention gorgeous.
Barrie struggles to keep her instant attraction to her handsome and brave rescuer in perspective. Under the circumstances an unrealistic hero worship for the man could quite easily develop but all of her instincts tell her that he is an innately good man. As a realist she must admit to herself that there is a very real possibility that she will be recaptured, possibly killed, possibly worse and she decides that the one thing that she will not do in that eventuality is lose her virginity against her will. She knows that Zane and probably everyone else involved already believes that she was attacked but she had escaped that particular horror.
It doesn't take much to convince Zane of her sincerity in her wish that her first time be with a man of her choosing and that she has chosen him. Of course he is the only man available at the moment but that is neither here nor there as Zane puts the passion in compassion, again and again.
Soon enough they leave their hiding place and venture out into the dangerous city, eventually meeting up with the rest of Zane's team and making their way to the extraction point. But all hell breaks loose as their rescuers arrive and Zane is shot. Barrie fights to stay by his side but between the medical team whisking Zane off to surgery and her father's men insisting that she be brought home immediately, Barrie watches helplessly as Zane is taken away from her not knowing when or if she'll ever see him again.
Several weeks pass by and all of her attempts to contact Zane are met with resistance, she learns only that he survived his injury and subsequent surgery but she hasn't been allowed to see him or speak with him. Meanwhile Zane's attempts to contact Barrie are met with just as much resistance. Obviously there are forces at work to keep them apart, mostly Barrie's father who is a real snob and believes that Zane is dangerous and beneath them even though he has no idea just how close the two of them became during their brief time together. Until Barrie discovers that she is pregnant and insists that she be allowed to contact Zane. He has the right to know that he is going to be a father after all no matter what part he may or may not choose to have in their lives.
As these two estranged lovers try desperately to reconnect despite all the obstacles in their way, it becomes increasingly obvious that Barrie may still be in danger and that her own father may be involved somehow in the original abduction that brought Zane and Barrie together in the first place. You'll have to read this book yourself to find out the truth...
I really just love these two characters and I love the intrigue and excitement of this story. I can't recommend Mackenzie's Pleasure enough!

Decades ago, this was my first Linda Howard read, which got me hooked on the author, especially the Mackenzies. The paperback version I purchased long ago has long since been lost, but the chemistry of the characters still exists in the Kindle version! So danged hot and dangerous and yummy. Love the smart, strong heroine. Wish that the real SEALs/former SEALs in my life were as hot as this hero (sorry guys, you could learn some relationship skills from Zane, but yas, I get that in real life g...

Decades ago, this was my first Linda Howard read, which got me hooked on the author, especially the Mackenzies. The paperback version I purchased long ago has long since been lost, but the chemistry of the characters still exists in the Kindle version! So danged hot and dangerous and yummy. Love the smart, strong heroine. Wish that the real SEALs/former SEALs in my life were as hot as this hero (sorry guys, you could learn some relationship skills from Zane, but yas, I get that in real life getting down and dirty during an extraction is smart or sexy!). Exciting story, fast paced, and fun to revisit