MacKinnon's Rangers, Book 1

Surrender

By: Pamela Clare

Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith

Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

A hand-picked cadre of warriors, they had the fierce courage of their Scots forefathers, combined with the stealth and cunning of the Indians who lived beside them in the wilderness. Battling the French in a no-holds-barred combat, they forged a new brand of honor, became a new breed of men - MacKinnon's Rangers.

Iain MacKinnon had been forced to serve the British crown, but compassion urged him to save the lovely lass facing certain death at the hands of the Abenaki. He'd defied his orders, endangered his brothers, his men and his mission, all for a woman. But when he held Annie's sweet body in his arms, he could feel no regret. Though he sensed she was hiding something from him, it was too late to hold back his heart.

In love and war, there are times when the only course of action is...surrender.

©2011 Pamela Clare (P)2013 Tantor

I'm a sucker for a good accent:)

This book was wonderful! Already purchased book 2! Kaleo's narration is perfection. Felt like I was living in the story!

splendid

I really loved this book. it was similar to the colonial part of the Outlander series in the way it captured the highlander mystique but even better. I highly recommend.

Nice escape!

Good romance story, Enough action to be interesting but not bogged down in detail. The narrator seemed to warm up around Chapter 4 and the story began moving pretty well. The romance was sweet and matured naturally - no forced marriage - I appreciated that. Enough steam to enjoy and a few laugh-out-loud moments I appreciated. Nice escape from my every day. Looking forward to the next.

I Surrender

Love 💘💘💘💘💘and the narrator Excellent Excellent Excellent Audible you are the Best just Amazing Absolutely Devine just what I needed Thanks Thanks Thanks again.

love conquered all

This was a very good listen! Shows you how hard life was at the time and a very sweet love story threw in!! Nice adventures too!!

great story with great ending

best epilogue ever. made a great ending for a great story. brought everything together with no wondering

Epic Historical Love Story

Wow, this story is brilliantly written with such attention to detail for the time period. There is such rich depth of characters that you'll feel like you know them and you'll miss them when it's over. There's Iaian and Annie the principal characters. Then there are Morgan and Conner, Iaian's brothers, Joseph, their Indian brother, Killy a feisty Irishman and so many others to love. Wentworth "the wee German Lairdy " is their commander and he's equally interesting, of course you want to choke his neck sometimes.
I highly recommend this book to anyone. It has battle action, comedy and a beautiful love story in a historical setting that's so real you feel like you're in it. Enjoy!

LOVE PAMELA CLARE & KALEO GRIFFITH!

Wonderful story placed in an interesting period of American history! Performed very well by Kaleo Griffith. I'm a big fan of Pamela Clare's works but had my doubts about this historical series. She pulled me into the story at the very beginning. Who knew that the military branch known as the Rangers actually had it's beginnings in the mid 1700's. Absolutely loved the whole series and hated to see it end!

P. Clare and K. Griffith a magical combination

Any additional comments?
This series is very much history, action, adventure, and romance in the style of the movie ( not the book) "the last of the mohicans". Clare writes great stories that keep you entertained from beginning to end, and balance suspense, romance and adventure in a perfect way.
The real magic happens in this audio book with this amazing narration.Griffith is just excellent!
I have listened to over 400 books, and in my opinion there are only two masters of narration that never get it wrong: Roz Landor and Kaleo Griffith ( who is fairly new on the scene, but must have gotten great training and has an amazing voice and talent). There are other good narrators but these two are just a cut above the rest.
Audible, please bring more Pamela Clare and more Kaleo Griffith!
Enjoy this book and the rest in the series, they are great fun and worth every credit!

Great start to the series! :D

5 stars

Wow! This was a great story. I've been wanting to read this trilogy for a while and now I'm sorry I waited so long. I really liked both Annie and Iain and their story sucked me in right away and kept me reading until it was done. This is the first book I've read by this author and I will be reading more of her work (I've already bought books 2 & 3).

Annie is the daughter of a Scottish lord (I think he might have been an Earl...) but he and her brothers were killed in a Scottish revolution attempt (her family were loyalists siding with the British rulers). Annie and her mother were forced to take shelter with her Uncle and he acted nice but secretly had perversions that made being in his home dangerous. When he killed her mother, Annie tried to run away but her Uncle caught her.

Iain was a child when his family took part in the Scottish revolution but he still was branded a traitor and ended up in the colonies (America while still under British rule). He and his brothers (Morgan and Connor) grew up close to one of the local Indian tribes (which they were adopted in to) and became very good at the warrior skills. The brothers wanted to be farmers though and were working on getting their farm up and running when they came to the attention of a British officer (Lord William, who is the grandson of the King) who decides to frame Iain for murder to force him in to his service.

Lord William ends up getting all 3 brothers because Morgan and Connor aren't about to leave Iain to die in the war of the British against the French. The brothers head up a squad of Rangers that they recruited and trained and are much better fighters than the regular British soldiers. Annie ends up in the colonies at the hands of her Uncle. When she tried to escape and he caught her, he was upset about her trying to escape him. He can't have her telling stories about him so he takes her to a sheriff, telling him that she's a thief. Annie is held in jail for a while until her Uncle comes to visit and offers to let her come home if she stays quiet. Annie is tempted but knows if she goes with him she's dead. She's branded (in a very private place) as a thief and sent to the colonies where she's sold in to slavery. She's suffering under very unkind owners when some Abenaki Indian (who are allied with the French) attack the house she lives in. The people that own her are killed and Annie runs trying to survive. She is chased by the Indians and unknowingly runs close to where Iain and his brothers are hidden. Annie fights for her life and Iain knows he can't let her die even though it goes against his orders and will likely mess up their mission and possibly cause some of his men to get killed. Regardless, Iain can't let Annie die and he sends his brothers to lead the Rangers and he saves Annie, taking her with him in to the forest to escape. Annie is hit on the head and out of it at first but soon realizes that she's been saved and is relieved but still worried about what will happen to her. She's scared to let anyone see her brand or to tell them her correct last name for fear she'd be resold in to slavery again. Iain and Annie have an attraction from the start but not much happens on the physical side (for now) outside of a stolen kiss or 2. Iain sees that Annie is a strong, kind and courageous woman and wants her for his own but doesn't think he can have her because he's trapped in to service to Lord William until the war is over.

As they travel together for days, Iain and Annie have to depend on each other to survive (although it is mostly Iain doing the saving but still). Being so close and going through the difficulties they have to together enables them to truly see each other. Annie thought Iain was rather brutish at first but as they spent more time together she sees how he's rather caring and protective of her. The more time she spends with him, the more she sees Iain as a very honorable, kind and strong man. She would love to get closer to him but fears telling him who she is, not only because of her being accused of thievery and then sold in to slavery but because her family were loyalists and his were branded traitors so they hate each other. Annie fears that if she tells him the truth of who she if he'd hate her because of her family ties. They get back to the fort and Iain has to face the punishment for disobeying orders and Lord William meets Annie (and takes an interest in her). Unfortunately, this causes issues for Iain and Annie because he likes trying to stir trouble and see what comes about. He also ends up deciding he wants Annie and makes plans for trouble that he believes will drive her in to his arms. Iain fights with himself at first about what he has to offer Annie and all but eventually that doesn't matter to him and he decides she's going to be his. Annie's secret doesn't help things but she does tell him the truth and he accepts it (after a bit of stewing). Once they're together and working towards staying that way things start going better for them. There are still multiple obstacles they have to deal with but they manage to get past them. The story has a great ending as Iain and Annie start their HEA.

I enjoyed this story so much! I loved Annie and Iain. They both were likable characters that you just had to root for and had to cringe for when they faced bad things. The story was interesting, engaging and seemed believable. I don't know enough about history during this timeframe to allow me to say if it's historically accurate or not but to me (as a layman on the subject) it seemed accurate. I'm moving on to book #2 in the series immediately. I'd recommend this book. 2 thumbs up. :D

* note - I thought the narrator did a great job and the accents were very well done.