REVIEW: Mackenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard

Mackenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard was first published in 1989. In it, Mary Elizabeth Potter, the new teacher in town, wants to convince Joe MacKenzie to go back to school. He wants to go to the Air Force Academy but quit school to work full time on his father’s ranch. Determined to get him to go back, Mary drive’s up to MacKenzie’s mountain, running into Joe’s father, Wolf, after her car breaks down on her way up.

Wolf Mackenzie stays on his ranch, only going into the small town when necessary. Years ago he had been fingered for a rape he did not commit, and he spent two years in prison until the real culprit was caught. As a result, he wants nothing to do with the people who were so quick to find him guilty, and they are hesitant to interact with him.

Mary restores Wolf’s faith in love, but not with the people in town. And when women in town who express interest and support of the MacKenzie’s, including Mary, get attacked by an unidentified assailant, the town immediately suspects Wolf of committing the crimes. Mary works to convince them otherwise and to discover the identity of the person attempting to set Wolf up.

I liked Mary and her determination to help Wolf, and I liked them together as a couple. What did annoy me a bit about the book was how much Wolf and Joe blamed everything on the fact that they were part Native American. It felt like it kept repeating over and over again.

“I want you to love me.”
“No. I’m Indian. You’re white. The people in this town would destroy you.”

Another example:

“I’m Indian, too, miss Potter. Half Indian, and that’s more than enough for most people. It wasn’t as bad when I was younger, but an Indian kid isn’t much of a threat to anyone. It’s when that kid grows up and starts looking at the white Anglo daughters that all hell breaks loose.”

I think I would have an easier time buying this angle if the book had been set in an earlier time period, but this is set in the 1980’s. I found it hard to believe that a whole town would dislike the two men for the simple reason that they were part Native American.

If you enjoy stories about ranchers and small-town romances, you might want give this one a try.
 

Book Info:

Publication: March 1, 2016 | HarperCollins Publishers | Mackenzie Family #1

A small Wyoming town is about to learn a few lessons — from a new schoolteacher with the courage to win the heart of a man who swore he had nothing to give…

Mary Elizabeth Potter is a self-appointed spinster with no illusions about love. But she is a good teacher — and she wants Wolf MacKenzie’s son back in school. And after one heated confrontation with the boy’s father, she knows father and son have changed her life forever.

Still paying for a crime he didn’t commit, Wolf MacKenzie has a chip on his shoulder the size of Wyoming. But prim-and-proper Mary Elizabeth Potter doesn’t see Wolf as the dangerous half-breed the town has branded him. Somehow she sees him as a good, decent, honest man. A man who could love…

Wolf’s not sure he — or the town of Ruth, Wyoming — is ready for the taming of Wolf MacKenzie.