Customer Reviews

A Game of Chance (Silhouette Romantic Suspense Bestselling Author)

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I doubt there are many romance fans out there that don't know about this series, but in case you're a Howard newcomer, here's the order: (MacKenzie's) Mountain, Mission, Pleasure, Magic, and then finally, A Game of Chance. With the exception of MacKenzie's Magic, they are all excellent reads.

Anti-terrorist agent Chance MacKenzie has been trying to get to the infamous terrorist Cripsin Hauer for what seems like forever. When Chance discovers he has a daughter--Sunny Miller--he sets his sights on seducing her, figuring she can lure Hauer to him. What he doesn't know at the time, is that Sunny has been on the run from her father since birth...

The book was a typical Howard in that it was fast-paced and sexy. The only reason I didn't give the book a solid five was because it was reminiscent in some ways of her early categories from the 80s...in other words, the hero infuriated me by his use of Sunny, going so far as to knowingly put her life in dire straights, even AFTER he knew of her innocence. I don't feel the reader was given enough "good" chapters at the end to completely balance out what Chance did to Sunny enough to get totally over that fact.

It's common for Howard to use a misunderstanding between the characters in her books, or even an out-and-out usage of the heroine on the part of the hero, and let's face it...they make excellent premises for a hot getting-back-together scene toward the end. But this is the first time I can think of where she had a hero use a heroine to the point of putting her in a position where he purposely endangered her LIFE. If an author's going to do that, I want to read major big-time, mind-blowing grovelling scenes before the heroine forgives him.

Nevertheless, A Game of Chance was a great read. Chance was sexy with a capital SEX (one of Sunny's lines in the book!) and Sunny made a great, independent heroine for the most part. Still, in retrospect, I find myself more likely to reread MacKenzie's Mountain and MacKenzie's Pleasure, Wolf and Zane's stories.

I opened this book with both anticipation and trepidation, because I had built it up so much in my mind, I was afraid of being disappointed - alas, I didn't have to worry.

Chance Mackenzie, the adopted Mackenzie boy whom Mary rescued at 14, is now a lethal government agent working along with brother Zane. As the book begins, Chance heads home to Wyoming to bring a file so important that he must hand deliver it to Zane. It appears that a terrorist, Crispin Hauer, has a daughter who works as a courier. Determined to catch Hauer, Zane and Chance set the trap for the daughter, hoping she will lead them to him.

Sonia "Sunny" Miller has spent all her life running from her father. Her mother died in the attempt and all Sunny has is her sister, Margreta, and even that contact is minimal, only a weekly phone call Margreta makes to Sunny's cell phone - if the phone call is missed, the sisters must assume the other has been captured or killed.

When Sunny's latest courier delivery goes awry, she finds a rescuer in pilot Chance McCall, who offers to take her to her destination when she is almost robbed. In reality, it is all part of the trap, including the near crash that lands Chance and Sunny in a remote canyon, without possibility of escape. Here, Chance hopes to seduce Sunny into confiding in him, and once she has, he will signal Zane to "rescue" them, and Sunny will not be the wiser until it is too late.

Linda Howard does not disappoint. First of all, it's great visiting the Mackenzies again, especially devilish Nick :D and the Diapered escape artists. But this is Chance's story, and in Sunny Miller, he has met his perfect match.

Undercover agent Chance MacKenzie is trying to capture a terrorist and uses the man's daughter as bait. Sounds cruel and heartless? Chance is neither of these. If you like romance, anticipation and sizzling sex, Linda Howard is the writer for you. This is the fifth and last (?) of the MacKenzie series. I, along with hundreds of other readers, waited years for Chance's story. I wasn't disappointed. Chance is as sexy and exciting as we all knew he would be and Sunny is his match. Sure, we all wanted all of the individual stories to be longer, but Ms. Howard was writing for the Silhouette series which is not known for its length. Linda Howard is an extremely gifted writer; she is my favorite and I read extensively in all genres. I loaned MacKenzie's Mountain (1st of the series)to my sister-in-law (who was not a reader). When she was finished, she would not let my tall, handsome brother cut his black hair. She wanted it long like Wolf's. Readers, give Linda Howard a break when she says the MacKenzie series is over...... On the other hand, please, please, please, Linda..

Chance Mackenzie was hunting a notorious terrorist when he found a link to the man, his daughter. Chance didn't care if Sunny Miller was working with her father or innocent, he would seduce her for the killer's location. Sunny had been on the run from her father since birth. When she fell in love with Chance, she vowed to keep him safe. Little did she know that she was bait in a very dangerous trap.

Chance and Sunny are a great match. Howard's ability to craft believable multi-dimensional characters constantly amazes me. This is a rich, poignant tale of a wounded soul who finds his peace at last. As much as I loved all the MacKenzie men and women, Chance was my favorite, after Wolf, and the one who most needed a happy ending. Simply wonderful!

So why didn't I give it a 5 star rating? As noted by another reviewer, Chance needed to grovel after putting Sunny in danger. If he had laid it on the line about what he wanted, she probably would've agreed. He never gave her that choice. Understandable in the context of the type of job done by Chance, but deplorable in a romance where the one putting the other in danger is the hero.

Still and all, buy this book. You won't be disappointed.

OK, so we all loved Wolf's story, we all loved Joe's story, we even liked Zane's story. We hated Maris' story - NOT worthy of Maris OR Linda Howard. Guess what? Chance's story, the one we have all been waiting for... is SO worth it! Even though he is not Wolf's biological son, it shows in this story that he is truly Wolf's son in every way that counts. I loved it! You will, too!

Set in the barren western United States, Linda Howard brings two very lonesome people together. From the fast beginning these characters are romantically drawn to each other, although both have sworn not to marry or reproduce. This story moves right along and within the first few pages the reader knows what's up and is hooked. Remember, in Mackenzie's Pleasure & Mackenzie's Magic there was the hint that Chance is just a good-look playboy whom they have not caught yet? There was a reason for that and it surprised me. The main plot is basic. Chance is dedicated to finding a terrorist, by way of the terrorist's daughter, first as an informant then, as the bait. The attitude is romance though on both sides, and Chance & Sunny are lying to each other about themselves. One person is protecting their own heart and a futures they do not want to see happen, ever in their life. The other person is protecting someone else. This book will answer questions "Mackenzie" readers have, and some you didn't realize you had, within unusual ways. What a wonderful ending including the whole family. For new "Mackenzie" readers, do yourselves a favor and read book one through five, in order if possible. You'll be glad you did. I had hoped for a more exciting ending involving the entire family, maybe a little more kick but, the book was action packed and the ending was pleasant and quick. This remains the best series I have ever read! Thank-you Linda Howard. Please think up another plot for this family as a whole. Go for John.

In order to take down terrorist Crispin Hauer, Chance Mackenzie must track down his daughter, Sunny Miller, and use her to lure the terrorist out into the open. Wielding a great deal of power and influence, he intercepts her at an airport posing as a charter pilot. Used to playing the game and living out many roles, Chance finds himself stunned by the power Sunny comes to wield over him through her strength of will and positive attitude.

Despite the myth surrounding the Mackenzies, which started years ago, A Game of Chance is a well-written story. While Chance succeeds at living up to the expectations of readers, the main delight of this story is Sunny Miller who is the cause of his long-awaited fall. Sunny is an admirable heroine whose dark heritage is first a cause for suspicion and then a source of relativity between her and Chance. She refuses, throughout the story, to play second fiddle to what she suspects are Chance's true domineering and protective tendencies. And despite the fact that Chance does play the game well, Sunny suspects almost from the beginning, that he is hiding his true nature.

Linda Howard seems to have faced a great deal of pressure living up to the expectations her audience had for Chance but she deals with them well. Her success lies in the strength of her characters and they seem to truly drive the story even though the tone is edgy enough to retain the reader's attention when the showdown takes place and Sunny and Chance are forced to confront all their fears.

In A GAME OF CHANCE, LINDA HOWARD moulds her heroine and hero, Chance MacKenzie and Sunny Miller into a combustible fusion of sprite and fun, engaging readers to the spark of chemistry with the right mix of action and deceit to intrigue romance readers. Ms. Howard has rounded up her legacy of the MacKenzie story with Chance and it is always a delight to see our favourite characters Wolf, Mary, Joe and Zane living their happily ever after.

With A GAME OF CHANCE, Ms. Howard weaves fantasy with her magical pan again, with passion stamped over the plot - and it bolsters a feisty Sunny Miller who represents the steel women of the 90s. Ms. Howard knows how to make readers feel - since Sunny Miller is a gutsy woman who lives in the shadow of her father as a vitrolic terrorist and Chance believes himself to be a wild orphan never to be controlled by someone.

A GAME OF CHANCE is not the best out of MacKenzie series but the nostalgia evoked in loyal followers will push them to love this - it is implausible and certainly bewildering for Chance to risk Sunny into a web of deceit. Ms. Howard's trademark passionate scenes bolsters the emotional intensity as usual- and the SEX is incendiary - so for this, I think I will give it a chance and delve into this dose of delicious escapism.

Ms. Howard has fuelled dreams in many romance readers and with this popular Mackenzie series, it touches the heart of many readers that one day love fierce as the characters may come to their doorstep. It is infectious - and I thank Ms. Howard for rekindling this hope, always.

Linda Howard is one of my favourite authors, and her Mackenzie's Mountain was one of her earlier works that set her above the rest of the writers coming out of Silhouette Intimate Moments. A Game of Chance, is a continuation of that series, following Mackenzie's Mission. Surprisingly, it's rather a "tame" read for Howard. Chance Mackenzie, the adopted brother to Zane, is on a mission to capture a known terrorist and his unknown mole in the FBI. The only way to get to him is through the daughter he has never seen, Sunny Miller. Sunny is the one link and Chance intends to set her up to lure her father out.

He arranges it so she is nearly robbed in an airport. She is a courier and she missed her flight because of it, just as Chase intends. When she says she has to get her case to San Francisco ASAP, Chase offers to fly her there. Once they are out a ways, Chase fakes fuel pump trouble and sets down in a secluded canyon, with Zane on their trail keeping an eye on them. The whole purpose of this is to get Sunny to depend upon Chase, get her to trust him. They spend nearly ten days with Sunny thinking they are fighting to survive. Only, once Chance learns there is another sister and that Sunny is not in league with her father, he let's them be "rescued", just to use Sunny as bait. He leaks her whereabouts knowing the FBI mole will give the information away.

Chase is just a wee bit non-caring about using Sunny in the beginning. And the fact she has fallen in love with him does not make him blink at using her as bait. The depth that is usually there in Howard's characters is just missing from this tale. It's all very predictable, with the mole tossed in at the last minute, so there is no mystery.

Rather disappointing, considering the powerhouse Howard always is. It was nearly 40 pages into the book before we meet Sunny. In a 250 page book that is a long time before you actually get into the story. And sorry, Chance just really loses points at being such a user.

You will want to continue the Mackenzie saga, but just not, it's not the brilliance of the first ones.

Any fan of Linda Howard's Mackenzie series has anxiously anticipated the story of the Mackenzie's adopted son, Chance. Sure enough, Chance is still his irrestible sexy self, and Howard has given him the perfect mate. Sunny Miller is delightfully spirited and does a wonderful job of standing up to Chance's strong personality. She also has a dark secret that Chance is determined to uncover. It's great fun to watch the two of them match wits, and the sexual tension between them is intense. The relationship alone makes this a satsfying ending to the Mackenzie saga. The plot is fast-paced and suspenseful, but there are some inconsistencies that I found distracting. For example, Howard makes a point of stating that Chance personally scouted out the location for a critical showdown at the same time that he supposedly never leaves Sunny's side. When it comes to intrigue, Chance is good, but he's not that good. This and a few other rough spots left me feeling like Howard was rushing too much to get this book out. Still, the romance between the two lead characters was so strong that I'll happily forgive a few plot flaws.