This paper presents a contemporary review of communication architectures and topographies for MANETconnected Internet-of-Things (IoT) systems. Routing protocols for multi-hop MANETs are analyzed with a focus on the standardized Routing Protocol for Low-power and Lossy Networks. Various security threats and vulnerabilities in current MANET routing are described and security enhanced routing protocols and trust models presented as methodologies for supporting secure routing. Finally, the paper identifies some key research challenges in the emerging domain of MANET-IoT connectivity.