Tonya Burrows

This story starts like an action movie, right from chapter one you have some serious problems going on and Claire is in a third world country where a serious virus has 100% fatality rate and has taken out several villages. Claire our heroine is a Dr. that studies diseases she has been on the run from some mercenaries who want the research she has been doing on a cure for diseases. Jean-Luc is being held captive by some mercenaries because he went to look for Claire. There is so much intense moments just from the beginning and such sweet tender moments and it keeps going throughout the whole book. Needless to say this story kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time and I couldn't put it down because I had to have more of Jean-Luc and see what would happen next. I want to read more this was awesome.… (meer)

Full review appeared at Reader's Edyn on 05/23/20

Leah is in very real danger – except she has no idea just how much or just how close it is. Reeling from the death of her husband and a newfound attraction to their best friend, she is just trying to take things a day at a time as a single mom to three. When she ends up abducted and sucked into the life the HORNETs live and breathe daily – a life her husband was going to turn to – a life that got him killed, she is thrust into a world she had no understanding or appreciation for. When the only two choices are live or die, there really isn't any decision to be debated against. With the HORNETs as her incoming rescue, she is less than thrilled. They are who she blames for everything her life has become. In fact, the only thing they have in common from her perspective is their love for Marcus – and now the fact that she is in peril, abducted and whisked away to a strange land, with only Marcus and the HORNETs to save her leaves her begrudgingly accepting their help. But through all of the craziness and scheming is something much deeper than anyone could have ever anticipated and Leah might be the key to unraveling it all and taking down some seriously devious crime bosses in the process. All she has to do is stay alive, figure out a way to trust the HORNETs, and convince Marcus that their attraction is so much more than the betrayal to her husband and his best friend that he stubbornly insists it is. No big deal.

Marcus is hopelessly in love with Leah. He probably has been for as long as he can remember, but since Danny got her, he never allowed those feelings to manifest. With Danny gone and his connection to Leah growing stronger, it’s getting hard to resist her. But each break feels like disloyalty toward his best friend and he doesn’t want to suck Leah into the deception with him. She’s just grieving, not really feeling anything for him anyway. So he does what he does best and runs – far away – even from his team. But he eventually returns at Leah’s request and immediately turns personal protection detail out of necessity. Except this threat ends up being so much bigger than anyone thought and he needs his team desperately if they are to have a chance of survival. It looks like he’s got a lot of decisions to make. Leah’s safety is the priority, but then he’s got to figure out what to do about his position within the team, and then his future with Leah. That is, if she’ll even speak to him again after they make it out of this harrowing experience she’s been an unwilling participant in.

I feel the need to preface this review by saying that I have not read any of the books in the HORNET series. There is very clearly a lot of carryover from the previous books and I feel it would be in the best interest of any reader to enjoy this series in order. Not to say that I did not enjoy this book. I most certainly did. However, I also know that when I eventually get around to reading this series from the beginning, I will definitely have to read this book again just to keep up on where everyone was and what was occurring. The book works as a stand-alone, yes. But after reading it, I can say with certainty that I know it would have been even better having come into the story with all of the back knowledge in place. As it is, I am left with a lot of questions. Intrigued as well.

While this book is about an elite security team that puts their lives on the line to do the ugly jobs no one wants to think about, it is also a story about overcoming loss and learning to move on. Leah goes through several emotions during this nerve-wracking experience, but when she finally emerges on the other side of all the bad, she has a newfound understanding of life. Not only to appreciate everything you have and not take anything for granted but also new respect for the things the HORNET team does and the people they come into contact with. This enlightenment even transfers into a new direction for Leah’s life that goes beyond just her and Marcus – a direction that could very well place her on HORNETs radar again in the future. I’m just saying. For Marcus things are quite a lot different. He already knows what he wants and is fulfilled with his chosen career path. What he has to realize and learn to embrace is that he is not stealing Danny’s life away from him. He is stepping into a place where there is an absence felt on a molecular level that only he can fulfill. And there couldn’t be a better person for that role. At one point I wanted to knock him upside his head, but the depth of emotions that he went through was gut-wrenching. While I experienced aggravation at the guilt and alienation Marcus wallows in and thrusts at Leah, it was also relevant and appropriate to the situation. Ultimately, I actually ended up enjoying the strife. They didn’t just fall into bed and try to play house, which made me connect to both of them on a deeper level. I also adored Marcus’s freaky great encyclopedia in his head of movie quotes. What a fun and unexpected quirk of this rough and fearsome special ops soldier.

As far as the characters…dang, there were a lot of them! Marcus’s mother stole the show for sure. She is a bad-ass in her own right and has some crazy capable skill. If ever I was in trouble, I’d for sure want that woman at my back. Alexander Cabot – let’s just say he’s been through some shit and what’s coming next is going to have one hell of an effect on HORNET. Then there is Mercedes who we have ascertained is Alexander’s sister. Also that she has some crazy sparks with Ian. She’s the enemy but seems to have turned informant when it suits her. Even begrudging teammate at times. But make no mistake – she is still on the wrong side. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a book in the future for Mercedes and Ian with Mercedes defecting to the HORNET team. She reminds me of Navabi from The Blacklist. When I picture her, that is who I see – so much about those two characters are eerily similar. Then there is Ian. Good grief that guy! He will probably end up with the best book of them all. He’s a puzzle – he’s definitely a mystery and has secrets he’s guarding. Those secrets seem to have something to do with Defion. Since this is my first book, I did not get a clear picture of Defion or how they impacted the team members, but it is definitely some shady, nasty company that no one walks away from. Ian, Alexander, and Mercedes have ties to them and there doesn’t seem to be any love lost between any of them and the evil business. But back to Ian … while there are parts of him difficult to assimilate, he isn’t all that difficult when you break it down. He prefers to be alone and refuses to acknowledge that he needs this team just as much as they need him. He doesn’t do friends, or feelings. He acts like it’s some big inconvenience to be a part of the team. But he is quick to react whenever necessary and despite his tendencies toward violence, his teammates are always at his sixes, keeping him in check. It frustrates the hell out of him, but I believe he secretly craves the connection. For all outward appearances, the guy is only comfortable with his four-legged partner, Tank. And that may be true on some level, but he also needs the link to humanity his team provides. His attraction to Mercedes is going to be a sticky situation and I look forward to reading how it all eventually plays out. I’m clearly just a bit enamored of this fascinating character. Believe me when I say these are just a few of the massive cast of characters assembling to create this fantastic world.

If I had a regret, it is whole-heartedly that I did not start this series at the beginning. With so much obviously carrying over from one book to the next, I strongly recommend reading in order. Now, I did make my way through this book with little difficulty, but assimilating so much information with no back knowledge from the previous books was daunting at times. I did make my way through everything, but there were a few areas I re-read just to try to keep the people and events straight. So please heed my advice … READ IN ORDER … if the other books are half as good as this book, then it will be time well invested. Ms. Burrows has created a fantastic group of men and women within this amazing operative team that each have their own strengths and weaknesses. When melded together as a cohesive unit, they are pretty much unstoppable. I loved that each member was so unique, yet vital to the success of the missions. The depth of emotion experienced throughout this book was unexpected but welcomed. I can tell there is a ton gearing up for the subsequent books in the series and I am excited to see where Ms. Burrows takes these talented, feisty members. Ms. Burrows and the HORNET team series is firmly in my top 5 special ops book series as of, well, immediately. Now to find the time to read the whole series … I will endeavor to make it happen.

Kindle version provided by NetGalley/Entangled in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

Code of Honor by Tonya Burrows

Book 4 of the HORNET series. Contemporary romantic suspense. Can be read as a standalone romance but characters overlap in the books. I read a prior book in the series several years and hundreds of books ago and didn’t remember anything more than an impression. I had no problems following the characters or events in this book.

Action packed and tension throughout. Espionage and romance and self awareness of some PTSD issues. It was a rush from start to finish.
This book was mainly for Jesse and Lanie. I want to read more about Jean-Luc, and Ian and Marcus. I’ll be picking up the rest of this series soon. I look forward to this team growing and finally beating the opposition into nonexistence.… (meer)

I found this book to be stronger than its predecessor and felt like the author improved and provided a more streamlined story.

Seth is a former Marine who was captured and tortured for 15months in Afghanistan. Needless to say, he suffers from PTSD. He has flashbacks as he participates in practice missions for his new off the radar mercenary group HORNET. His new teammates don't welcome him with open arms and are generally leery of him and his state of mind. When a new mission comes down the pipeline that calls for him to return to Afghanistan and rescue a captured soldier, the PTSD episodes intensify.

Phoebe is already in Afghanistan, taking pictures in hopes of generating sympathy and interest around the world for the injustices women face in the villages. She sees this as penance for the sleazy tabloid job she left behind where she had to write about how maybe it was a Marine's fault his team was killed and he was captured. Oh, I wonder who that Marine could be?

Phoebe and Seth collide when he rescues her in the town market. Turns out, Phoebe's friend is harboring a runaway wife, who just so happens to be running from the husband who has the captured Marine. Coincidences run a tad wild in this book. The bulk of the story is about trying to rescue the captured Marine and prevent the sell of a nuclear weapon to a man who would like to do not so nice things with it. (Are there nice things you can do with a suitcase nuclear weapon? I digress..)

The beginning of this started off kind of slow. It seemed to take forever for Phoebe and Seth to get together. This due to his PTSD standoffish broodiness. This improves as Phoebe "calms" Seth and he starts to gain the ability tell himself its gametime. When they do eventually get together, it was on like donkey kong; sexy times after sexy times. The second half of the book it changed gears so much, I then felt like their relationship was rushed. Then at the very end, there was the Big Reveal (Phoebe's sleazy tabloid story, yeah, she conveniently never found time to tell Seth she wrote that) which ended up feeling rushed because Seth decided to be a quickly forgiving soul. Their relationship ended up feeling very uneven and I may have to bill the author for whiplash.

The action side of the story arc was pretty good and probably at times eclipsed the romance side. Please don't read this as to mean very believable, this is romance land and I've never worked for or with a shady mercenary group but I'm guessing this is not accurate stuff, despite that I found it to be enjoyable. It was quick paced and suspenseful. Along the lines of Brockmann and Gerard. This is obviously a series that has many, many, many heroes waiting in the wings and I'll definitely be giving the next one a try.… (meer)