surprising, I really enjoyed this book as much as I did. I’m not a person who likes the dead best friend wife trope. I feel like the one was doesn’t have the dead spouse is second best usually, but Tonya wrote in a way that I didn’t feel like that was the case with these characters. I honestly could read another book about them. I don’t feel this way too often. 

Tonya is my favorite Entangled author ever. She is like the queen at romantic Suspense military style romance. The plot of this book was on point. I loved it. 

If you like romantic Suspense and the authors previous works, then you can’t go wrong with this book.

It's been quite a while since I had read one of Tonya Borrows HORNET books and this one is a fantastic book, I loved it very good enjoyed this one. Like all previous books in the series, wow quite a rollercoaster of a ride full to the top with tough guys and gals who are great. Emotion a plenty action intrigue all packed in very entertaining. I recommend to everyone to get into this series its fabulous love Tonya Burrows books.

Oh this was sooo good! Never read this author before, but will be again. A lot of action, romance and intrigue! Not boring! Leigh and Marcus. Marcus’s best friend is dead. Leigh is grieving! But what happens when someone tries to kill her? Can Marcus protect her and keep his secrets?

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own!

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

So much action, drama, and intrigue that it was hard to put the book down! Along the way, there are so many twists and turns and just when you think you know what is going on, something new comes up!

This is the first book that I have read in this series and while other characters are part of the story, it really does not matter if you have not read any previous books. This book was easily read as a stand alone.

I really had a rough time liking Marcus, he kept going back and forth with Leah and kept hurting her. It annoyed me that when he should be taking care of his best friend's family, he was drowning himself in booze. I get that he was feeling guilty that Danny died and felt it was his fault but poor Leah was struggling by herself and really could have used support.

Some of the guys seem pretty interesting so I am going to have to read the previous books and really can't wait for Ian's turn as we don't know what happens with Mercedes and even Alexander is left in peril!

Received in exchange for a honest review.

I was on the fence with Leah. She was barely surviving but that anger was fueling her. Anger that was making some sense but not really. She blamed a group of people and their job over the fact that her husband was gone. I can understand the need to lash out and find fault somewhere but she, to me, went further than necessary. That is not to say she isn’t a good character she is. She is strong and resilient. She is protective of her family and does what she needs to to make her family feel safe, secure and happy. 

Marcus is a joy for me. He loves his job and those he works with. He is loyal, kind, attentive and when it comes to Leah and her children he loves them fiercely. Only issue is he feels guilty about what happened to his best friend-Leah’s husband. He feels guilt over how he feels about Leah as well. He doesn’t deal well with this guilt and does what he needs to to survive-run. He runs away, which ticks me off but I understand as well. He was drowning and didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to burden anyone and felt as if he was betraying his friend and letting everyone down. He ran to survive and find his center again. Did he hurt people but picking up and running? Yes. Was there another way? Maybe but for him this is the only way he could come to grips. His guilt and feelings of betrayal to his best friend was eating him alive and he had no where to turn in his mind. 

Only things happen that are beyond his control and Leah needs his help. She and her family are in danger so she goes to him and they do have the confrontation but are also at the same time faced with danger over what is going on in Leah’s world. She is brought into the past of her husband’s and must solve the mystery before she is killed. So she turns to the man that was always there for her-Marcus. He wasn’t too happy at first and when they finally act on that attraction he doesn’t do well with his guilt but over time he learns. He learns to let go and live. He learns to forgive and let love in. He learns that falling in love doesn’t have a time table or care who it is but is something to see as precious and beautiful especially as they are in danger and trying to solve who is the spy and bad person. When they do wow, not what i expected. 

The story is good. The plot flows nicely and we have that great give and pull between Marcus and Leah but also within Marcus as he finds his way back to the surface and embraces the gift he has been given in Leah and her children. The danger is as palpable as the attraction between Leah and Marcus and as the story unfolds and you get the bigger picture the shock of who is betraying everyone begins to make sense. A good story from beginning to end.

Marcus Deangelo has spent most of the last eight months drowning his guilt and grief in a bottle since the death of Danny Giancarelli, his best friend, former partner and surrogate brother. The guilt is because he believes he was the sniper’s intended target and after looking out for Danny’s widow and three children, he shared a kiss with Leah that he cannot forget. He left her and his HORNET family behind for the surf in Indonesia until Leah tracked him down. Someone is after her and one of Danny’s contacts left a warning along with sensitive information. Despite her frustration with him, Leah needs his help and he needs to reconnect with the world to save her life. 

The story picks up very near where the last book ended following the tragic events in Martinique. If it sounds like Marcus is a mess it’s because he is. Even though he’s finally sobered up, he still resorts to his first instinct...avoid and take flight anytime he’s challenged to face emotional realities. But, the threats to Leah are ominous and extraordinarily dangerous and that’s where the story gains traction. The chase leads to lots of exotic locales, including Switzerland, Bali, Italy and Central African Republic to name a few. The underlying reason wasn’t exactly clear, which made things more complex and perplexing. Meanwhile, Marcus and Leah are grappling with their evolving relationship status. 

There’s a reason why this is one of my favorite series and I was impatient during the long hiatus. It was well worth the wait as it didn’t fail to being the level of passion, danger and excitement I’ve come to expect. Marcus drove me nuts but that situation was mitigated by Leah’s level head and innate sense in knowing exactly how to handle him. The underlying threats were difficult to resolve (it’s not over!) but I was able to keep up and hang on until it was revealed. The story lived up to my expectations but now I’m hankering for the next one because that epilogue...

This one took me a long time to finish for numerous reasons but the one reason related to this book was the sheer amount of angst going on within the pages.

While Leah did eventually mostly get through her angst (and hangups) to reach inner piece with her decisions in life, Marcus continually reverted back to either purposely or accidentally hurting Leah and then ran away in order to avoid his feelings and inner demons hoping his a$$hole move would make her hate him enough to continually tell him to take a hike whenever he felt compelled to put the moves on her. It was pretty much him self-punishing himself and hurting Leah by doing so.

I get that he's guilt ridden that his life long friend died and he is shamefully attracted to his dead friend's wife in a fierce way. Add on that he is fully convinced that he was the intended target and should have been killed instead and, yeah, I can see some running away. But that's all he did really. In the end he got to a more peaceful spot, but by then I was honestly kind of over Marcus. Leah could totally do better. Her choice though.

I normally don't say this about romances, but Ian, Cajun, Harvard, etc were my favorite part of this book. Yes, the support characters were my favorite part of the book, not the main leads. Sue me. The reason I love the extras is because whenever they were around there was going to be some action and the plot would shoot forward. That and Marcus wasn't going to be sweet to Leah then turn around and be a complete d*ck so she would hopefully hate him.  

Really loved the action. While there was lots of action and potential gore take comfort, if you are squeamish, in the fact that the author doesn't go into a lot of detail on what exactly the characters are seeing, but focuses more on their reactions to it. So yeah, cannot fault the action in anyway. In fact it was so good I'm going to go out and look for the rest of the series because of the action (and Ian).

Oh, and for those who are here for the steamy scenes. There are a couple but they are kind of short and not overly descriptive. Leah likes to "fly." So, if you're here for the hot bits...this is more of an action movie type romance with an emotionally stunted hero and a understanding and kindly heroine.

In Conclusion

Marcus is not my idea of a great romance hero. He gets there in the end but it was roughly 250 pages of me not convinced I liked him. Leah is awesome. Love the support cast. Action was pretty darn good. Steamy bits and gruesome scenes are not overly descriptive.But there is lots of action to keep you invested!

Oh nelly I enjoyed this book very much! I mean our hero and his running made me want to shake him on more than one occasion but still, fabulous story! The danger felt real, the layers of the story were beautifully brought to life - it is just an all-around good read that I will easily recommend. Thanks for the copy.

WOW! This is the first book I have read by this author and I was hooked!  This entire series is binge-worthy, literally, I had to finish two books of the series before I could stop to go to sleep.  After completing this book, which is number 6 in the series, I had to go straight to book number 1 and start the series at the beginning.  The entire series is full of action, twists and turns and emotions.  They are beautifully written fast-paced, wonderful characters, and strong storylines.  I am now hooked on this author’s books and am looking forward to reading the other series.

Honor Avenged was very good. I've enjoyed Tonya Burrows writing for some time now and was extra excited to read this story.

Leah lost her husband when he was working with his best friend and the HORNET group on a mission. Now she's a single mom trying to figure out how to take care of her children by herself without any support. Her husband's best friend, Marcus up and left after they shared a kiss and now she's being hunted. Marcus' mom sends her on a mission to find and bring Marcus home after they're all attacked, which leads to Leah's bringing danger to Marcus' doorstep too.

This was such a fun adventure story. I enjoyed how Marcus and Leah grew from their friendship to love and how they both learned to let go of certain things. The story was full of twists and turns and I was very happy with the characters, pacing, and the story as a whole.

3 1\2 stars
This was present as a stand alone in a series but I will have to say I think I would have connected better with the characters if I had read the previous books.

The book doesn't stand out in a world of Military Romance books in fact it fades into the masses and doesn't inspire readers to search out the others in the series.  While the author tries hard to make readers connect with the characters if feel forced with lots of internal dialog that can slow down books.

I will give the author credit for tacking some difficult subject matter but at the same times fades into the background as well.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of Tonya Burrows Honor Avenged

I absolutely love this series. Each and every book has been great. There is plenty of action and suspense and I have grown to love these characters, as flawed as they are. This book kept the pages turning and there was suspense and romance throughout. Marcus and Leah's history made their relationship seem natural--it worked. And, as this author does so well, I'm hooked and ready for the next book in the series. Lots of complex twists and turns to keep the reader interested and wanting more. Loved it! 4 1/2 stars!

I’ve really enjoyed Tonya Burrows’ HORNET series, and by this latest installment, HONOR AVENGED, readers are pretty familiar with the dynamics of the team of mercenaries. Layered in with Burrows’ trademark nail-biting tension is the guilt that goes along with falling for your best friend’s widow. It’s even more difficult when your best friend was a fellow HORNET agent, and his wife is assertive in the opinion that her husband would still be alive had he not gone on the mission. There’s tension out the wazoo here—between the ghost of Danny always in the periphery, the mysterious flash drive, Leah’s abduction, and Marcus’ admission that he’d always loved Leah, there’s a lot to take in. It’s the most angsty of the series so far, but it’s full of suspense and action and a good book.

*Originally published at Frolic: https://frolic.media/may-romantic-suspense-must-reads/

Leah is struggling to get through her life months after she was left widowed, her husband, Danny, shot whilst away with HORNET, an elite hostage rescue team. Danny’s best friend, Marcus, left after things got too personal between them leaving Leah to cope alone. However, as violence intrudes into her life Leah finds she needs help to protect herself and her family meaning she needs to find Danny and bring him back. Exciting and action packed, I found it difficult to put this book down. It’s the first one of the HORNET books I read and I look forward to reading more. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The latest in the HORNET series is definitely not a standalone!  I mean you probably could, but it would make much more sense if you read in order... and I'm gonna go so far as to even say in a binge read!  It took me a while to remember how the last book ended and, while it takes place several months later, it still as if it was fresh in the mind for all the characters

I would say this book was necessary to move the story along, but I am not sure about the characters... they seemed to go from on extreme to the other in the blink of an eye

Overall it was good but not my favourite in the series

As the blurb says, this book was well suited to being a stand-alone.

I struggled with Marcus. Mainly as he struggled with himself.  It made him much more interesting and likely a lot more realistic that he is so haunted.  Poor Leah has been through too much for a young mother and now widow.  Though she, her husband and Marcus have a shared history that goes back to childhood and are equally important in each other's lives, it's so wrong to cross that one line where she and Danny are together romantically, not she and Marcus.  

Much of the book Marcus in on the outs with his team, Leah and her children, even his beloved mother. Of course, he's too good a guy underneath all that turmoil to turn Leah down when he needs him most. 

There's a lot of suspense, a lot of tortured souls in conflict and hard fought battles both literal and emotional, all of which make this a very interesting read.

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

I have really enjoyed this series. The characters are a group of good guy mercenaries that work for a former child star billionaires. The plots are inventive, the romance hot and the suspense edge of your seat. "Honor Avenged" just didn't have the same feel. The angst was on he high side and the process of getting the hero and heroine together was a lot of work for the reader. I love a good friends to lovers tale, but Danny's ghost just created all kinds of woe for this couple.

Leah Giancarelli has a lot on her plate. She has been a widow for almost a year and life with three children is just plain hard. She blames HORNET for his death and has leaned on Danny's best friend, Marcus, to make it through her grief. Eaten up with lust for Leah and guilt over that, Marcus disappears. When someone tries to Leah and a mysterious stranger gives her a flash drive and tells her to trust no one, she has to find Marcus.

Danny was his best friend, a brother in all ways but by blood. Marcus always knew that Leah was Danny's girl and when Danny dies, Marcus is devastated. Being around Leah and wanting her is tearing him apart, so he disappears. 

Leah tracks him down, but a hit team is hot on her trail. Together they have to face both Danny's death and their growing feelings for each other, while staying alive.  3 1/2-Stars

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.

This book is fairly clean for a military romance.  It's actually more adventure than porn and that's the way I like them.  There is some graphic scenes of torture and death.  There are some scenes with the less fortunate people that have to live through hell just to get through a day.  There is swearing but there is also a good ending.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book.  I felt deeply for the couple in this book.  They had a pretty hard time of it, but when a husband and friend dies unexpectedly, you will have a more than tough time.

Marcus was supposed to watch over Leah and the kids for his best friend Danny.  Supposed to.  He couldn't stand up to his grief and work through it in order to be a help to anyone.  He was a sad state of affairs, running from every feeling he had and hiding them from himself.  Leah was alone and fighting to stay afloat.  Fighting and 
fighting to stay afloat, because that's what moms do.

The adventure in this book was pretty spectacular.  The premise was a secret investigation that Danny was handling and the wrong people had control over the situation and killed him.  The bad guys were really, really bad guys and decided to come after Leah because she *might* know something.  Leah doesn't know who to trust and those that she's supposed to be able to trust, can she?  It was a good story.

This was a fast pace and suspenseful read. Leah lost her husband in a Hornet mission. Marcus was her husband's best friend. Marcus feels immense guilt over his feelings for Leah, but she's now in danger and he can no longer avoid her. I loved this book and can't wait for the next in the series!