Review: Seal of Honor by Tonya Burrows

SEAL of Honor
(HORNET 1)
Author: Tonya Burrows
Publisher: Entangled Select
Genre: Romance
Buy: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ TBD

Overview

It’s a good thing Gabe Bristow lives and breathes the Navy SEAL credo, “the only easy day was yesterday,” because today, his life is unrecognizable. When his prestigious career comes to a crashing halt, he’s left with a bum leg and few prospects for employment that don’t include a desk.

That is, until he’s offered the chance to command a private hostage rescue team and free a wealthy American businessman from Colombian paramilitary rebels. It seems like a good deal—until he meets his new team: a drunk Cajun linguist, a boy-genius CIA threat analyst, an FBI negotiator with mob ties, a cowboy medic, and an EOD expert as volatile as the bombs he defuses. Oh, and who could forget the sexy, frustratingly impulsive Audrey Van Amee? She’s determined to help rescue her brother—or drive Gabe crazy. Whichever comes first.

As the death toll rises, Gabe’s team of delinquents must figure out how to work together long enough to save the day. Or, at least, not get themselves killed. Because Gabe’s finally found something worth living for, and God help him if he can’t bring her brother back alive.

Gabriel ‘Stonewall’ Bristow had a starling career as a Navy SEAL until an accident left him unfit for military duty. Sick and tired of his father pushing him into a desk job, Gabe accepts leadership of a private hostage rescue team. His first mission? To rescue Bryson Van Amee, a wealthy businessman who was taken by Colombian rebels. After assembling a team of retired but deadly individuals, they head to Columbia where a simple recon run turns into a disaster and Gabe is forced to kidnap a woman...

Who turns out to be none other than the fiery and sexy Audrey Van Amee. Once Gabe explains the situation, she puts her foot down and demands he let her help with recovering her brother. Audrey knows just the right way to push the otherwise serious and controlled ex-SEAL, because not only does he agree but soon enough the two have a hard time keeping their eyes and hands off each other. Let’s just say Gabe’s “tactical moves” will have you reaching for the nearest fan and setting it on high.

Delicious tension goes on whenever Gabe and Audrey are near and your heart can’t help but start racing in anticipation. Like, will they fight or devour each other? Either choice sounds deliciously good. Audrey is more than a match for the deadly Gabe and he’s strong enough to ground her impulsiveness. But will Gabe let go of his control, long enough to realize what he’s found? Or will he stick to protocol and do what’s right? We’ll, you’ll have to read to find that out!

Tonya Burrow’s debut SEAL of Honor is a scrumptious mix of military action, humor and romance.

As mentioned above, HORNET’s first mission takes them to Columbia and Burrows does an awesome job of keeping the spice and color of the place while still focusing on her very American entourage. Great descriptions everywhere without weighting it all down. Also, I want to shout a big thank you for doing the Spanish lines and dialogue correctly. It irks me so much when authors drop a line in Spanish that isn’t right, as if they just Googled the phrase. So, yes, thank you for using Spanish correctly.

Burrows weaved this story mercilessly. It’s complication after complication for our heroes and the question always is, how she will up the ante? I don’t know how, but she managed to raise the bar every single time with every single chapter. It was just amazing. I’m more than excited to continue this series and find out more about the other HORNET members—Travis ‘Achilles’ Quinn, Jean-Luc ‘Rajin Cajun’ Cavalier, Jesse Warrick the cowboy medic, Marcus Deangelo the smooth surfer, Eric ‘Harvard’ Psysick, and Ian Reinhardt the volatile bad boy. In this first book, there’s more than enough detail about the other boys to leave you begging for more. And I. AM. BEGGING.

*Arc copy provided by the publisher*

Meet the boys!

(I'll be updating this as Tonya makes the posts)

Gabe Bristow
Travis Quinn
Jean-Luc Cavalier
Marcus Deangelo
Jesse Warrick
Eric "Harvard" Physick
Ian Reinhardt

Favorite Quotes:

~She wants to break his control~

The man with the cane, again catching himself staring at her, snapped to attention. She watched it happen, saw him yank on the reins of tightly held control. How often did he let go of those reins? Not nearly enough she guessed, and she had the inexplicable urge to force his hand.

~Distracted Gabe~

“So it’s settled.” Audrey turned to face Quinn. “I’ll go with him and act as a translator.”
Settled? Far from it. He couldn’t take her anywhere with him unless it was to bed. Definitely not on an op, even one where he expected no resistance. She’d be a distraction of epic proportions, something that could get both of them killed in the wrong situation.
Even now, he couldn’t stay on task and found his gaze wandering to her pert little rear end, so close in front of him he wouldn’t have to reach far to get a handful.

~Harvard’s training~

Harvard was out the door before Jean-Luc could stop him. He moved smoothly, kept his rifle at the ready, and cleared both vehicles, all quick, efficient, and quiet-like.
Maybe, Jean-Luc thought as he followed, they had all underestimated genius boy’s abilities. “Where did you learn to do that?”
“Call of Duty.”
Or maybe not.