Honor Avenged

4.5⭐ Honor Avenged was an utterly gripping story. That was packed full of action, twists, suspense, heat, grief, intrigue and edge of your seat moments. Basically everything you would expect in a romantic suspense story, and it was a joy to read. But boy did my heart break at times for not only Marcus, but Leah and her children, especially Maya. Would definitely recommend!! And I can't wait for Ian's story. 🙂 **I was kindly provided with an ARC via Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review**

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...

I love this series and these members of HORNET so much. Some of my favorite romantic suspense right here! Ms. Burrows sure knows how to do it up right! This is a great story with edge of your seat action and suspense with a nice size helping of tender and emotional as Marcus deals with the fall out in his life of losing his best friend Danny but having real feelings for his widow Leah and her kids. And of course this is all happening while trying to stay alive and find out who killed Danny. Such an awesome book!