By: Tonya Burrows
Published By : Entangled Publishing
Released : 28th May 2013
Details: ARC digital review, 352 Pages from publisher
RATING: 3.5 BUFF BOYS STARS!
Blurb: Goodreads
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.
BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:
Did the cover capture my attention...of course it did!
Hehe! It is rather eye catching.
I have been enjoying myself reading Maya Banks’, KGI series and also Joan Swan’s , Phoenix Rising series, so when I saw Seal Of Honor I requested to read it from publisher.
I did like Tonya’s story. Was it realistic like Maya Banks, KGI series, hmmm, maybe not. I am going to explain what I really enjoyed and what I felt needed a bit of something.
I totally get the whole rag tag modern A-Team style bunch of lads who have been brought together to go on a mission. They all have a glimpse of a back story in this book, which I really liked.
Jean-Luc is the Fabio looking linguist who doesn’t bed one woman, he beds three at the same time. Go Jean-Luc!
And let the games begin.
Jean-Luc grinned to himself, switched on the cumbia rock station, and stood on the gas.
Jesse is the medic. I really like him, he seems to carry more of a sense of rightness , opposed to what mercenary’s can get up to, to get the job done.
The more I got to know Marcus, the more I liked him, he grew on me the more the story unfolds. He is an ex FBI top negotiator.
Travis Quinn is one of my faves. The lad has secrets.
"There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Jesse pulled his stethoscope from around his neck, tossed it inside his medical bag, and snapped the clasps closed. "Want a lolly now?"
Ian the bomb expert was a bit of a surprise the more I read. He came off as a disrespectful, insubordinate team member that was hard to manage , but there is more to the lad.
A stand out character for me was Raffi, Gabe's brother. We don't get much of him, but I can tell he will be a hoot.
Gabe snorted in response. "You really are a bastard." He waited until Quinn lifted his glass to his lips before adding, "But Raffi thinks you're hot."
As he walked away, he had the great pleasure of watching the unflappable Archilles choke on his champagne.
Audrey, the lead female, I just wanted her to stop going commando and wear some dang knickers. Each to their own, but she was forever flipping up what she had on and being ready for action, so to speak. Also if I never hear another woman say , ‘I’m a two pump chump,' ever again, it will be too soon.
"Christ." Gabe stopped moving to stare at her. "You're like nitro. One touch and boom."
She let go of his shoulder, soothing the bite with her tongue before grinning up into his eyes. "Yeah, I'm a two pump chump."
Women of the world, there's a T-shirt for ya!
I like my female leads to be consistent and it may just be me, but Audrey was one minute a frightened, scared woman and the next she was the horniest at the most inappropriate times. I understand it was supposed to come across as she was so scared she needed a release, but dang! I have to admit Audrey is a memorable character for me for the wrong reasons, again, just a personal observation.
I am not a prude, I read anything, but I like there to be something that draws me to characters and allows me to connect.
Danny, love the G-man. What I wasn't sure of... not sure how to say it without giving anything away, the 'who' that solved the mission villain, I would have liked the lads or the Agents to have been the ones to have done it. I got a laugh out of that. I think this person needs to be on the payroll.
As far as the villain of the story, well that was a bit too easy, but, I will say I got a twist from it. Which I enjoyed. I wasn’t the total smarty pants I thought I was. What I would love authors to think about is if you only have so many usual suspects in a story plot, throw some more in or else it kinda works itself out before the story has got a quarter way in.
I think the dialogue in some areas early in the book gives away the villain. I think if you changed some of the dialogue, threw in a couple more usual suspects , combined with the twist = a great hidden villain. More of an Agatha Christie, rather than , dang, could you say it any louder.
I soooo wanted the Gabe love fest to be a little more tension filled. That was a pretty done deal early into the book and I like it to be a little harder than that, no pun intended.
Audrey is one randy chick , is all I will say. LOL!!
Ok , now we come to Seth the sniper, EVERY TEAM should have a sniper, but apparently he has some issues so they go sniperless ( is that a word?) in this installment, but I think they decide he is worth the risk, later in another installment.
This was a badly patchworked Team. No pilot. Even Harvard the computer dude, when was the lad going to wake up to GPS. I was shouting at the book, GPS!!!! I know it lengthened the danger of the predicament randy Audrey, and Gabe were in... but oh dear.
I totally get that Tonya was showing us a rag tag team who we would see slowly start to bond and form a respect for their Commander. But, after reading Maya Banks and seeing how her Kelly boys ran their teams and the respect for their superiors, the well thought out plans, the missions handled professionally I did laugh at this lot and thought I certainly didn’t want this lot on their first mission being the ones to save me.
"This is new to you, isn't it?" When he cracked an eyelid and shot her a sideways glance, she added, "Not the hostage rescue stuff. Seeing you work, I have no doubt that you know what you're doing there. But this set-up is new."
That was one way to describe a six-hours-old, never-trained together team. New. He called it a goatfuck. Man, he should've passed on this mission. He'd been so eager to get back into the field. Too eager - and his team was suffering for it.
They are good at their individual professions, but these lads gelling together....lol!!
Not happening!
"Everyone's testing boundaries. Not exactly jockeying for power, since they all seem to get you're in charge, but they're trying to figure out what they can get away with, what they can't....."
They were not pre-trained as a team, they ran the mission all over the place, no respect for their Commander Gabe Bristow, who has a gimpy foot. Not sure how it was ok for him to get medical clearance to be out hobbling about. Love ya Gabe, but not sure about the medical clearance there. I am taking this book as it is meant to be. They are meant to be a bunch of gorgeous beefed up lads who for whatever personal reason are no longer a Navy SEAL or whatever their past ranking job was and they have come together to do a mission.
After saying all that. I did like this book. I do want to read more in the series. I liked how they came together at the end. I liked that book 2 sounds like they will be this tight, slick professional team.
The villains of various types in this book are written very well. One is ....whahhhh!! Like he is only young but due to his life he has a most frightening personality.
I did wonder where the helicopter keys came from. Does a helicopter have keys?? Surely you don’t just hop in and away you go? Maybe I missed something there. Hell, I am no expert on how to steal a chopper. Just something that stuck with me.
Can you hot wire a chopper?
I want to know more about Quinn (Travis) as it felt like his book was next. I totally enjoyed watching the lads from the start of the book start to shape up and show their Commander respect and pull together.
This is a rough rustic ship at the start , but it slowly turns into a team I would trust to find my loved one and bring them home safe.
Quinn stood up fast, letting his chair clatter to the floor. "Tenhut!"
It would have been amusing to watch the former soldiers in the group snap to automatic attention if he wasn't so pissed. Once a soldier, always a soldier.
Marcus, the fucking fed, just crossed his arms and scowled. "You military dudes really say that?"
"Yeah. Really. And if you guys have enough energy to bitch at each other like a bunch of nagging housewives, you have enough for some PT training. On the deck. Now!"
To Quinn's complete surprise, the first to drop was Ian.
The lads all sound humma, humma = yummy and they all have something going on in their life, we glimpse it and I want to read more.
An unusual start to a story about mercenary’s or private sector...ummm ex military dudes, compared to what I have read, but I do understand what Tonya was doing.
I am giving this one 3.5 stars as I think Tonya will definitely bring it in her next instalment. I am impressed enough to read more. I think her lads will really grow on me. I just hope the ladies in their lives get a bit more consistent in their personalities and show a bit of restraint and get some dang knickers!
SERE training. HA They might as well call it break-you-till-you-cry-for-your- mommy training. Welcome-to-the-ninth-circle-of-hell training. Expose-and-exploit-your-every-weakness training.
But he hadn't cracked. None of them had, not even scrawny little Harvard. They all bent to their limits and past, but they hadn't cracked. As soon as his body stopped throbbing, Marcus thought he might find some pride in that.
Take that , Navy SEALS.
