HOT Honor (Hostile Operations Team: Strike Team 2 #8)

Lynn Raye Harris

Blurb:

Waking up with a wife is not how black ops soldier Zane “Zany” Scott pictured his first trip to Las Vegas ending. Forever isn’t in his vocabulary anymore. So why did he marry a woman he just met?

Nerdy Eden Hall isn’t the kind of girl people notice. She’s always lived in her twin’s shadow, always been plain and sensible compared to her sister’s big personality. But when her sister gets engaged to the man Eden secretly loves, it’s inevitable she’ll drink too much at the bachelorette party.

It’s not inevitable that she’ll impulsively marry the hottest guy she’s ever laid eyes on, though. Of course they’re going to divorce, but it takes more time to do that than it did to get married. Time in which they’ll discover they’ve got more in common than simply burning up the sheets together.

Just when they think they might have something worth keeping, it all goes wrong and Eden becomes the target of a killer. Zane will have to risk everything to save his wife. Because if he doesn’t, he could lose the woman who, against all odds, kickstarted his heart into beating again.

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

The final member of the original HOT team has finally fallen in this story of crazy mistakes turning into lifelong love. II have been looking forward to this story for a while now, knowing that Zany was going to be true to his name in the way that he found his mate and the woman that he selected –even if by accident—to share his life. Lynn Raye Harris has a skill with her characters and a magic with her plotting that the rest of us could only hope to aspire to. As these operators have slowly widened their circle, both with lover, wives, friends, and allies, we have found ourselves in foreign countries, unimaginable experiences, and the fear and desperation of loved ones in danger, but through it all Harris manages to bring the most unlikely of lovers together and give them the HEA we all hope to find and a future filled with happiness. While Zany and Eden’s tory was certain rocky and filled with misunderstanding, miscommunications, and danger, in the end these two discover that the passion that originally brought them together is more than enough to build a foundation to structure their love and lives on. I am dying for more in this series, and perhaps a fun spinoff that was hinted at, and of course hopefully we get to see more of the Black’s Bandits guys, but all in all whatever Lynn Raye Harris gives us I know I will devours it gladly.

Zane “Zany” Scott is in Vegas to celebrate his little sisters Twenty-First birthday, nothing more, and he is determined not to do anything stupid, but he never imagined getting knocked off his feet by the sexy and shy woman he connects eyes with across the bar. Eden Hall has never been able to shine with her beautiful sister around and now that her sister is marrying the man she is in love with Eden is willing to drown her pain when the sexy Zane offers her a shoulder and some drinks. But things are seriously complicated when they wake up in bed together after a long night of passion, with rings on their fingers and a license in hand. Now they are stuck dealing with the consequences—and one another—but as they spend time together, they come to appreciate and like one another and maybe even more. When tragedy strikes, placing Eden and those around her in danger, Zane is determined to keep her safe, pulling in the rest of HOT, but the more time they spend together, the more Eden comes to care for Zane. Conflicting feelings, confusing miscommunications, and two stubborn people that can’t seem to express themselves might be the least of their worries if they can’t figure out who is after Eden and her sister in time, because Sane might just find himself a widow instead of needing a divorce. And he definitely won’t have a chance at a happily ever after with the woman he might just be falling in love with if he doesn’t admit his feelings and find a way to save her life.

I really enjoyed finally getting to know Zane and see more of him, but I was a bit surprised by him a few times in that I wanted to slap him for his treatment of Eden and his hard line take of some issues. It is obvious that his past relationship, truly screwed him up for any chance at building a loving connection with anyone, and while I mostly blame the bitch that treated him so badly, he never really worked through his issues. Zane was such a sweet guy in the general scheme of things, rescuing damsels in distress, caring for his family, always jumping in to help his HOT family, that the way he treated Eden when he got his feelings hurt. Other than those moments he was awesome, strong, sweet, loving, brave, kickass and intelligent he is the ultimate hero, showing Eden that she is sexy and lovable, even when she doesn’t think she is any of those things. Eden on the other hand is the kind of woman I can fully understand; she has real issues with self-confidence that mostly began with her mother, always being compared to her sister and coming up short, and it has carried into her adult life. She believes that she is in love with her boss, who is now her sister’s fiancé, and it colors all her choices even after she meets Zane, but he slowly manages to change her mind and heart as he shows her who he is and the kind of life and family they can have together. She is witty, charming, thoughtful, and stronger than she knows, and protective of those she loves, but even when she was in danger she never gave up and never stopped believing that Zane would come for her. Despite all that she faced, it was obvious that when Eden really gave her heart, she did it entirely and nothing would ever change her decision, no danger, pain, threat, or fear, and I was thrilled to see that the same was true ultimately for Zane.

‘Honor bespeaks worth’ is one of my favorite quotes, and it goes well with this story, because truly the honor that Zane shows as he handles what begins as a mistake and because a treasured moment shows his worth. I loved every moment, even the ones where I screamed and cried, as I read Zane and Eden’s story of lust, missed opportunities, danger, and ultimately a love that changed them both for the better. Zane has been broken for so long, he doesn’t know how to love, but Eden has pulled at him from the first moment their eyes connected, and the more they are together the harder it is to deny that she might just be the one woman he can’t live without. Eden knows that she isn’t a beauty queen, but Zane makes her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, and there is no denying that she is falling deeper and deeper for the big, protective, sexy man that has swept her off her feet. Together they will do everything in their power, along with Zane’s HOT family, to protect Eden and her sister against and unknown enemy, but they don’t have a lot of time before that enemy makes his move and ultimately decides their fates for them. The passion and heat between these two was explosive and I was almost sad that we didn’t get to see more of their wedding night in action with them, instead of just in flashbacks, but oh well, and I know that the heat between them won’t be fading any time soon. I am dying to see more of Zany and his Eden in future stories as Harris has hinted at the possibility of a new spinoff series and of course there is at least one more HOT member that needs his own story and the Black Bandits are still out there running around the world as well. Harris never ceases to keep me entertained and on the edge of my seat as she creates characters and plots that are impossible to predict and that I’m helpless to put down.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.