The Cost of Honor

<b>I've given this a D+ at AAR.</b><br /><br /><strong>The Cost of Honor</strong> is book three in Diana Muñoz Stewart’s <strong> <em>Black Ops Confidential</em> </strong> series about a group of adoptive siblings (twenty-eight in total, all but two of them female) who were adopted by one of the world’s wealthiest women and trained in badassery to be <em>warriors in her social justice crusade</em>.  The story picks up after the end of the first book, <strong>I Am Justice, </strong>and focuses on one of the only male members of the Parrish ‘family’, Tony, who has got himself into hot water by going against orders so as to save his sister Justice from the possibly fatal consequences of her own rash actions.  Knowing the rest of the family will see this as a massive betrayal, he has only one way to keep body, soul and, most importantly, mind together; he fakes his own death to avoid being hauled back to the family HQ to have his memories altered.<br /><br />Even though he’s managed to get away, Tony knows it’s just a matter of time before the family tracks him down, so he’s determined to keep moving.  Shortly after his escape, he travels to Dominica, where he (stupidly) goes kite boarding during a storm, gets wiped out and is saved by Honor Silva, a young woman who owns a cocoa farm where she manufactures high-grade, boutique chocolate and runs an island tour business on the side.<br /><br />Having seen Lazarus Graves (as Tony has styled himself) is safe in hospital, Honor returns home to discover that someone has made an offer for the farm, hotel and tour business for an amount way in excess of what it’s actually worth, but she turns it down.  She has no desire to sell and besides, such an offer is extremely suspicious – why anyone would want to pay well over the odds for a business that is just about breaking even?  But when all but one of her regular tour guides fail to show for work and a number of ‘accidents’ start to occur on the tours,  it becomes clear that whoever made that offer is prepared to get their hands on the business by whatever means necessary.<br /><br />The suspense plot in <strong>The Cost of Honor</strong> is intriguing, topical and moves at a good pace with clues revealed to the reader at the same time as the characters so we’re able to start to piece things together at the same time they are.  But this is (supposedly) a romantic suspense novel, and the low grade I’ve given it is entirely due to the clumsiness of the romance, which is unconvincing and contains more cheese than my favourite fondue recipe.  Even the term ‘insta-lust’ doesn’t adequately describe the speed at which things progress; Tony is in the hospital when the mental lusting starts (he’s specifically impressed by Honor’s boobs), and within a couple of days, the couple is pondering the amazing connection they share.  (Which isn’t shared with the reader – it’s all telling and no showing.)  The characterisation of Honor is inconsistent which made it difficult to get a handle on her.  When we first meet her, she’s contrasting her own cautious personality with her late mother’s bold, go-getter ways and told she secretes <em>away her heart and her true desires</em>.  But within  a day or two of meeting Tony,  she’s ordering him to get onto his knees and go down on her, and he’s thinking of her as a ballbuster – which just didn’t fit the initial picture the author paints of Honor as cautious and somewhat reserved.<br /><br />The novel is full of clichéd dialogue and laughable statements .  I made note of many such instances on my Kindle, but here are a few of the highlights:<br /><br />Tony is turned on by Honor’s driving skills:<br /><blockquote>“Honor, you catch my breath.  The way you drive.  The way you pause in the road right before a dip.  It’s like you’re one with the earth.”</blockquote><br />In an attempt at banter worthy of any Carry On film:<br /><blockquote>“I can’t wait to get my lips around your recipes.”</blockquote><br />(Oooh, er, Matron!)<br /><br />During a discussion about the level of danger to Honor and trusting each other, Honor says:<br /><blockquote>“Are you sure, Laz? You barely know me.  I mean, we haven’t even slept together yet.”</blockquote><br />Huh?<br /><br />And when they do get busy between the sheets, she says right out that they don’t need to use a condom because she’s on the pill and hasn’t had sex in two years.  She’s known the man for a couple of days.<br /><br />And this made me laugh so hard.  After Honor gives Tony the Best BJ EVAH, he asks:<br /><blockquote>“What can I do for you, Honor? What can I do to show you… to make this moment last forever in your mind? Last for all the days that I won’t be here?”</blockquote><br />Hm.  Now let me see.  What should she ask for?  Reciprocation? To be thrown down and taken hard and fast?  Breakfast?  Diamonds? Nah.<br /><br />She asks him to DANCE FOR HER.<br /><br />WTF?  I’m pretty sure the response to that request from most blokes would be “are you ‘avin’ a laugh?”<br /><br /><strong>The Cost of Honor</strong> doesn’t work as a romance or as a standalone, as so much of Tony’s backstory is obviously tied to previous books in the series and the opening of the novel is quite confusing as a result.  The suspense plot is decent (ish) although towards the end, it’s overstuffed with both characters and plotpoints. But what really sinks the novel is the complete lack of romantic chemistry and the poor-execution of the romantic storyline.  I keep picking up romantic suspense novels by new and new-to-me authors in the hope of finding something to really capture my attention and sadly, am disappointed more often than not.  Give this one a wide berth.

As I progress through this series, I realize that I really enjoy the individual (and paired) characters, but I'm less enchanted with the organization behind everything.<br /><br />It starts off with "Laz the Sailor" - how cool is that! He's running and hiding by sailing around the Caribbean. He stays in one port one day too long and finds himself rescuing a damsel in distress. Since he's a trained military man of mystery, he uses his size and skill very effectively. This part of the story is 5-stars.<br /><br />Then the organization shows up for the last 20%, cleans up the minor details from the first part, and then tries to over-manage the newly minted couple. This was less good. I get it - this provides the longer plot arc and background for why the various characters do what they do, but it would be better if they were a bit more lovable.<br /><br />I will keep reading the series.

First thoughts: I think this might be the best book in the series! This is Tony's redemption. After breaking all the rules during the op in Mexico while trying to save Justice from herself, Tony faked his own death and went into hiding. Honor is a chocolate maker and innkeeper on a Carribean island. Why would her life possibly be in danger? They're not sure, but the attempts are piling up. Then Tony's family finds him and hauls him home for a little brainwashing, literally. Can love survive? The characters are great and the action keeps going. The sex is hot. The ending is almost a letdown.

I liked the time that Honor and Tony got to know each other, or at least as much as Tony let Honor get to know him. I liked that right away Tony seemed to recognize something sinister was going on in Honor's life and jumped in to help. And as much as I liked the two of them working things out I missed the larger group and how they worked together. Despite saying that I wasn't happy when they showed up, figured they would ruin things for Tony just when he was finding happiness. <br /><br />From there things got interesting. The dynamic changed in so many ways, but once everyone was focused on a "bad guy" things got better. I was surprised that Honor wanted in as much as she did and how she helped. <br /><br />By the end of the book I was glad that everything worked out, they exposed what they needed to and Tony and Honor were back where they should be, together.

Originally published at <a href="https://www.readingreality.net/2019/11/review-the-cost-of-honor-by-diana-munoz-stewart-giveaway/" rel="nofollow noopener">Reading Reality</a><br /><br />Through a certain lens, all three of this week’s books are wrapped around the question about whether the ends justify the means – and who gets to make that decision.<br /><br />The way that this is worked out in The Cost of Honor, and in the entire Black Ops Confidential series, makes this both a harder and a deeper story than the events on its surface. And a fitting conclusion to the story arc begun in the awesome I Am Justice. (The book is awesome and so is the character of Justice Parrish.)<br /><br />While some readers have said that this book can be read as a standalone, I’m not totally sure that’s true. Because this story brings full circle the events of that first book, and also adds new layers to the question that was asked in the second book, The Price of Grace.<br /><br />It’s the question of whether the Parrish family and its League of Warrior Women is just a tight-knit family of adoption – or if it’s actually more of a cult.<br /><br />That’s an answer I’m not quite sure of by the end of the story. I actually think the question is even more wide open now than it was at the beginning.<br /><br />The story in The Cost of Honor is the story of one of the few men adopted into that League of Warrior Women – Tony Parrish. A Tony Parrish who either betrayed the family or tried to protect it at the beginning of I Am Justice – and who let his family believe he was dead rather than face the music of that seeming betrayal.<br /><br />By this point in Tony’s story, he’s been on the run for months. The family he left behind has finally discovered that he didn’t die after all – and they are pissed.<br /><br />It’s not all about the lie. Well, it is about the lie about him being dead, and the depths of everyone’s grief. But it’s really about the schism that his departure has created in a family that has prided itself on its rock-solid unity for the past 40 years. A unity that has been protected by their ability to erase inconvenient memories and emotions – like the emotions that led to Tony’s disappearance and his memories of a family that acts as judge, jury and executioner on those who have avoided, evaded or co-opted the law.<br /><br />Because Tony has been found just as he’s found someone worth keeping ALL his memories intact for. But Honor Silva in just the kind of trouble that his family is expert at fixing. Bringing them in will mean that they will “fix” him in return for their help.<br /><br />The cost of Tony’s honor may be the loss of her. It’s a price that he may be willing to pay – but Honor definitely is NOT.<br /><br />Escape Rating B: I leave this book, and this series, with a whole boatload of mixed feelings. About the size of the boat used in the “big finish” rescue that concludes the action of this story.<br /><br />There were three parts to this story, the romance between Tony and Honor, Tony’s very real fears of being found by his family and having his memory erased, and the equally real danger that Honor finds herself in just as Tony enters her life.<br /><br />The romance was sweet and very hot. Extremely hot. While the romantic element of romantic suspense like this series are often fast and adrenaline fueled, the hot-sex-into-love relationship between Tony and Honor feels almost too fast for their characters and has more than a whiff of insta-love to it.<br /><br />The danger that Honor is in is very real, but felt at first like it came a bit out of the blue. And then the story digs into Honor’s past, and her mother’s past, and keeps on digging. Until it finds itself very near something like the Harvey Weinstein case, only even longer lasting and with even deadlier consequences. This got deeper and darker than I expected, and I mean that in the best way possible.<br /><br />But then, on my third hand, there’s Tony’s story. He wants to help Honor. He needs to help Honor. And he needs to run from his family who mean well in the broadest sense but may not mean the best for him. In order to protect their secret operations, operations which really, really need to be protected, they’re going to fuck with Tony’s mind and memories.<br /><br />I don’t know about you, but I’d run too. While the theory behind what they plan to do is something I’ve run across before, it still feels like something that no one should do, particularly in the name of “love” the way that it’s presented here. Even though this does manage to get to a happy ending I found that part extremely troublesome. Every organization needs people who ask hard questions. And we are the product of who we’ve been, both the good and the bad parts. That everything manages to work out in the end felt like someone got let off the hook in a way that sticks in my mind with very troublesome thoughts.<br /><br />The Parrish family have decided that the end result of protecting their operations justifies the means of messing with their own people’s minds and memories. And I’m troubled by that being the happy ending. Your reading mileage may definitely vary.<br /><br />This is one to read, and ponder. And keep right on pondering. I still am.

The Cost of Honor (Black Ops Confidential #3) by Diana Munoz Stewart<br />4.5 stars<br />M/F Romance<br />Triggers: Murder, Pedophilia, Stalking, Experimental medical procedure<br />I was given this book for an honest review by Wicked Reads.<br /><br />This is Tony's story. I was excited to see his story because he was always trying to get everyone to follow the rules. But, when something goes wrong, Tony doesn't have a choice. He has to fake his own death in order to escape his family.<br /><br />Honor is trying to get her business to stay afloat. When a strange offer to buy her business, her mom's brand and her property comes in, Honor isn't sure what's going to happen. But, when things start to go wrong with her business and her life is put at risk a few times, she knows that something is amiss with the offer. Plus, with the people around her trying to keep her the naive girl she grew up as, she isn't sure who she can trust. <br /><br />Laz aka Tony is just trying to live his new life. But, when he's rescued by Honor, he can't help but be a little smitten. She's beautiful, strong and says what she's thinking. Tony grew up around strong women, so he knows that Honor is just as special. Tony knows how to protect Honor, but he'll have to decide if protecting her is worth his memories. <br /><br />This was fast paced, had more of a romance component than the other stories and was overall a really well developed story. I did feel that the ending was somewhat rushed though. There was all of this work put in to the build up of their relationship, but in the end, it didn't really end in a well planned manner. And, while it didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the book, it did make me somewhat sad to not like Tony's ending.

The Cost of Honor is my favorite book in the 'Black Ops Confidential' series. It is suspenseful, exciting, and a page-turner. I thought Diana Munoz Stewart created two interesting characters, Honor and Tony, that are mysterious and enjoyable to read about. <br /><br />As I started reading the story, it was easy to get engaged with the story. The author went straight into it and Honor and Tony met in a life-saving way. They are both mysterious and their current situations only added to my intrigue. <br /><br />Tony faked his own death and changed his identity when he meets Honor. They both put up walls to not let people in, but I could tell from the beginning that their relationship would be different. As they started to spend more time with each other, they started revealing more. This led them to like each other more. <br /><br />I loved the romance and steam in the story. I could really feel the chemistry between the two. It felt right when they were together. I also enjoyed the suspense because it was thrilling until the very end. There is so much mystery and danger that makes this story worth the read.<br /><br />I give The Cost of Honor 4 stars. It's an addicting romantic suspense that will hook you in from the jump. The characters are great together and add even more excitement to the whole story.

Another intoxicating read, The Cost of Honor combines a heroine as sweet as her chocolatey passions (though not without some spice as well) with a bruised and battered hero on the run from his vigilante family. Just like previous books in this series, Cost combines steamy romantic interludes with fast paced action sequences and a mystery that will make readers heads spin (in the best possible way).

The Cost of Honor by Diana Munoz Stewart is book 3 of Black Ops Confidential series. The series is about a group of adoptive siblings (twenty-eight in total, all but two of them female) who were adopted by one of the world’s wealthiest women and trained to be warriors in her social justice crusade. The Coast of Honor follows Tony one of the two male members of the family. It is fast paced with adventure and danger as well as romance. This is the first book of the series that I have read. It does fine as a stand alone but reading the series will make the bigger picture clearer. <br /><br />I received a copy thru a Goodreads Giveaway.

The perfect blend of high octane thriller with scorching romance.<br />I absolutely could not put this one down.<br />Perfect for readers of edgy romance and edge-of-your-seat thrillers!<br />