review || TALON { blog tour } by Sybil Bartel

Sybil Bartel | March 1, 2016 | Romantic Suspense
Uncompromising, book 1
★★★★★

SOURCE: XPRESSO BOOK TOURS

Talon 

I surf. 

I fuck. 

I pretend to smile. 

Two years ago my life was perfect, until it wasn’t. I scattered my wife’s ashes then walked away from the Marines. I didn’t think I had anything left to lose. 

I was wrong. 

The blonde showed up on my doorstep beaten and stabbed. I did what I was trained to do—I stitched her up. I didn’t have a clue who she was and I told myself I didn’t care. Until they came looking for her. 

I swore I’d take my last breath before I let anyone else hurt her, except I didn’t know she was keeping a deadly secret. Now I had two choices, her life or mine. 

Marriage and combat taught me the same thing—I was no one’s hero. And I was about to prove it. 

Warning: This book contains offensive language, violence and sexual situations. Mature audiences only. 18+

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{ about sybil bartel } .

Sybil Bartel grew up in Northern California with her head in a book and her feet in the sand. She dreamt of becoming a painter but the heady scent of libraries with their shelves full of books drew her into the world of storytelling. She loves the New Adult genre, but any story about a love so desperately wrong and impossibly beautiful makes her swoon.

Sybil now resides in Southern Florida and while she doesn’t get to read as much as she likes, she still buries her toes in the sand. If she isn’t writing or fighting to contain the banana plantation in her backyard, you can find her spending time with her handsomely tattooed husband, her brilliantly practical son and a mischievous miniature boxer…

But Seriously?

Here are ten things you probably really want to know about Sybil.

She grew up a faculty brat. She can swear like a sailor. She loves men in uniform. She hates being told what to do. She can do your taxes (but don’t ask). The Bird Market in Hong Kong freaks her out. Her favorite word is desperate…or dirty, or both—she can’t decide. She has a thing for muscle cars. But never reply on her for driving directions, ever. And she has a new book boyfriend every week—don’t tell her husband.

To find out more about Sybil Bartel, be sure to follow her on Twitter (she loves to hear about your favorite book boyfriend!), visit her website, like her on Facebook or join her Facebook group Book Boyfriend Heroes for exclusive excerpts and giveaways

website | twitter | facebook | goodreads

{ review } .

I've been in like with Talon since the Unchecked series. He was cocky and smug, and hid everything behind a seemingly fake accent -- which we learn more about. He didn't give his heart easily, and when things went down with Layna previously, hints of this broken man started to come through.

I seriously wasn't expecting to love his story as much as I did.

Either Ms. Bartel's storytelling has simply improved (and hey, it may have), or I simply connected better with Nic... which I venture is the full truth. I found Talon to be as strongly written as Blaze before, but I also found that Nicole was well-rounded, multi-dimensional, and much easier to connect to than Layne before her. Both Nicole and Layna had dark moments in their lives; however, where Layna was either fierce or really weepy, Nicole was fierce and determined. I loved watching Nicole through Talon's eyes.

...big blue eyes full of mistrust met my gaze. Everything went still. The bullshit chaos in my head, grief, anger, it all went quiet like the flip of a switch--a fucking jasmine switch.

Talon... He tried to be hard and indifferent toward Nicole, he did... But the day she comes to his shop, broken, bruised, and mistrustful, she becomes his Siren. As much as he loved his Leigh, the secrets his late wife left him with had him distrustful of women -- Talon has gotten extremely good at just being the playboy, womanizing man he has a reputation for. His hard ways though have soft moments, and it was because of those moments that he truly solidified his place in my book boyfriend list. He knows just when to push Nicole, but when to hold back.

This second-guessing myself, pretending I wasn't anything other than one hundred percent alpha, was bullshit. She may have stolen my heart but I was done being a pussy.

Some of my favorite scenes with Talon are in the end. From his realization of his love for Nicole, to the full picture this man becomes... My goodness, I think I love him more than I ever, and I do mean ever, loved Blaze. Nicole and Talon make such a cute couple, and their little home life they make... So freaking cute. Talon is a great multi-tasker...

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