Havoc (Havoc of Sins 2) by JL Drake -review & excerpt tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 11, 2024
My family and friends are targets of an unseen enemy. How can I fight them when I have no idea when and where they will strike next?
Kenna lives by the same moral code as her friends who wear the cut of the Reaper. When she spills her secret to me, I’m enraged. The knowledge she carries affects us all but puts her directly in the crosshairs. This driving need to protect her is new for me.
As the truth is revealed, I discover those who were like friends are nothing more than traitors in this dangerous game.
When it happened, I never saw it coming. I was blinded by her. Guilt and pain send me into a dark spiral as I try to survive. Blood would spray across the city of Vegas until the truth showed its ugly face.
My world has been turned upside down. The true enemy could be in plain sight, but even if they are revealed, it could still be too late to save our empire—and the lives of those sworn to protect it.
••••
REVIEW:HAVOC is the second instalment in Jl Drake’s contemporary, adult HAVOC OF SIN dark, erotic,crime world romance series a cross over with the author’s Devil’s Reach Trilogy, Quiet Mafia Series, and the Dark Water Series. This is Las Vegas businessman and Devil’s Reach MC member Grimson ‘Grim’ Gates, and hostess Kenna Tame-Lodge. HAVOC should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up after the cliff hanger of book one GRIM.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise including graphic violence there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from three first person perspectives (Grim, Kenna, Simon) HAVOC picks up immediately after the events of book one GRIM. Grimson ‘Grim’ Gates is the up and coming king of Las Vegas but any number of crime lords, wanna-bes, and powerful businessmen are taking aim at Grim Gates starting with his on again, off again relationship with our story line heroine but as the vultures begin to circle, Grim’s world will come crashing down, and he aims his grief and pain at the woman that calls to his heart. With vengeance at the forefront of his mind, Grim sets out to destroy those who are quickly destroying the world in which he lives.
The world building is, once again, complex and detailed, with many predators targeting our story line couple. Kenna finds herself caught between the love for a man who is unable to love back, and the knowledge that she may never be ready for what the future unfolds. Kenna has a target on her back, and someone close, may be responsible for her life, and that of Grim Gates’ life that is spiralling out of control.
The relationship between Grim and Kenna is turbulent, emotional and impassioned. Grim doesn’t do love or relationships yet his past keeps threatening the current woman in his life. Grims’ darkness screams danger and death, and in this, Grim takes aim at our story line heroine. For all of her knowledge and ability to ferret out problems, Kenna is often TSTL and in this, she can be frustrating on so many levels. Where Grim is unable to trust, Kenna trusts too easily. The $ex scenes are provocative and intense.
Once again, there is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters, many of whom we met in the previous story line. Most are questionable at best, controversial in intent, and not trustworthy from the start. Someone will die; everyone is suspect but there are too many probabilities and possibilities- Grim struggles to believe even those closest.
HAVOC is a story of betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, power and control, family and deception. The premise is dark, dramatic and edgy; the romance is intense and impassioned; the characters are determined yet broken. HAVOC ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.
Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one GRIM
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
Zhar sensed I was awake and lifted his head, and his eyes glowed in the red lighting along the base of
the wall. A moment later, he let out a low whine, and I strained to hear what he’d tuned in to. I’d
locked the elevator and wasn’t concerned, as I was on the top floor and there was zero way anyone
could break in through the elevator doors. They only opened if you had the right card.
“No!” Kenna shot straight up in bed, and both dogs leapt to their feet. She sucked in a breath.
I gave a command for the boys to stand down. They listened, but both kept their eyes on her. Kenna
looked around then slowly turned to see me awake. It was dark, but I could sense her fear.
“Sorry,” she whispered as she rubbed her head like it hurt.
“I was awake, anyway.” I turned the low lighting up a bit so she could take in her surroundings.
“Maybe it’s best if I go.”
“No.” I yawned uninterested in the idea.
“And if I wanted to?” She raised her chin, and I saw a tiny spark in her eye. I missed that spark.
“I’d chain you to the bed.”
“Right.” I reached over and pulled a chain from the bedpost and let the cuff dangle from it. “Why
does that bring me comfort?” She rubbed her arms uneasily, and I could tell it wasn’t from the idea
of being bound but from what was weighing on her. She slowly lowered herself to the pillow.
“Reach out and feel the back of the nightstand.” I felt her reach over, and when she did, I rolled
over and put my hand over hers. “Feel that buckle?”
“Yeah.” Her glossy eyes blinked up at me. I could see the nightmare still cling to her mind.
“Unsnap, pull down, and it’s ready to fire.” She nodded. I moved her hand up and under the
headboard. “That’s a Talon knife, sharp as hell. Just pull forward and it will release.” She nodded
again, and I stared down at her worried expression. “You’re safe.”
“Okay.” She nodded a bunch of times, then I ran my hand down her extended arm, across her
collarbone, and up her neck. I brushed her jawbone, and her gaze dropped to my lips. I pushed my
interest into her hip.
I leaned down and caught her mouth with mine. It was a slow kiss, just lips at first, then my tongue
danced with hers. Her hand moved up my side and into my hair while my hand was under her chin
gently holding her in place. It felt different. She tasted just as she smelled, fresh but fruity, and it was
fucking with my head. My normal instinct was to ravish, to consume, flood her body with pleasure
and take whatever I wanted at the same time. But I felt an unusual need to be careful. Her body still
needed time to heal, and her head was in a bad place. I couldn’t shake the feeling of being split
down the center. I pulled back and studied her. Her confusion on what just happened mirrored my
own.
“You should sleep,” I said quietly.
“Yeah, I guess we should.” She waited for me to roll back, then she pulled the covers up to her chin.
When my head hit the pillow, I came nose to nose with Leal.
“Jesus!” I mouthed then glared at him. He stared just as hard back. I swore he cocked a brow at me. I
wondered what went through his brain in that moment. “Go.” I pointed. He waited for a beat then
did what he was told. His typical huff as he plunked back down in his bed was louder than usual.
J.L. Drake is a bestselling author with multiple series published in several different countries. The Broken Trilogy is her best seller, and her next series, Quiet Mafia, has the same kind of homey feel sprinkled with some yummy darkness.
She was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, later moving to southern California. Though she loves the weather in Cali, she would sell her left kidney for a good rainstorm. Jodi’s love of the seasons back home in Canada definitely put in an appearance in her books.
When she’s not writing, you can often find her sitting somewhere along the coast of Huntington Beach, reading, or at home curled up on a couch with her two children and husband, binge watching Marvel movies.
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