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Havoc #1
Havoc
After her ex's confession, Isla swore her night could not get worse. But two drinks later, a drunk stumble landed her in front of the tallest, broadest, most devastatingly sexy man she'd ever laid eyes on -- standing over a dead body.
Twenty-nine-year-old Abram Lenox is the city's king of sin. The head of Manhattan's biggest underground gambling ring, he has dirt on just about every celebrity, billionaire and politician in town. His fast-paced world revolves around indulging secret vices and there are no priorities beyond cash, thrill and satisfaction.
Until Isla Maran comes along. Now, he's got a murdered mafioso on his hands and a girl who shouldn't have seen.
But it doesn't take long before he realizes that he'll stop at nothing to protect her.
All that matters now is whether or not she'll break. Her simple life thrust in the fast lane, Isla suddenly finds herself facing a revolving door of chaos, extravagance and unspeakable crime -- as well as a lust so deep and forbidden it's bound for disaster.
Twenty-nine-year-old Abram Lenox is the city's king of sin. The head of Manhattan's biggest underground gambling ring, he has dirt on just about every celebrity, billionaire and politician in town. His fast-paced world revolves around indulging secret vices and there are no priorities beyond cash, thrill and satisfaction.
Until Isla Maran comes along. Now, he's got a murdered mafioso on his hands and a girl who shouldn't have seen.
But it doesn't take long before he realizes that he'll stop at nothing to protect her.
All that matters now is whether or not she'll break. Her simple life thrust in the fast lane, Isla suddenly finds herself facing a revolving door of chaos, extravagance and unspeakable crime -- as well as a lust so deep and forbidden it's bound for disaster.
Audio CD
First published June 21, 2015
61 people are currently reading
578 people want to read
About the author
Stella Rhys
18 books2,342 followersStella Rhys is a romance author who lives for baseball season, Irish coffees and Love Island UK. She was born and raised in New York and when she isn't writing, you can find her with her family and friends, scouring the city in search of her next book-inspiring adventure.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
September 17, 2016
Not safe!! He fingers another girl infront of h and then goes straight to h and does the same and sleeps with H. They break up and you read about her sleeping with another guy. Who happens to be that bad guy! Gross.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2020
That cliffy!!!! Omg
July 29, 2018
sinir hastası olmak isteyenleri sahneye davet ediyorum hsjdlsgsls
April 24, 2017
4.5 stars
Yay this book was hot steamy and oh so good ;) I'm so glad, I needed a good book
Onto book 2 ;)
Yay this book was hot steamy and oh so good ;) I'm so glad, I needed a good book
Onto book 2 ;)
May 11, 2017
I have yet to read a book by SR that will leave me disappointed and I hope that will never happen. I thought that this book started with a bang. I loved how well paced the story went--although it may come off a bit too fast for some. And I loved how hot the main characters were. The attraction between Abram and Isla was full-on hot! And then the surprise twist in the end...hsdg dldvld allgdfyg!!! Totally stopped my effing heart. Wtf.
January 8, 2018
Wtf I was really enjoying reading this author’s books till I happened upon this little gem. So I felt pretty comfortable that none of her books would have sex with ow or om after the H and h started sleeping together or developed a relationship. And what bothered me the most is after h sees H messing around with another girl she conveniently loses her mind right after and has sex with him. Not even really having it out with him about it either. That end, what a joke she was ready to start a whole new relationship well actually she did but guy turned out not to be who she thought but still damn wth she had sex with another man and bam pretty much book over. From what I hear next book is like some kind of love triangle. But I’m like hey Why not cement at least some kind of emotional feeling before ya bring in another damn party to the story. I mean honestly I hope she ends up with other dude cause she didn’t seem to have much going on with this guy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2017
Ms. Rhys writes some sexy scenes. *fans self*
I like this a lot, and am pleased with the amount of story packed into so few pages. Moving on to book two.
I like this a lot, and am pleased with the amount of story packed into so few pages. Moving on to book two.
September 4, 2018
I really don’t know how I feel about this book...
Isla (gorgeous name btw) is a heartbroken individual. She’s recently lost her sister, broken up with her boyfriend, and found out her best friend was now engaged to that same ex. Then she walks into an alley and runs smack into two guys dragging a dead body. *enter Abram* He immediately takes a liking to Isla and puts her up in his hotel to keep her safe. But he tries and tries to stay away from her. But fails, naturally.
My thing with this book is that there is sooo much back story and there is basically no storyline. For 80% of this book your kinda just flying by the seat of your pants because there really hasn’t been any explanation as to where tf the book is going. And normally it’s the other way around. Normally you get no back story for a character but the story keeps you hooked. It’s so ass backwards.
But the ending was a cliffhanger of mega proportions. 🙄🙄
Isla (gorgeous name btw) is a heartbroken individual. She’s recently lost her sister, broken up with her boyfriend, and found out her best friend was now engaged to that same ex. Then she walks into an alley and runs smack into two guys dragging a dead body. *enter Abram* He immediately takes a liking to Isla and puts her up in his hotel to keep her safe. But he tries and tries to stay away from her. But fails, naturally.
My thing with this book is that there is sooo much back story and there is basically no storyline. For 80% of this book your kinda just flying by the seat of your pants because there really hasn’t been any explanation as to where tf the book is going. And normally it’s the other way around. Normally you get no back story for a character but the story keeps you hooked. It’s so ass backwards.
But the ending was a cliffhanger of mega proportions. 🙄🙄
June 26, 2015
I didn't realize this was a partial story with a cliffhanger, and had I been warned in the book's blurb I would have waited until the whole story was published to read it. If I had read the whole story at once think it would have been at least a 4 star read.
I really did enjoy Havoc until I realized I was getting close to the end running out of time. I hate that feeling!! It's so frustrating to me that cliffhangers and serial novels have become so prevalent lately. Despite carefully reading book blurbs and usually scanning reviews to avoid accidentally reading books like this, it happens on occasion. Unless the author is careful to reveal and publicize that a story will unfold over multiple parts, I am NOT ok with them. I consider suprise cliffhanger endings straight up trickery; it's essentially selling a partially complete product that you have to pay for again just to make the initial investment worthwhile. More importantly, as a reader I do not find partial stories relaxing to read. Even worse, the conclusion is often a disappointment because the story doesn't live up to the intensity the cliffhanger left behind, or you've lost interest all together.
I really did enjoy Havoc until I realized I was getting close to the end running out of time. I hate that feeling!! It's so frustrating to me that cliffhangers and serial novels have become so prevalent lately. Despite carefully reading book blurbs and usually scanning reviews to avoid accidentally reading books like this, it happens on occasion. Unless the author is careful to reveal and publicize that a story will unfold over multiple parts, I am NOT ok with them. I consider suprise cliffhanger endings straight up trickery; it's essentially selling a partially complete product that you have to pay for again just to make the initial investment worthwhile. More importantly, as a reader I do not find partial stories relaxing to read. Even worse, the conclusion is often a disappointment because the story doesn't live up to the intensity the cliffhanger left behind, or you've lost interest all together.
May 27, 2020
5/27 - Update
Gosh, I forgot all about how god this book was. Damn! I needed this. Isla finds out her best friend is marrying her ex. Her baby sister just passed away from cancer, the night her ex calls her to initiate sex - she sees something she shouldn't and meets the sexiest man she has ever seen.
Her life is crumbling, she is in debt, lost her job, rent is behind, and her comes the mysterious man and saves our Isla - but he comes with so many secrets, so so many.
And Isla is no doormat, which I loved. I cried with her, felt with her. It was beautifully written.
HOLLLLYYY HELL! WTF???? YOU CAN'T EFFING END LIKE THAT!! DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING! AGHHHHH!!!!
Gosh, I forgot all about how god this book was. Damn! I needed this. Isla finds out her best friend is marrying her ex. Her baby sister just passed away from cancer, the night her ex calls her to initiate sex - she sees something she shouldn't and meets the sexiest man she has ever seen.
Her life is crumbling, she is in debt, lost her job, rent is behind, and her comes the mysterious man and saves our Isla - but he comes with so many secrets, so so many.
And Isla is no doormat, which I loved. I cried with her, felt with her. It was beautifully written.
HOLLLLYYY HELL! WTF???? YOU CAN'T EFFING END LIKE THAT!! DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING! AGHHHHH!!!!
June 23, 2015
I loved it...every page...I can not wait for august for book 2
August 6, 2024
ok i realize this is probably one of Stella’s first books which is why it was a little less organized than her newer ones that i’ve read. it was definitely a little too insta-lovey for my taste but i was still sucked in. now im forced the read the second book (i don’t make the rules) bc it ended on such a cliffhanger that i DID NOT see coming. props to her for that. i was gonna give it two stars especially bc i like a dual pov which this did not have but changed to three solely bc of the last chapter
June 22, 2015
Ughhh damage havoc #2 comes out on aug 24th. So good but that cliffy. Need conclusion.
dnf-for-now
August 1, 2015Cliffhanger. I'll come back to this once the next book is available.
June 23, 2015
amazing writing kept me gripped from the begining! and that cliff hanger!!!
February 25, 2018
Not my favorite Stella Rhys book
February 27, 2022
holy fookin shite. this was a rollercoaster.
hot af. lots of emotional twists and turns.
big fat cliffy!! going straight onto book 2 as I won’t sleep if I don’t find out what happens next
hot af. lots of emotional twists and turns.
big fat cliffy!! going straight onto book 2 as I won’t sleep if I don’t find out what happens next
August 19, 2022
Since Stella Rhys has been on hiatus for more than two years, I’ve been so desperate for a new novel of hers that I went back to her earliest works, even if the ratings were less than stellar. I went in with low expectations, but I still wasn’t prepared for what was to come. The heroine’s already high state of vulnerability (Isla was essentially abandoned by her former friends and family, and was still grieving over her sister’s death) coupled with her Stockholm syndrome reaction to Abram “rescuing” her from being killed by his friend (she had witnessed them disposing a dead body in an alley) made their over-the-top insta love even more uncomfy. The novella somehow got even more outlandish near the end. Isla got pissed that Abram had finger-fucked another woman in front of her (apparently, for business) but was somehow fine with him using those SAME fingers to finger-fuck her 10 minutes later! Without washing his hands either! The book finally ended with the couple agreeing to part ways until Abram satisfied his vengeful thirst for a rival mafia head’s life and then Isla unknowing having sex with said rival. Oh, and of course, Isla witnessing a couple more severe beatings and still feeling this ridiculous magnetism to him.
In short, Havoc was terrible (though to be fair, most mafia romances are). However, it was at least entertaining and kept me glued to the pages in a I’m-curious-to-find-out-how-this-trainwreck-will-end kind of way.
In short, Havoc was terrible (though to be fair, most mafia romances are). However, it was at least entertaining and kept me glued to the pages in a I’m-curious-to-find-out-how-this-trainwreck-will-end kind of way.
August 6, 2017
This is the first book I have read from this author. This book caught my attention from the first page and kept me intrigued as to what was going to happen next all the way til the end. Abram and Isla meet under suspicious circumstances. She encounters danger everywhere she turns with Abram. He has revenge to see through so he lets Isla go until they can meet again.
I really enjoyed this book but I didn't get the relationship between Isla and Holly. They were best friends from pretty much birth and yet Holly is hooking up with Isla's ex. The meeting she set in motion was pretty pathetic and not what a true friend would have done. What was the authors intentions and point in that scene? Holly needed a reality check as to what her fiance' was really up to. Either way Isla shouldn't forgive her.
I really enjoyed this book but I didn't get the relationship between Isla and Holly. They were best friends from pretty much birth and yet Holly is hooking up with Isla's ex. The meeting she set in motion was pretty pathetic and not what a true friend would have done. What was the authors intentions and point in that scene? Holly needed a reality check as to what her fiance' was really up to. Either way Isla shouldn't forgive her.
April 27, 2018
Wow! I got so much more than what the blurb said. Ilsa has been through hell with her family and her ex. Life just hasn't gone right for her until that crazy night. She got pulled into a world that she had never even dreamed being a part of. And Abram, holy wow! Little by little, they get wound tighter together until they can't get enough. Danger lurks around the corner and there are things that have to be completed. Things that must be done.
Extremely interesting story. Following the rabbit trail was intense. The heat, and there's a good bit of it, was through the roof. CNt wait to continue with the next one.
Extremely interesting story. Following the rabbit trail was intense. The heat, and there's a good bit of it, was through the roof. CNt wait to continue with the next one.
October 1, 2019
I liked Abram, sue me. He was hot, I love the super alpha stuff, I like that he kept showing up to save her in all sorts of ways. Isla was okay, but Jesus Christ her sob story of a life was kind of annoying. I just wanted a hot story to read.
I've already started on book 2, but I can already tell I'll probably skim it just to get to the stuff with Abram and Isla. Sorry Jesse, I just don't care about you. (And I'm sorry, but Isla seemed to fall for him rather fast, didn't she? She was all about Abram and then a couple weeks with "Sean/Jesse" and they're besties now? Did my Kindle delete a few chapters?)
The hotness factor was there for me, so I dug it.
I've already started on book 2, but I can already tell I'll probably skim it just to get to the stuff with Abram and Isla. Sorry Jesse, I just don't care about you. (And I'm sorry, but Isla seemed to fall for him rather fast, didn't she? She was all about Abram and then a couple weeks with "Sean/Jesse" and they're besties now? Did my Kindle delete a few chapters?)
The hotness factor was there for me, so I dug it.
January 15, 2026
this story has so many things that I don't like about stories but, because I have liked so many of this authors other stories, I forced myself to skim through...and hated myself for it.
Abram is a total dick to Isla and his hot and cold to her made me so resentful and angry at him. Sure he sounded sexy but that accounts for nothing when the story painted him an ass hat without any redeeming qualities.
In fact, I'm still cheering for Jesse.
except Isla is as dumb as a doorknob and doesn't deserve Jesse so, really, I'm glad Abram is her end game because wtf?
Abram is a total dick to Isla and his hot and cold to her made me so resentful and angry at him. Sure he sounded sexy but that accounts for nothing when the story painted him an ass hat without any redeeming qualities.
In fact, I'm still cheering for Jesse.
except Isla is as dumb as a doorknob and doesn't deserve Jesse so, really, I'm glad Abram is her end game because wtf?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2021
I love Stella Rhys books but this genre is way to different from her other works. It made me think if this was her earlier works or she is just trying something new.
My best friend would have love the dark romance but this book is a no for me.
He openly flirts with other women in front of her but he fvcks her for the big finish. And by the last chapter, she unknowingly slept with the bad guy - a cliffhanger for the next book.
I am not sold. But hey if this is your cup of tea, enjoy.
My best friend would have love the dark romance but this book is a no for me.
He openly flirts with other women in front of her but he fvcks her for the big finish. And by the last chapter, she unknowingly slept with the bad guy - a cliffhanger for the next book.
I am not sold. But hey if this is your cup of tea, enjoy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed dipping back into this world. I read this book with my eyes in 2017, but I remember loving it, so I thought I’d give the audio a crack. What a treat it was!
This is a dangerous world Isla finds herself stumbling into, and Abram is totally obsessed with her from the start. Get ready for sizzling chemistry, non-stop action, danger, mystery, and fantastic narration.
It does end on a cliffhanger, so be sure to have DAMAGE ready to go after you’re done with it!
This is a dangerous world Isla finds herself stumbling into, and Abram is totally obsessed with her from the start. Get ready for sizzling chemistry, non-stop action, danger, mystery, and fantastic narration.
It does end on a cliffhanger, so be sure to have DAMAGE ready to go after you’re done with it!
February 18, 2019
Oh...my...jaw drop!
Wow. Danger is sexy but so is stability. Isla's life has teetered between the two constantly. This book is all about highs and lows and even the lows are a high. Such crazy intense encounters and chemistry between Isla & Abram. It's a rollercoaster except you aren't sure if you're on the way up, down, or spiraling!
I'm so on edge right now. I can't wait to get to book 2!
Wow. Danger is sexy but so is stability. Isla's life has teetered between the two constantly. This book is all about highs and lows and even the lows are a high. Such crazy intense encounters and chemistry between Isla & Abram. It's a rollercoaster except you aren't sure if you're on the way up, down, or spiraling!
I'm so on edge right now. I can't wait to get to book 2!
May 25, 2022
Soooo… H tells the h that he has to go away for a while and to live her life, but that he will come back and find her and she doesn’t seem like she’s missing him at all -as a matter of fact she’s hot for the guy across the hall and she fucks the new neighbor soon after the H leaves…like what???
The next book apparently is their love triangle so no thanks, that’s not my thing..
The next book apparently is their love triangle so no thanks, that’s not my thing..
August 30, 2019
Oooohhh boy!
Dark and smexy with one helluva twist! Isla is broken and tormented but beautiful and trying to claw her way out of the past. I love her and this story has me completely engrossed. I can’t wait to read the next part of her story.
Dark and smexy with one helluva twist! Isla is broken and tormented but beautiful and trying to claw her way out of the past. I love her and this story has me completely engrossed. I can’t wait to read the next part of her story.
October 11, 2025
The book had potential, but the twist at the end was botched. No detail, dialogue of her getting to know "Sean" and why she would be with him so shortly after Abram (who made her forget all her values and accept criminal behavior as she is so infatuated with him.) Not believable at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2018
Getting down
This got down to the nitty gritty of things pretty quick. Gave you enough background to understand what's going down. Doesn't go into full details of everything.
This got down to the nitty gritty of things pretty quick. Gave you enough background to understand what's going down. Doesn't go into full details of everything.
August 16, 2018
Good!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews