Book Review: Havoc (A Breed Apart: Legacy #1) by Ronie Kendig

About the Book:

A soldier, a Malinois, and a stuntwoman walk onto a TV set . . .

Former Special Forces operator Sergeant Crew Gatlin takes everything in stride, even the career-ending incident that separated him from the Army, half a leg, and his beloved working dog, Havoc K027. Putting his life back together and lying low, he takes a job with A Breed Apart and is unexpectedly reunited with Havoc. It’s too good to be true—and the proof is in their first assignment: to work as a K-9 team for a television drama in Los Angeles. Miffed at being relegated to TV fodder, he’s willing to pay the price when he sees the stuntwoman.

Being a stunt double allows Vienna Foxcroft to fulfill her acting dream—with a side of MMA—and stay out of the limelight. The same one that plagued her childhood and put her through a nightmare scenario. Now, her tight-knit stunt team are the only ones she trusts. Then in walks Mr. Mountain-of-Muscle and his tough-as-nails dog, and Vienna has a bad feeling her life is about to turn upside down.

Ticked as they head overseas for a location shoot in Turkey, Crew guts it up—after all, he has Havoc again. Okay, and yeah—Vienna is going, too. When an attack sends the cast fleeing into the streets of Turkey, Vienna must face the demons of her past or be devoured by them. And Crew and Havoc are tested like never before.

| Goodreads |

My Review:

Havoc by Ronie Kendig
Rating: 3.5/5
Pages: 290
Published: October 1, 2023
Series: A Breed Apart: Legacy

The first in the new series (although I’m late getting to this one!) and man does it start off with a bang! I’ve really enjoyed each of the books I’ve read in this series so far. (As of posting this, I’ve now read Riot, Fury, and Havoc so far). I knew Crew briefly from seeing him around the ABA ranch in the later books, but wasn’t really sure what to expect from this one, especially with the celebrity/movie flair, although I honestly loved Vienna’s character from early on! Some of her co-workers…well, I expected that, but since I liked the MCs it was tolerable and definitely worth it.

This one was action-packed, and does get a bit on the steamy side, something some of the others characters find great pleasure in razzing Crew about, and also something that I’m happy was finally called and acknowledged at one point, something that sadly often goes unchecked in other similar books at times. If nothing else, it’s not a great faith point (as we are told not to cause others to stumble) and also a missed opportunity to point readers back to the Bible and have the characters face a growing point as well. It doesn’t need to be preachy, but a quick reminder and a ‘oh, yeah!’ heads-up to keep the characters on the right path faith wise, and hopefully help readers to remember what the Bible tells us about relationships and purity as well. Not that we aren’t human and never mess up, I’m not saying that, or expecting the characters to be perfect. It’s unreasonable to demand that, and more so wouldn’t make for a very entertaining or relatable story. What I am saying is that these things definitely shouldn’t be encouraged, especially in a Christian book, and that we need the reminder sometimes to check ourselves and how we are treating and interaction with others as well. It’s a great way to make the characters more human and have a deeper sense of faith and personality/complexity, while also offering a positive reminder for the reader along the way, win-win. This also doesn’t just go for romance, but any issue the character (or humanity) struggles with or might get caught up in the moment over, or give in to pressure can be a chance for this time of reflection and learning experience in a story.

I also loved seeing Crew working with the Damocles, which honestly I love to hate and hate to love…The is never a dull moment when they’re around and yet, they have a special way of getting under the skin, an irritant of sorts and at times can even be jerks with it comes down to it, yet they also seem to know how to keep things interesting, and do all have their good points, moments of offering good insight and even helpful advice, and are all skilled and definitely make for a formidable team in a pinch. So, yeah. Haha! I found this one to be another quick read in this series, but highly enjoyable.

Other books in the series:
(Below is a list of the other books I’ve read & reviewed for this series)

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