Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

And Have a wonderful New Year Too ! From Jackie's Bookbytes. 

Blood Kiss by J.R.Ward

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Blood Kiss by J.R. Ward

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The legacy of the Black Dagger Brotherhood continues in a spin-off series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author…

Paradise, blooded daughter of the king’s First Advisor, is ready to break free from the restrictive life of an aristocratic female. Her strategy? Join the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training center program and learn to fight for herself, think for herself...be herself. It’s a good plan until everything goes wrong. The schooling is unfathomably difficult, the other recruits feel more like enemies than allies, and it’s very clear that the Brother in charge, Butch O’Neal, a.k.a. The Dhestroyer is having serious problems in his own life.
And that’s before she falls in love with a fellow classmate. Craeg, a common civilian, is nothing her father would ever want for her, but everything she could ask for in a male. As an act of violence threatens to tear apart the entire program, and the erotic pull between them grows irresistible, Paradise is tested in ways she never anticipated--and left wondering whether she’s strong enough to claim her own power...on the field, and off.

I thought Blood Kiss was Ok. It was not as good as the Black Dagger Brotherhood IMO considering it is in the same universe. Butch didn't quite sound himself and I never cared for Marissa and those were the only other couple from the BDB who had a role in Blood Kiss. Vishous and Doc Jane, Mary and Rhage were also present. Abalone, the aristocrat in the Glymera, is the King's right-hand man and his daughter, Paradise is the leading character. She isn't impressed with being a woman of the Aristocracy, meaning she isn't your typical stereotype to be treated the way woman are treated. Her passion is for fighting, and she enrolls in the BDB training program, along with 60 others. She was the last one standing and therefore named the Primus. Excellent for her and her dad should be proud, except he wouldn't have seriously allowed her to join the training program save for Paradise telling him a lie like she wasn't planning on fighting the wars against the Lessers.

Another story within Blood Kiss is that of Butch and Marissa. Safeplace was for domestic violence and abuse cases mostly all women. Marissa witnessed an injured female badly beaten and in trauma but she couldn't get help from the brothers who were all in a meeting so she phones her brother Havers. Their relationship hadn't been a good one so she kinda had to force herself to ask him for a favor. If he would look after the injured female. I didn't care about the injured female, but I suppose the story ended on a good note in some ways but meh.

The true proverbial hero of Blood Kiss is Craeg. For the sole reason of rescuing a damsel in distress the daughter of the Glymera, Paradise. We see their romance and downright lusty eroticism between these two, that much was to be expected. Yay. They are both tough characters and I find no qualms about them. They make a good addition to the BDB. I mean with Paradise, even though she is an aristocrat, I warmed up to her more than I did to Xhex.

Peyton, I seem to recall from the BDB but I would have to go back and read The Beast or Lover At Last to remember him. He was Paradises' best friend. I'm sure we will hear more about Axe and Novo, who were two others who made it through the BDB's training program. It was a really tough course and out of 60 participants, only 7 made it. (view spoiler)[Btw, Anslam was the bad guy (hide spoiler)]

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2017 New Release Challenge

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the rules for the 2017 new release challenge are simple: 

• Books have to be released and reviewed in 2017. Here's the "Can't Wait" Books for 2017
• Other challenges can be used as well, if you are participating in the Netgalley / Edelweiss challenge or in the COYER challenge, books can count towards more than one challenge, as long as the ones you use for the 2017 New Release Reading Challenge qualify to the other rules. 
• The minimum length for a book to qualify is 100 pages, it can be in any format though, physical, e-book, ARC or audiobook. 
• The New Book Release Challenge is open from January 1st through December 31st 2017, and sign-ups are open until February 15th 2017. 
• You don’t have to be a blogger to participate, you can link to your review on Goodreads or Booklikes instead – so don’t be shy! 

there are five levels in the new release challenge: 

1. 1-30 books per year – New Release Newbie 
2. 31-60 books per year – New Release Pro 
3. 61-100 books per year – New Release Veteran 
4. 101-200 books per year – New Release Enthusiast 
5. 200+ books per year – New Release Obsessed

Book Journeys - First Book of the Year

Now is the time to register and sign up for The First Book of the Year hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It is a fun way to kick off the New Year by showing us the book you have chosen to read on January 1st of 2017! 

I will be reading ...

A Book I'm Waiting For

A book I'm desperately waiting for

Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2) by Cassandra Clare

This title will be released on May 23rd, 2017 

Tweet: Sunny Los Angeles can be a dark place indeed in Cassandra Clare’s Lord of Shadows.

Emma Carstairs has finally avenged her parents. She thought she’d be at peace. But she is anything but calm. Torn between her desire for her para bat ai Julian and her willingness to protect him from the harsh consequences of para bat ai relationships, she has begun dating his brother, Mark. But Mark has spent the past five years trapped in Faerie; can he ever truly be a Shadowhunter again?
And the faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the requirements of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late.

Kiss of Venom (Owen's POV) Kindle Novella #8.5

Kiss of Venom by Jennifer Estep

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The New York Times bestselling Elemental Assassin series continues with a new e-novella—from the hero’s point of view! Owen Grayson is bound and determined to get Gin back...if her enemies don’t get her first. When you have a history of dating an assassin, a night out on the town can turn deadly—fast. Owen Grayson is still wracked with guilt over the end of his love affair with Gin Blanco, and there aren’t enough gin and tonics in all of Ashland to ease his heartache. But when Gin happens to show up at the same nightclub, he isn’t the only one hoping to get her alone. Some shadowy figures will do anything to take down the Spider, Gin’s assassin alter ego, and Owen will do anything to protect her. This could be the way to win her back, or at least give her a night off from fighting for her life—if Owen can survive...

Elemental Assassin Series

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My Thoughts:

Owen Grayson is reminiscent about how he failed to protect his relationship with Gin and how awful he feels for betraying her. Sitting in Northern Aggression with a friend, He wants to redeem himself and doesn't know how to go about it with Gin, until he overhears a giant and a dwarf in the men's bathroom. They were talking about Gin and how they were going to kill her.
For the love of Gin, Owen commits to taking these two guys out to try to stop them.
Owen feels guilty for ever believing Salina Dubois, and it steers him in the right direction to make things right with Gin again.

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