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Deck the Hals
Halston (Hals) Armond’s Christmas story is not a sweet, blissful tale of pleasant, happy times filled with light, love, and laughter. His story is one of haunted dreams, memories of blurred evil images, and the dark corners where monsters lived. Now that the monsters from his past have been kind of vanquished, it’s time to go after the Devil the monsters sold him to, even if that means using the Devil’s daughter against him. Hals will stop at nothing to put his painful past to rest, and realizes this could be his last Christmas … and well, he’s made peace with that.
Bliss Murphy is her father’s right-hand woman, working for the family business … the same business she vowed to tear apart. Her mission is to save every soul her father has bought and tortured. Her first save was her hardest to get over, and every day those blue eyes haunt her—more than anyone knows. When her father forces her to work alongside the man she saved, she’s not sure if it’s her heart that she’s worried about losing, or revealing all her secrets and losing everything.
With the Devil, tainted souls, secrets upon secrets, murder, and mayhem, this Christmas may be the bloodiest yet. Or if they survive with their lives and souls intact, it could be the first blissful one they ever had.
Can their Christmas story be rewritten?
***This book may be triggering to some. There is abuse, sex trafficking, drug addiction, an evil Santa, knives, blood, murder, and an old lady in a leather catsuit.
I understand if you don’t think you can read any further and have to move on to your next read, but these things have made Halston Armond the man he is today, and honestly, he finds a piece of himself he didn’t know was missing. ***
Bliss Murphy is her father’s right-hand woman, working for the family business … the same business she vowed to tear apart. Her mission is to save every soul her father has bought and tortured. Her first save was her hardest to get over, and every day those blue eyes haunt her—more than anyone knows. When her father forces her to work alongside the man she saved, she’s not sure if it’s her heart that she’s worried about losing, or revealing all her secrets and losing everything.
With the Devil, tainted souls, secrets upon secrets, murder, and mayhem, this Christmas may be the bloodiest yet. Or if they survive with their lives and souls intact, it could be the first blissful one they ever had.
Can their Christmas story be rewritten?
***This book may be triggering to some. There is abuse, sex trafficking, drug addiction, an evil Santa, knives, blood, murder, and an old lady in a leather catsuit.
I understand if you don’t think you can read any further and have to move on to your next read, but these things have made Halston Armond the man he is today, and honestly, he finds a piece of himself he didn’t know was missing. ***
354 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 22, 2022
3 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 30, 2022
Halston Armond's has had a life that you could not even dream about in your worst nightmare. As a young man he was sold to a trafficking ring, by of all people his father and uncle. He did it to save his cousin from the same fate. After years of abuse, he is saved by an angel, who he could never forget. Until the day that he comes face to face with the man who was his capture and his daughter, the one who saved him. Bliss Murphy is the dream that he has but she is hiding a secret and with Hals wanting to help destroy her father. Will they survive the Christmas season of destruction and come out the other side with their hearts and souls intact. Or will this be Hals last Christmas.
Ok I am going to admit it here right now, I kind of have a crush on Hals. He is such a strong man with a fighting spirit. He may be a broken man, but he has a heart of gold buried deep down inside. When he loves. he loves with his whole heart and will protect those he loves. He is also very flawed from what happened to him, and you just want to hug him and tell him everything will be ok. Bliss is well she is a strong woman who is fighting for her life and the lives for those that her father traffics. She is playing a dangerous game, but she has help from those that are loyal to her. She is strong willed and feisty, at first you won't like her very much she comes off as a stiff kind of person, but when we get to see her with others, we see a loving emotional woman who would do anything for anyone she loves.
We also get to meet some new characters and some not so new characters make an appearance. Kels, Lennox and Ruby make an appearance and will make you laugh so hard. We also get to meet Ryder the hot biker who is helping with the rescuing of all the potential trafficked women and children. He has a, you can't really trust him vibe. He is just well sex on a stick. We also get to meet Piper a sweet woman who has seen some horrors in her life and is trying to get her life together again.
This is one of these books that when you start you will not put it down. I was kind of leery to start Halston's book because I knew that he was messed up from another book. I was hoping that we would get to know him better and boy did we ever. We see him at his worst and at his best. We get to see him shaken to his core and then coming back and fighting for those he loves. The author took time with bringing his story to life and she did a very good job. This isn't your typical Christmas story, there is a lot of hurt and pain that the characters have to work through. I will tell you though there could be some triggers for some people, bloodplay, abuse and sex trafficking. If you have a sensitivity to these this might not be the book for you. If you want a book that handles those activities with a sensitivity and care this could be the book for you. Also, if you want a good laugh check out grandma in a leather catsuit kicking some butt. Ok just to let you know I laughed so hard at Ruby in a leather catsuit kicking them in the balls over and over. If you want a great book to read over the holidays check it out.
Ok I am going to admit it here right now, I kind of have a crush on Hals. He is such a strong man with a fighting spirit. He may be a broken man, but he has a heart of gold buried deep down inside. When he loves. he loves with his whole heart and will protect those he loves. He is also very flawed from what happened to him, and you just want to hug him and tell him everything will be ok. Bliss is well she is a strong woman who is fighting for her life and the lives for those that her father traffics. She is playing a dangerous game, but she has help from those that are loyal to her. She is strong willed and feisty, at first you won't like her very much she comes off as a stiff kind of person, but when we get to see her with others, we see a loving emotional woman who would do anything for anyone she loves.
We also get to meet some new characters and some not so new characters make an appearance. Kels, Lennox and Ruby make an appearance and will make you laugh so hard. We also get to meet Ryder the hot biker who is helping with the rescuing of all the potential trafficked women and children. He has a, you can't really trust him vibe. He is just well sex on a stick. We also get to meet Piper a sweet woman who has seen some horrors in her life and is trying to get her life together again.
This is one of these books that when you start you will not put it down. I was kind of leery to start Halston's book because I knew that he was messed up from another book. I was hoping that we would get to know him better and boy did we ever. We see him at his worst and at his best. We get to see him shaken to his core and then coming back and fighting for those he loves. The author took time with bringing his story to life and she did a very good job. This isn't your typical Christmas story, there is a lot of hurt and pain that the characters have to work through. I will tell you though there could be some triggers for some people, bloodplay, abuse and sex trafficking. If you have a sensitivity to these this might not be the book for you. If you want a book that handles those activities with a sensitivity and care this could be the book for you. Also, if you want a good laugh check out grandma in a leather catsuit kicking some butt. Ok just to let you know I laughed so hard at Ruby in a leather catsuit kicking them in the balls over and over. If you want a great book to read over the holidays check it out.
December 2, 2022
Oof!
I'm going to need the ranking system to go beyond 5 stars for this book.
If you have not started this series yet...
First are you crazy and living under a rock?!? Second get on it. Start with A Lennox Christmas, the Kels Bells, especially read Kels Bells before jumping into this book. There is so much that happened between Kelsey and Halston between the two books that I feel you don't get the full impact if you don't read them both.
Now Hals and Bliss.
My heart. I seriously, for some insane reason, thought that I could start this book in the middle of the day and put it down when I was ready to lay down and sleep.
Nope! My crazy ass stayed up so freakin late because I JUST COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN! I TRIED I REALLY DID, BUT MY HEAD JUST KEPT SAYING "Keep going, it's bound to slow down enough for you get through and figure it out and sleep"
BBBBUUUUUTTTT NNNOOOOO!
You read Kels Bells and you know both Kelsey and Hals did not grow up with a lot of love. If anything they were put through so much pain and abuse that you would be shocked they could come out the other side as any kind of sane respectable adult.
But you don't really get to understand what Hals went through until this book. Nobody knows the full extent of what Hals went through except for one person, and she's the one who saved him from the living hell in he was in.
I refuse to give anything away about this book. I don't even feel I can give any kind of summary that won't be giving away anything. What I will say, is this man...this poor man who was put through so much pain, who believes he's dirty, sullied, and has no soul. He has so much love in him to share and give to those around him. But because he grew up unloved, besides his gma and Kels, he doesn't believe he can be loved nor does he know if he can even love anyone.
Oh and speaking of Gma Ruby.
I love that even though this book has such serious and dark issues happening, I LOVE that the author has a character like Gma to bring in a bit of comic relief to break up all the sadness and darkness within this book.
I'm going to need the ranking system to go beyond 5 stars for this book.
If you have not started this series yet...
First are you crazy and living under a rock?!? Second get on it. Start with A Lennox Christmas, the Kels Bells, especially read Kels Bells before jumping into this book. There is so much that happened between Kelsey and Halston between the two books that I feel you don't get the full impact if you don't read them both.
Now Hals and Bliss.
My heart. I seriously, for some insane reason, thought that I could start this book in the middle of the day and put it down when I was ready to lay down and sleep.
Nope! My crazy ass stayed up so freakin late because I JUST COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN! I TRIED I REALLY DID, BUT MY HEAD JUST KEPT SAYING "Keep going, it's bound to slow down enough for you get through and figure it out and sleep"
BBBBUUUUUTTTT NNNOOOOO!
You read Kels Bells and you know both Kelsey and Hals did not grow up with a lot of love. If anything they were put through so much pain and abuse that you would be shocked they could come out the other side as any kind of sane respectable adult.
But you don't really get to understand what Hals went through until this book. Nobody knows the full extent of what Hals went through except for one person, and she's the one who saved him from the living hell in he was in.
I refuse to give anything away about this book. I don't even feel I can give any kind of summary that won't be giving away anything. What I will say, is this man...this poor man who was put through so much pain, who believes he's dirty, sullied, and has no soul. He has so much love in him to share and give to those around him. But because he grew up unloved, besides his gma and Kels, he doesn't believe he can be loved nor does he know if he can even love anyone.
Oh and speaking of Gma Ruby.
I love that even though this book has such serious and dark issues happening, I LOVE that the author has a character like Gma to bring in a bit of comic relief to break up all the sadness and darkness within this book.
November 28, 2022
Halston Armond's life has been a living hell , the only people he cares about are his Gma and his cousin Kelsey. But the day that he overhears his father and uncle having meeting with another man who has plans for Kelsey. He will never let her go through what they are talking about , so he offers to take her place. It's another version of hell , worse then what had been done to him as a child, drugged and abused in everyway imaginable. Until the day someone came into his room who gets him out of their and all he can remember is the smell of Jasmine. He says his soul is dark, no one will want him and he doesn't deserve anything good. Until Bliss walks thru a door and shocks him to his core. Bliss knows her father is behind so many evil things and she has plans to stop it all , she knows about Hal and what he went thru. She has watched him as years go by, always thinking about him. This is a dark story about the hell Hal and others have gone and some still going thru it. I wasn't sure whether I would like this book but V.J. Lee has given us a that captures your attention, drags you into the story and made me cry for all the sick thing that Hal went thru, cheer for his actions to try to save others. Then I smile how Bliss accepts him as he is and what makes him want to be better. I was so enthralled with this book that I couldn't put it down. I kind of hope to learn more about other people in the book and how Bliss is changing their lives , plus others
August 4, 2024
If you like a Christmas that is shiny and white, with reindeer and sweetness and light this is not book for you. This book is dark, evil and intensely satisfying full of redemption, peace and bliss. The storyline is deeply twisted and you will be on the edge of your seat waiting to see how it ends. The character development is exemplary and so well done you know these people on some level. This book is Hals, Bliss's story and the dream sequences will make you shudder but they give you the history of what happened. This book does have triggers be sure to read the warnings. This author has handled the subject matter with great tact while pulling out an amazing Christmas romance with a HEA ending. You will truly admire this author and enjoy this book.
December 5, 2022
I love this series. This third installment did not disappoint at all. I didn't want to do anything but read it but alas life happens. Halston is hot and sexy but he is broken on the inside. He has seen and been abused mentally and physically scared by almost everyone that is supposed to love and protect him. Bliss found hals years ago and freed him from her father's sick way of getting the money back that his father and uncle owed him . He was sold by his own father into sex trafficking and bliss got him out. But will he ever feel whole and worth anything again. Please read this series it is well worth it.
December 9, 2022
Hot as Hal’s!!
I ordered this book in paperback but the couldn’t for it to arrive so I went and borrowed it on KU!! And boy am I glad I did!!
I read it from start to finish almost nonstop!! Once a V.J. Lee delivers big time!! You’re almost stunned by what Hals went through but you know he’ll overcome and in a big way!! V.J.’s characters are so well written that by the end of the book you feel like they’re your friends!!
She wraps up this trilogy beautifully but leaves a tiny bit of room for the possibility of more!! I can’t wait to see what her brilliant mind comes up with next!!
I ordered this book in paperback but the couldn’t for it to arrive so I went and borrowed it on KU!! And boy am I glad I did!!
I read it from start to finish almost nonstop!! Once a V.J. Lee delivers big time!! You’re almost stunned by what Hals went through but you know he’ll overcome and in a big way!! V.J.’s characters are so well written that by the end of the book you feel like they’re your friends!!
She wraps up this trilogy beautifully but leaves a tiny bit of room for the possibility of more!! I can’t wait to see what her brilliant mind comes up with next!!
July 31, 2024
OMG! Hals book is so powerful!! His and Bliss story is not about cutesy and sweetness but of pain, revenge, blood, sweat and tears, and I loved it. It was awesome meeting old friends which gave some needed fun and laughter to the book and Ruby? Lol, get ready for Ruby!
August 2, 2024
Let me just say that some people think all books should be happy, happy, joy, joy. While this book does have its happy moments, it deals with real world issues and is absolutely guy wrenching. Don't pass this book up because of its dark theme, a fantastic read and one you must experience
August 15, 2024
Bliss has so many secrets she is afraid of being found out. Halston is a pretty messed up man, not of his own doing. When he discovers Bliss' biggest secret, life starts to change for both. The suspense, danger, and drama are chart-topping, I just love Gma Ruby!
August 11, 2024
Hals' Christmas memories don't have elves, but monsters that hide in plain sight and he'll stop them at any cost. Bliss works with her father but tries to destroy his business from behind. Working with Hals, can they both take down their torturers for a happy ending?
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews