I have no idea how to begin; I am sitting here staring at my computer screen, trying to come up with the words for this review. I love to read. I can handle pretty much any book with any concept: abuse, rape, M/M, ménage. You name it, I have read it. I particularly like dark reads every now and then. I have two favorites from authors CJ Roberts and Aleatha Romig that are extremely popular. I love books that have ultimate mind melts. (I want to say a different word--rhymes with duck, suck...words like that--but Amazon has a problem with foul language, so please as you’re reading this feel free to insert the correct word.)
I think it might have been hours before I actually took a breath while reading Tears of Tess. I loved the book and I hate that I love the book; it’s not really a story or character that you should love but I do. It is dark and twisted beyond words and I ate up every second of it. I could not put it down; I was entranced the entire time and as hard as some of the scenes are to read I could not look away and many times I really wanted to look away. This book may be the one that has broken me, some of it was too much for me to handle. It tore me to shreds inside. Now you are probably asking why it did this to me. I do not have a great answer for that except to say maybe it is that I just do not understand. I have never read a book with BDSM quality to it that goes to this extreme. I would imagine that there are people that delve into this extreme and “to each his own”, I say. I do not want to confuse people, yes this book contains BDSM and some of it is consensual or verges on consensual. Other parts are not and what is done to women that have been sold is torture and rape.
That right there shows what an amazing author Pepper Winters is--true, raw, natural talent. The author writes Tess as a fighter; she is a survivor and fought and coped in whatever way she needed to in order to survive. Q is her new Master. She was given to him as a gift and watching her fight him and be drawn to him at the same time should not even make sense. You wanted her to get away from him, but you wanted them together at the same time. I hated myself for feeling that way. Q is a mystery though and one I did not figure out until the end when Tess figures it all out. The revelation blew my mind! I always figure it out and this time I was so entranced, the answers passed me by. Q is definitely not what he seems.
The magnitude of this relationship once the cards are laid out on the table is brutally honest and brutally beautiful in a way that seems wrong but is right for them. I am asking myself if I fell for Q in the book. By the end I did fall for him, but I also see him as he sees himself--a monster and in turn I would then have to say that Tess is a monster too. Maybe I am wrong for believing they are monsters since I truly can’t understand where they are coming from; I can’t grasp the things that they want and so desperately need from each other. Maybe it is not fair of me to say, all I know it is how the book made me feel. I am just trying to be honest with the readers as well as myself. The most honest I can be to my readers here is that this book frightened me. I am scared to read book 2 Quintessentially Q but I will and I it is going to happen soon. I also know that there is a third book and I will read that too. I have really opened myself raw to anyone that reads this review, probably opened myself up more than I ever have before. I feel very emotional letting these feelings out for all of you to read.
I stand in ovation to Pepper Winters for her creativity and for being able to make me feel so intensely about a book. I know it is for entertainment purposes but it is her skill as a storyteller that brought the story to life.
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Popular Highlights in this book
Q was no longer the devil. He was my master and I belonged to him.Highlighted by 485 Kindle readers- “Don’t stop living while you endure. And don’t let the pain of your past stop you from being happy in this new life.”Highlighted by 373 Kindle readers
- “I came back to be your everything… just like you’re becoming mine.”Highlighted by 316 Kindle readers
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Reviews with images
A solid start to the series
I really enjoyed this book. It was extremely dark romance at it's finest and I immediately ordered the entire series in paperback. So far I've only read books 1 & 2 though.This was ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 and 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️It took awhile for our 2 MCs to actually meet but once they did, it was like fireworks.Somehow, I ended up liking the FMC, Tess a lot more in book 1 than in 2 🤔 and I'm the only fish in that pond but 😂🤷🏻♀️Q, the MMC, however, I found to be intoxicating in both books. He's just a very well rounded and magnetic personality and I'm curious to see what unravels for him in book 3.There are definitely trigger warnings that one needs to be aware of before diving in. We're talking about trafficking, violence, slavery, and all of the dark things that inevitably go with it.The triggers ARE the basic storyline so I'm not gonna sit here and go into any other details.Aside from the basics:Contemporary romanceTaboo/ B D S M elementsHEA but it's a continued series: 4 booksExtremely dark plotline
Top reviews from other countries
Holly (Wandersthroughbooks)
Great Start to the Series!
Reviewed in Canada on August 14, 2023
Holly (Wandersthroughbooks)
Reviewed in Canada on August 14, 2023
(Monsters in the Dark 1)
Author: Pepper Winters
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I can remember watching a show on tv as a yong teen and it was on a young woman who had been on vacation with her family when she was stolen and put into the trafficking ring.
Years passed and other tourists are sure they've seen her in places like public washrooms, etc... and she does act a bit strange, like shes nervous, but they are never able to help her because there are always men right outside the door waiting for her.
I cannot remember her name (and that actually hurts my heart, because she deserves to be remembered,) but that story has always stayed with me.
The fact that she is so close to rescue but it never comes...
Then I saw Tears of Tess and with a storyline very similar to the one I remember from real life, I HAD to read it.
Wow. This book is harsh and gritty and gives you a glimpse into the dark world of human trafficking.
It makes you think - would I have the strength Tess had? To keep fighting and not lose myself? Or would I give up and turn within, shutting everything out just to exist?
I don't think many women sold into trafficking are lucky enough to find their "Q" to save them, but oh, if they all could. ❤️
I'm not 100% sold on this man yet.... I do love him, BUT, there are some aspects to him that truly terrify me; however, I can feel a massive character arc coming and I 👏 am 👏 here 👏 for 👏 it! 👏
Once again, Pepper has blown me away with her ability to weave a story with characters who are real and make me feel all the things, deep in my soul.
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Carolina McDiamond
Pepper Winters de mis autoras favs de dark romance
Reviewed in Spain on November 27, 2021
