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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I'm not going to go into details. I've never read books like these. The dark and twisty ones, however it was pretty good.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really wanted to love this story but due to personal triggers I found it extremely hard to read.
First off I wanted to see more of Tess and Brax in the beginning but was immediately annoyed with the stupidity of leaving the resort in Cancun to go sightseeing without a guide. I have heard way to many real life situations regarding situations like that from friends and family that live in Mexico. So before I continue I want to clarify that I read a lot of dark romance and I am very rarely triggered however the lack of trigger warnings is what led me to go into this story blind with no time to mentally build up my walls before reading forcing me to relive my own personal experiences. I felt for Tess during her kidnapping and with all that she was put through. I found it extremely hard to get through the attempted rape scenes and was disgusted by the detail. I also hated how once she was in Q's custody she kept flip flopping her emotions towards her boyfriend and kept falling in love with her purchaser. But I will say once she saw Q for who he really was and consented to everything the scenes were absolutely amazing! I did like the reasoning behind what Q did and his willingness to save those who had been sold and tortured however I feel like that could have been expressed earlier in their meeting in order for me to not hate him right from the start. Again I really wanted to love this story but it was way too triggering for me and honestly the main characters really annoyed me. I did really enjoy Saraphenia (I think that was the main maid's name) and I wish I could have gotten more of her backstory.
First off I wanted to see more of Tess and Brax in the beginning but was immediately annoyed with the stupidity of leaving the resort in Cancun to go sightseeing without a guide. I have heard way to many real life situations regarding situations like that from friends and family that live in Mexico. So before I continue I want to clarify that I read a lot of dark romance and I am very rarely triggered however the lack of trigger warnings is what led me to go into this story blind with no time to mentally build up my walls before reading forcing me to relive my own personal experiences. I felt for Tess during her kidnapping and with all that she was put through. I found it extremely hard to get through the attempted rape scenes and was disgusted by the detail. I also hated how once she was in Q's custody she kept flip flopping her emotions towards her boyfriend and kept falling in love with her purchaser. But I will say once she saw Q for who he really was and consented to everything the scenes were absolutely amazing! I did like the reasoning behind what Q did and his willingness to save those who had been sold and tortured however I feel like that could have been expressed earlier in their meeting in order for me to not hate him right from the start. Again I really wanted to love this story but it was way too triggering for me and honestly the main characters really annoyed me. I did really enjoy Saraphenia (I think that was the main maid's name) and I wish I could have gotten more of her backstory.
French Papí
Where had this book been my entire life? This was everything!! The darkness this book possesses is comforting.
I had no idea where this book was going and I was so glad I went in blind.
⚠️check trigger warnings⚠️
-bdsm, master/slave, dom/sub, blood play
…..spoilers ahead….
But for those of curiosity…
Tess lives a life she’s not truly happy in because she’s always had these dark secrets, but she has a boyfriend Brax, who is there for her and is perfect in every way but one. Brax surprises Tess with a trip to Mexico. There she is kidnapped and beaten, then sold. Tess fights her new master, but is warned to give in and let go, to be submissive. Yet, her new master enables her dark secrets and Tess is consumed with belonging.
(There are some turn in events that I feel will ruin the rest of the book and are best to not know about. Just know this will have your heart burning and aching with darkness and sadness.)
Where had this book been my entire life? This was everything!! The darkness this book possesses is comforting.
I had no idea where this book was going and I was so glad I went in blind.
⚠️check trigger warnings⚠️
-bdsm, master/slave, dom/sub, blood play
…..spoilers ahead….
But for those of curiosity…
Tess lives a life she’s not truly happy in because she’s always had these dark secrets, but she has a boyfriend Brax, who is there for her and is perfect in every way but one. Brax surprises Tess with a trip to Mexico. There she is kidnapped and beaten, then sold. Tess fights her new master, but is warned to give in and let go, to be submissive. Yet, her new master enables her dark secrets and Tess is consumed with belonging.
(There are some turn in events that I feel will ruin the rest of the book and are best to not know about. Just know this will have your heart burning and aching with darkness and sadness.)
I loved Tears of Tess it is a dark, emotional story of rape & lust. Tess is kidnapped while in Mexico with Brax her boyfriend. Tess is beaten, tattoo'd with a bar code & #58. Tess finds herself given to a man in France "Q" she doesn't realize that he saves women. Q can't seem to help himself with Tess and gives in to his obsession & desires to dominate her. Monsters in the Dark.
Tears of Tess is the first book in [a:Pepper Winters|7151973|Pepper Winters|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1674093044p2/7151973.jpg]'s Monsters in the Dark series. It also happens to be her debut, published in 2013. It is a dark romance that focuses heavily on human trafficking, resilience, and self-acceptance.
Potential triggers: abduction, human trafficking, physical and sexual assault, psychological abuse, captivity, on-page rape, slave x captor dynamic, explicit sexual scenes including dub-con, consensual non-con and BDSM.
In this story, we follow Tess Snow, as she is unexpectedly ripped from her mundane and unfulfilling life with her boyfriend, Brax, and tossed into the dark and disturbing world of human trafficking. She is forced to quickly adapt to being treated as property and sold to the highest bidder...
Her buyer, Q Mercer, is a wealthy, enigmatic and labile Frenchman that I will say nothing more about to preserve the experience of getting to know and understand him. I actually loved him from his first appearance, and he's quickly on his way to gaining a seat at the table for my favourite male protagonists.
I struggled with Tess' character quite a bit. She is initially introduced as an intelligent and emotionally intuitive character, and then proceeds to behave exactly opposite through most of the book. While I can understand that she goes through severe trauma and finds herself in a confusing and stifling situation, her internal dialogue definitely tested my patience! Many different characters tell her the truth of what is going on, multiple times, and yet, she doesn't acknowledge this and continues to actively question it or assume alternatives. When I look back on it now after having finished the book, I know Winters did this with intention to emphasize her mental journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance.
Tess also makes a few decisions that had me wanting to slap her. Like leaving a certain item in a car. And not bringing a weapon when intentionally returning to a dangerous situation. But I gave her a pass for most of this — maybe it was the stress? I'm sure I would act like a nutcase, too, if this happened to me. What I loved most about Tess is her fire. She consistently fights back and refuses to give up.
I absolutely adore the France setting and addition of the French language in this book. It adds so much depth and chemistry to the dialogue, I was swooning hard for Q and his French tongue. The chemistry between Q and Tess is magnetic, and I love their scenes together.
I also love the sex positivity layered into this story. One of my favourite aspects of dark romance is the potential to explore deviant sexual desires in a safe space, and a central theme to this story is both Tess and Q's internal struggle to accept their own dark desires. While there is definitely heavy dub-con between love interests in this book, there is also consensual non-con and once these characters understand each other and start to accept themselves, their intimacy flourishes.
For a debut, this is a great dark romance and a great start to a series! I loved the conclusion of this one and dove headfirst into the second. I am almost done [b:Quintessentially Q|18398089|Quintessentially Q (Monsters in the Dark, #2)|Pepper Winters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1378381640l/18398089._SY75_.jpg|26026261] and can confidently say that Q and Tess' journey gets better, deeper and darker. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys dark romance, trauma-heavy storylines, BDSM rep in romance, captor/slave dynamics, and tortured male heroes.
Potential triggers: abduction, human trafficking, physical and sexual assault, psychological abuse, captivity, on-page rape, slave x captor dynamic, explicit sexual scenes including dub-con, consensual non-con and BDSM.
"A human is adaptable. A human heart is not."
In this story, we follow Tess Snow, as she is unexpectedly ripped from her mundane and unfulfilling life with her boyfriend, Brax, and tossed into the dark and disturbing world of human trafficking. She is forced to quickly adapt to being treated as property and sold to the highest bidder...
Her buyer, Q Mercer, is a wealthy, enigmatic and labile Frenchman that I will say nothing more about to preserve the experience of getting to know and understand him. I actually loved him from his first appearance, and he's quickly on his way to gaining a seat at the table for my favourite male protagonists.
I struggled with Tess' character quite a bit. She is initially introduced as an intelligent and emotionally intuitive character, and then proceeds to behave exactly opposite through most of the book. While I can understand that she goes through severe trauma and finds herself in a confusing and stifling situation, her internal dialogue definitely tested my patience! Many different characters tell her the truth of what is going on, multiple times, and yet, she doesn't acknowledge this and continues to actively question it or assume alternatives. When I look back on it now after having finished the book, I know Winters did this with intention to emphasize her mental journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance.
Tess also makes a few decisions that had me wanting to slap her. Like leaving a certain item in a car. And not bringing a weapon when intentionally returning to a dangerous situation. But I gave her a pass for most of this — maybe it was the stress? I'm sure I would act like a nutcase, too, if this happened to me. What I loved most about Tess is her fire. She consistently fights back and refuses to give up.
I absolutely adore the France setting and addition of the French language in this book. It adds so much depth and chemistry to the dialogue, I was swooning hard for Q and his French tongue. The chemistry between Q and Tess is magnetic, and I love their scenes together.
"He was smooth water—effortless in refinement but just like still water, dangerous if you couldn’t swim."
I also love the sex positivity layered into this story. One of my favourite aspects of dark romance is the potential to explore deviant sexual desires in a safe space, and a central theme to this story is both Tess and Q's internal struggle to accept their own dark desires. While there is definitely heavy dub-con between love interests in this book, there is also consensual non-con and once these characters understand each other and start to accept themselves, their intimacy flourishes.
“Monsters find each other in the dark.”
For a debut, this is a great dark romance and a great start to a series! I loved the conclusion of this one and dove headfirst into the second. I am almost done [b:Quintessentially Q|18398089|Quintessentially Q (Monsters in the Dark, #2)|Pepper Winters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1378381640l/18398089._SY75_.jpg|26026261] and can confidently say that Q and Tess' journey gets better, deeper and darker. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys dark romance, trauma-heavy storylines, BDSM rep in romance, captor/slave dynamics, and tortured male heroes.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I could not connect with this book. I love Pepper Winters but I felt the book lacked a bit. In a way it wasn't as fantastic as the Indebted series and I was sadly disappointed.
WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH SEXXY Q....