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Tears of Tess (Monsters in the Dark, #1)

Pepper Winters

Start date: January 6, 2022

Finish date: January 6, 2022

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Nov 23, 2014 Michelle ✧✦serieslover✦✧ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: z-winters-pepper, dark-romance

Tears of Tess
Quincy Mercer and Tess Snow
4/5 Stars

Tears of Tess is the first book of Monsters in the Dark series by Pepper Winters.

Favorite Quotes
"Will you run again? Will you leave the one man who wants you above all others? Leave his protection?" -Q

"You may not be mine, but I'm fast becoming yours." -Q

"You want to know how dark I'll go? I want blood. I want you sobbing at my feet. I want you in fucking tatters. Does that scare you?" -Q

"I came back to be your everything... ...more

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Jan 05, 2014 Shelly Bell rated it it was amazing

Five amazing stars. I'd heard Schmexy Girls Blog raving about this book and its sequel and so I picked it up, figuring I'd get to it eventually. That night, I couldn't sleep, so at 3:30 in the morning, I started reading it. When my kids got up in the morning, I will still reading. I loved that the characters never gave what they had together a label. I don't think the acronym BDSM showed up at all. They simply belonged to each other. I haven't loved a sadist this much since The Original Sinner's ...more

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Feb 07, 2014 waterbaby786 rated it it was amazing

Tears of Tess is a fantastic dark and dangerous read. No bows and frills here but the brilliantly talented author promises multi dimensional emotions and feelings and grey areas and yinyang circumstances that defies the reader to judge fairly and you can't help but understand these unusual situations even though you can't explain why.
It's a test really and you can come out either way...... I thought there was a perfect balance of light and dark and a very reasonable believable desire that put in ...more

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Sep 18, 2013 Emily McGee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: emotional, net-galley, new-adult, dark, erotic

Tears of Tess is a hauntingly and seductively dark novel. It is utterly unapologetic in its portrayal of human trafficking and sadomasochism. Yet, as deep and uncomfortable as the book went I couldn't help but be entranced. Pepper Winters took matters that are commonly shied away from and unearthed them in all their horrid glory. This book has zero fluff, and 100% real problems wrapped in an erotic and captivating tale of two people fighting their basic needs and clumsily feeling their way throu Tears of Tess is a hauntingly and seductively dark novel. It is utterly unapologetic in its portrayal of human trafficking and sadomasochism. Yet, as deep and uncomfortable as the book went I couldn't help but be entranced. Pepper Winters took matters that are commonly shied away from and unearthed them in all their horrid glory. This book has zero fluff, and 100% real problems wrapped in an erotic and captivating tale of two people fighting their basic needs and clumsily feeling their way through a new and terrifying relationship.

"I finally found a place where my twistedness belonged."
~Tess

When Tess Snow is kidnapped and sold through a human trafficking ring in Mexico, her world is shattered. What she wasn't expecting was for her new master to awaken the dark erotic urges she has always yearned for. Q Mercer is unforgiving, and quite frankly, a bastard. Or that's at least how Tess sees him. She is led to believe that she is just one of many and even though her body is saying yes, her head is still screaming no. She can't make the two see eye to eye where Q is concerned. All she can believe is what she sees, but her heart knows better. She has found a lost soul, much like hers. Q demands Tess' complete obedience, and power over her body, mind and soul. And just as Tess is fighting to make sense of her needs, so is Q. Before she can accept her new future, an opportunity to escape arises and her flight instinct kicks in causing her to jeopardize everyone and everything she will come to love and need.

"Q took everything from me, but he didn't so much as steal it, as I gave it willingly. By allowing him to rule, he gave me something tangible. He allowed me to be me. To be real."
~Tess

I may be looking back at this book with rose-colored glasses, so let me set one thing straight. This is not your common BDSM romance novel. Tears of Tess delves into very distressing and grievous content. There is rape, debasement, reluctance, and physical abuse. Yet there is also, not so much redemption but, revelation of secrets and truths, and a connection that is hard to deny that will have you falling in love with these characters. But yes, it is unconformable to read in several parts. So, why did I read it? Because it is brilliantly written and in short a beautiful, yet terrifying book. It was outside my norm of books that I read but, I couldn't be happier that I made that step. Truthfully, this is not for the faint of heart but, also you have to have an extremely open mind while reading this book. It's not a world that most of us are used to, or the type of relationship most of us have been exposed to. You have to understand that while you may not agree with the characters' actions, it is their life and they never asked for nor needed your approval. We are all made differently, with different wants and needs. Tess and Q are two individuals who find their better halves in one another. They can understand and need not explain nor apologize for who they are. That is the true beauty of this book.

"Did I create her, or was she always this twisted?"
~Q

Even putting aside the subject matter and you still have an author who is a master of words and storytelling. Yes, there were times I had to set aside the book and take a breather. It's just too intense in parts not to. And even though my heart was breaking for Tess throughout most of the book, she fought. I think that's why I was able to keep reading. If Tess had broken, I don't think I could have kept on. But her perseverance and Q's struggle and explanation of the monster inside him lured me into a sense of comfort that these two had found their perfect matches. I simply, cannot wait to delve into Quintessentially Q and will definitely be making room for Ms. Winters on my auto-buy list. If you're a reader with an open mind, and a love for the underdog couple this series will blow you away. And if you're not, that's okay too but, I would suggest you give it a try, you might surprise yourself :)

Happy Reading!
*Review copy provided by the author/publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review* ...more

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