BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY ~Twisted Together by Pepper Winters~

Title: Twisted Together

Author: Pepper Winters

Series: Monsters in the Dark #3

Release Date: June 3, 2014

My Rating: 5+ Stars

"After battling through hell, I brought my esclave back from the brink of ruin. I sacrificed everything--my heart, my mind, my very desires to bring her back to life. And for a while, I thought it broke me, that I'd never be the same. But slowly the beast is growing bolder, and it's finally time to show Tess how beautiful the dark can be."

Q gave everything to bring Tess back. In return, he expects nothing less. Tess may have leashed and tamed him, but he's still a monster inside.

After surviving the darkness, a new dawn has begun. Twisted Together wades through black to grey, chasing the light of true love to banish the shadows forever.

Pain is a requirement, connection a necessity. But ultimately Q and Tess must face their demons, before they can embrace their future.

I still need time to recuperate from this book. Without fail Ms. Winters blew my ever loving mind AGAIN! With Q and Tess and their trials, struggles, and heartache. It was utterly overwhelming. This is a dark, very dark, erotic romance. BUT there are those moments where Tess and Q just are. They're simply a couple in love. Those moments make any uneasiness you would ever feel while reading this series seem inconsequential. This book is everything. It puts me out of my comfort zone, forces me into a nitty gritty relationship. Most of all, it takes me out of my own head and thoughts and pushes me into Tess' and Q's. Which in my opinion is the ultimate achievement of the best books out there. 

Q and Tess are back. They're home. No one is chasing them. The monsters are gone... except their own. The will fight, relive, rehash, love and do just about anything to exorcise the demons that have taken Tess away. She may be there physically, but mentally she can't do it. She can't be what Q needs, or what she, herself, needs. From broken and battered to whole and alive. These two continue on this screwy journey. They've never been whole at the same time. They'll learn to rid their lives of obstacles and not stand in their own way of happiness. It's trial and error. Neither knows what will work. And that's where you hit mid way through the book. Then it's a whole new ball game. If it were possible for me to love these characters even more it happens in the last half of this book. They become one. Q and Tess will be faced with yet another trial, but this one... Well this one may just not have the happy ending we all wanted it to. 

This book is hard for me to describe in words. I tried. All I can say is "You just have to read it." It won't be easy, but it will damn sure be worth it. The ultimate escape with the best characters and the most twisted, yet fulfilling storyline. Ms. Winters will make you work for it. She gives zero excuses for Q and Tess. They are who they are. No changing them or making miraculous last minute turnabouts. I don't think I've ever read a couple that was more deserving of a HEA. Of course, back on that twisty note, you never know what Ms. Winters will lay out for her characters. Will it end leaving you satisfied, dumbfounded, or in complete awe of Q and Tess' love? That's for you to find out. This is one ending I refuse to spoil. All I can say is every thing felt right and at peace. I beg of you pick up this series, or book if you're all caught up. It's definitely one for my book shelf, and lord knows there's limited space on there by now :)

Happy Reading! 

*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*

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Meet Pepper:

Pepper Winters wears many roles. Some of them include writer, reader, sometimes wife. She loves dark, taboo stories that twist with your head. The more tortured the hero the better and she constantly thinks up ways to break and fix her characters. Oh, and sex… her books have sex.

She loves to travel and has an amazing, fabulous hubby (who speaks French—hot!) who puts up with her love affair with her book boyfriends. She loves to hear from her readers so hit her up at pepperwinters@gmail.com

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REVIEW ~Quintessentially Q by Pepper Winters~

Title: Quintessentially Q

Author: Pepper Winters

Series: Monsters in the Dark #2

Release Date: December 13, 2013

My Rating: 5+ Stars

“All my life, I battled with the knowledge I was twisted… fucked up to want something so deliciously dark—wrong on so many levels. But then slave fifty-eight entered my world. Hissing, fighting, with a core of iron, she showed me an existence where two wrongs make a right."

Tess is Q’s completely. Q is Tess’s irrevocably. But now, they must learn the boundaries of their unconventional relationship, while Tess seeks vengeance on the men who sold her. Q made a blood-oath to deliver their corpses at Tess’s feet, and that’s just what he’ll do.

He may be a monster, but he’s Tess’s monster.

I literally felt like I was breaking right along side Tess and Q in this book. While I know by now not to expect warm and fuzzies from Ms. Winters, I do look forward to a less agonizing finale for this pair in Twisted Together. However, just to make myself clear, I'm not referring to the nature of their relationship. Quintessentially Q upheld the dark, gritty, erotic, and traumatizing road that Tears of Tess set into place. A summary of my feelings while reading are as follows: Happy, Sad face, Fist pump, Every explicative I can think of, Explicatives continue, And continue, Double fist pump, Major depression, Contented sigh. Obviously, it was a very bumpy and emotional ride. If you thought Q and Tess were broken in the first book, this book will tear you to shreds, as it did to me. 

You may be wondering why, if it tore me to shreds, I am rating it so high. A lesson well taught by Pepper Winters is: not everything is rainbows and sunshine. There are love stories where the couple find their own happiness in the twisted and screwed up reality that they live in. Tess and Q are a perfect example of this. Whether I understand their mutual need for pain, or not, they make each other happy. To see an absolute worst case scenario be made into a beautiful love, time and again is something that I thrive on. Is it a heartbreaking and hard read? Hands down, yes. Tess is put through the hardest test of her life and it breaks her. I mean, completely obliterates her. It takes the the greatest sacrifice in the world from Q to bring her back. That is true love. Ms. Winters may have broken my heart... again but, the beauty of the story she melds with its broken pieces is worth every bit of heart crushing I experienced. 

I think I'll always feel this way about Ms. Winters' books. I procrastinate so long to read them because I have to be in the right head space to finish them and show due diligence towards them. I finally reached my breaking point where I just had to read Quintessentially Q, and I inhaled the book. Tess and Q leave marks on my heart as they do on one another. I read so many books that they sometimes begin to blend together. Quintessentially Q and Tears of Tess are ones that stand out among a crowd. This book is unapologetic in its crudeness, violence, and unequivocal love. If you want to read something that will blow your mind, this is that book. I do have to strongly warn readers though- this a DARK erotic romance. It's a little scary and intimidating at first, but its well worth a read.... or 10 :)

Happy Reading!

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REVIEW ~Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters~

Title: Tears of Tess
Author: Pepper Winters
Series: Monsters in the Dark #2
Release Date: August 28, 2013

My Rating: 5 Stars

A New Adult Dark Contemporary Romance, not suitable for people sensitive to grief, slavery, and non-consensual sex. A story about finding love in the strangest of places, a will of iron that grows from necessity, and forgiveness that may not be enough.

“My life was complete. Happy, content, everything neat and perfect.
Then it all changed.
I was sold.”

Tess Snow has everything she ever wanted: one more semester before a career in property development, a loving boyfriend, and a future dazzling bright with possibility.

For their two year anniversary, Brax surprises Tess with a romantic trip to Mexico. Sandy beaches, delicious cocktails, and soul-connecting sex set the mood for a wonderful holiday. With a full heart, and looking forward to a passion filled week, Tess is on top of the world.

But lusty paradise is shattered.

Kidnapped. Drugged. Stolen. Tess is forced into a world full of darkness and terror.

Captive and alone with no savior, no lover, no faith, no future, Tess evolves from terrified girl to fierce fighter. But no matter her strength, it can’t save her from the horror of being sold.

Can Brax find Tess before she’s broken and ruined, or will Tess’s new owner change her life forever?

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*

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