Kawehi's Book Blog.: eARC BOOK REVIEW and GIVEAWAYS...Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters

Expected publication: September 6th 2013 by Pepper Winters

A New Adult Dark Contemporary Romance, not suitable for people sensitive to grief, slavery, and nonconsensual 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?

"Three little words. If anyone asked what I was most afraid of, what terrified me, stole my breath, and made my life flicker before my eyes, I would say three little words.I was sold."

"Tears of Tess" isn't for the faint of heart. It's a dark and gritty read that will make you either hate it or love it. For me, personally, it was okay. I have a lot of mixed feelings towards it as very mind boggling and tough to stomach at times.

THE STORY:
20-year old Tess has the perfect life and boyfriend, Brax. When he surprises her with a trip to Mexico she thinks it's a trip of a lifetime. Only, it isn't in the form that she expected.

Whilst exploring the country, Tess is kidnapped, drugged, and help prisoner by men working for a trafficking organization. She is later sold and is taken to France meet her new master, Q. When Tess first meets Q she hates him on sight. She tries and tries to hate him but as the story goes on she starts seeing him in a different light and begins developing feelings for him (and he for her).

What will become of Tess? Will she be set free? What's the story behind Q? Will he return her affections? How will it all end?

MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS:
So, like I said before, the story is not at all like your typical new adult books. It deals with "grief, slavery, and has a whole bunch of mind-f*ckery" as put by Pepper Winters herself.

If anything, my main issue towards this book was just trying to connect with it. I felt so detached at times that it made it hard for me to really hard to sympathize with Tess' struggles and inner conflicts as well as Q's tortured, anti-hero persona.

I felt that Tess was a walking contradiction and got really annoyed with her at times when I should have sympathized. I understood many of her struggles and shattered lost in faith/trust in people but a lot of the time I felt so conflicted in the way that it was portrayed.

"All my life, I believed in the goodness of people. Never seeing darkness for myself. But now, I hated everyone, suspected everything. Another part was broken: the ability to trust."

Q, on the other hand, is depicted to be this sadistic, tortured character but it kind of fell short for me since it was quite obvious to Tess and us readers that he always felt remorse and reluctance for his actions towards Tess. If you're going to go for the whole rooting for the anti-hero make it more plausible for us readers. Not feel confused and bothered with his inconsistent characterization.

"Do you know how hard I’m trying to make you happy? To enjoy you while trying not to break you? Have I seriously hurt you? Have I raped you? Have I done untold damage to you?...Answer me esclave, is it really so bad to be owned by me?"

Over all, a nice attempt for a complicated and dark read but it was just alright for me. Much love and luck to Pepper Winters on her future endeavors and bold book debut! ;)