Blurb
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?
I’m not sure where to begin with this one. I think I read with one eye shut for most of the book and knowing me, that says a lot. That being said, this was an amazing book. Devastating, but amazing. It started out with a couple, Brax and Tess taking a vacation. Tess is a bit of a dirty girl, but when she tries to up the kink in their vanilla sex life, Brax shuts her down. Spoiler…highlight to read…At this point I’m like, “Dude, your girl is prancing around in lingerie and has just handed you a vibrator, and you’re all, “I’m not comfortable with this…” WTF is wrong with your dick?”… Brax really puts normal vanilla people to shame. See, vanilla is such a broad term, and it isn’t always in insult. Sometimes vanilla can be really, really good, like those fancy vanilla pods that come in those glass vials and you have to slice them open lengthwise to get the seeds out. That vanilla is so, so good. Then there is the cheap, imitation vanilla. It’s just ok, but once you realize there are better options out there, you start to resent it for taking up space on your shelf. Brax is like the cheap, imitation vanilla.
I feel like the blurb was misleading on this one. Tess and Brax’s story was such a small part of the book. It was more about Tess surviving and finally getting what she craved than it was about her making her way back to Brax. It doesn’t even mention Master Q, who I feel was a major, major part of the book. I’m glad I read the Goodreads reviews because otherwise I would have been in for a huge shock. If you are looking for a nice, smutty book with kidnapping and lots of kinky sex, move along…or at least proceed with caution. It was a long, bumpy road before we got to the good stuff.
One thing that stuck out to me was that Pepper Winters did not try to make the situations Tess went through ‘pretty’ or palatable. It was rough. The first part was more like an account of a trafficking survivor. My smutty little self didn’t really perk up and take notice until Beth made it to Master Q’s house, and even then there were times when she curled back up and was like, “Bitch, no, this ain’t sexy.”
I feel like I need to stop and clarify (or confuse you more) at this point. I love, love love abduction/kidnapping/dubious consent themes in books. But for them to work for me, the kidnappee has to at least show a bit of attraction/consent/acceptance towards her captor. Kind of like a ‘I really shouldn’t be enjoying this but I am’ kind of thing. Like in Twist Me, by Anna Zaires, Nora was kidnapped by Julian, and even though she resisted and said no at first, she kind of liked it. And Julian was so nice to her even when he was causing her pain. This was not that kind of situation, at least not until Tess was given to Master Q.
There are a three things you need to know about Master Q. First, he’s French, so he speaks French a lot. It’s hot, but not Skull speaking dirty Spanish to Beth hot. Nothing compares to that. Sigh. Focus, Megan. Anyways, I’m glad I took French in high school. Second, he is super confusing. By the end of the book I loved him but he is kind of intense and scary, and I’m not sure if it’s in the good way or not. It’s really an ‘I love you but please don’t kill me’ sort of thing. Third, Q is into some kinky shit. He is a true sadist…and not in a ‘Imma flog you just a little…it’ll be fun’ way, either. The smutty scenes were intense. At one point Q tells Tess he wants to make her bleed and I was all, “Um. Ok. Well, shit. Can you not? I’m pretty sure that’s not on my checklist.” Literally. But I still read it.
Pertinents:
Author: Pepper Winters
Length: 382 Pages
Story: 4/5 I think this is one of those books that will stick with me for a long time. I liked that Pepper Winters didn’t pussyfoot around or romanticize the whole human-trafficking theme. It was pretty brutal. BUT at the same time, I loved how the book ended and I’ve already bought the rest in the series.
Smut: 4/5 To clarify, I’m only rating the smut between Q and Tess. And holy-hot-damn, it was good. I may need therapy, but it was good!
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