This was something I really had to adjust to.

If anything, he becomes more intense when he's with Tess. just, toooo everything! He lacked that gentleness that most fictional alphas have when interacting with their heroines. He was too mercurial, too intense, too confusing. It's a good thing that I'm already aware what a dark romance usually entails because Q did not really impress me romantic-wise. The two of them are very different, and this is even more obvious in book 3. One of the most important functions of this book for me is to show the before Tess and the after Tess. What started out as an ideal lovers' vacation in beautiful Mexico ended in a nightmare.

Pepper Winters sets up the story very effectively in book 1. I'll now go briefly into my impressions of each book. He is not the type who will sweep the heroine off her feet with sweet words and kind gestures, yet he is the man Tess chooses. Add to that the character of Q Mercer, an anti-hero who has darkness hidden and repressed inside of him. some of them I almost couldn't even stomach (hence the frequent breaks!). With this premise alone, Pepper Winters brings readers into very dark and cruel places. As the synopsis for TEARS OF TESS indicates, Tess is abducted and sold by a sex trafficking ring based in Mexico. The love that grows here is rooted from very dark, very cruel situations. What can one expect from this 'dark romance' series? There is romance, yes, but it's not the sweet, flowers, chocolates and ferris wheel rides type of romance. I for one had to take lots of breaks because the material can get really, really heavy. The writing is very good and very effective at sucking readers into very awful places and situations. A reader who has read nothing but Nora Roberts or Carly Phillips, for instance, will surely be very shocked if they jump into this series right away. TEARS OF TESS, QUINTESSENTIALLY Q and TWISTED TOGETHER are definitely not for the weak of heart (and stomach).

In my case, I needed a day to recover in-between books! For those who do not regularly read dark romance, give yourself a week or more to finish this series. I've actually had the first two books in this series in my kindle since last year, but it wasn't until last month that I finally, finally read them.Ī reader has to be in the mood for a dark romance and set aside a long reading time for it because stories in this genre can really drain your energy. I normally shy away from dark romances because it always feels like I'm about to take more than I can really handle. This series has definitely tested my limits.

Quintessentially Q by Pepper Winters