*~*Quintessentially Q by Pepper Winters Blog Tour – Deleted Scene, Excerpt, Review & Giveaway*~*

Title:   Quintessentially Q  (Monsters in the Dark #2)

Author:   Pepper Winters

Genre:   Erotic/Dark Contemporary Romance

Release Date:   December 13, 2013

Tour Organized by:   As the Pages Turn

“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.

 

Brooke and I LOVE this series – SO much!  Did you read our interview with Q & Tess and our reviews of Tears of Tess?  Check it Out Here…

Title:   Tears of Tess  (Monsters in the Dark #1)

Author:   Pepper Winters

Genre:   Erotic/Dark Contemporary Romance

Release Date:   August 28, 2013

“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?

 

 

 

 

 

We are excited beyond words about the third and final book in the Monsters in the Dark series – this will finally be the HEA that Q and Tess have earned!

 

Title:   Twisted Together  (Monsters in the Dark #3)

Author:   Pepper Winters

Genre:   Erotic/Dark Contemporary Romance

Release Date:   Early 2014

“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.

He struck almost tenderly but it still hurt like a bitch. I cried out as the tiny tails and beads of the whip kissed my skin with red hot licks. The pain radiated like an earthquake from an epicenter and Q kept touching me, kept stroking till the pain threaded with the sensation of his fingers and I no longer knew what pain was. It was all delicious. Nothing but pleasure.

 

 

“Merde, esclave, stop. For fuck’s sake, you’re ruining me.” Even with the ferocity of Q’s anger, I thrilled with the knowledge I was winning in some small measure—the former slave training the master. If I’d been a poet, I would’ve written how serendipitous it all was. How fate entwined and cursed us both.

Q gripped my hips, propping me higher. Pulling out, the heat of his erection nudged my ass; I jolted with urgency.

Sitting higher on his knees, Q muttered, “This is going to be fast and hard, and I don’t want you to say a word, do you hear me?”

I nodded, breathless already. “I’ll do anything you want, as long as you let me come.”

“You can come, but only when I say.” His nails imprinted crescent moons into my skin, digging deep. “But if you come before, I’ll punish you worse. I won’t feel regret or remorse. I’ll find a way to punish you that doesn’t make me suffer, too.”

He rocked, and his cock eased down my ass, between my spread thighs, nudging my core.

Words were beyond me. I nodded wildly, scrabbling at the carpet. The strands wrapped around my fingers and I held on for dear life.

With urgent hands, Q untwisted my coiled ponytail and grabbed a handful.

With a jerk, he forced my head back. My spine arched as he plunged inside me.

Deep.

Hard.

Excruciating fullness.

I opened my mouth to scream, but he clamped a hand over me, riding me, containing my cries. “Shush, esclave. Not a sound, remember?”

The intrusion was pain personified, the rocking endless bliss.

The way he took me held no remnants of the sometimes sweet man beneath the blackness. This was purely brutal and dark and animalistic.

I loved it.

With his cock deep inside, his fist wrapped around my ponytail, and his other hand clasped over my mouth, he fucked me. Bucking so hard, carpet burn incinerated my pantyhose in a matter of seconds.

But every time he thrust, I pushed back to meet him. I bowed more than I’d ever bowed before, relishing in the burn of my hair being tugged. My lungs strained as Q grunted and rutted, taking me true to his word.

 

Quintessentially Q by Pepper Winters

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*ARC Given to Blog for Honest Review*

4.5  ‘I’m hungry. I’m tired. I’m cold. I just want to go home.’ “my woman” Kisses

I don’t even know where to begin about my feelings for Quintessentially Q. They are not black and white, yes or no, right or wrong. They’re convoluted and confusing and just…a big messy disaster in my brain right now. I have never personally suffered and struggled more with a book than I did with QQ. Ever. Hands down, this book was the biggest mind fuck I have ever read…and don’t you worry I will explain all of my insane feelings. If you haven’t read Tears of Tess…stop right now because none of this is going to make sense – the Monsters in the Dark series is one that absolutely has to be read in order. Plus…these books are ones that have to be experienced, first hand. QQ is…dark and twisted, parts of it are so horrible and just tears at your insides…but in the end, it’s a beautiful, heart-wrenching love story.

Q…maître…my monster. It’s so funny because you would think with all of the things that are ‘wrong’ about Q that there are few redeeming qualities. His proclivities and tastes may lead toward the darker side of things but in my book that in no way makes him a monster. Q is a product of the environment he was raised in…but he is still human, he has an enormous heart and an incredible capacity to love…if he gives himself the chance. The fact that he has dedicated his life to saving others speaks volumes in my opinion for where the core of his values lie. I love his weaknesses when it comes to Tess…this strong and fortified man who has never shown a single layer of vulnerability since he was 15 years old is finally breaking free and allowing himself to actually be himself…I freaking loved it. He’s deep and passionate…he’s strong and …he’s conflicted and torn…he is his own worst enemy. I absolutely loved being in Q’s POV. Getting his perspective…his deep dark inner thoughts…understanding his monster…I can’t even tell you what that did for me as far as understanding his character more. Best. Thing. Ever!

‘Ah shit I was a goner. I was completely and mind-bendingly falling for this woman.
I swallowed back the thick taste of lust and murmured, “Too fucking late, esclave. I’m ruined beyond redemption.” In the last moment of gentleness, I pressed my forehead against hers and breathed deep. “I’m lost.” Then the gentleness left, abandoning me to the hard-edged need to hurt.’

Tess…esclave…oh my God, this girl held my heart in her hand. I ached with her every step of the way…the tears I shed for her…I felt so helpless when all I wanted to do was just dive into the book and save her. One of the things I loved the most about Tears of Tess was how strong she was. In the face of absolute insurmountable evil, she still fought. And even with Q, against his monster, against his will – she always fought for what she knew was there. I mean…if there is one word that describes Tess…it’s fighter. Through everything that happened to her (and trust me…a lot of really bad shit happened to her in ToT), she never waivered on that. In QQ…she broke. And that broke me. Seeing my resilient Tess crumble might be one of the hardest things I have ever had to read. Because this wasn’t a fast process. This was a gradual, slow fracture of her…mentally, physically, emotionally…until there was nothing left. I can’t even put into words how much that tore me apart. I guess that’s a nod to Pepper’s writing because she killed me right along with Tess. I never thought I would ever see that happen.

‘He was afraid.
But afraid of what? Maybe because he’d never had a bond like this before. Maybe he truly believed he was the devil and incapable of true love. But I wouldn’t give up on him.’

I don’t know why I didn’t see this plot coming…it really should have been blatantly obvious – it was kind of one of those duh moments for me, completely logical but that’s just not what my brain was focused on. Clearly it was the same for Q and Tess. Maybe it was because it caught me so off guard that regardless of how rational and how much sense it made, because honestly it was a great story line…but I just didn’t like it. I didn’t like it because it emotionally, mentally and physically hurt me. I had to force myself to read it and it took me over a week to get through because I kept taking breaks. Why? Because for absolutely no reason that I can think of I would break down and cry…uncontrollably. I didn’t enjoy the subject of what I was reading, so it didn’t encourage me to read it. I am an emotional reader to my core – whatever the characters are feeling, transfers to me…so my characters are in pain, I’m in pain. Anyone like pain? Not this girl! I have never had such a loss of control over my emotions while reading a book…this book did that to me. But it’s a huge mind fuck to love the characters you’re reading about…love the writing…want the piece of mind to know how the story plays out but have absolutely zero desire to read about it. But lucky for me, I’m a stubborn bitch who has to go through that process with the characters and read the ending for myself. Or else I would have given up by 50%.

‘Something fissured deep inside. My soul folded inside me like a tattered piece of origami, taking everything good left in me, leaving me with nothing.
My memories, my happiness, my strength, and passion for Q all vanished. Just like that.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
It’s happening. It’s happened. I’m done. I literally stared at the end of my life.’

I had to be coached through reading this book. My bestie/blog partner kept telling me it was going to get worse before it got better…every time I wanted to give up, she forced me to keep going…she tried to prepare me, but there really is no preparing yourself for this stuff. I’m not joking when I say that for about 70% of this book I was in pain. It went from bad…to worse…to horrible…to me in the fetal position just begging for any sign of hope. There were points in there where I felt…vindicated. Justified. Hopeful, maybe? I never wanted to give up hope but when the shit just keeps piling up you start to lose your hope without even realizing it. But I needed to feel like my pain was worth it in some teeny-tiny way…and like I said, sometimes I did…but then it was quickly replaced by more suffering because there was only more heartbreak and torture to go through. I felt such helplessness…and I hated it. I just wanted Q and Tess to finally have their moment together! It’s not like they haven’t already been through enough to finally get to a place where they can grown and establish something…but they did get there.

‘Home.
A place where I used to be free, but not anymore.
The moment Tess walked into my life she owned me. I would never be free again. I never wanted to be free again.’

The last 10% of the book made all of the pain worth it. I loved the last 10% a million times more than the rest of the book…it made getting to that point worth it because they healed each other…and watching that healing happen, seeing their growth and progress, it made me feel very complete and honestly made me appreciate their struggles so much more than I ever thought I could. Pepper Winters has absolutely fucked with my brain beyond recognition because there were points when I was 100% convinced that as much as I loved the characters and the writing…I just could not like this book because I despised what was happening. All the pain that was being inflicted on these characters that I loved so much, it’s impossible for me to sit back and be okay with it. But here I am. Sitting back…being okay with it. See…mind fuck – party of one! If you thought ToT was dark…QQ is a million times darker…at least it was for me. Not that ToT didn’t affect me, trust me it did but with QQ it was somehow different. Maybe it was being in Q’s POV, maybe it was the way the plot unfolded and I watched what I considered impossible happen…QQ just deals with a whole different level of pain and anguish that I didn’t think was possible to cover with words, but clearly it is!

‘We broke each other, and the only way to stay whole was to entwine ourselves, gluing the jagged parts, stitching our souls into one.’

So the light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter and brighter every second because guess what boys and girls – this isn’t the end for Q and Tess! WOOOOO!!!! (Can you tell I’m excited?) After the torture I went thru with QQ I can’t believe I’m signing up for more but with the way QQ ended…you bet your butt I am. The third book, Twisted Together is all about them…their HEA…and all the goodness that comes with it. I guess it’s going to be what I thought QQ was and I’m excited beyond words for the possibilities.

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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 puts up with her love affair with her book boyfriends. 
Her debut book Tears of Tess is followed by Quintessentially Q and Twisted Together. You didn’t think Q could stop so soon, did you? Her other two titles, Last Shadow and Broken Chance will be coming soon.