The Literary Puff

It was just him and me. A girl and a monster. And an empty room full of possibilities. Firstly, I have to mention that this book has one of, if not the best dedication I have ever read ... Oh, Eleanor. Oh, Sully. The second book in the Goddess Isles series gave no let up. Page after page or revelations and of feeling pushed and pulled in all directions. There were a lot of moments I just wanted to scream and shout and tell Sully to bloody well explain himself so this whole thing could just be done with and they could both be happy! Of course, this is Pepper, Pepper makes you work for your happy ending, and I do love her for it. We learn a lot more about Sully in this book which helps piece him together a little more. We learn of his compassion and his brutal childhood and yet we’re still left wondering what he’s done in this past to cause him to push Eleanor away … what is he afraid of? I feel like I lived Eleanor’s confusion in this book too. I was so conflicted at times during read...

“Fly away, esclave, if that is what you want. I won’t stop you.” If you thought Tears of Tess was dark … you haven’t seen anything yet. In the second book of the Monsters in the Dark series, Pepper Winters takes everything you thought you knew, everything you thought you could handle and obliterates it. There’s no question that Q and Tess aren’t a conventional couple. Their story is dark, twisted and rippling with forbidden. Yet it is also one of bone-deep connection and soul-searing love. Their connection is insane and it’s weaved into every fibre of their being. Tess is a force to be reckoned with, she’s incredibly strong and courageous. I loved her from the first book and that’s only grown with this book. While I read I just kept thinking, I would love to be her friend. Q is … well … Q . He lets himself be free from restraint and that doesn’t look cute in any way, shape or form. He gives in to the beast and does everything in his ability to save Tess even at the cost of himself....

“You may not be mine but I'm fast becoming yours” I’ve been on a Pepper Winters dark reads reread lately and I am absolutely loving it. Tears of Tess was the first book of Pepper Winters I ever read. I first heard all about Q from my best friend who happens to share my love of reading. We were having a girls book weekend away and she told me about the book she was reading and how the male lead character was, even for her, crossing lines. I cannot stress enough how much this shocked me, because my best friend does not shock easily—she doesn’t need a trigger warning and I’ve not known her to even wince at the contents of a book before. She has impeccable taste and I’ve got many, many recommendations from here and loved every single one of them so I trust her judgement. Naturally I had to read this book. Before I read Tears of Tess that first time, I hadn’t read true, soul battering dark romance before. Sure there had been some dark elements to previous stories, but it wasn’t dark....

“You're the sunbeam in my black diamond.” I’ll happily admit that when I fall in love with a story, I always want more. When I’ve spent hours in a world and it’s claimed my heart, of course I want more. Thankfully Pepper gave me more—and I adored every second of it! It was beautiful to see Jethro and Nila settled, happy and living a full life. It was wonderful to see Jaz and Vaughn, too. There’s never enough when you love a series, but this added extra was perfection and cemented Indebted in my top three book series of all time. • Needless to say, if you’re unsure if dark is for you, then please do your research and read the trigger warnings for this book.  It’s not light. It’s not fluffy. Please read responsibly. You can find trigger warnings on Pepper's website.

“She was my punishment and penance all in one.” What. A. Book. I’ve read a lot of books in my time and I’ve enjoyed most of them. Some of them, if I’ve been really lucky, have crept into my soul and lived within me to this day. But very few have affected me as much as this book (and series) has. As I said in my reviews of the other books, this series started out as a slow burner for me. I didn't warm to the characters at all to begin with. How naive I was to think I wouldn't continue with it .. that perhaps it wasn't for me. There are so many things I want to say about Final Debt , about Nila and Jethro, about Cut and Bonnie and about Kes. About the Indebted world that although is very firmly fiction, feels like I’ve lived it right along with them. There’s no let up in this story. There isn’t a moment where you think, right now I can breathe. It keeps twisting you, keeps pushing you further and further into the world and there are times I didn’t think I would survive it … ...

“Live for me. Breathe for me. Come back to life for me.” How a book series can go from strength to strength on this scale is beyond me. This book just flew by for me. I couldn’t put it down the first time I read it and I couldn’t put it down this time. I'm reading, I’m piecing it all together and it’s slowly beginning to feel like I get it. So, why do I feel like I don't actually understand it at all? That there is more coming in The Final Debt than we’ve been lead to believe there is and that it’s going to knock me on my butt? And most importantly, why does that excite me as much as it does? This book is so cleverly written—each page haemorrhages emotion the bleed from the pages and soak into your very being. The details that fill every chapter carry the characters and the plot racing towards the finale and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted it to get there but was also desperate to get there in equal torturous measures. There are so many moments in this book that made me feel...