Tears of Tess

by Pepper Winters

[Angie]

I picked up Tears of Tess because I wanted a dark, twisted, beyond unconventional romance. It was definitely that, although it wasn't as dark and twisted as I hoped, which clearly makes me dark and twisted. But whatever. I like what I like. Tess is happy with her boyfriend of two years, but she has these dark urges when it comes to sex, and he just won't go there with her. It isn't until she's kidnapped during their romantic getaway to Mexico and sold to a French millionaire that her desires are met. Clearly she must be broken to respond to a man who owns women, or maybe she's finally met the one man she can be herself with.

Tears of Tess was quite interesting. Yes, the beginning is completely awful. Tess goes through hell, but she fights through all of it. What I was more fascinated by was this war with herself. She knows she wants to be dominated and that pain and bondage turn her on, but she also knows that Q is keeping her against her will as a slave. It's a sticky situation because she wants it, and him, but not like that. I don't think there's anything wrong with her brand of sexuality, but it was still quite twisted how she could only find what she needed with Q who she believed was a monster.

Of course being a dark romance, Tears of Tess had to contain some twist that made it okay for Tess to have feelings toward Q. I was expecting this, even though for once I wanted to read one of these stories where the characters are just completely screwed up and have no redeemable qualities. But Q...well, his redeemable quality is way too redeemable. Like, seriously. I mean, I liked it, but it also took away from the dark and twistedness, because it made him less dark and twisted.

I did like Tears of Tess a lot. I read it in one sitting. It's beyond screwed up, but didn't totally "go there" for me. There was a lot of build up surrounding what Q wants to do to to Tess, and when they finally have their moment, it's not that bad. I was expecting something BAD, like...near death kind of stuff, but it felt normal. I also didn't like Tess' sudden switch from desperately trying to escape to complete submission. It was really sudden, and I could have done without it. I felt like there was a natural progression of their relationship without that moment needing to happen.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.