Destroyed Kindle Edition

I feel like I have been pulled apart and put back together. Not sure what draws me to Pepper's dark stories, but I am ensnared by her imagination and her story telling abilities. I abhor violence, however, there is such redemption and rebirth in Pepper's stories that I am captured by her characters. Just like Tess and Q have become embedded in my heart, now Hazel and Roan have also. Thank you Pepper, you are amazing.

Being an Aussie, I liked that this story was set down under.

Wow! A story full of love, lust, pain and tragedy. Incredibly well written. A book that's a pleasure to read. Wow!

Hazel and the ghost aka Roan. OMG the story tore me apart then put me back together. Gosh word fail me but lucky for you the Author excels

First, let me say that Roan is darker than the devil himself - hands down. Yet he's just as seductive, stealing inside your head because you understand where he's coming from. His violently stolen childhood and subsequent conditioning are nothing short of brutal. Yet he makes you feel that he deserves happiness - or at least the hope of it.

Hazel, whether she knows it or not, is looking for an out from her tragic life. I understand her despair at her circumstances, but I don't understand how she could just walk away from her responsibilities, when time is so important. Yet Roan is such a powerful character that he carries the story from the start.

Ms Winters' vivid writing made this story so real to me I actually had nightmares as a result for about a week afterwards. My almost-eight-year-old daughter having a My Little Pony movie marathon in the background as I read this book probably didn't help the situation.

No, the characters aren't normal people - their circumstances and their pasts mean that they can never be normal. But they do deserve a happy ending.

Superb writing that truly deserves five stars.

I had been wanting to read this book for ages and just never had got around to it, I'm so glad I made the time. Yes I have given it five stars because the story was an epic one, and raw and emotional and yet very frustrating for me at times, but for the life of me I couldn't put it down. In my opinion the second half of this book was much better than the first part and the writing was impeccable as always.

Hazel is a born fighter in life, but some things just take us down and after some life changing news her life is unraveling slowly. On a night out with her best friend, she meets Obsidian Fox ( Roan) and for reasons she can't fathom she is pulled towards this beast of a man. He has a very dark past with problems no one can help him with, he is conditioned and damaged so badly it actually scared me. I couldn't find a connection to Fox at all, I honestly didn't like his character but Hazel on the other hand I quite enjoyed her, such a determined lady, strong yet loving and with a tragic past of her own I couldn't help but gravitate towards her. Fox felt the same - he wanted Hazel, she had made him "feel" and that hadn't happened in his life for a very long time. He makes her an offer she really couldn't refuse because of certain circumstances in her life at present and from then on she is enveloped into the dark dangerous life of Fox and what a ride of discovery we are taken on.

I really liked that as the book goes along we get to delve into both their pasts and how they have gotten to this point in their lives, it is told in duel perspective so we really get to know these characters very well. My heart finally started to melt a little where Fox is concerned because lets face it no one is immune to the kind of abuse and cruelty- mentally and physically he has been put through, my heart bled for his pain, but at times I really disliked him immensely and I couldn't see or feel any ending to this book, no hope peeked through the pages and this is where the frustration came in for me , and then WHAM - something changed - you will have to read the book to find out what and why but this was the best part for me. Then just as you think you have got this - it all falls down around your feet again and my heart once again was deflated and disappointed. I was angry, sad and immensely frustrated with the whole thing.
Hazel on the other hand was a bloody Saint in my mind to put up with all this and still go back for more, me - I would have run a mile and not looked back - thank god Hazel is a better woman than me !!

I'm not going to lie and say when I first started this book I didn't think was going to like it at all, but this story is so addictive that you have no choice but to read it and get totally involved in the lives of the characters, you HAVE to know the outcome of these conflicted, torturous people, you hold out hope with all your heart that the outcome is a good one but the path that leads to this is a shocking and disturbing one so be warned.

Another great book from Pepper but one that I will not be reading again and certainly not one of my favourites of hers, but on the other hand it is also one I will never ever forget and that says a lot about this author and her work.

Finished!
This one took me a little longer than usual because it is not a novella but also because it was not an easy start for me. The first hundred pages or so I really felt like I was dragging myself through and I made a fair few stops and starts.
When I thought about why I realised it was because it took lots and lots of sentences to say the same thing over and over. I felt like I was on repeat... "didn't I just read that?" It was not concise and what could have been said in one page took about ten. The book could have been about 100 pages shorter and I probably would have enjoyed it even more.
The other thing that I, personally, didn't like was the amount of time it took to find out about what was going on in the hero/ heroine's life. It worked ok for the hero but all the talk/ mind discussions from the heroine I found a little frustrating. She was a strong character and I wanted to know why she had become so tough and yet somehow maintained her need to care for people with issues. This came out as the story progressed but for me I felt a little uneasy about her. I wished that she had been more understandable right from the word go so that her need to help Fox was clearer... I can understand why readers would think she was mad to keep going back to someone that was sooooo disturbed!
My last gripe is the ending. For someone with a lifetime of issues (and SERIOUS issues, supposedly) the rainbow and unicorn ending was a little hard to come to terms with. I think if there had simply been improvements for whatever reason, this would have been more believable.
Other than those three issues I thought the story was very enjoyable. The premise was good, the characters were good, the relationship development was enjoyable. 4 stars