Blog Tour + Review + Excerpt | The Son & his Hope (The Ribbon Duet #3) by Pepper Winters -->
TITLE: The Son & his Hope
SERIES: The Ribbon Duet #3
AUTHOR: Pepper Winters
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: February 12th, 2019
“Things you should know about me from the very beginning: I was born to true love, witnessed the destruction it causes, and vowed never to let such agony happen to me. I am not a story-teller like my father. I am not a writer like my mother. I am just a son—their son. I am happy being alone. And that is all I ever want to be.” JACOB The day he was born, Jacob learned his hardest and longest lesson. It wasn’t a lesson a boy should learn so young, but from his earliest memories he knew where happiness lives, so does tragedy. Where love exists, so does heartbreak. And where hope resides, so does sorrow. That lesson carved him from the kid to the teen to the man. And nothing and no one could change his mind. HOPE I first met him when he was fourteen at a movie premiere of all places. A movie based on his parent’s life. He was stoic, strong, suspicious, and secretive. I was only ten, but I felt something for him. A strange kind of sorrow that made me want to hug and heal him. I was the daughter of the actor hired to play his father. We shared similarities. I recognised parts of him because they were parts of me. But no matter how many times we met. No matter how many times I tried. He stayed true to his vow to never fall.
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⭐️ 5 "Wild Heart" Stars ⭐️
When it comes to Pepper Winters’s books, there’s no doubt that I’m completely addicted to her words. There’s something truly poetic and enchanting about her writing style and it never fails to give me all the feels! The Son & his Hope was my most anticipated release of 2019 and I knew I was in for a memorable emotional read! However, I wasn’t prepared for this degree of raw emotions that kept me choking on my tears all read long! This story is tragic and painful, but also scattered with hope, loyalty, desire and affection! The lyrical prose ensnared me from the first line to the last one and I was ultimately left in awe of Jacob and Hope’s arduous journey toward love!
"She woke up the cold parts of me. She called forth the dormant pieces of me."
I treasured The Ribbon Duet with Ren and Della’s unique romance, but their son Jacob had an utterly poignant story to tell! Jacob Wild is a broken boy! I felt for him, I hurt for him and all the tormenting thoughts afflicting him. He embraces a life of solitude, keeping his loved one at arm’s length in fear of losing himself even more to the inescapable agony of loss. He’s also suffocating under the burden of a long kept promise.
Hope is the perfect combination of stubborn and resilient, determined to heal Jacob’s damaged heart. This girl falling for the boy who doesn’t want to love, who’s afraid to love, who’s wrecked is an exceptional heroine. She quickly understands the kind of devastation loving Jacob Wild will put her through, but she fights for him with bravery and passion.
Just from the prologue, I was already in tears and my tissue box was well used during my read as I was a sobbing mess for most of the book. I won’t dive more in depth into the storyline, because no explanations can do justice to the overwhelming feelings that invaded me during this read. It just needs to be felt!
"She was maddening and frightening and everything I'd always avoided. Yet having her in my arms, I was free."
The Son & his Hope is more than a romance! It’s the journey of two destined souls throughout life and its hurdles toward love and happiness! A path paved with fear, torment, insecurity, recovery, acceptance, respect, devotion! Pepper Winters confirmed why she’s a top author of mine with her magnificent prose etched with palpable feelings and her story telling talent. This novel is an little jewel to be cherished!
** ARC received in exchange for an honest review **
It’d been a long time since I’d seen her, and this new woman in front of me didn’t compute with the waifish girl I’d done my best to scare off.
“I couldn’t sleep.” She blinked with eyes too hooded to be innocent. She spoke with a voice too rich and feminine to belong to the annoying Hope Jacinta Murphy.
My hands curled, fighting away sick appreciation. For years, I hadn’t bothered mingling with anyone other than family. Back when I’d attended school, the girls showed off their newly formed bodies and flaunted their sexual preference. Their obvious flirting turned me off rather than on. They all seemed so desperate to impress, so eager for a connection that would end up destroying them.
Hope, meanwhile, was none of those things.
She was shy beneath strength. Quiet beneath conversation. And when she’d hugged me?
God, she’d shown me pain had multiple levels.
A hug from family could sear and sting.
But a hug from her?
It drew blood.
“It isn’t safe to wander around this late on your own.” My hands balled, my voice thickened, and I did my best to keep my eyes on her face because there was no way I could look at her body. No way I could permit myself to see the change in her, the growth, the knowledge that she might drive me to rage and disturb my carefully perfected world, but she was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen.
Soft but sharp. Trusting but careful. Fragile but brave.
All the things that drew out the best and worst in me. I wanted to be kind, so she was happy. I wanted to be cruel, so she’d leave.
I didn’t have the strength to fight both instincts or convince myself I was content with being alone. My phobia of getting close to anyone ordered me to back up and point at Mom’s house. “Go back, Hope.”
She bit her lower lip, looking at where I pointed before capturing my stare again.
I didn’t stand a chance with the way she studied me. The same way she’d watched me as a child with a certainty and calmness that made me fidget and bristle. Only now, a deeper element was there too. A terrifying welcome. A petrifying invitation that had nothing to do with the years we’d danced around each other and everything to do with this new torturous existence.
“I don’t want to go back yet.” Her voice whispered through the grass, sounding part breeze, part shadow.
“What do you want?” My jaw clenched.
What the hell sort of question is that, and why did I ask it?
She cocked her head, hair tumbling, eyes searching. “To walk.” Taking a hesitant step toward me, she smiled softly. “Want to walk with me?”
“What I want is for you to get off my property.”
Her smile warmed instead of cooled. “Can I walk on it first? Then I’ll get off it.”
I couldn’t understand her. Was she joking with me? Teasing? Being plain exasperating? Crossing my arms, I raised my chin. “Walking it would take hours. It’s big.”
THE RIBBON DUET SERIES
Book #1
The Boy & His Ribbon
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Book #2
The Girl & her Ren
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PEPPER WINTERS
Pepper Winters is a multiple New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today International Bestseller.
After chasing her dreams to become a full-time writer, Pepper has earned recognition with awards for best Dark Romance, best BDSM Series, and best Hero. She’s an multiple #1 iBooks bestseller, along with #1 in Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, and Erotica Thriller. With 19 books currently published, she has hit the bestseller charts twenty-six times in three years.
Pepper is a Hybrid Author of both Traditional and Self-published work. Her Pure Corruption Series was released by Grand Central, Hachette.
Her books have garnered foreign interest and are currently being translated into numerous languages, including already released titles in Italian and Turkish. Audio Books for her entire back-list will be available in 2017.
