The Body Painter

Master of Trickery, Book 1

De: Pepper Winters

Narrado por: Will M Watt, Felicity Foster

“Must be slim, able to stand for long periods of time, and be impervious to the cold.”

The headline caught my attention.

“Hours are negotiable, pay is minimal, clothing absolutely forbidden.”

The second line piqued my curiosity.

“Able to hold your bladder and tongue, refrain from opinions or suggestions, and be the perfect living canvas.”

The third made me scowl.

“Other attributes required: non-ticklish, contortionist, and obedient. Must also enjoy being studied while naked in a crowd.”

The fourth made me shudder.

“Call or email 'Your Skin, His Canvas' if interested in applying.”

The final made my heart race.

I should’ve kept scrolling past the advertisement. I should’ve applied for the boring receptionist job at minimum wage. I should’ve clicked on any other job where I got to keep my clothes on. But I didn’t. I applied. My interview is tomorrow....

©2019 Pepper Winters (P)2019 Pepper Winters

Engrossing!!

This was such an engrossing story that just completely enthralled me. I wanted to keep listening to the tragic and all encompassing feelings of these two people and all that they’ve been through. I just couldn’t couldn’t stop listening! But that’s what Pepper Winters does to you. She writes these amazing books that blow you away. And Will M. Watt & Felicity Foster were amazing. Of course, I didn’t realize going in that there were two books. Something I’ll have to take care of. I need to know what happens next

Terrific Story & Narration🎧 Gripping & Intense!

Wow, this amazing story became my addiction, it grabbed not only my attention, but it took hold of my heartstrings and tugged and twisted them hard, practically tearing my heart out of my chest. Pepper Winters is a gifted author with a brilliant mind, or rather a brilliantly deviant mind, that knows how to build a complex story with equally complex characters that will blow your mind and take it through the wringer and have you loving it. Olin Moss and Gilbert “Gil” Clark may have been from opposite sides of the track, but that did not stop them from becoming the best of friends with the promise of being more. Gil’s home life is not good, but he does not share much of what is going on, Olin only knows it is abusive, both physically and mentally. Her home life is not the best either, she has everything she needs except the love and attention of her parents. But the two make a pact becoming each other’s family, until they are not. Fast forward to the future, by chance they meet again, Olin’s life did not turnout as planned and she is down on her luck desperately needing a job, answering an ad to be a living canvas. When she shows up for the job, it surprised her to see Gil again. Gil was not happy to see her and he wanted nothing to do with her and wanted her gone. But he goes with the job and the commission and doing what he does best, creates a piece of art on her body. Gil is a tormented man and Olin does not want to give up on him, the more he pushes her away the harder she pushes back. She knows he is hiding things from her and he refuses to tell her and when his problem becomes her problem, he must protect her from the evil in his life. This is a dark romance, the story is cleverly plotted with plenty of drama, angst, thrilling suspense, mystery, twists and turns, emotions, some heart-rending and gut-wrenching, some heartfelt, and some steamy sexy times. Pepper Winters, thank you for this mind-blowing story and the intense and sometimes wild, emotional rollercoaster ride. And that ending, OMG, why, why, why, how could you, time will tell, I am looking forward to what comes next for these two in “The Living Canvas”.

🎧📚🎧 And for the amazing narration, Pepper Winters could not have cast better narrators to bring her characters and story to life. Will M Watt and Felicity Foster are superbly talented narrators and versatile voice artists. They had a complete understanding of the characters they portrayed, gave each a voice that was a perfect fit to that character’s persona, sounding believable in every role they played and just as I pictured the characters to sound. Foster’s Olin was spot on, she grasped her every emotion and had you feeling every single one. Watt nailed it as Gil grasped his tortured soul with perfection and had you feeling his conflict and angst. Both were great performing all the secondary roles too. These entertaining storytellers set the perfect tone for the story and their narration enhanced the story to another level. Thank you for this exceptional listen.

Great author

This book definitely needs many Trigger Warnings on it. I was not expecting quite as many scenes as there were.

With that being said, I still enjoyed the book and the audio performance! The narrators were easy to listen to and I would definitely listen to them again

Master of Trickery

He’s the boy who got away and she’s the girl he will always love. They used to love each other in school, but he broke her heart when he pushed her away. Seven years have passed since he’s seen or heard from Olin, but a recent advertisement requesting a body canvas brought them together. Time ripped them apart, but fate brought them back together. The past collides with the present raining down fear, pain, and torment to Gil. Her presence isn’t welcomed, but he can’t control the way his heart aches to be with her. They have a indisputable connection hat refuses to break, yet it only brings about pain.
This is a second chance jilted dark romance between two characters who never had a chance to explore the teenage love that blossomed. There are strong elements of a push n’ pull where hate is as strong as the love the brews between them. What remains is a deep dark secret that hinders them from fulfilling the everlasting dream. This is an angsty emotional driven story. This is a lighter read than what Pepper typical writes. The darkness is limited to an inner turmoil of pain and lust. Pepper wove together the past and the present filling in the time slot. The sexual tension was angst worthy delicious. The passion and lust built and built leaving the reader achy without want. Her talented tongue voiced words of desire. The typical dark torture of physical pain is redirected into an emotional connection.

Pepper leaves behind her trademark love interest in animals and sea life using bird metaphors. I’m drawn to Pepper’s signature voice using her signature mark of violent sex.

When I first read The Body Painter I had envisioned an entirely different type of story. This book tried my patience with the angst built up and the deep dark secret Gil kept to himself. His push n’ pull tactic kept me anxious and begging for more. With the danger looming upon Olin I was kept on edge.
All that changed when I entered the listening world of these two narrators. They transported me into Gil and Olin’s world in a way I was unable to capture. Gil’s voice and the tone was just what I needed. There’s a slight British accent in Olin’s character.

Narrators:
Will M Watt performed Gil Clark’s masculine voice. I praise Will for a top notch performance. Will is a gifted voice performer. He brought the perfect tone and emotional turmoil to Gil’s character.
Felicity Foster performed Olin Moss’s feminine voice. This was my first time listening to Felicity perform. I must say I applaud her performance.
The two of them together were magical. Every doubt I had when I first read this book flew out the window when these two put voices in my head.

Pepper is a wicked devious writer drawing out unexpected emotions from her readers. Combining her voice and the voices of these talented narrators heightened my listening experience. I had to rewrite my previous review changing my experience from okay to brilliant all thanks to these two narrators.

I had preconceived ideas about where this story was headed all because of the title and cover design. I wish I could’ve set aside those ideas the first time read this book because those preconceived ideas ruined what became a brilliant concept. I was projecting the body painter image in my mind expecting something far more sinister.

Pepper leaves her readers with a huge cliffhanger. This is a duet. Expect to purchase both.

Leaves You Hanging

Fantastic story, beautifully written and narrated but it leaves you hanging at the end, which I am not a fan of.

Dark, dangerous and steamy

4.5 stars. Another dark, disturbing, and sensual story from Pepper Winters! Olin and Gil have a rather unique and interesting history, a second chance love that actually holds a lot of firsts for them. But Gil’s tormented, abusive history, and mysterious and seemingly equally, if not more abusive, present are a huge brick wall between them, as Olin tries desperately to rekindle the love they had when they were in school together. He is clearly struggling to protect her from something, he tells himself he’s protecting her from him, but it’s more those around him. When she answers an ad for a body painter in need of a “canvas” she has no idea it’s the man she once loved as a teen. His initial reaction to seeing her is visceral, a dichotomy of want and fear, while she is shocked and thrilled. The body painting scenes are scintillating and sensual, and their chemistry is explosive.

Through flashbacks, we get the details of Gil and Olin’s early relationship in a private school. Gil is from a difficult environment, and is at the school seemingly through scholarship and some level of charitable benefit. He keeps to himself, for the most part, but when Olin befriends him, they become very close friends, opening up to each other deeper than with anyone else. Olin, while clearly from a privileged environment, has essentially absentee parents, so her connection with Gil is her closest and most intimate relationship. Interestingly enough, however, despite both of them clearly interested in more, their relationship never actually moves past friendship, until one day, Gil disappears, and Olin is devastated. When we finally learn the true driving force behind Gil’s abuse and self-hatred, it’s honestly incredibly shocking, disturbing, and heartbreaking.

There are some dark happenings surrounding Gil, and Olin is determined to protect him. Unfortunately, she often, inadvertently ends up causing more trouble and difficulty for both of them. Another friend from the past also comes into the picture, kind of an interesting bridge between them (I feel like maybe he’ll become more integral to the story in the second part of the book). Things do tend to move a bit slowly in regard to the overarching plot. It takes most of the book to truly understand what Gil is struggling with, and the real driving force behind his actions is a big, surprising reveal right towards the end. The final twist leaves a lot of questions and sets up what is sure to be an intense conclusion to their story in the next book.

Angst-filled and emotional story

It has been a minute since I read Pepper Winters. Not sure why, as I have loved everything she writes, so when I had the opportunity, I jumped at the chance to listen to The Body Painter and I was captivated from start to finish. Narrated by Will M. Watt and Felicity Foster, they brought Gil and Olin’s story to life for me. Their story was full of angst, emotional and had a lot of push and pull. Gil is not a good man, but Olin sees the man she once knew. She on the other hand is a bit lost, but is Gil what she needs? They are both broken and their journey was not easy. We see them in past and present and the ending leaves us with a huge cliffhanger. I am so ready to jump into the next book for sure. A must-read and/or listen for sure!

Happy listening!

Absolutely amazing!

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆    Narration Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Spice/Heat: 🌶🌶🌶

Angst: 💣💣💣💣      Plot: 📚📚📚📚📚

Cliffhanger? ✅️

Do I recommend? ✅️ 

Trigger Warnings: ☠️ ☠️ ☠️ please educate yourself! 

Tropes: dark romantic suspense, second chance, enemies-to-lovers 

This book was absolutely amazing! I listened to the audiobook. I was blown away by the dual narration by Will M. Watt and Felicity Foster. This was the best audiobook I've ever listened to. I am officially in love with Will's ability at narrating. I've already added every audiobook he's worked on to my wishlist. 

When Olin shows up at a warehouse after answering an ad to work for The Master of Trickery, she’s shocked when the boy she loved in high school answers the door. Gilbert was the bad boy in school when he actually had a sadistic home life. He used to watch Olin in school because she wore her heart on her sleeve. They grow close until one day he breaks up with her and disappears with no explanation. All she ever wanted was answers and now's her chance. Mrs. Winters takes us from past to present with a great deal of suspense thrown in. There's even a serial killer on the loose. The cliffhanger may possibly kill you but thankfully part two is already out. I couldn't recommend this duet more, especially if you love romantic suspense. This is my honest opinion, freely given. 

Not what I expected

I got an audible copy of this book. I mostly enjoyed it. At times, I was a bit annoyed with how often they were interrupted in their childhood, but it built up to the climax into adulthood. Also, READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. I normally don’t have any triggers but a particular scene in the story definitely made me gasp!

It also stopped on a cliffhanger! Now I definitely have to get the second book to find out what happens!

Engrossing listen!

4.5 stars
Looking to listen to a dark, romantic suspense, then this is one for you. I will caution those with triggers to proceed with caution. Once again Ms. Winters delivers a storyline that will hold one’s attention from beginning to end. The dual narration is flawless! Will M Watt will have you drooling over his accent as he mellifluously brings the written words to life. Felicity Foster took a little getting used to but nailed Olin’s character. Olin is down on her luck and needs to find a way to generate some income. After looking incessantly for a position, she manages an interview with “The Master of Trickery.” Upon her arrival, she gets one heck of a shock when she realizes that "The Master" is none other than her high school love, Gilbert. Is this their chance to rekindle what once was? The author has done a remarkable job weaving the past and present as listeners glean the nuances of their lives. It is a slow build with some areas that seem repetitive and ends in a cliffhanger but with everything that is contained within, it is one that is needed to add to your collection. I recommend this audiobook.