Reading Order:
The Boy & His Ribbon
The Girl & Her Ren
“What do you do when you meet your soul mate? No wait…that’s too easy. What do you do when you meet your soul mate and have to spend a lifetime loving him in secret?
I’ll tell you what you do.
You lie.”
REN
Ren was eight when he learned that love doesn’t exist—that the one person who was supposed to adore him only cared how much he was worth.
His mother sold him and for two years, he lived in terror.
But then…he ran.
He thought he’d run on his own. Turned out, he took something of theirs by accident and it became the one thing he never wanted and the only thing he ever needed.
DELLA
I was young when I fell in love with him, when he switched from my world to my everything.
My parents bought him for cheap labour, just like they had with many other kids, and he had the scars to prove it.
At the start, he hated me, and I could understand why.
For years he was my worst enemy, fiercest protector, and dearest friend.
But by the end…he loved me.
The only problem was, he loved me in an entirely different way to the way I loved him.
And slowly, my secret drove us apart.
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“What do you do when you write down all your secrets? No…that’s not enough. What do you do when you write down all your secrets and the one person who should never read them does?
I’ll tell you what you do.
You hope.”
REN
Ren didn’t know the meaning of love until he took Della for his own.
To begin with, he hated her, but as the months bled into years, he learned the opposite of hate, dedicating his life to giving her everything.
Every sacrifice, every gift, he gave wholeheartedly.
But then love turned to lust and ruined everything.
DELLA
I was stupid to write down my secrets, but I’d been stupid before, so it was nothing new.
I couldn’t blame him, hate him, fix him.
I tried to move on without him.
But no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to delete the secrets I’d written.
Until something happened.
Until he came back and read my stupid secrets.
And nothing was the same after that.
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A Sweeping, Heart-wrenching Standalone from New York Times Bestseller Pepper Winters.
“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 heartbreak 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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How would you classify this book?
I would say it’s a quintessential romance. It’s the star-crossed feeling of first love, teenage desire, and all that magical intensity we all enjoyed when we were young, foolish, and head over heels. I’ve said it’s a Coming of Age novel as it truly is. There are no embellishments, no over the top personality disorders, no billionaires or unrealistic scenarios (which I will happily admit I’ve used in the past with my other books–what isn’t great about a bad boy tortured billionaire? :)). But like I said, THE BOY & HIS RIBBON is a COMPLETELY different story to what I usually write. It’s sweet, it’s sad, it’s NORMAL. It’s life in its complexity, simplicity, and frustrating self where growing up brings different trials each year for each person. I can’t explain it any better than that. IT IS REAL LIFE with farmhouses, animals, sickness, health, struggles, friendship, generous people, kind neighbours, and understanding friends. It’s a book I’m incredibly proud of and hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Any more questions, feel free to ask me!
REVIEWS ON THE BOY & HIS RIBBON
5 Stars
Pepper Winters has penned the novel of the century with this masterpiece!
I’d even go so far as to say it’s her best work ever! There is no real way of describing this book! Other than it’s breathtaking, gut-wrenchingly beautiful, superbly poetic, and brutally raw! –Heather Pollock
5 Stars
This book has all the feels. Sadness, anger, gut wrenching heart ache, relief, hope and happiness, I felt it all. This book will forever be one of my all time favourite books, definitely one I’ll never forget and it’s left me desperate for more from Ren and Della. –Vickie Leaf
5 Stars
Pepper Winters I am sitting here with tears in my eyes and my heart utterly, irrevocably destroyed by your beautiful words and vision. You have written a masterpiece of unrequited love, a soul destroyer like no other. I don’t want to say too much, but this tale is not like anything I’ve read before. It will be one of my favourite stories for years to come.– Effie
