I really enjoyed this book. Even though it's not my favorite duet by Pepper, it was still enjoyable. This is the second book in this duet. I loved the first book better only because I felt this one just was slower for me. But I definitely recommend reading.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t want to write TOO much because I don’t want to give away the plot of this story. I struggled with this book, just like I struggled with the first part of this duet, because I wasn’t sure if I should root for the main couple or not. I definitely think that this is a book not everyone will love, but it is not a bad book at all. It’s a matter of perspective. Pepper Winters writing is as ever, flawless. My struggle was more with the plot itself. If you read the Living Canvas and MUST know how it ends, this book is for you. If you were DNF or struggled with book one, not sure this is the book for you. It is definitely a dark romance and shows the gritty parts of a relationship with someone who has had struggles with themselves due to many reasons.

“The living canvas” by pepper winters is a truly magnificent and a dramatically enriched story. It has suspense, thrill, romance, drama and then some.
I didn’t notice it’s a duology and starting the book without knowing. This was not a problem as everything was clearly explained. There would be a small buildup and then a secret would be revealed. I don’t know if these secrets were told in the first book or not, but they made the whole reading quite pleasurable.
This was the kind of book that hooks you up from the start and then you can’t let go without finishing it. The flow, the plot, the characters and of course, the HEA was what made this book fantastic.
Honestly, I would recommend this book to everyone, if you like this genre. I will read the first book too, just to see what I missed, but on the whole, I understood everything perfectly, so I’m not sure if reading the first book is important for the understanding.
5 out of 5 stars. Thank you to netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book.

3.5 Stars
The second and conclusion to the Master of Trickery Duet, The Living Canvas was on overall good read. Picking up where The Body Painter ended, I had mixed emotions when I put it down. I loved the premise of the story, but found it drawn out and repetitive in parts, at the same time it was remarkably engaging and drew you in. I would recommend this duet to readers and recommend you read it for yourself and draw your own conclusion

“Time doesn’t matter when hearts are involved”

Is this star-crossed couple running out of time? The heart-wrenching conclusion to THE MASTERY OF TRICKERY duet was emotional, raw, and erotic. Body painter Gil and his ballerina Olin had so much farther to fall as love, lies, murder and consequences all come to a riveting head. This ill-fated couple broke my heart because they’ve spent their lives hiding behind lies and not being honest with each other about their true feelings. When is enough, enough? A certain recipe for disaster on top of Gil’s compounding mistakes and bad decisions of doing whatever it takes to protect those he loves. But, who is there to protect his heart? Gil, much more than Olin, drew me into the deepening mess of their relationship and a murder trial that tears them apart. I despised the things that happened to this couple in the past, railed against things that should have happened that didn’t, and wanted to kick them for vowing to always be each other’s family, yet constantly letting each other down while hiding their true feelings. Coming to terms with the past is the hardest necessity before either one can move forward toward redemption, honesty, and a fresh start to happiness. Aside from repetitious prose, the duet was a tragic, but ultimately uplifting, and emotional exploration of selfishness vs. self-sacrifice. A different story from the author, but I love her ability to always take us off-guard by switching up characters and story ideas.

“The sensation of falling into her and out of me, of creating something new together, wrapped around my heart and squeezed” -- It squeezed my heart, too.

It's a moving story full of painful betrayal, aching love, beautiful heartbreak, and redemption. This heartbreaking conclusion picks up right where it left off in the last book. Boy, oh boy does it start off with the intense situation that tears at the heartstrings for these two characters. I don't want to ruin it for you, but what O and Gil go through is just so profoundly emotional. The grief and sacrifices that each have to endure is heartbreaking, The author does a wonderful job of creating these scenarios so when the characters are in these scenes, you believe their emotions, their inner dialogues. There was times that the author convinced me of something (I really felt she was leading me there and I was just hoping it wasn't going to happen) because she was so able to portray the characters. It's a story you won't regret reading
**I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.**

And again I am left with a massive book hangover!!

At this point, I have read everything that Pepper Winters has penned and while I shouldn’t be surprised with how addictive her stories are, she gives me perfection and leaves me in awe with the conclusion (of the duet-Master Of Trickery) in The Living Canvas.

I was left with so many questions when I finished book #1- The Body Painter, and now having read this, I understand that it was just setting the stage to fill in all of the blanks and have my emotions run the gamut from utter joy to brutal despair, over and over again.

This beautifully written tale with its tragic turns, poetic passion and mysterious undertones, brings up the question...what would you do and how far would you go when all is revealed?

I could not put this book down and will remain blissfully addicted to Pepper Winters and the deliciously dark and unique tales she delivers flawlessly.

I would highly recommend this book and any other book by this author. I have yet to be disappointed and I doubt I ever will.

This is the concluding part of the story and book one does need to be read first here.
So we start this exactly where we left things with that shocking finale and my heart was literally breaking for the sheer grief and betrayal that must have been running through Poor Orin with her current circumstances.
This was very much a lose-lose scenario for all involved and while on the one hand I kinda understood how we had arrived at this set of circumstances I still thought that Gil's decisions lacked cohesive thought and he was largely responsible for where we are now at.
This book mainly deals with the repercussions and fallout from its predecessor and while the secrets and lies are exposed here the consequences for Orin and Gil are not good and are very real.
On O's part, the love is still there but Gil has lost her trust completely and though he is desperate to gain it back she doesn't know if she can ever forgive his prior actions.
So I get that O was upset and betrayed and all that Jazz but bloody hell that girl is indecisive and it was annoying in the extreme.
She needed to decide what she wanted and just stick with it, in the previous book, it was all I want you whatever it takes and in this, it was all it's over I can never forgive you but I will still jump your bones anyway.
I get it he betrayed her in the worst possible way he could but make a decision one way or the other and mean it.
Finally and this is a small thing, I take it this was set in the UK, in Birmingham actually, there was a couple of things that stood out to me that were small things but bugged me nevertheless.
The first was CPS (child protective services) in the UK its social services, not CPS we would never use the former phrase its a USA term.
Secondly being kept back at school if your behind academically is not a thing in the UK I know it is in many countries but the UK is not one of them it doesn't happen here.
These are small things in the scheme of the story but being British I did pick up on them so thought they deserved a mention.
So, in conclusion, this was a really imaginative series, bit too heavy on the angst for me personally.
but how much you enjoy this will all depend on your fiction taste.
It was well written and definitely original in its content.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of The Living Canvas (Master of Trickery Duet, #2).

I really enjoyed this book and I am a big fan of Pepper Winters. Can’t wait to see what’s next. The story flowed really well and was extremely well written. Don’t want to give much away but this is a must read.

**ARC provided through Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours! **


This book was better than the first one in which Olin finally stood up for herself a little more. The one thing that made me want to strangle her was the fact she was so hurt about what Gil HAD to do to. I mean come on who wouldn't do the same thing he did. I liked the suspense in the beginning, I absolutely loved Olive. Justin was a great friend to them all. Gil poor poor Gil.. when all the secrets came out, I was shocked, crushed and so so sad. I loved that finally he got to get it all off his shoulders and started to live freely !! All in all a good read!!

The perfect ending to a tumulous yet enduring connection. Pepper has a way of writing stories that are not only dark and painful but beautiful and full of hope. Dark fairytale perfection. Olin and Gil have known each other since they were children and Gill's unexplained disappearance many years ago still haunts Olin, knowing he was the only man she ever felt truly connected with. Now that he's back, she has been sucked into the dark secrets he has been trying to hide all of these years and can't seem to find the strength to walk away. Now it's too late.... Another strong, unbreakable couple that has gone through hell from Pepper, and I hung on and loved every word.

First of all, I love Pepper Winters. Her books are amazing! Book one, The Body Painter, had me all kinds of twisted up. Wasn’t sure if I loved it or hated it., having said that, I NEEDED The Living Canvas. I just had to find out how this all played out! This book will put your through the wringer, It will, play with your emotions. It is a must read!

There’s no doubt that I love Pepper Winter’s writing, and while the first part of this duet was not one of my favourites by this author, I still anxiously awaited the conclusion to this story. So, for me this book raised mixed emotions; while we witnessed the expected passionate and emotional struggles of this compelling couple throughout the storyline, I also felt The Living Canvas was repetitive in its scenarios, rehashing events that were already covered in The Body Painter. There was also a hurried feeling to this book, that left me with more questions than answers in many situations. So while I liked the concept of the story, it left me somewhat confused and disappointed.

[Thanks Netgalley for the ebook. This review is my honest opinion but just another opinion, you should read this book and judge it by yourself 😊]

This is the end of Gil and Olin's story and, although I didn't love The Body Painter, it got me hooked. Sadly, I found The Living Canvas less addictive. It's not a bad book but it isn't one I'm going to remember. The murders mistery is resolved too soon (quite poorly, I must add) so you have almost the entire book dedicated to other problems that didn't have the same strenght. One of the things I liked is getting to see Gil's true character. Although I love strong H, I must confess that hard guys with sensible hearts can make me melt. I suffered a lot with Gil's past (it was the best thing of the previous book) and seeing him again in trouble was very sad and touching. O never got to me at the same level. If I found the book repetitive it's mostly because of her, she's always going through the same idea when we all know she got her mind made up. I now Gil is also very repetive but his problems are much more serious and more intriguing to the reader. And Olive and Justin are very charming but too flat (seriously, a guy like Justin!?!? Too good to be true).
Like I said, the book it's ok but it's not a reading I'm going to remember. It's well written but too repetitive and sometimes too simple for my taste. However, the sex scenes are great and the love ones very cute. I wouldn't mind reading more Pepper Winter books.

Book two in this duet starts off in a bad bad place. And the rest is mostly the fallout of it all and how they can go on. It's full of physical and emotional torture. You just want them to get their happy ending and don't see how they can.

The covers for both books are so eye catching. This story was unique, emotional, and unexpected. The epilogue was so cool, their story ending in the way only Olin and Gil's could.

Masters of Trickery Book 2 is 🔥🔥🔥

Picking up exactly where B1 left off, this installment is smoldering.
Every secret is finally revealed in circumstances beyond control.
Demons are slaughtered, fires are ignited, fear and desire collide.

This is my favourite Trickery book.
Olin finally grows her back bone, the one I wanted her so desperately to have in the first book, and Gil finally lets go of the chains that weigh down his secrets.
Everything is on the table, but will anyone survive what comes next?

Well… in conclusion to this duet: I did not love this last book and I did not hate it. I feel like the author really rushed to get The Living Canvas out and the repetitiveness and the scenarios that we have already seen played out throughout the entire book… was just not needed. Too much rushing, not enough time tending to a more stronger plot line.

Pepper always has such emotional writing and this book really wasn’t any different in that department. Throughout both books we see a lot of struggle in both characters but really other than that– we don’t see much. What we see in the second book is a lot of things that were actually already mentioned and addressed in The Body Painter.

Unfortunately, I found The Living Canvas to be repetitive when it came to the same situations being mentioned and played out over and over. I felt like there was very little progression with the characters and their growth and just not enough answers that seemed to satisfy me. There were some things going on that were different from the first book but I felt as if I was reading about two completely different characters in each chapter that were experiencing the exact same situations from the first book.

This dramatic conclusion is not to be missed!

Wow. Just wow. This story will take you places you never thought you'd ever go in a book, much less a romance. This is darker than dark, uncomfortably so in a few places (and that's a good thing), covering a wide range of victims and crimes and the triumph of humanity through it all.

Gil and Olin's entire history is revealed step by step in Part Two, dropping bombshell after bombshell as each of their struggles - both separately and together - are revealed. It becomes clear how Gil found himself on the horrific road he's on, yet the reader's heart can't be anything but sympathetic for him.

There are no questions left unanswered at the end of this story, just a hard-won HEA and a book hangover that requires a therapeutic debriefing before starting another book. If you read Part One, you don't need me to tell you that you must read this one. If you haven't read it, I recommend you grab them both right now and prepare for an uninterrupted reading session. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the book. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you have read the first book, then the second book is a must-read for it picks up immediately from where book one ends.

I thought The Body Painter was difficult to read.

I was wrong.

The Living Canvas had me in tears.

I'm not going to say much about it because I think it's difficult to do otherwise without giving it away. Suffice to say, The Living Canvas is a brilliant read!

The Living Canvas continues straight in from the shocking ending of the Body Painter. A dark psychological edgy romance with twists and turns that leave you dizzy and breathless with their intensity.
The characters of Gil and Olin are so well written, strongly developed with angst and depth.
Unable to say more without giving away spoilers, as good if not better than the first and a great finale to this series from this author who knows only too well how to wring you out and leave you in wonder of her imagination and skill.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.