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hanschub's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
had to push myself to finish this book because i hate dnf’ing. this book was 98% single pov and, in my opinion, lacked a storyline. i understood the concept, but struggled to feel the connection between the characters. i’m a spice lover and even though there was plenty of spice in this book, i wasn’t feeling it at all. i was excited for this prior to reading it and i’m disappointed that i didn’t enjoy it as much as other people did. i’ve heard the next two in the series are somewhat better, so i might give those a try. given the concept and the whole priest thing, i think this could’ve been written better / gone a different way to be more enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, and Suicide
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
Minor: Stalking, Rape, and Pedophilia
purplegurgles's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
There’s smut, there’s erotica and there is porn. This is porn. I don’t mean that in a good way. The plot held promise, but the story was rushed and the only written form of intimacy or affection they had for each other came from sex and all of those read like porn scripts. I liked the way the spirituality was written. As an atheist, it was written well enough that even I understood the feeling. I also liked the ending in a way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide, and Cursing
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexism
Minor: Infidelity, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol
frantically's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
piper: sorry daddy i've been naughty
tyler: for the last time, it's "forgive me father for i have sinned"
Goddd (literally) this was so messy 😭 but I still loved it! I went into this thinking I'd need to go to confession immediately afterwards but it actually included so many fascinating and important questions and conflicts that plague the modern Catholic church. Why *do* we still uphold celibacy? What even is sin? Can consensual love be a sin when Jesus taught us to, above all, love eachother?
You can clearly tell that Sierra grew up Catholic and what I especially appreciated was that while this was erotica, it wasn't erotica at its core. While some of the plot points went a bit too far for my tastes (like using annoited oil as lube...), most topics were still handle with care and respect even if the author was no longer a practising Catholic. She also included scenes where characters obviously feel God or His presence and I loved those.
Especially towards the end, the relationship did get so messy and there was so much miscommunication but I loved Poppy and Tyler enough to see beyond that even though I was really annoyed with them at points (looking at you, Tyler). I think a few sex scenes could've been cut so the ending wasn't as rushed but I still had such a great time with this book and hey, it actually inspired me to get my rosary out again – amazing what smut can do, huh?
TLDR; I actually think there's nothing more attractive than a man willing to devote his entire life to God so I was helpless from the start
tyler: for the last time, it's "forgive me father for i have sinned"
Goddd (literally) this was so messy 😭 but I still loved it! I went into this thinking I'd need to go to confession immediately afterwards but it actually included so many fascinating and important questions and conflicts that plague the modern Catholic church. Why *do* we still uphold celibacy? What even is sin? Can consensual love be a sin when Jesus taught us to, above all, love eachother?
You can clearly tell that Sierra grew up Catholic and what I especially appreciated was that while this was erotica, it wasn't erotica at its core. While some of the plot points went a bit too far for my tastes (like using annoited oil as lube...), most topics were still handle with care and respect even if the author was no longer a practising Catholic. She also included scenes where characters obviously feel God or His presence and I loved those.
Especially towards the end, the relationship did get so messy and there was so much miscommunication but I loved Poppy and Tyler enough to see beyond that even though I was really annoyed with them at points (looking at you, Tyler). I think a few sex scenes could've been cut so the ending wasn't as rushed but I still had such a great time with this book and hey, it actually inspired me to get my rosary out again – amazing what smut can do, huh?
TLDR; I actually think there's nothing more attractive than a man willing to devote his entire life to God so I was helpless from the start
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Death, Pedophilia, and Alcohol
Minor: Stalking
bl00dsuccker's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
lord do i love reading abt priests falling apart! it cures my religious trauma ❤️, but i am going to critique this book and maybe this is because we didn’t get to see these scenes but i would have loved to see the NON-SEXUAL aspect of poppy and tyler’s relationship because to me it seems like he just fell in love with her just because of how good their sex was when i’m sure there was more but we didn’t get to see that and there is a clear difference between love and want and clearly this book imo was clear want. i wanted to see him and her watching the walking dead, laughing and other stuff that couples do. i kinda got tired of every other page being smut but overall, i did enjoy this book and i will be reading this series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, and Child death
kat_reads26's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I devoured this book! The spice? Chef's kiss. Simone definitely delivers on the sexy priest kink. Priest is heavily spicy with a leading male that is super believable, relatable, and is definitely entering my top 10 list of favorite book boyfriends.
I was surprised by how respectful Simone actually was to the Catholic religion (despite what most would call "blasphemous" sex scenes, but hey, no complaints here). If anything, this book is pro Christianity without being too preachy (but it does have its moments). If you were looking for a spicy romance about a Priest that's also anti-religious, this book isn't that.
Priest is the perfect spicy, dark romance book for you if you love DDLG, light BDSM elements, romance, and have a kink for men of the cloth defying their sacred vows.
While this book does move hot and fast with the sexuality, Simone makes the lead character's chemistry and romance (mostly) believable, all while keeping you on edge wondering if a happy ending is possible for this taboo pairing. The book focuses mainly on the lead characters of Father Bell and Poppy Danforth (but why do we care about anyone else anyways???), giving the story lots of space to breathe life into these characters and make you root for them til the end.
I will say that the ending did feel very rushed and like that of a rom-com. I think Simone could have left Tyler and Poppy's fate more open-ended (and maybe not have written Midnight Mass, sorry not sorry).
Also, SURPRISE: Sinner and Saint, the following books in the Priest series - are NOT about Father Bell and Poppy. I wish I knew that before preemptively purchasing Sinner. I wish that the Priest storyline had been stretched out more for a slow burn love story (with lots of spice of course) and had a more high risk plot that could have gone on into a second full length book (not Midnight Mass).
But overall, this was worth the read, and I may even come back to it someday when I find myself missing Father Bell.
I was surprised by how respectful Simone actually was to the Catholic religion (despite what most would call "blasphemous" sex scenes, but hey, no complaints here). If anything, this book is pro Christianity without being too preachy (but it does have its moments). If you were looking for a spicy romance about a Priest that's also anti-religious, this book isn't that.
Priest is the perfect spicy, dark romance book for you if you love DDLG, light BDSM elements, romance, and have a kink for men of the cloth defying their sacred vows.
While this book does move hot and fast with the sexuality, Simone makes the lead character's chemistry and romance (mostly) believable, all while keeping you on edge wondering if a happy ending is possible for this taboo pairing. The book focuses mainly on the lead characters of Father Bell and Poppy Danforth (but why do we care about anyone else anyways???), giving the story lots of space to breathe life into these characters and make you root for them til the end.
But overall, this was worth the read, and I may even come back to it someday when I find myself missing Father Bell.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Suicide and Child abuse
bookishvampiratelycan's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
readwithria's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Look, was the spice spicy? Absolutely. But this book is technically called Priest: A Love Story and I wasn’t feeling the love part. Tyler and Poppy definitely had physical chemistry, but I don’t understand their emotional connection at all. Was there one?
If you want a smutty book this is definitely that, and the writing is good, but the characters are a bit flat for me. 3 stars.
If you want a smutty book this is definitely that, and the writing is good, but the characters are a bit flat for me. 3 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, and Infidelity
katyiswriting's review
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Grief, Suicide, and Child abuse
kateyoutka's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
We’re all going to hell for this one huh
Truly though, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the writing, the characters and the romance. It's definitely deeper than I thought it would be going into it.
Truly though, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the writing, the characters and the romance. It's definitely deeper than I thought it would be going into it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Suicide
Moderate: Death, Grief, Stalking, and Alcohol
Minor: Religious bigotry and Child abuse
banna1028's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Child abuse, and Suicide