Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Priest

I want to read this because it was all over the book community. I knew this book would have me questioning my morals the whole way through. But holy mother of balls, I feel like I'm going to hell for enjoying this book.

This book follows Father Bell. He is a priest and there are many rules a priest cannot break. A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God. Father Bell has had no problems playing by these rules for the last three years after a family tragedy set him on this path to priesthood. But this all changes when the sultry voice of Poppy Danforth sinks its claws in them through the screen of the confessional booth, and he can’t get her sins out of his head. It should be easy for Father Bell to put his impure thoughts of her to rest, considering the vows he has taken. It should be nothing to overcome what the sight and sound of her does to him, when his life with the Church meant everything. But the more he sees Poppy inside and outside of the church, the more she makes him feel like Tyler Bell instead of Father Bell. It gets worse once he has his first forbidden taste of her lips, Tyler can’t help but break all his rules for Poppy – no matter what it might cost them both.

I liked that it wasn’t all smut and no story, there was an actual story with actual characters with two very different family dynamics and very real traumas. I think Tyler’s head was a very intriguing and damaging place, knowing why he joined the church and trying not to go down the same road whilst falling in love was difficult and confusing for him. Also, I love the fact that he fell in love with a stripper which obviously added to the sin aspect of the book. Poppy, I thought was also a damaged character who didn’t understand why she was like this and instead of going to therapy she went to church. The smut was fire and honest to god, the alter chapter is going to be stuck in my brain for longer than normal.

I disliked the single POV, even though I was surprised to see that this was from a male’s point of view being the priest, I would have loved for this to be a dual POV especially with the last couple of chapters when they were apart. I liked the forbidden aspect of the story, but felt like it was easily pushed aside once Tyler got over his inner monologue and started sleeping with Poppy. I would have liked more of the forbiddenness.

I feel like I need to go to church after reading this book but I'm looking forward to Sean’s book.

Content Warnings

percervall's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

4.0

Content Warnings

imiyhaa's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-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

WOW. um... what can i say. the smut was DEFINITELY there, the plot not so much for me. i didn't feel a genuine love connection between the mc's. their relationship felt rushed and unrealistic, but don't get me wrong their sexual connection was unmatched. the romantic part just fell flat for me but what can i say, i started it for the smut anyway. and in a way, it felt healing to my religious trauma tbh🤷🏽‍♀️

Content Warnings

kelsokake's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-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

3.0

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chrstnlvly's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Although I didn't particularly enjoy it, I didn't dislike it enough to hate it. The more accurate description was I was able to tolerate it enough. There was little to no plot, and the characters were flat. In all honesty, their relationship appeared more lustful than loving. The smut was okay at first, but I eventually grew tired of it and skipped over those scenes about halfway through.

I only read this because it was book club #4's pick of the month. I know I could DNF it, but I wanted to finish it so I can join in the discussion.

Content Warnings

charlynlynlyn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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sarahholliday's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

This isn't my normal type of read, so I'm not sure how to review it. I think I'll go with bullets:

I would solidly put this in the "erotica" camp, not the romance. No judgment, just an FYI.
While not all of the sexually explicit scenes were my *taste,* I am sort of in awe at Simone's ability to write those scenes in a way that is at once completely absorbing and also educating. She realizes it's worth it to explain what's actually going on between the two characters, rather that just jumping into the action and letting readers draw their own conclusions.
I read this book because a friend of mine read it and said she found it "healing," given the purity culture she grew up in. I was also raised in toxic Christian purity culture, so that made me curious. And I know exactly what she meant. Even if I don't agree with all of the religious/theological conclusions in the book, it was SO incredibly healing to read a story where a religious person was struggling with sex, but never because it was "dirty" or "wrong."
The writing is actually quite good. I wish there was more to the scenes in between the sexual encounters, but I enjoyed Simone's writing style nonetheless.

Content Warnings

courtneyluna15's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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