1 star. DNF @44%. Review completed July 5, 2015






Let's face it, whereas the cover isn't too shabby either, that title alone garnered the author tremendous attention. many other readers I was intrigued and eagerly added the book to my to-read shelf. I enjoyed Mark of Cain very much which revolves around a priest whose brother got accidentally killed (it was deemed manslaughter) by a man who, after having been incarcerated for a few years, comes home reformed yet still in search of atonement. Needless to say that these two men fell for each other eventually. Whether this was realistic or not I can't answer. Yet my point is, Mark of Cain provided a careful build-up, a great plot and three-dimensional characters whose struggles were tangible. There was no "I want to put my dick in your mouth" at 5% to be found. Also, that specific priest didn't spew filthy language all the time and the engaging plot hadn't been overshadowed by constant sordid sex.

Priest, however, was lacking on every possible level. Trivial and immature characters who were driven by outer appearances and their hunger for filthy sex dampened my excitement stat. It was physical and the meager and incredibly purplish attempts at coming off somewhat spiritual were choked off time and again by Tyler's annoying and ludicrous inner monologue. Seriously, he acted as he saw fit. Unfortunately he didn't do his profession justice. Also, his reason for becoming a priest (his dead sister who was sexually abused by a priest), was not good enough for me. Prior to becoming a priest, it goes without saying that he fucked around crazy. Although once he decided to slip on his clerical clothing, he seemed determined to uphold his vows and care for his little lambs. Yeah, maybe when pigs fly. Well, and then out of the blue struts slutty Poppy to the confessional and the bubble popped. Pardon my little pun. Seriously.

The so-called taboo aspect, the forbidden "love story" *feels an urge to gag* didn't do it for me at all. Instead of easing the reader into the story and trying to build something worthwhile while at the same time trying to make me believe in Tyler's inner struggles (what struggles??), I've had to deal with the mental image of Tyler's naughty dick practically right off the bat. As a romance and erotica reader, I'm used to being confronted with sex scenes and I do appreciate hot smexin' anyone else. However, when the constant horniness, the idiotic main characters and the sex itself strangle the barely there story I.Am.So.Done.

Readers claiming that the smut was hot is their right but I digress. I didn't even the smut and what will be perceived as hot and erotic by some readers doesn't necessarily mean the same for another reader. After all, reading is a personal experience and everyone's opinion is bound to be subjective.

By the way, mentioning numerous times how intelligent and educated Poppy is is a real disgrace for the female population in general. Also, an author writing that a heroine is educated doesn't necessarily mean that she will come off as smart. My point is, you need to make me believe that she's intelligent by letting her act accordingly. Oh well, considering her being a total slut, she acted accordingly, all right. I think you know what I mean. After all, I wouldn't want to offend your intelligence.



A friend asked me about Tyler's inner struggle. I responded by saying…

Around the 5% mark he was ready to put his dick in her mouth. I wouldn't call that struggling at all.

But while I was thinking all of this, he was unzipping himself, and he was so hard, so mouthwateringly hard, and I couldn't help it--I knew he was married, I knew he was an asshole, but it had been so long, too long, and I had loved him once…
Are you judging me right now, Father Bell?

Fuck yes. I am judging you, you manipulative slut. Despite your alleged stellar background, grand education, a wealthy family that provided you with everything and the best chances for a prosperous future, you threw all that away to work as a stripper and now you're babbling a fuckton of rubbish about being fulfilled and happy and wanting a good life and romance and passion. But.You.Act..A.Filthy.Whore.

"I let myself come," she said finally, in a quiet, sad voice. "He is a married man and he cheated on me for years and he wasn't even sorry, but I still not only fucked him, but I came. I came twice. What does it matter that I made him leave right after it happened? What kind of girl still does that?

What.The.Hell? Poppy is a dumb slut with a brain the size of a pea. Blech.

And the hero is a horny idiot. His clerical clothing is the only thing that would mark him as a priest. His vocation is to think about his constant hard-ons, ogling that slutty heroine and…well…fucking. Given the fact that the book is titled Priest, I at least expected some kind of controversy. I mean this is fiction but there are actually enough priests who break their vows in real life. This being said, I would have loved to read about something deeper and thought-provoking. Something that went beyond the all-consuming lust. Fact is, Priest fell totally flat in that regard.

Because who wouldn't love this gorgeous creature? This over-educated, over-sexed woman who oozed intelligence and sensuality? This woman of white skin and red lips and a brain built for running financial empires?

*gag*

I hope she would have been built for running financial empires too in case her skin had been dark.


(…) her full body weight pressing against my cock, it was such a close approximation to the real thing, maybe too close, but it still wasn't technically sex, I lied to myself, maybe it wouldn't count, maybe I wasn't sinning.
But even if I was, holy fuck, I was not stopping.

Yeah, and going down on her wasn't sex either. Semantics.


Shit, this woman was filthy. And perfect. And it was pure instinct that made me grab her hips and work her harder and faster over me, my mind filled with the sight of her straddling me and her pale pink clitoris, still plump and needy, and the memory of her taste and smell on my mouth and face, and then it flooded through me--no, it burned and chewed through me, and she let out a low moan at the sight of my come spurting onto my stomach. There was so much, and it felt hours instead of seconds that I was suspended in pulsing, total body-release.

Wow.



And at that moment--at the peak of my high, at the peak of her greedy triumph--our eyes locked and we surged past every barrier--stranger and stranger, priest and penitent, Tyler and Poppy. We were simply male and female, as God had made us, Adam and Eve, in the most elemental and fundamental form. We were biology, we were creation incarnate, and I saw the moment she felt it too--that we were fused somehow. Irrevocably and undeniably fused together into something singular and whole.

Holy eff. That's so cheesy and terribly bad it made me cringe. I actually had a good laugh too.



Does this cartoon character of a priest really think that saying "I'm sorry" again and again would be enough to do some kind of penance or to justify his actions?

"I'm sorry," I whispered one last time, the word hanging in the air a star hangs in the sky--glimmering, precious, illuminating. And then it winked out of existence, at the same moment I felt my burden of sorrow and shame wink out of existence.
There was a beat of perfect completeness, a moment where I felt as if I could pluck each and every atom out of the air, where magic and God and something sweetly beyond complete understanding was real, completely real.

You don't say. Greetings from Sugarville. In my book, that's very bad purple prose.

I could do this. There was life after fucking up, after all, even for those who lived without fucking.

I can't even.

Or this…

But I'm glad because it means that you understand why it can't happen again. I have a vow to uphold, to honor God by honoring his children, his lambs. You came to me for help and instead I--" I stopped, unable to utter the words. But the heat rushed to my groin anyway, as words from that one afternoon shot through my mind bullets through ballistic gel. Cunt. Clit. Cock. Come.

Baba: Cunt. Came. To. Cock. *snort*

And less than one minute later…

"Don't worry. I won't bother you with my body again. I'll respect your vow and your outdated chivalry along with it."

That stung. That stung hell, actually, because I had just been trying to summon up all of my postmodern, feminist ally thoughts, trying to squash down the part of my brain that fantasized about making her crawl naked across my floor with a cup of single-malt balanced on her back.

And he pulled her between his legs and sucked on her nipple.

"I shouldn't put you over my lap and spank your ass for being a brazen little slut and coming here without a bra," I growled in her ear. "I shouldn't twist ropes around your wrists and ankles until your cunt is exposed and then screw you until you can't walk anymore. I shouldn't flip you over and fuck your ass until your eyes water. I shouldn't drive you down to the strip club and fuck you in the back room, so that you'll forget all about Sterling and the only name you'll remember to say is mine." I lightly bit her nipple again. "Or God's."

I guess I don't have to tell you what happened next. Yeah, it's sooooo damn hard to uphold a vow.



When he kissed her hard, he called that an act of God and he said "I want to be inside you," (…) "Just a little. Just to feel it."

Again, semantics.

Not being balls-deep in her cunt doesn't make it any less wrong.

And get this. He's ready to kill because…

It was a sensation so base and primal, so delicious, that I would have killed to feel it, I would kill somebody right now if it meant I could have my dick inside this woman again.



God, I needed to pump.
Needed to thrust.
Needed to fuck.


God. I need to wave the white flag.


Why would God bring Poppy here if I wasn't supposed to fall in love with her?

He's bending his inner monologue to his liking at any given moment. It boggles the freakin' mind.


The f-bombing

He's a priest for f@@@'s sake!

252 x fuck, fucking, fucked

In this sense…




To sum this book up in sex six little words:

A ludicrous pile of horny rubbish.

I'm also pretty sure that many Catholics or religious people in general would perceive this "gem" as highly offensive.

It wasn't necessary to read the entire book because at my request a good friend filled me in on what happened during the rest of the story.
Also, I'm not religious at all but the abuse of sacred liturgical items during sex is something I wouldn't have approved of. So I'm glad I quit.

I said it in my final update and I will gladly repeat it. If sex-crazed Tyler is supposed to be a priest, then I'm the President of the United States of America.



#sorrynotsorryatall


Movin' on…




*****************************************

Pre-reading Priest...

Curiosity killed the cat..or some such. I hope I won't regret it.bored-out-of-my-mind coup-de-grâce dumb-twats-bitches-or-annoying-h ...more756 s10 comments Kat269 79.9k

keep ur head up babe, god gives his toughest battles to his sexiest soldiers <31,575 s4 comments Maditales608 30.9k

I thought this book would be about a priest falling in love, not a priest being horny.





This book has been collecting dust on my shelf for years now so here we finally are, reading it. What a mistake.
As a fellow catholic gal I wouldn’t have an issue if priests would be on relationships because love makes your life better. But we are not here to have a discussion about religious laws that are controversial.
We are here because of this book.

I would have probably d this book if he had fallen in love with someone over the course of multiple months maybe even years with episodes of resisting his feelings.
Sadly that didn’t happen.
Instead we got a horny man (shocking I know) that wanted to put his dick into her mouth the first time he heard her voice…

COME ON WHAT????? I hate it when love = being horny in books. Why is it men always have to think with their dicks UGH??

Anyways king story short there was no love in this book just sexual and physical attraction. I really didn’t see any type of chemistry because they never talked except for that one time. Yes in the end he said that he loved her after six weeks but … HOW??? I am confused about where the love came from.

Also… idk if I’m dumb but I feel it wouldn’t be this easy to break your vows? It happened so quickly I was shocked that there was no built up to the “vow breaking”. It just happened.506 s17 comments Christy4,148 34.8k

4 stars!



Priest is definitely a forbidden erotic romance, but it’s more than that. It’s a story of love, sacrifice and dare I say religion. Tyler Bell is a 29 year old man who has been a priest for the last 3 years. He has his reasons for going into the priesthood and these reasons are important to him. He’s spent the last 3 years doing things by the book. He’s not an immoral guy or a guy who breaks his vows. Then he meets Poppy. And everything changes.

Poppy first comes into confession. It’s sort of out of nowhere. She’s not catholic, not really even religious but she has things she needs to get off her chest. Tyler and Poppy are drawn to one another straight away. They try to fight their feelings. Both of them. But the pull is much too strong. Tyler’s struggle especially, is real. You feel it. Why it’s so important to him to stay celibate, but also, as he starts to fall for Poppy he questions why God would put someone this in his life if he can’t have her? Someone he’s quickly falling for…


“Whatever happens after this, I just want you to know that this was worth it. You were worth it. You were worth everything.”
When reading Priest you may think that it’s all sex and no story, but I assure you that’s not true. It does have very many and very steamy sex scenes, but there is an actual story in there. I enjoyed the story, the characters and the struggle these characters felt. It felt real to me. Their chemistry was off the charts and the story was original. If you love a good taboo/forbidden love story and looking for a read with some heat- this is one I would highly recommend to you. I enjoyed this one lots and give it a solid 4 stars!


340 s Angie491

HOLY SMOKING HOTNESS! I feel so wrong for enjoying this book! I mean, I felt I should be taking a cold shower right along with Father Bell. I feel the need to go to confessional and I'm not even Catholic! This book needs to come with a warning!

Not only was the hotness factor there but the storyline was intriguing. Being in Father Bell's head was sinful and amazing. We got to see his struggle with temptation, the need to control his feelings, the reason he became a priest and his struggle to keep his vow to God and his church. It was a great read! I did not want to put in down and finished in a day. 331 s Lady Vigilante (Feifei)632 2,934

2 stars!

many other readers I was also drawn to this book because of the forbidden aspect of the story. There’s nothing I love more than a good taboo love story and all the inner turmoil and angst that comes with the subject. But while I d the idea, sadly, this book was a huge disappointment for me. I will say that those in the mood for an easy and scorching hot read with a priest as the hero will find this book to be a winner.

“There are many rules a priest can't break. A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God. I've always been good at following rules. Until she came.”

One of my biggest problems with this book was that the forbidden element was extremely weak, despite the hero being a priest. While I read, I kept asking myself why Father Tyler Bell was even a priest to begin with, because based on his constant horny state and inner monologue, everything about him screamed amateur and not a holy man who had ‘always been good at following rules.’ The speed at which Father Bell fell for the heroine Poppy was flat out ridiculous and since there was no buildup, the romance was more insta-love to me than a gradual, angsty ride. I think if the author had added a few more chapters at the beginning incorporating Father Bell’s duties along with his interactions with other parishioners (especially other women) it would’ve made me see that there is indeed a difference in his connection with those parishioners and his connection with Poppy. Instead, my initial impression of Father Bell was that he fell for Poppy simply because she was the first beautiful woman who showed up at his church.

Another issue I had was with the heroine herself. While I didn’t buy into Father Bell’s priestly act, I still d him as a character and ultimately, he’s a good guy. On the other hand, I despised the heroine Poppy. I don’t know exactly what she said or did that made her a turn off for me, but her ‘I’m-rich-but-I-Became-A-Stripper’ woes came off as snobby and annoying to me. She came to Father Bell’s church to seek absolution for her supposed sins, but her actions completely contradict her motives. From her entire confession to the way she treats Father Bell outside of church, she deliberately set out to seduce him. I mean, she says things this in normal conversations with him –

“Don’t worry. I won’t bother you with my body again. I’ll respect your vow and your outdated chivalry along with it.”

Sentences these are intentionally provocative and gosh, I don’t know...makes me think of Poppy as a slut *shrug* and Father Bell as someone who can’t control himself around the first woman to throw sexual innuendos at him. Additionally, I felt much of the taboo romance buildup was pushed aside to make way for the smutty smut smut; thus, there was no depth to this story. The ending of the book was also disappointing as the author threw in a dumb communication misunderstanding, a time gap, and a hasty wrap up of the story that lowered my opinion of the book even more.

Nowadays, I think it’s fairly common for forbidden romance books to be published. The question is how many of those authors can pull off such an overused premise and still be able to make their stories engaging and original. But sadly for Priest, nothing made this book positively stand out from the crowd other than its heat level. In short, I would not recommend this book.

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.arc bad-boys cheese-puffs ...more307 s2 comments Geri Reads1,232 2,118

If I'm going to judge this book based on the smut factor alone, this would get an easy 4 or 5 stars. But overall, this was an underwhelming 2.5-star book for me. I am certainly in the minority here, so you can take this review with a grain of salt.

I was one of the many who was intrigued by the forbidden aspect of the book. That was the catch. But my problem was, apart from the obvious reasons of him being a priest, I found the forbidden aspect of the story weak.

First of all, Tyler's reasons for becoming a priest was flimsy at best, and I don't really get he logic behind his decision. Or maybe it just wasn't explored by the author. I don't know. Even though his reasons behind it were heartbreaking (his sister was abused by their own priest and killed herself), I didn't quite understand why he would choose to become one at all. If his reason had been because he loved the Lord and has his heart set on being a priest even before what happened to his sister, then yes, that would have been a lot more interesting. His inner monologue didn't help paint him as a man of God at all. He came off as randy frat boy rather than a priest with strong convictions.

Second, there was really no question or doubt about what they would do the moment they met. It became predictable mainly because the characters didn't really put up a fight. The only reservation he has (she doesn't have one) was the scandal that could blow up if they are find out. Not that they shouldn't do it because he made a vow and he loves being a priest and all that. Again, it made the book predictable for me.

Third, the heroine, Poppy, was just a piece of work. I have no idea what the author was shooting for when it came to her character. She came to Tyler's church as someone needing absolution for her sins but she lost me with her actions. Instead of a being this conflicted character, she's manipulative and just plain dumb. And there was no inner conflict except for some contrived reason she has in her head. She set out to seduce him. She relished telling him about her supposed "sins" and while some of it was hot, it was cheap and did nothing to develop her character. Am I supposed to feel sympathy for her because she's so rich but she chose become a stripper because she feels her life has no meaning? She ruined this book for me. I don't really understand what Tyler saw in her other than her physical appearance.

The ending was pretty much predictable, and our Ms. I'm a suma-cum-laude at Dartmouth just had to act dumb and contradict herself. The whole BIG misunderstanding plot device complete with flouncing was eye-roll worthy. Of course everything just fell right into place then. No repercussions whatsoever. Even Tyler's parish and superior were very understanding.

On the other hand, this was pretty hot. Especially the first two sexy scenes. But it got tiring after a while which is what usually happens when the story fails to captivate. So, if you want to read it, then read it for the smut which was really good. But lower your expectations when it comes to the forbidden aspect.

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.


246 s Victoria RescoAuthor 6 books28.4k

Después de leer esto me voy a ir al infierno.


No me arrepiento. 245 s1 comment Dana Gaper14 253

WOW, what an emotional journey it was! If you're craving a romance with depth and passion, you can get the audiobook right here: Priest A Love Story
Simone knows how to deliver steamy scenes that'll leave you breathless. But beyond the physical attraction, there's a profound connection between the characters that pulls at your heartstrings.
Now, a heads up: if you're not comfortable with explicit content or sensitive themes, this might not be the audiobook for you. But if you're ready for a love story that challenges conventions and stirs your soul, then "Priest" is a must-listen.
225 s Phuong ?666 7,759

me reading the blurb: omg I've never read a priest forbidden romance story before, this sounds so interesting!! color me intrigued
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