Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

“I’ve been at my parish since I was ordained three years back, and I love it here. Several months ago, I broke my vow of celibacy on the altar of my own church, and God help me, I would do it again. I am a priest and this is my confession.” I love Simone’s work, I fell in love the first time I had the chance to spend a few hours inside, The Awakening of Ivy Leavold. Her stories tend to venture outside the box. She has talent for creating a story that is completely unique and a style of writing that not only engages me as a reader, it also refuses to let you walk away mid read. I found myself completely hypnotized by Father Tyler Bell’s story and his Poppy. The Catholic religion is not something that I am well versed in; I was raised attending church and Sunday school in my early years, but not the Catholic Church. This story was full of shockingly titillating scenes that not only made me overheat, but also think. I thought very hard about what else was taking place within this story. Because yes it is an erotic romance primarily, but there so much more happening as well. From the moment Poppy enters Father Bell’s confession booth, looking for guidance and a non-judgmental ear, he feels something critical in his life shift. He is happy, content and more than fulfilled by doing God’s work, volunteering his time to many other social groups within the church and mending the untold damages of the past. Yet from the moment Poppy begins her confessional Tyler Bell the man remerges for the first time in years, the man that he believes he had laid to rest years ago when he decided to enter Seminary school and begin his journey to becoming a Priest. She also brings painful memories of his past crashing back into present, now Tyler is conflicted, confused, and unsure of what is happening to him, and why now… “I couldn’t lose her. And I couldn’t keep her.” Poppy is new to the area, and when she meets the handsome 29 year old priest in the local church for her first confessional, she is drawn to him, and the attraction is scorching. She is entranced, and yet bewildered. “Tyler, you are exactly what I want. Use me. Be rough. Leave marks.” She paused. “Please.” This story is listed as taboo, an erotic BDSM romance that takes place in a Catholic church of all places. And for some it most assuredly will be but for me, the taboo never outweighed the beauty. It was beautiful for all of the reasons some will find it too much or maybe even find it disrespectful to the church. I think that we all forget at times that Priests, Ministers and Pastors are indeed humans just like the rest of us. As a rule, humans are flawed and we make mistakes. Father Bell takes his calling incredibly seriously, he is dedicated to the church, God and his parishioners, and yet most importantly he remains a mere human like the rest of us. He makes mistakes and he’s now realizing that he still has desires. For him this is unsettling to the extreme, he believes he had relinquished that part of himself years ago yet for some unexplainable reason this woman reawakens Father Bell’s deepest and darkest desires. Poppy obliterates all of his common sense and unleashes a man who is wreck less and not at all the man he has become. He can’t fathom what is happening to him. I think in some ways, he believes his sanity is slipping. “You are truly beautiful,” I said, running a finger down her jaw. And then I reached for her hand, lacing my fingers through hers. “Whatever happens after this, I just want you to know that this was worth it. You were worth it. You were worth everything.” The writing is meticulous, and even though this is without a doubt a work of fiction; I found it realistic and knowledgeable in more than a few aspects of the religion. I admit I’m not overly familiar with the catholic religion but this storyline seems entirely plausible, and I was addicted from page one. What really resonated for me with Priest was the forbidden romance element. I am a sucker for a forbidden romance, and Priest is the ultimate, unapologetic forbidden romance. What makes it even more powerful, is the overwhelming and almost suffocating conflict that rages within Tyler from the very beginning, until almost the very end. He knows what he is doing, thinking and feeling is wrong, but he’s like a junkie, needing his next fix and Poppy is his drug of choice. This book has scenes that are so intense, dark and erotic you may find yourself wondering if you are indeed old enough to be reading them. I questioned it, shhhh don’t tell anyone. I’d heard enormous amounts of buzz about this book prior to release from early readers, bloggers, authors, every single one of them saying it was unimaginably hot, they were not wrong. This book was off the charts, question your age, look over your shoulder, sneak around, read it in private it sexy. Take a chance, read Priest, but be prepared you’ll need an open mind, to thoroughly enjoy this book the way the writer intended, it is after all a work of fiction. Priest is going to push every single one of your boundaries until they no longer exist. “One and a half inches of damnation, and all I could think about was sinking deeper into hell.”