Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read books that are considered “taboo” and enjoy them so when I saw the buzz about this book I was excited to read it. I am sorry to report this one was a letdown and didn’t work for me. I thought the first few pages were fantastic but after that, things sort of went off track and never really came all the way back on. The ending was much better than I anticipated but it was too late for me to be on board with everything else that happened in between. Father Bell has been a priest for 3 years after an incident where his sister died. I never really bought into the reasoning for him becoming a priest nor did I buy into the fact that he was a priest. I felt he was a good man but nothing about him was priestly. I kept waiting for something to come up that would connect me and make me feel for him but it never happened. Poppy is an ex-stripper, still works for the club but in an accounting capacity. She wants to atone for her past sins and shows up to confession at Father Bell’s church. She’s not Catholic, which felt a little odd, but I did buy into the fact she was curious and wanted something more out of her life. However, there was even less of a connection with her that remained throughout the story. The first time they are together sexually early (very early) on in the book, because of the lack of connection it felt extremely forced. In fact, most of everything they did felt contrived. All I kept thinking was no priest would do this, say this, feel this way, and I’m not talking about the dirty talk or the fact that he was so awesome in bed. Everything he felt for her seemed to come from lust and I wanted more, something deeper than that. I guess I was looking for more of an internal struggle but it never happened. He might have mentioned it was wrong, but I wasn’t convinced which is probably why the entire time I was reading, a porno was running through my mind, not a love story. It makes me wonder if it was all for shock value. I’ve never been one to write negative reviews. If I read a book I don’t care for, I usually just star it and move on because I refuse to bash someone’s hard work. However, recently low star ratings have helped me make or not make purchases so I think it’s important to see differing views. I understand an author has put a lot of time into what they are doing and I feel bad if I don’t like their work. On the same token, I know not everyone likes the same things and it’s ok to say what you didn’t like as long as you aren’t mean-spirited about it. I would say if you like taboo stories with lots of dirty sex, light on character development and plot, you might want to give this one a try. I’ve never read this author before and even though I didn’t care for this story, I felt her writing had potential and would consider reading something else by her. I would however ask to please develop your characters more, and make sure the story line is believable and not so artificial. Review copy provided for an honest review.