Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

 

Sean Bell is living his best life on his own terms. He brokers successful deals, he’s wealthy, and he has all the sex he wants. He’s not interested in settling down or finding the one. He likes things just as they are. He’s close with his family and while his mother’s cancer has hit the family hard, Sean is there for her every step of the way.

Sean’s best friend is Elijah Iverson and their two families used to be close. After a terrible rift following Sean’s sister’s suicide, the families no longer speak, but Sean and Elijah have remained close friends. However, they don’t talk about their families, which is why Sean had no idea that Elijah’s younger sister is back in town.

Sean doesn’t even recognize the woman he meets at a social event and wants all kinds of dirty things with her. It’s not until much later he learns that the woman is Zenobia, “Zenny,” Iverson. She’s not only all grown up, but she’s a postulate on the path to becoming a nun. Zenny’s progressive superiors want her to experience the world a little before taking the next step in her journey and she decides that Sean will be the man to show her everything she didn’t even know she was missing. The heat is on and Sean is losing his heart and his head to a woman he knows can never be his.

I read the Priest series a little backwards as I started with book 3, Saint, went back to the first book, Priest, and now am finishing off with book 2, Sinner. The series revolves around the Bell brothers and the story lines intersect faith and sex, with two featuring M/F relationships and one M/M. Sean has lost his faith. He can’t forgive God for the awful things that happened to his sister at the hands of a predatory priest and he can’t forgive himself for not protecting her. While some of the other Bell brothers went on to incorporate faith into their lives in an attempt to mend something that was broken, Sean is angry and has no room in his life for any of it.

The storyline of this book falls heavily on the erotic side and Sean’s story is woven in throughout. The book is told entirely from his point of view and that works well for his side of things. However, when Zenny has to figure out her life, we don’t see that at all. You have to go with the basics of the set up, as even though Sean is best friends with Zenny’s brother, Elijah, Zenny has never been mentioned at all between them in many years. Also, while Zenny is not breaking any vows and is even given a month to experience life, you have to be willing to go where the story does.

Simone writes the hottest of sex scenes as she puts older, experienced Sean with younger, virginal Zenny, and this is definitely the book that will bring all the heat. I did find some of the larger plot a little lacking and not as tightly put together and I did find myself looking for more to the story, however.

I did find Zenny’s backstory interesting, as I haven’t encountered many books with a postulate as a main character and Simone writes from a place of research and knowledge. While this book can be read as a standalone, I did enjoy now having the full backstory of the family and the brothers and the direction they went with their lives in some ways due to tragic circumstances.

I have yet to find a Sierra Simone book that I would pass on and it’s effortless to get lost in her words. Sinner finds both Sean and Zenny at a crossroads in their lives and if this type of storyline appeals to you, the Bell brothers are definitely the ones to meet up with.