Review: Salt Kiss by Sierra Simone

SALT KISS
Series:
Lyonesse  #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance, MMF
Author: Sierra Simone
Release Date:
September 12, 2023

Tristan Thomas is lost.

After leaving the Army, the young former soldier is in limbo. Until, that is, he’s hired by Mark Trevena, the owner of Lyonesse—DC’s ultra-secret club—to be Mark’s new bodyguard. He’s drawn into Mark’s dark, seductive world of power and desire, and slowly drawn to Mark himself, even though Mark is everything Tristan knows he shouldn’t want: cruel and wicked and shamelessly amoral.

But protecting Mark isn’t Tristan’s only duty: soon, Mark asks him to guard his soon-to-be bride as she travels home from Ireland on Mark’s yacht. Tristan is jealous—and hurt to learn that the object of his obsession is engaged—but the soldier in him is made to obey orders, and he goes to fetch Mark’s bride for him.

Isolde Laurence is nothing like Tristan expected, however. Young, quiet, and sharp, she’s being pushed into this marriage by her family, and as the two travel back to America, Tristan finds himself fascinated with Isolde and the glimpses he gets of the lonely but determined woman behind her reserve. And the fascination is mutual: one night, while sailing under the cold stars, they share a searing kiss.

From there, it’s a fast fall into the forbidden.

But in Mark Trevena’s world, the fall is only the beginning…

The Lyonesse trilogy is a queer, kinky contemporary retelling of the legend of Tristan and Isolde, set in the same world as the New Camelot series. Readers will not have to read New Camelot to enjoy Lyonesse, although readers who enjoyed New Camelot will find all the things they loved about the trilogy here: MMF ménage, plenty of the angsty forbidden, and a sweeping retelling of a familiar story.

AMAZON 

I want two people. I’m not able to have either of them.

GAWD but I missed Sierra Simone’s writing and this book made me want to go an binge on her backlist all over again because WOW. How this woman is able to combine eroticism with a beautifully framed story that will make you squirm and obsess is beyond me but I hope she never stops.

I’m in love with her fiancé, and I’m hard underneath her.

This book pulled me in from the very first chapter and kept me in a complete chokehold until the end.

Tristan Thomas is impossible not to immediately fall in love with. There’s just something about this lost soul that called to me. He’s fresh off a war and still fighting the memories that wake him up in a cold sweat. When he gets the opportunity to be a bodyguard for Mark Trevena, in spite of his father’s best wishes. Mark is Tristan’s new uncle-in-law, previous CIA, and the enigmatic owner of the ultra secret club, Lyonesse. What Tristan isn’t prepared for is the raw and electric attraction to his new boss.

I need to be his. On my knees, on my back, humiliated, bruised, used. Whatever he wants me to be, I want it too.

Tristan is the innocent lab to Mark’s devious desires. But although he’s inexperienced, he still knows what he wants, and it’s to be used by his new boss.

When I tell you that the chemistry between the two of them is incendiary, I mean I was entirely enthralled with them. Mark’s dark mystery to Tristan’s sweet romantic heart was addictive to read about. But nothing prepares the reader for when Tristan comes face to face with Mark’s fiancé and immediately is drawn to her.

When I tell you I read this book with bated breath, I mean it was impossible to put down. The pacing was flawless, the characters layered and unique, and the romance sizzling. There were moments where the pacing slowed down a bit and I wanted more, but all of that blurred in comparison to how much this story sucked me in. And that cliffhanger? I’m not even sure how I’ll survive the wait until the next book.

Sierra Simone is a USA Today Bestselling former librarian (who spent too much time reading romance novels at the information desk.) She lives with her husband and family in Kansas City.

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Review: Saint by Sierra Simone

SAINT
Series:
Priest #3
Genre: Contemporary, Forbidden Romance
Author: Sierra Simone
Release Date:
September 7,  2021

 

I can’t have Elijah Iverson.

I can’t have him because he’s my older brother’s best friend. I can’t have him because I broke his heart five years ago; because he’s now engaged to someone else—someone kind and dependable who deserves his whiskey eyes, his soft mouth, his fierce intellect.

I can’t have Elijah because I’ve chosen God instead.

The Bell brothers, though . . . well, we don’t exactly have the greatest track record with vows. But I’m determined to do this monk thing right—to pledge myself to a cloistered life and spend the rest of my years in chastity and prayer. But now Elijah’s here. He’s here and he’s coming with me on my European monastery road trip, and between the whispered confessions and the stolen kisses and the moments bent over an ancient altar, my vows are feeling flimsier by the day.

And vows or not, I know in my heart that it would take more than a good and holy monk to resist Elijah Iverson right now. It would take a saint.

And we all know that I’m no saint.

(This is the third full-length standalone in the Priest Collection, featuring Father Bell’s brother, Aiden Bell. You do not have to read Priest or Sinner to read Saint.)

AMAZON

I can’t stop the tender shoots and slender, seeking roots of him, and I am his garden, his soil, his place, and it would be wonderful if I wasn’t supposed to be the garden of my god instead.

I live for the Bell siblings. We’ve met Tyler Bell, the priest. We’ve met manwhore extraordinaire, Sean Bell who fell for a nun and his best friend’s younger sister. And now it’s Aiden’s turn. If you’ve read the previous two books, then you remember Aiden is the wild younger sibling. And if you’ve read Sinner, then you’d also remember the shocker of learning that he’s been having a secret affair with his brother’s best friend. That was definitely a delicious plot twist when I read it.

And now we meet Aiden Bell five years later, as a monk but also a man that never got over the love of his life.

Aiden,” he says softly, and I relish hearing my secular name from him, because it was the name that belonged to him, to his lips and thoughts and even his fingers when he was scolding or flirting over text or email.

If you’ve read anything by Sierra Simone than you know this author’s incredible ability to pack a heck of an emotional story that’s interwoven into scorching romance. This book was no different. The sexual charge between Aiden and Elijah is woven into every page, especially because it’s forbidden. Elijah may have loved Aiden once and had his heart broken by him, but he’s now an engaged man. And Aiden has given himself to god.

It was clear the amount of research that Sierra put into this book with her detailed story telling. However, I also felt like parts of the book did drag a bit for me and had a little more detail than needed. I found myself skimming a bit about midway through the book.

The romance, in typical Sierra Simone fashion, was EVERYTHING. It was packed with emotion, it was erotic, it was sensual, it was beautiful, and it was so satisfying. I found myself hurting with them. I found myself grieving their relationship with them. And I found myself loving with them.

This was easily my favorite book in the series so far. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, prepared me for the twist and reveal at the end. And now I’m desperately hoping that we get a certain someone’s book next because OMG!!

Sierra Simone is a USA Today Bestselling former librarian (who spent too much time reading romance novels at the information desk.) She lives with her husband and family in Kansas City

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#DGRFave & Review: A Lesson In Thorns by Sierra Simone

A LESSON IN THORNS
Series: Thornchapel #1
Genre:
Author: Sierra Simone
Release Date: March 21, 2019

Once upon a time, six children stumbled upon a wild place hidden deep in the moors, shrouded by secrets and fog. There we played a game among the roses and the thorns that would change us forever, that would follow us the rest of our lives. A game that ended with a hard kiss in the rain and tattered flower petals fluttering from above…

And twelve years later, we’re back.

The heir.
The dreamer.
The priest.
The genius.
The socialite.
The saint.

I’m not going to dream of a forgotten place covered in thorns every night.
I won’t be enchanted by Thornchapel and its glossy, glamorous people. I’m not going to fall in love or have my heart torn in two.

I’m not telling the truth.

Because as this place slowly tightens its coil of secrets and thorns around us, as we uncover the knotted mysteries that grow here, the six of us begin to unravel into filthy, holy pleasure and pain. Fulfilling the promise we once made as children in those whispering ruins, and awakening a fate that will either anoint us or leave us in ashes…

AMAZON | iBOOKS | B&N

The place claims you, it knows your name and the crooked corners of your heart, and you’ve pledged yourself to it before you’ve even realized what’s happening.
Thornchapel knows my name and the crooked corners of my heart, and it wants me to make promises that I’m going to keep.”

Hypnotizing.
Captivating.
Spell binding.
All enrapturing.
Those are just some of the words that were running through my overly sensitized brain as I was reading this book. No. Not reading. EXPERIENCING. Because this isn’t just a story you read. It’s one that unravels before your eyes with every turn of the page. It’s an out of body experience unlike any I’ve ever had with any other book. And I don’t even know how to begin to even TRY to review what I just read.

I want him to be mine. Or I want to deny him the right to ever call me his. I want to heal him and I want to hurt him. All because of one broken kiss.

Truth be told, I jumped at the chance to read this book way before it had so much as a blurb. All I knew was that Sierra Simone wrote it and so I had to read it. I went into it completely blind not knowing what to expect and if you were to take away one thing from my review it’s this; go into it in exactly the same way. Trust me. For the reason of allowing every reader out there to experience this book in exactly the same way I did, I’m going to keep this review just as vague as the blurb. And you’ll thank me for it after.

I’d let him do anything.
I’d let him love me.
I’d let him make me fall in love with him right back.
I’d admit that I’m already in love with him.

I won’t tell you who the main characters are. I won’t tell you how the romance evolves. But I will tell you that there is most definitely a riveting romance at the heart of this story.

The story spins around six characters.
The heir.
The dreamer.
The priest.
The genius.
The socialite.
The saint
Each a unique and broken soul in their own right. Each one you will be dying to learn more about. Each that will capture your heart in their own way.

There’s an added allure of something almost…paranormal about this book. There’s a deep history that drives what happens with these characters. There are rituals, love and pain, jealousy and betrayal. The story has this haunting auto to it that weaves its way around your heart and doesn’t let you draw a breath until the last page. It may take a vanilla reader out of their comfort zone at times. It may make you question everything you just read. And it will leave you with a reeling head and not knowing which end is up.

It.
Was.
Absolutely.
EPIC.

If you read one book this year, make it this one. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to rock myself in the corner with a bottle of vodka until the next book.

Sierra Simone is a USA Today Bestselling former librarian (who spent too much time reading romance novels at the information desk.) She lives with her husband and family in Kansas City.

Connect with Sierra Simone:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sierra-Simone-497450453680395/?fref=ts

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Amazon : http://amzn.to/1PDR4K4

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Review: Sinner by Sierra Simone

SINNER
Series: Priest #2
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Author: Sierra Simone
Release Date: March 15, 2018

I’m not a good man, and I’ve never pretended to be.

I don’t believe in goodness or God or any happy ending that isn’t paid for in advance.

What do I believe in?

Money.

Sex.

Macallan 18.

They have words for men like me—playboy.

Womanizer.

Skirt chaser.

My brother used to be a priest, and he only has one word for me.

Sinner.

AMAZON | iBOOKS | KOBO | B&N

“Zenny,” I mumble against her lips, some valiant part of me recognizing that this is far, far beyond the kiss she asked for, and also recognizing that I’m going to come all over the inside of my Hugo Boss suit pants if she keeps it up. Even through the clothes, I can feel her heat, her shameless rolls hinting at where she goes soft and wet between her legs.

Fuck, I want to see it. I want to see her pussy. It’s suddenly all I can think about, all I can want or crave, just one glimpse, just a peek.

“I want to see your cunt,” I say hoarsely, lifting my head.

“My…cunt?” She says the word like she’s never said it out loud before.

“Yeah.” My voice is so ragged right now, so desperate, and fuck, I’ve never felt this frantic before. Like I’ll actually combust if I don’t get this one thing, this one small sight of her secret place.

She lets out a shaky breath, her hand dropping from my lapel to her skirt, which she slowly rucks up to her waist as I devour her lips once more, as I bury my face in her neck and kiss every sliver of skin exposed above her collar. I bite at her ear, at her jaw, my hand finding hers as it pulls her skirt up, so that I’m helping her do it, that we’re doing it together, this forbidden act, this forbidden revelation.

Her forbidden body. 

That word, forbidden, spikes through my mind, bringing with it equal spikes of lust and fear. Because yes, it’s fucking hot that I shouldn’t be kissing her, I shouldn’t be begging to see her most secret place, my hand shouldn’t be covering hers as it slides up her thigh—but it’s also bad. Bad even for Sean Bell.

Bad, bad, bad.

They have words for men like me—playboy. Womanizer. Skirt chaser.
My brother used to be a priest, and he only has one word for me.
Sinner.

So, erm, if anyone needs me, I’ll just be over here in the corner icing my ovaries. Because this book? Set those suckers on FIRE! I mean, sweet baby jesus. Pun intended. But seriously though. Hot damn. Just…hot damn.

As with everything, she is a contradiction. Artless and deliberate, embarrassed but driven past caring.

First of all, that blurb is vague as hell. And if you truly want to enjoy this book to its fullest, keep it that way. You do NOT want to know who the heroine is, or what exactly the taboo element of the story is. It’s so much better to have it unravel for you as you read. That much more delicious too. And let me tell you, it’s SO delicious.

Sierra Simone wrote one emotionally packed and erotically charged forbidden romance, and this girl loved every sizzling page of it. It was so much more than just smoking’ hot. It was brimming with passion and emotion with a perfect amount of feels to make you completely invested in everything happening to the characters. It was multi-layered, perfectly paced, and hot enough to singe your kindle. It was nothing like what I expected and yet it hit the spot SO right.

Jesus Christ. And I am shaking. I’m shaking because I need to fuck, I’m shaking because the woman I need to fuck is a woman I’m feeling insane things for

If you loved Priest, you need to read Sinner.

Sierra Simone is a USA Today Bestselling former librarian (who spent too much time reading romance novels at the information desk.) She lives with her husband and family in Kansas City

Connect with Sierra Simone:

FacebookTwitter | AmazonGoodreadsInstagram | Website

Subscribe to Sierra’s newsletter:

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