Sierra Simone

"But there would be no end to the things I wanted to do to this little lamb, no matter how many times or how many ways I had her."
He's a priest, and here is his confession. 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. Tyler Bell has had no problem playing by the rules for the last three years after a family tragedy set him on the path to priesthood. That all changes when the delicious, sultry voice of show more Poppy Danforth sinks its claws in him through the screen of his confessional booth, and he can't get her sins out of his head. It should be easy to put his impure thoughts of her to rest, considering the vows Tyler has taken. It should be nothing to overcome what the sight and sound of her does to him, when his life with the Church means everything. But once he has his first forbidden taste of those red lips, Tyler can't help but break all his rules for Poppy--no matter what it might cost them both.
This was one that I wasn't sure would live up to all the hype that surrounds it, but I was insanely mistaken. It lives up to the hype and then some. I mean for one it is a beautiful story. It's well written and the characters are easy to love, especially Father Bell. I really enjoyed that most of the book was from Father Bell's perspective, with just a few inserts from Poppy, because I don't feel like we get enough of this in romance novels. Father Bell was giving off some serious vibes basically as soon as the book started. And, can I just say I was not expecting the level of spice this book had. I loved it. Like I adored it. I loved that Poppy owned who she was and her sexuality and didn't let anybody make her feel guilty about it.
I loved that it wasn't just a romance with no consequences either, like the entire time we see Tyler struggling with himself, his beliefs, his role and what he desires. It was amazing to watch that process and even though I knew some inevitable obstacle was going to arise, I didn't expect it when it came, which made me love it even more. I liked that yeah it was a steamy romance, but it also dealt with real issues and made the characters seem so real. I really can't do anything but gush about how great this book was, I look forward to reading the others! show less

Nolan Shaw is the former bad boy of a former boy band, attempting to rehabilitate his image - and make money to support his mom and younger sister - by starring in a Hope channel Christmas movie. Bee Hobbes is a porn star who gets her chance to break into mainstream acting when her producer taps her to fill in for the "wholesome" actress who dropped out at the last minute. Unknown to either of them, Nolan has been a longtime fan of Bee's (Bianca Von Honey) ClosedDoors account, and Bee had a show more huge teen crush on Nolan. On set in Christmas Notch, Vermont, they both need to maintain their squeaky-clean images, but they fall hard for each other. Can they keep their relationship a secret from cast, crew, and the world? (Spoiler alert: no.) When Bee's Bianca Von Honey side becomes public, will Nolan stick by her? Will the Hope channel scrap the movie?

The chemistry between Nolan and Bee is evident, and the authors are sex-positive; Bee/Bianca loves her job and doesn't necessarily want to leave it behind, and both her moms know what she does and support her. The movie's director Gretchen, a former child star herself, and her wife Pearl wind up supporting Bee, and after a media pile-on, there's a swell of excitement about the movie, which the Hope channel releases after all. Nolan's mom has bipolar disorder, which makes him protective of her, but he also respects her and wants others to see her as more than her diagnosis.

Three mistakes irked me: (1) sunset in Vermont in December is NOT 6pm; (2) "white with a brown belly" is NOT a horse color that I know of; (3) it's illegal to set off fireworks in California, which they do casually in the epilogue, because of the risk of wildfires.

Quotes

After all, how hard could it be to keep his two worlds separate? (Teddy, prologue)

Doubt washed over me the moment my brain began to quiet. This was an awful idea. I knew it deep down. My intuition was too good. I always felt the truth in my gut, even when it was the kind of truth I didn't want to face. And this was one of those truths. (Bee, ch. 1)

It was like everything had gone wrong today and I had no way to fix any of it. All I could do was hold this metal and glass rectangle and hope it eventually lit up in my hand. (Nolan, ch. 17)

Who would I be after the the knowledge that I could work in a mainstream movie, and as the leading lady too? ...But what if that wasn't possible? What if I had to choose? (Bee, ch. 22)

When all I wanted was...for this moment to fractal out like a snowflake and never, ever end? (Bee, ch. 22)

Love...always demanded sacrifice and risk. But whose risk? Whose sacrifice? Was that fair to ask of anyone? (Bee, ch. 22) show less

I am a huge Hallmark Christmas movie fan so I was jacked to read a book that was a play on one of my favorite guilty pleasure. Teddy, a pornography producer decides to "diversify" and wants to produce a clean Christmas romance for the Hope Channel. He makes a new LLC and everything so no one can link him back to his real "business." A few days before shooting is set to take place, disaster occurs. A lot of the production crew and the female lead are out. In a hasty move he fills the slots show more with some porn crew and even casts Bianca von Honey, a plus size porn star as the lead. He is praying to god no one will catch on and the filming will go off without a hitch. Only there is one hitch, the reformed bad boy pop singer, now lead actor on set, knows EXACTLY who "Bee" is, he has subscribed to her content for years. How can they keep this all under wraps?! Sexy, full of positive sex work, and cute. Would definitely read more like this! show less

I loved the cover of this novel--it's so well done. You also get what it advertised--a spicy novel with a lot of sex scenes. I was caught off guard because I've only read July Murphy's YA and middle school novels, so I didn't realize she wrote such spicy stuff. I don't have issues or judgement over the sex scenes; I just didn't expect it and should have. The cover does not lie!

Ms. Murphy and Sierra Simone have witty dialogue and interesting characters, making for an escapist novel. It's a show more diverting evening read. I think my main issue was that the dad--Bram--didn't fit his character development. His actions as a parent and the type of guy he was didn't seem to mesh with his sexual appetites. Yes, people can have myriad sides to themselves. We were told he was a good father, but we really only saw him as a guy who really liked having sex with his child care provider. We were also told how smart and clever Maddie was, but she was more interested in having sex with her boss. Once again, no judgment about the book. I didn't feel the characters were developed to be the smart people they supposedly were. We were told but given little evidence. It was a fine novel--written with not a lot of plot or character development: boy/girl meet, have sex, want more, throw in some things about their personal lives and some outrageous, unusual friends, add in children that you rarely see that apparently they do care about (no evidence--it's just stated), and have a lot of sex with role playing. If you want spicy, go for it. If you want a more developed story that happens to have sex scenes, this isn't it. If you want a diversion, you've got it with this novel. I didn't stop reading; I finished it to see where everyone ends up. Honestly, I really wanted to know more about the librarian, but there was never an answer. That may be another novel; I'll have to check into it. show less