Saint

It's Sierra Simone, so it's complicated.Saint is all about love and worthiness (and beer and a horny monk).It's also about how finding yourself leads you right back to the hearts you broke.If you are lucky, you find an author who speaks your (book) love language. I've been blessed with Sierra Simone. She makes sex a sacrament and infuses her worlds with magic and mysticism. She weaves words into weapons that can sear your soul and safe places that bring you peace and solace. Your soul becomes her canvas and with her lush, evocative prose, she paints it with ecstasy and agony, soaring joy and crushing heartbreak. And A LOT of orgasms. She conjures people and places that live with you - forever.Aiden and Elijah are no exception. Five years ago, Aiden suffered a mental and emotional crisis so soul crushing that he fled into the night and sought refuge in his faith in the most extreme way possible - he joined a cloistered monastery, leaving behind the love of his life (who just happened to be his older brother's best friend/brother in law) with no explanation. Like I said "complicated". Life at the monastery quieted his overwhelming thoughts of inadequacy and gave him the tools to manage his crushing depression. But now, Elijah is in the visitor's room to tell Aiden that he's engaged, closing the book on the promise their life together. But sparks fly, as they tend to do in Sierra's world, love blooms anew and Aiden suffers a crisis of faith that involves a lot of frustration, wet dreams and dirty laundry. Aiden and Elijah's second chance at love is kinky and sweet and hard and heartbreaking and beautiful and profound and provocative and haunting and, and , and...There are so many reasons this is one of my top reads of 2021, but the most important is the sensitivity and eloquence with which Aiden's depression was handled.#TopReadof2021

Aiden Bell is a millionaire who has it all, a man he's loved for years and more money that he could ever spend. You'd think his life was perfect, but he is filled with demons and desperate for something he can't explain. One night Aiden gets a text from an unknown number. He feels it's a sign that he is destined for something else. That night, Aiden leaves Elijah without saying goodbye and turns to the monastery, hoping to find the answers he needs and to find peace. He's given away all of his money and focuses on serving God, hoping the find answers and lay his demons to rest.Five years later, Aiden is still struggling for peace when Elijah visits him at the monastery to get closure and to tell him Aiden he is getting married. They have an intimate moment, but part ways. Is this the closure they needed, or is it just a new beginning for Aiden and Elijah.Sierra has written a story of a deep love between two people that was heartfelt and angsty. You can feel the emotions and struggles that both men are going through. It's so well written and pulls you in, hoping they both get the love and happiness they both deserve.

"I love you like that. I love you like this. I love you like everything."I'm never disappointed by Sierra Simone's amazing work...never. This one took me days to get through and not because I wasn't invested, or because I was bored. It was because every single word had so much meaning. Whether you are reading for the steam (yes plenty of amazing steam as always -- 5 flames), or for deep understanding of religion and monotheism (I learned a lot that made so much sense to me in my own spiritual journey), or how perverse thought processes and mental illness are not always so easily discernable or seen by others (she deals with all of this in such a frank way). If you are looking for a story with easy answers, this is not it, but there ARE answers. There ARE avenues that allow you to give and receive love while still doing what you feel you are meant to do. Sierra's words feel like poetry to me and this story in particular felt like more. Her descriptions of things we see to take for granted, take on new meaning."Where is everyone going, I wonder, and in such a hurry? No one even stops when the wind blows ruby-red leaves down the street, like so much autumn confetti. No one ever seems to breathe."I'm glad I took time to breathe. I took time to take in the story completely and I'm a better person for it.

Straight up, Saint is sitting at the top of my 2021 favorite reads list right now. It’s one of the most prosaic, evocative, thoughtful, meaningful, thought-provoking, smart, sexy, beautifully written books I’ve ever had the pleasure to read.From the very beginning I fell hard and fast for Aiden and Elijah. I had to know what drove them to the point where they found themselves five years after their breakup. Had to know what happened. Had to know how they were going to find their way back to each other. Had to know what the future held for them.How God was going to intervene to make it right.“You bring me closer to God, Elijah,” I tell him softly. “Simply by existing.”Elijah and Aiden’s relationship is fraught with tension, regret, and uncertainty. Yet it is also full—so full—of hope, forgiveness, and love. And I was spellbound by the words and visions of their journey back to each other.I devoured Saint, reading until the wee hours of the morning, fighting to keep my eyes open for just. One. More. Page. And then I couldn’t sleep, exhausted as I was, because my mind kept spinning through the images created in my mind as I read Elijah and Aiden’s story. My mind just didn’t want to let them go. And neither did my heart. ~ 5 What if . . . stars

The entire Priest series has been phenomenal so far and this latest edition is no different.Sierra Simone is so dedicated to her work and conviction of story telling that the research that goes into her books is immense.Whilst I appreciate that some things are written with creative licence, I still feel like I finish her books with far more knowledge than when I started.Also, as someone who has suffered from depression, the descriptions and the way it’s talked about here blew me away. (aaaand maybe made me cry a little bit)This book focuses on Brother Patrick (Aiden Bell) and his ex Elijah Iverson.It follows his journey to a life wholly devoted to God and the love he can never quite forget.It’s a discovery of faith, love and of himself.Go read it 😍“Even my tears feel empty, pushed out of my eyes by biology and little else, because what I’m feeling is so beyond the scope of tears, so beyond what my body can hold for me. Only God can hold it.”

Just loved this book, the latest instalment of the Bell Brothers series and it did not disappoint. It’s hard hitting in places and extremely well written. Actually listened to the audiobook of this (which if you can… listen to the book Jacob Morgan’s voice is heavenly!). Great writing, worth the read/listen.

This has to be one of the best stories i have ever read. The emotional turmoil, the requited & at times unrequited love, and the sheer pain of everything are perfectly described. Added to the brilliant descriptive writting of the road trip, you could smell tye lavender in france, and feel the rain in Ireland. Stunning stunning work

A book that gets to the very heart of what love really is - when it means holding on and when it means letting go. There is a deep spiritual understanding in Sierra Simone’s writing which is clearer than ever in this book and will speak to anyone who has ever struggled with faith, battled with mental health or pondered the real nature of love. Utterly awesome!

I knew the Bells from Zinney and Seans story. This was a beautiful thought provoking sensual book that made me cry.Thankyou