Priest by Sierra Simone: A Book Review

Priest hit me via BookTok. A Catholic priest. A woman in his parish. Explicit scenes set against a backdrop of religious guilt. Delicious, right? I am not a religious person, so none of that troubled me. But I understand entirely why it would trouble some readers, and if that is you, this is probably not your book.

For everyone else: it is good fun.

About the Author

Sierra Simone is the pen name of Bethany Hagen, a former librarian with a creative writing degree who started out as a traditionally published YA author. Her first publishing deal came in her mid-twenties, but the contract was cut short when Penguin Random House went through a major merger and began dropping authors with lower sales figures. Her agent didn’t represent romance, so when she pivoted, she went it alone.

The origin of her romance career is a good story. A friend, watching her burn out under editorial pressure to chase trends, suggested she write something purely for herself. She wrote fan fiction, a smutty Victorian gothic story inspired by the 2011 Jane Eyre film with Michael Fassbender, and self-published it as The Awakening of Ivy Leavold. She now has 28 books under the Sierra Simone name, and Priest is her most well-known.

Synopsis

Tyler Bell is 29 years old and a (hot!) Catholic priest. When a woman enters his parish and his life, the vows he has made start to fracture. Priest is told as Tyler’s confession; his account of how it happened, why, and what it cost him. It is frank and explicit.

My Review

I listened to the audio, and that’s pivotal to this review, because I did it for Jacob Morgan, one of my fave audio narrators.

Jacob Morgan, whose voice I have encountered before in Lights Out and Kill to Love, narrates the majority of the book. That includes the female lead’s voice in his chapters. I cannot overstate how much this undermines a spicy audiobook. Morgan does an effete approximation of a woman’s voice that is, to me, the opposite of sexy. That’s not unique to him. 

The better: Elena Wolfe, who narrates Poppy’s chapters, has a fabulous, gravelly voice. The problem is there are no scenes of them talking together. If this had been a true duet, split more evenly, with Wolfe carrying the same proportion of the narrative that Morgan does, this would have been a superior audiobook experience. As it stands, it is uneven.

That said, the scenes are steamy, the pacing is tight (this is under nine hours), and the emotional core holds up. I thought Simone did a good job. 

Goodreads has it at 3.53, which feels a little low to me, though the polarising subject matter and some slower parts could account for that.

What I Liked/What I didn’t

What I liked

The writing is decent. The steamy scenes are hot. 

Elena Wolfe and Jacob Morgan’s voices – I just wish they had been together. And, at just over eight hours, it does not overstay its welcome.

What I Didn’t

Jacob Morgan voicing the female lead. I will be listening to Sinner on Libby, though I suspect it’ll be the same duet-style.

Final Verdict

Priest is decent. I gave it four stars. The story is well-constructed, Simone clearly knows what she is doing, and I am already on the waitlist for Sinner. Listen to it if you can get it on Libby or Spotify. Just know that Elena Wolfe only narrates about 2 chapters and never WITH Jacob.

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