Priest #3
Author: Sierra Simone
Kindle Edition, Audiobook, Anyplay
Narrators: Jacob Morgan and Sean Crisden
(This is a standalone novel, but I highly recommend you read the previous ones before. You dont have to, but if you do you will get into this one with a better understanding of the Bell brothers and what they have been through.)
We met Aiden Bell in the previous books. He is the other millionaire brother, who is very flighty, the life of the party, unreliable… you get the gist. The last time we saw him was when Sean caught Aiden making out in his farmhouse with Elijah, Sean’s best friend – to Sean’s shock and surprise. Fast forward to a year later, and Aiden has, out of nowhere, packed up his things, left his farmhouse to Elijah, whom he had been dating publicly, and took off to a monastery to be a monk!!! He left behind a trail of shocked and confused people and a broken-hearted and devastated Elijah.
It’s been five years now since Aiden took off unexpectedly. He’s now Brother Patrick, one year away from taking his final vows to become a full fledged monk. He’s living quiet life with the benedictines and his soul is at peace.
Until one day, he gets a visitor. To his shock and horror, it’s Elijah. He came to write an article about the beer the monks brew in the monastery and to also tell Aiden that he has moved on and is now engaged to be married.
But the doozy of surprises is that the abbot has invited Elijah to stay in the monastery and has assigned Brother Patrick to be his gracious host, as they know each other. This sets a course of events in motion that will test Brother Patrick in his determination of following the path to being a monk and living a life exclusively dedicated to serving God. A God that has, literally, saved his life.
This book has a different tone from the previous ones. Oh, it does have all the taboo and the steam and all, but the focus on this one is much more on Brother Patrick’s journey through self-discovery and healing. This is not a book about a crisis of Faith. Aiden has never questioned his Faith. It’s a book about a broken person, dealing with a undiagnosed mental illness for most of his life, who finds solace in a monastery and is lucky enough to be sheltered with people who understand that, and help him heal with the help of God, prayers AND medicine and doctors.
This is still a beautiful and touching romance, but some people might find that it focuses more on his journey than on the romance. But there would be no romance without this journey. There would be no Brother Patrick without this journey.
Sierra Simone has a way with words. I saw some people complaining that in Saint there is too much “flourish” in her writing, but I believe it sets the tone of the book. And you have to applaud the amount of knowledge she has about the Church and Catholicism. Again, there is criticism shown through the characters, but there is never disrespect. I guess this book touched me so much because the issues discussed in it are some of the ones I also question in my church.
And if you read all the way to the author’s note, you get the best news: Father Jordan is getting his own book! (And maybe Ryan too…)
Also… Sean is still my all time favorite Bell. I loved to catch up with his life in this book!
Narration: I won’t fangirl again about Jacob Morgan. If you read my reviews you already know he’s my favorite narrator EVER. So, yeah, moving on. I must confess I didn’t like Sean Crisden as much. There is a little bit of nasal quality to his voice that irks me a little, but that’s my thing. He does a perfect Elijah. This is very much told by Aiden’s perspective and literally most of the book is narrated by JM.
Possible triggers: suicidal ideation (skip chapter 47 entirely, you will still infer its meaning), death of a parent, death of a sibling by suicide, sexual abuse of child by a priest (abuse and death happening in previous to the story in the book), mental illness, depression
