This is very fun and funny. Although it basically is the same thing as the Fleabag priest storyline, I think this is a good rec for people who really liked that. A very enjoyable ~taboo sort of romance.

3.5 Stars!

I didn't realize this was part of a series when I requested this book.

For someone who grew up going to Sunday School, I was very un-scandalized by this book. It’s got the whole forbidden love trope, but not so scandalous and I mean that in the best way! Patrick is very eloquent on his struggle with his faith and he feels very human, and Sasha considers herself a terrible person but she’s really kind too. All in all enjoyed this love story!

It's a light hearted story. I liked the forbidden romance but had a hard time understanding the chemistry between the 2 characters. It seemed like it was instant physical attraction. I also didn’t understand how he became a priest in the first place. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but I enjoyed it. The smutty scenes were pretty good.

I would read this author again.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for my digital copy of Hot Under His Collar by Andie J. Christopher. I am going to keep this one pretty short, as I decided to DNF around page 140. I did feel like the first 100 pages or so were very slow with not much happening. More important than this, however, was that I feel like this book perpetuates a great deal of negative, harmful stereotypes about the Catholic Church. For these two reasons, I decided to not finish reading it.

It is truly hard to review this book without comparing it to Priest by Sierra Simone (which I really did not like) and the second season of Fleabag (which I truly loved). This book for me falls somewhere in the middle, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think both Patrick and Sasha were really entertaining. And this is a kind of taboo romance that I can tolerate, which I can't say the same for many others like teachers/student dynamics. I love when devout believers from any religious background are fully realized people. And isn't only identified by their beliefs. He helps his father out at the bar he owns, he is open and welcoming of people with different backgrounds, sexualities and ethnicities. I really loved Patrick. Sasha was great too the only draw back is you sometime had to deal with her family. I think where this doesn't work for me is that Patrick doesn't seem really that tortured or really questioning of whether or not he should continue as a priest because of his relationship with God, or his promise to himself and his congregation. That aspect doesn't seem like a really big deal to him, He just want have the opportunity to help the community as much, but he can do that and not be a priest.
But, overall I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what she does next.

3.5 - Holy smokes was this better than I was expecting! Set in Chicago, this story continues the Nolan family trilogy (but also works as a standalone novel) and features Sasha and the secret crush she's harbored on the local Catholic priest Father Patrick.

If forbidden romance is your thing, this one is the ultimate steamy, dual perspective slooow burn love story. I honestly wasn't sure how this would work and whether it would be a little too extreme or cringey but I thought the author did a really good job exploring the positive sides of ministry and the ways that Patrick was fulfilled by the work he did (being a more progressive, open-minded servant to his community). When the pre-K literacy program is in danger of closing due to lack of funds, Patrick and Sasha are forced together working on ways to raise money and save it.

Both Patrick and Sasha fight against their chemistry but eventually they both come to the realization that being true to your heart shouldn't cost you ultimate happiness. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth that was given to Patrick's turmoil in staying with a job he loved but was costing him personal happiness. I fully respected that he was willing to give up his career for a chance at true love and that Sasha was too good of a person to ask him to make such a sacrifice. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy. Even though the cover kind of turned me off I actually ended up loving this complicated love story.

This book was so fun!! Obviously it reminded me a little of Fleabag. The characters were believable and the tension between them was palpable. A perfect HEA, too!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Literally so uncertain how to process this one. Did I want to read it because of my infatuation with the Hot Priest in Fleabag? Yes. Do I have a thing for priests? Concerningly, yes.

But all of that fell so flat in this book. The problems began with the main character, Sasha, who I truly could not get a read on until roughly the book’s end. (Even then I was confused.) Any time the words “prim” and “innocent” get tossed around as markers of a character’s goodness, I’m immediately on the fence. Sure, she’s into the forbidden—which apparently equals bad reality TV and too much cake—but there’s not much of a personality past that. If the love interest has to tell you she’s funny and interesting, MAYDAY, we have a problem.
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The forbidden romance between Sasha Finerghty and Father Patrick Dooley had promise, I’ll give it that. The air crackled, sexual tension abounded—you know how it goes. I’m not sure if it was the dialogue or the character descriptions or just the writing style in general, but every time the narrative seemed to move to a place of interest, it stopped.
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The plot line of Sasha helping Patrick’s church felt very flimsy. Are we seriously meant to believe that a freaking bake sale is going to raise 25K? I also would have liked to see Patrick really wrestle with the legacy of the Catholic Church and what it means to participate in the priesthood even when he disagrees with canon laws. It didn’t seem to me that he really wrestling with his faith; rather just in a job he didn’t like. Which just felt odd.
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Also, because I like smut in my romance novels, I was disappointed that I was already over 85 percent done with the book before we got to anything spicy.
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This ultimately wasn’t for me, but it might scratch an itch for someone else!

Hot under his collar tells the story about a forbidden love between an event planner and priest. I really enjoyed the journey both characters went on in confronting themselves about their true feelings and emotions. I also enjoyed seeing Patrick struggle with his own internal conflict of pursuing a career that no longer fullfils versus a romantic connection which may not pan out. Overall I enjoyed that both characters had to confront a weakness within themselves however the chemistry between the two main characters was lacking. I did not believe that they were truly were in love with each other it felt more like they were lusting for one another. In the end the author tries to show how much they love each other but I felt the characters loved their best friends more than they loved one another.

This was a book that I ended up not finishing due to lack of interest in content. For that reason I was unable to rate more than one star.

Well....I love Fleabag season 2 so I was more open to a romance with a priest character than I would have been otherwise.

For my tastes, I should have just watched Fleabag again. Many of the events in the first half of the book seem at best an homage to Fleabag and at worst a rip off of Fleabag.

The attraction between Sasha and (Father) Patrick seems purely physical although he admires her work abilities I guess. So even though you learn about Patrick's education and intellect, it doesn't figure into their relationship really. As the reader I felt I knew more about him than Sasha did. The romance storyline itself is a slow burn and I was not impressed with the ending, especially when the HEA I expected turned into a "now let's make babies" after one weekend romp. It's like the least sexy thing that could happen in a romance. I'd prefer an unhappy ending over that!

And the cover gives me nightmares!

I'm sure there are readers for this but I need to go hear "it'll pass" instead.

I haven't read the book yet, but have to say this cover is really unsettling. The woman seems like a small child being preyed about by a Catholic priest, which is a choice considering what the Catholic church has done to harm many. I'm a lapsed Catholic and grew up with the Thornbirds, so I'm going to read the story to see how this taboo romance is handled, but please reconsider this cover.

Pants-feelings rule the day in this forbidden romance, where two very hot people find each other very hot and eventually succumb to the hotness, consequences be damned.

Father Patrick Dooley is "not like those other priests" and fights to keep a queer teacher at his pre-K program, swears, works at a bar, and has other friends and family who live lives counter to the Catholic Church's tenants. It felt clear Patrick chose this path because of his dying mother's wish and fear of being rejected ever again from an emotional relationship (he's dumped by his girlfriend for embracing religion after his mother's death), and his attachment to the Church felt very situational to me. Being with Sasha didn't make him closer to his faith (see Priest by Sierra Simone). Patrick likes being "the guy who helps."

Sasha's terrible family was also quite a ride. From her accepting her parents' paying for her condo and lifestyle, and funding her company, putting on this act to continue pleasing them, it was uncomfortable to read. I hope for the best for Sasha after she tells them off, but going from this damaging relationship to living with the man who "gave up his collar for you" was a big jump, and I'm not sure I bought the HEA.

I'm glad abuses of the Church were mentioned, but wish more work had been done to address these and how being a part of that system, even if Patrick made "the choices of his heart" also made Patrick complicit.

As a severely lapsed Catholic, I did find some resonance, but overall this felt more like a shallow revel in the taboo.

thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing House for providing me this arc via Netgalley!
I have to admit that I went into this book with low expectations and was a bit surprised. I liked the novelty of this (not many priest romances out there) and the mention of LBGBTQ and church.
However, there were more things I did not like:
-it was very obvious from the start that both characters were into each other and it would have been more satisfying if we learned that further into the novel.
- I didn't understand why the priest in the cover has brown eyes, when Dooley's green eyes are so often mentioned.
- The writing was repetitive and the sub plot was boring and practically non existent.
- The relationship was very sex-driven and felt like it had no solid base and I absolutely HATE public declarations of love.
Overall, thought, it was not a terrible book.

Andie J. Christopher’s new novel, Hot Under His Collar, is a forbidden romance, and the latest installment of her The Nolans series. It focuses on Sasha Finerghty, an event planner with a bit of a problem. She’s always drawn to what she can’t or shouldn’t have. Her latest obsession with forbidden fruit comes in the form of a huge crush on Father Patrick Dooley. She has drooled over the sexy priest from a far for a while now, but when she is paired up with him on a fundraising event to save the church’s pre-K program, her crush rises to a whole new level.

Father Patrick was very close to his devout mother and when she passed away, he decided to join the clergy to fulfill her dying wish. He has questioned his choice for a while now and when he meets Sasha and realizes he is physically attracted to her, Patrick becomes even more conflicted about his path in life.

Both of these characters are super likeable and it’s very clear from their early interactions that, forbidden or not, they have major chemistry. I had a lot of fun watching the two of them trying and failing to fight their attraction to one another. The more time they spend together planning the fundraiser, the more opportunities there are for awkward and potentially inappropriate moments. There are also a lot of engaging and thought-provoking internal monologues as both Sasha and Patrick reflect on what it would mean if they were to try to pursue a relationship.

The only drawback for me was that this was definitely a slow burn romance and I found myself getting impatient with them dancing around one another for so long. I just wanted them to just hurry up and get together already so it was a little frustrating. Even with that though, Hot Under His Collar is still a pretty fun and sexy read.

DNF @ 30%

I was extremely curious about this one and was really looking forward to it, but it just wasn’t doing it for me.

While it read really fast and I definitely appreciated that, I just didn’t care for the heroine and while there’s obviously nothing wrong with her views/feelings about wanting marriage and kids, I just didn’t vibe with it.

So this book wasn’t bad by any means, I just wish I cared more? Patrick seemed interesting enough!

This is a weird book, y’all. It opens with raunchy pining, segues into creepytown, and ends with a full-throated critique of Catholicism. What did I just read?

As a devoted veteran of tortured priest love stories, I was curious to see if this book could avoid the potential minefields in the pairing. The first couple of chapters made me think I was getting an edgy romcom with steamy high-conflict angst. By the end, the book felt bizarre, unsexy, and low stakes, while throwing in just enough hints of kink to feel both predatory and vanilla. I’d hoped the book would offer buttoned-up characters learning to let their freak flag fly. But it didn’t deliver, and I was grumpy for wasting my time.

This one gave me major #Thornbirds Vibes and it’s set in the south side of a Chicago. I.am.in.
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Father Patrick Dooley became a priest as his mother’s dying wish. Sasha Finerghty has a crush on the priest and crosses paths with him as a party planner, mainly at church when he says the mass and she makes sure everyone makes it down the aisle. He needs help to raise funds for the church preschool and the closer they get the closer he questions every decision.
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I loved this one and I loved the nun in their parish. This one was a total blast.
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Huge thank you to @berkleypub and @netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

“Sasha didn’t entice him to write poetry because she was poetry. The feelings he had for her were a song.” Andie J. Christopher, Hot Under His Collar
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Out Now! Thanks to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for my review copy. You bet I was so excited when I was approved for this one!
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I think it had a good balance of having romance and tiptoeing on the taboo aspect. I read all kinds of romance so this book wasn’t something of shy away from but I also think it would still be ok for people who don’t typically read anything taboo. Was it steamy?! It sure was but I don’t think it was just thrown in. The tension!! Give me all the tension.
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Father Patrick became a priest after his mother died as a way to honor her. He spends his free time as a bartender at his fathers bar and also doing his best to break the barriers that the church has created in the past. Sasha is a party planner who doesn’t get along with her parents and seems to always ‘let down’ her mom. Sasha and Patrick team up in order to save the pre-k program he created to help the underprivileged community. He had lost his funding after the church found out that the pre-k teacher was part of the LGBTQ+ community and Patrick refused to fire her.
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I loved the slow burn and tension with this book. I felt like some parts were a bit slow but overall I think this book was a good balance for people who might be worried about the topic of the story. The Taboo/ forbidden trope is one that isn’t for everyone but I think this one was a good compromise. It touched on some good topics when it comes to the church while still bringing the romance aspect.
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Ok, I absolutely adore The Thorn Birds, minus the creepy grooming stuff (ack... why didn't we see this in the 80s when it was a big thing??) Anyway, I do not feel that way about Hot Under His Collar. Lust does not equal love and that's all I got out of this book. The main characters were shallow and I didn't care about them, and I just couldn't even care less.

Thank you to #netgalley for the ARC of this taboo romance! Hot Under His Collar releases on July 20, 2021 by Berkley.

Normally, taboo romances aren’t my thing and organized religion is DEFINITELY not my thing, but this book was great. Before I started, I secured my spouse into being my “Catholic Correspondent,” since he went to a Catholic HS and his family is pretty Irish Catholic, but I didn’t need him! Though the MC, Sasha, has fallen for hot Father Patrick and his vows to God are a major part of his internal struggle, I was never mired down in Catholic minutiae.

Since this was a romance, I never worried if these two would get together, just how?! I was along for the journey completely and the HEA.

Now, I’m sure you’re worried about how much sex could possibly be in a book about a frocked priest. That was a big concern of mine as well. I’m here for the smut, after all. Anyone who’s read a million books knows, that somehow Patrick would need to leave the church for them to be together and that is pretty climactic, so would they break his vows and sex it up before he was laicized (I did have to look that one up, it means being de-frocked by the church) or after. If it’s after, that doesn’t leave many sex scene opportunities…well fear not my friends, because the characters very early on hook up without touching and it’s semi-public and it’s HOT.

Am I into taboo romances now? Oh my god. I might be into taboo romances, now. Good job Andie Christopher (with additional support by Katee Roberts - read our review of Neon Gods for ALL THE SMUT)!

Character Trope Breakdown:

Sasha - Black Sheep of rich family, lots of privilege but aware of it, romance reader

Patrick - Stern Brunch Daddy, academic (nerd alert!), gets that bod by running

If I had one criticism it’s that Sasha has a biological imperative to have babies. I do not have that. I would rather keep my spontaneous napping schedule. But I recognize that those milestones are very important to people and she was very confident and assured that parenthood was for her.

This was a great and quick read. I had an enjoyable time. Be prepared for a lot of lusting at a distance, but it’s interspersed with action at appropriate intervals. Andie Christoper did a masterful job at plotting out the sexually tense moments! -Ford

POSTED ON JULY 17th

Andie J. Christopher is definitely an auto read author for me. I LOVED her first novel which was a 10 Things I Hate About You retelling! I really liked her second novel too but this one i just liked. I didn’t really see the chemistry between Patrick and Sasha and the romance ended up kind of “insta-lovey.” There were some aspects I really enjoyed about it, such as how involved their families were with the story and getting to see the characters from the other books. This is one I would recommend reading if you’ve already read the other books in this series!