Cover Image: Almost Priest

Almost Priest

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Member Reviews

ok, not a romance girlie, but this was fun!!!! Unique couple (soon to be priest & soon to be teacher) I really liked both MCs! There were a lot of themes that I hadn’t read before in a book and I loved them in this! Part of a series with each family member having a storyline, you’ll be sure to fall in love with each McCullough! I’ll be trying out other books in this series!!

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Hello

Apologies for the late notice, but I have decided not to review this title.

While I am certain it's obvious by now, I wanted to also clear this off NetGalley, so it's not showing as open for either of us.

I look forward to continuing to work with you in 2023 and beyond.

Laura

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This book was a slow burn with all the makings of a wonderful love story. Samantha and Colin brought all the angst!!

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There was something about this book that pulled me in since the blurb. I was excited to read it.

Samantha joins Braydon at his family’s house but she is not his girlfriend. They went on a date but she never felt the spark. She did accept his invitation though but didn’t let him in her bed so they slept separately. The bedroom shared a bathroom with his brother Colin. They soon became friends but there was a huge chemistry between them. At first, it’s only glances but then there are touches and a sweet but spicy first kiss that promised an even spicier the rest of the book.

And it was! I love Almost Priest and I couldn’t put it down till the very last page. Okay, there was one thing that usually bothers me – the fact that they didn’t communicate when they should and the fact that Sam didn’t mention her pregnancy because she thought it would hold him back. I overlooked these two things because of the great writing but it’s something that may affect some readers’ opinions. It usually would be mine but like I said the author’s writing was really compelling and I’d definitely check her books in the future again.

5 stars.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.

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On the fence about this book. I loved the big family coming together - family first. But I did the writing about the struggles with choices and how family will support you.
**I received this book free from NetGalley.

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Oh My God I loved this book. I can't resist a book featuring (in this case almost) a priest. I really loved the build up. The couples resistance to their feelings. Colin's battle with sticking to the path he chose a long time ago or following his heart.

I devoured this book in one sitting. I really enjoyed getting to know the McCullough family. They are very obviously Catholic with the many children, but they are not close-minded. At the end of the day family comes first.

This is a definite must read if you like a sweet romance with a hint of taboo.

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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I really wanted to be able to get into this book but unfortunately I just didn’t I was unable to finish

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4.5/5

As long as there’s an HEA, give me alllll the angst. Well, this book delivered it. I totally devoured it in one sitting. Colin and Sam were so sweet, so drawn to each other and so good together. I loved them.

This is a mildly forbidden romance. Colin is a few months away from taking his vows to become a priest, so he struggles with his major attraction to Sam. Sam has come home from grad school with Colin’s brother, Braydon, for summer break, but they never agreed to being a couple and are basically just friends with kissing benefits. So she doesn’t share a room with Braydon…but her room is connected to Colin’s room through a shared bathroom…and they can’t stay away from each other. Their relationship slowly develops into something very special.

The McCulloughs—Colin’s huge, Irish-Catholic, loud, hilarious, mountain dwelling, logging family—were delightful and endearing and definitely made me want to read more of this series. I loved all the siblings, except not so much Braydon in the beginning. The way he treated Sam was super weird, but by the end he redeemed himself.

The one thing I didn’t love was having some random chapters in the pov of other characters. I wish it had only been from Sam and Colin’s pov. I also wanted much more insight into Colin’s thoughts and feelings at the end of the book—it was frustrating not knowing why???

Overall, this book gave me all the feels and I really enjoyed the story and writing. I’ll definitely be reading more Lydia Michaels books.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This is a good book. The two main characters are Samantha and Colin. Samantha is a college student fixing to graduate with a teaching degree and Colin is fixing to take his vows to be a priest. Samantha has come with Braydon, who is Colin’s brother, to his family home for a couple of weeks. There she meets Colin, where there is an instant attraction. They each have trust issues but together they work them out and declare their love.

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I liked this book. I gotta say - it was pretty spicy and I really liked the passion between the two main characters, and the situation they were in made everything have more of an edge to it. I'll read other works by this author!

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I really enjoyed this story. So much so that I didn’t want to put it down to go to sleep. You can see and feel that instant connection and I fell in love with all the characters. Filled with love, conflict and drama, this is one story that will suck you in and leave you wanting more. Cannot wait to dive into the next in series.

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Colin is a priest in training working towards his dedication ceremony when he meets his brother's girlfriend Sam and the sparks ignite between them.Once you suspend your thoughts on the moral obligations of someone who has vowed to live a pious life and the fact that there may be some poaching involved, this was a satisfying read. The author made a commendable effort to downplay the physicalities of human passion while ensuring that the depth of affection shone through.The gradual progression to full blown love , confirmation of their feelings and the family's response to the changing tide was surprisingly easy to accept as the novel culminated.

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Series focused around a big family of brothers and sisters falling in love are hard for me to resist. This is the first in a series and does a great job of introducing all the siblings and also a really sweet story of two people falling in love when they were convinced life had other plans.

Definitely can't wait to read the rest of the series and visit the McCullough family again.

I received a dARC from the publisher; these are my honest thoughts.

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I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. The main characters just didn't do it for me. The writing is good, just some of the actions/emotions were unbelievable.

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LOVED the McCullough family; so many big personalities, I enjoyed feeling I was part of all that large family craziness.

The romance between Sammy and Colin was great, although I wanted to slap them both before the story ended.

This was a fun and quick read.

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Lydia Michaels gives you true love and battles within ourselves with this book. It is real and it is raw. NetGalley provided ARC for an honest opinion.

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Book one of The McCullough Mountain series by Lydia Michaels features Colin McCullough and Samantha “Sam” Dougherty. Colin is a man who believes he knows where he wants to go in life, the priesthood. Sam is a college girl who comes to stay for the summer with her boyfriend Braydon who is Colin’s brother. Colin and Sam have a connection that causes Colin to question his path.
Dispute the fundamental issues of throwing stereotypes and clichés into one story there’s something about the writing that will keep a reader moving forward. This is an emotion driven story that one feels compelled to finish.

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This is actually the first book in the series but I read it as the third. Really because I was once in a seminary and felt like it would hit close to home, parts of it did and other parts not so much. First Samantha goes with Brayden to his family’s home in the mountains of Pennsylvania. She goes mainly because she does not want to be home alone.
It is the next morning that she meets Colin when he steps out of the shower without locking the door. From there the attraction between the two of them continues to grow. She tries a few times to tell Brayden she does not have feelings for him and that takes him a while to catch on.
As things heat up between the two of them, she leaves, only to find out four months later that she is pregnant. When looking she sees in a bulletin that Collin took his last vows. When you are reading the story one issue or one of my issues is why he did not go looking for her after not taking his final vows and two how did Brayden find out where she was working, this was not explained. I did like the characters but I was glad I read the other books first before this one.

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Actually a 3,5 read for me.

This is the first book in a series called McCullough Mountain and it was good so I am looking forward to read the next one soon.

The book was charming, had some "forbidden" love in it and some love scenes that wasn't really spicy but they where sweet.

The things I liked with the book was that I could hear the Irish words while I was reading, imagine their land and how a great family the McCullough seemed to be. I also was a fan of the brothers Kelly and Colin but felt a bit sorry for Braydon.

Only problem I had with it was that it was too easy sometimes to know what would happen.

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Romantic fantasy, a light read for the weekend or vacation when you want to turn off your brain and abandon logic. Family is an interesting mix of most scenarios you would find in romance novels main characters are unrealistic and sometimes annoying. But, that given, it is fluff for fun!

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