A love story which started from very different beginnings. Sybilla enters into a silent retreat in a monastery to rethink where her life is going. To get away from a very controlled environment and seek a freer way of life. Romance was not in her sights.

We have James Kelly, Archbishop of Dublin, handsome and charismatic. Outspoken on child abuse in the church and the cover up, celibacy of the priests and though he himself remains celibate has spoken against it. He faces opposition within the church as he exposes faults within the structure and now is being summoned to Rome, for what he feels is a dressing down.

The slow build up of an attraction between Sybilla and James is intense and something they both fight against. I liked the theological discussions throughout the story very much.

An unusual read, but not for everyone.

This book started out good but overall started loosin me towards the end
The synopsis sounded great and don't get me wrong the book was good
But just didn't fully live up to what I was looking for or hoping for in this
Book.
Thanks net galley and the publisher for this free copy in exchange for an
Honest review💜

I loved the overall premise of this book. I love forbidden romances, esp something as blasphemous and juicy as a celibate archbishop pining over a woman fresh out of a failing marriage. The title and cover initially had me thinking this was a gothic horror, but I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was more of a romance. I hadn’t read anything by Sally Quinn until this book, and I enjoyed her story telling immensely. The FMC & MMC quickly developed a bond that for better or worse in many ways. This book isn’t simply a romance though, it had many though provoking points on religion and spirituality that I found very interesting while reading. I enjoyed it this book. I loved the tenacity of this author to include such theology in romance. Thank you so much for this ARC read. <3

The book had a strong premise and the concept initially drew me in, but overall it didn’t live up to its potential. The execution fell flat for me, and I found it hard to stay engaged. It just didn’t deliver the experience I was hoping for.

This book took huge swings about religion and I loved them. Based on title and cover alone I had assumed a horror novel, but was pleasantly surprised by the romance! The theological discussions were riveting - most novels discussing crises of faith or characters wrestling with doubt do not treat their faith so well. It is refreshing to read something where the struggling characters are allowed to have questions without losing their faith.

As much as I enjoyed the discussions on the Church and its relationship to faith, the other sections felt very repetitive at times. I would've appreciated some variety in the descriptions of the sex or the daily routine. I know the point of a routine is that it's unchanging but the descriptions would've benefitted from more variety.

This isn't a negative critique, but I noticed that Sybilla's sections are in first person while Fitz's sections are in third person. I don't think I've ever read a book where the two main characters were written in a different person.

I liked it, mainly the theological discussons, but the rest of the book wasn't quite for me.

The premise of this book intrigued me, and I tend to love the mixture of romance with heavy fiction aspects to make for more developed characters. This novel wasn't short in that - both characters being fully developed people with their own goals and desires that stood on their own. It set a very great scene, and had an "Eat, Pray, Love" vibe.

While there was a lot of tension between the two characters, I didn't really find myself terribly invested in it. I think that has more to do with my own personal tastes than anything else. These two seemed to have an instant connection, and I just wasn't following that from the roots.

However, the writing itself was great and romance aspect aside, this was a decent work of fiction.

A very thought provoking book which is quite dark and serious. I want interested in the spiritual part of the book but overall it was ok. The steamy scenes are steamy !
Bit of a strange book with a rather unsatisfying ending.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book, all opinions expressed are my own.

Unlike many other contemporary romances, Sally Quinn builds a relationship with nearly no dialogue and even minimal interaction. I was skeptical of how focused the FMC and MMC seemed on each other from the beginning, but the more you learn about them through the narrative, the more obvious it is that they're meant to be together. They're twin flames in the best and worst of ways.
Quinn unexpectedly addresses religion and spirituality with profound thoughtfulness. She certainly cites her sources and is unafraid to make bold claims - which I find refreshing in a time where many authors seem hesitant to make comments on spirituality in fiction novels. I was very surprised by the ending and, quite frankly, I'm not sure that I liked it. In fact, I massively disagree with many things in this book. Nonetheless, it absolutely felt like a five-star read to me because it managed to make me reflect and feel.