Sinner by Sierra Simone

He leads a life of sin, and she's committed to a life of virtue.

Sean Bell is not a good man, and he's never pretended to be. He doesn't believe in goodness, God, or any happy ending that isn't paid for in advance. There are words for men like him: playboy. Womanizer. Skirt-chaser. Sinner. When he meets a gorgeous college girl at a fundraiser, he has no problem telling her exactly what filthy things he wants to do to her―until he realizes she's his best friend's little sister, Zenobia "Zenny" Iverson, all grown up. Worse than that…she's also about to become a nun.

Zenny, though, isn't looking to play it safe during her final month of freedom. She wants to make sure choosing God is the right path, and to do that, she propositions Sean to show her every carnal temptation she's leaving behind. Unable to refuse, Sean finds himself falling for her, body and soul, and questioning not just the morals he's dodged for years, but his relationship with the God Zenny has pledged herself to. The only problem is…what if Sean wants Zenny to choose him instead of Him?

I hate Sierra Simone, why did I even read this book? I thought I was getting some sexy time, I did not expect to have my heart ripped out of my chest. I kid you not, I was literally (and I mean that in the correct usage of the word) sat sobbing in the bath, my husband thought somebody had died! Sheesh, I thought AK did a number on me. All joking aside, the joke being that I hate Sierra, I don't really hate her, she's a freaking writing genius! She makes you think you're getting one thing and so beautifully weaves her words that you get immersed in the story and get something else... something more. I knew this book was going to be good, what I didn't know was that it was going to be amazing. That it would carve a spot in my heart, that it was going to touch me in ways that I least expected. If you read Priest and enjoyed it, you'll love Sinner, if you read Priest and thought it wasn't for you, I urge you to give Sinner a try, I think you'll find this a little more to your taste.

One of the things about this book that I loved, because it's from Sean's POV and it's called Sinner, I dunno, I just assumed he was going to be the instigator, that he's the bad man that corrupted the sweet little nun, and that's what Sierra does, she makes you have a preconceived idea about the book so you go in thinking one thing and then BAM! She blindsides you with something completely different. Can we take a second to appreciate the gloriousness of this book cover?

This book is filled with characters that you can't help but love... and hate. I like the little glimpses of Aiden Bell and my theory about him was correct, yay, I was worried I'd not get confirmation about that, but I guess Sierra decided she was causing enough issues for my emotional state lol. I hated Valdman and Northcutt... a lot, like, I wanted to punch them in the balls sort of hate.

So, about Sean Bell. I liked him, like, a lot, from the get-go. He always seemed like a sweetheart to me. The way he cared for his family and the way he was with Zenny. I loved his terms of endearment and pet names for Zenny. In my mind, I wanted to find ‘Zenny-bug' annoying and condescending, but in reality, I thought it was cute. It became something that was uniquely them. Zenny Iverson is awesome. I loved her as a character and as a woman. She knew her own mind and went after what she wanted. She gave poor Sean a run for his money. She was shy, yet bold, beautiful and intelligent. She brought Sean to his knees without ever really trying.

Now, about that sexy time. This is Sierra Simone we're talking about, she's not going to let us down in that department, and she doesn't. The scenes are scorching. Each made perfect sense to the story and built the connection between Sean and Zenny, it was beautifully done. PSA don't read in public - it could cause for some very awkward moments.

This book was a lot of things and touched on a few different issues, each was treated with such beauty and grace that reading this book caused a very emotional reaction in me. If you've ever lost a family member or been subjected to racism or any kind of bullying, this book may cause an emotional reaction in you too. It's done so beautifully, but heartbreakingly too.

I'm just going to say this once, Sierra, please, for all that is holy, tell me Aiden is getting a book? I need it, he needs it. Just give it to us!!!!!! Pretty please with Sean and Tyler Bell on top!!!!

4.5 - because I simply cannot get past him calling her “Zenny-bug” (a childhood nickname) during sex

This book was a much, much better experience than the first book for me. Sierra Simone is so fantastic in her writing, especially the smut. So good.

Unfortunately though, apart from the writing style, I didn't enjoy much else.

I was so, so, so annoyed by just how many times he says “she's so young... She's just SO YOUNG”
And i understand it's a massive age gap, he's 36, she's 21, but at times, he was acting as if she was 12. Her character confused me too, there were certain times that she was so bold, so badass about demanding what she wants sexually, and then suddenly switches over to her thinking he's a genius because he asked her if her first time having sex hurt, when she didn't use any lubrication or foreplay. Of course it would hurt lol

The beginning portion did feel a little insta love to me, and it did kinda turn me off a little bit. Even throughout the story, it told a lot more than it showed, if you know what I mean.

Sean's faith confused me, he does have a weird journey but hey, I'm not Christian, so i didn't think too much of it.

Overall i liked it, but not a favourite.

Started this expecting this to be full of smut, and it absolutely was, but I was NOT expecting the emotion and heartbreak.

It was sexy and forbidden with a bit of religion but my goodness. I love Sean Bell. My heart aches for him. Happy he got a HEA, and he deserves it. Amazing character development. He's a dirty talker and the smut scenes were good. I'm just very proud of how he ended up.