The Conquering of Tate the Pious

Far Hope Stories

by Sierra Simone, Faye Adele (Narrator), Christy Woods (Narrator)

England is burning with Norman fires, and Tate—the youngest ever abbess of Far Hope Abbey—is determined to guard the abbey's ancient secrets with her very life.

Her life may be what it takes, however, for a Norman warlord known only as The Wolf is pillaging his way right to the abbey's doors. But when The Wolf arrives, Tate finds not the brutal man she was expecting, but instead a cruel and beautiful woman who leads her men with a ferocity to rival that of her Viking ancestors.

And after she sets eyes on Tate, it becomes clear that gold and silver aren't the only things The Wolf wants to carry off into the night…

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, Historical Romance, Novella, Historical, Queer, Spicy

5 pages, Audible Audio

Published January 25, 2024

Reviews

[Emmaline Savidge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok now this book is 100% what I wish Katee Robert books were like. For a novella the characters felt developed enough, the spicy stuff was a ton of fun, and the plot was pretty solid. I will say the third act conflict felt a little odd since I assumed that Tate already understood the Wolf’s motivations. However, Tate jumping to conclusions properly reflects her main character flaw she’s working through so I’ll let it slide. I’m excited to check out more Sierra Simone, hopefully her full length novels are just as good as this novella.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars! The audiobook was incredible

[Misha · Rating 5 out of 5]

(rounded up from 4.5)

Enjoyable characters and a surprising depth to the idea of religion and the Abbey for the locals in this novella. I enjoyed the main characters a lot and that the book is very sex-positive despite one of the main characters being an Abbess (explained in-story). A delightful little story about a quiet little place of worship suddenly facing an army.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

so, this is a perfectly fine book. but it is also a book that perfectly demonstrates why you cannot really write "dark" romance if you are too afraid of getting yelled at on twitter. it takes a premise that is fundamentally taboo and potentially deeply psychologically interesting—a nun offering herself to a warlord in order to save her convent—and removes most of the interest.

a nun self-sacrificingly breaking her vow of chastity and grappling with deeply ingrained sexual shame—then secretly and guiltily enjoying these encounters? could be excellent. but no, sorry, the nun is from the secret Sex Positive Convent that has an Orgy Room. (not to be crass, but does that not remove the entire appeal of the nun fantasy?)

the potentially dubiously consensual nature of the arrangement here is also immediately defanged. essentially what we are left with is two women in love who meet in an unconventional way and then do consensual kink stuff together. which can be fun! but not particularly "dark." also...the idea of a pair of women in 11th-century england independently coming up with the concept of safewords before they do their CNC scene? is a bit silly. sorry!!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh this was HOT and because it’s Sierra really really well written with great characters. I enjoyed this very much 😃

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Adelais could step on me and I would thank her for the privilege. 💁🏿‍♀️

Anyway, this was fucking exquisite. Sierra Simone makes me so mad because she writes such fantastic sapphic books but she just doesn’t write them enough. I want more. The writing is gorgeous and vivid, Adelais and Tate are both such intriguing and well developed characters and the chemistry between them? Delicious. We got primal play (which I can always use more of in my sapphic romances thank you very much), knife play, bondage, and it was all so good!

Also, Tate is a Nun and Adelais is a Norman warlord nicknamed The Wolf. Love it, everything about this worked for me and I wish this had been a full length novel (and by full length I mean at least 400 pages) because I want more. I always want more with this author. This was addictive as hell and super sexy and swoon worthy. Just know that the romance is more sex based than anything else but Simone made it work. I absolutely believed in their romance and I ate it up. Highly recommend this.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

Didn’t work for me, unfortunately. Having the abbess and Norman invader have carefully negotiated, safe-word CNC kinda defeats the point of abbess+norman invader.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been sooo much better...

[Queer Quill Enthusiast · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure if this story counts as historical or medieval, but either way I am a sucker for lady knights. This is the second novella I’ve read by Sierra Simone, and to my knowledge, one of only two she has written that are strictly sapphic. Simply put, I agree with another reviewer who said this could have been so much more.

What Simone does brilliantly is write erotica that whispers instead of shouts. The intimacy is psychological as much as physical, and I loved discovering Tate’s and Adelais’s desires right alongside them. That exploration was incredibly hot and easily the highlight for me.

Where it fell short was in the balance. Around 60%, the story slowed with long exposition about Far Hope Abbey, and the romance jumped too quickly from intrigue to insta-love. I wanted more yearning, more tension, something that let their connection build rather than resolve in only a few days.

If you are looking for a quick sapphic read with great heat and unique psychological intimacy, this novella delivers. If you need deeper emotional layers in the romance, you might finish like I did, still wishing Simone would one day give us a full sapphic novel.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

*tipsily*
Medieval pink pony club

[Jen's Quick & Dirty Reviews]

Already read in the “Villains” anthology, but I did get through a few chapters before I remembered.

[Silke · Rating 3 out of 5]

blushing

[kelisliveshere˚₊⋆ ʚɞ ⋆₊˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprising amount of substance for a novella of its nature.

In other news, I need help finding my shame cause I’ve clearly lost it.

[al ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Maxine · Rating 2 out of 5]

They would not have had a safe word 😭😭😭 this could have been so cool and fucked up. Alas.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

the pacing on this just did not work for me, i found it hard to believe in a connection between these characters developing in just 3 days. wish the abbey's secret had been something more interesting or less guess-able. and i agree with other reviewers that it is goofy that this premise is one where consent is very questionable (abbess and norman invader) but the characters spend a good amount of time negotiating consent for their kink. anyway there was some thoughtful discussion about religion changing over time here, and the norman conquest isn't a time period/setting i usually read about so that was interesting

[Kaisa Sild · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,75⭐
Sierra Simone's writing will always have me by the throat, cause the way the atmosphere and characters and their inner angst was created in this short novella was just impeccable and overall I just loved it. I wanted this to be longer, I get that with the way plot is set up, it can't be but everything else just had so much more yet to be discovered, oh and the spice was so hot.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating⭐⭐⭐.75
Amount of spice:🔥🔥🔥🔥5-6 scenes (Novella)
Explicitness: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Graphic, explicit & bolder than usual

❤️Abbess x Norman Warlord
❤️High Heat
❤️Light dom/sub vibes
❤️1068 England
❤️Sapphic romance
❤️Insta lust
❤️Religious themes

This was definitely erotica but Sierra has a way of making a book feel like it almost isn’t erotica even when the sex really does take centre stage. I loved the Norman era England setting, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book set in that era before and it has made me really curious about that time period and I’d love to read more!

I’ll be honest, I didn’t really connect with the romance but the prose was so lovely and the whole premise was very interesting so that kind of carried me through. As usual, I love a historical audio book because the narrators are always so great and this was no exception.

I would recommend it if you are looking for a high heat, slightly kinky historical romance with wonderful prose and a large helping of insta lust.

[Kirstine Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

England year 1068. Set centuries before the first two books, this story is from the time when the estate-to-be was still known as Far Hope Abbey. The Normans are on their way, and young abbess Tate is readying herself to at least try and protect the abbey's ancient secrets.

And then, a tall imposing warrior arrives at their door.

Before this is over, we'll know how Far Hope got turned into an estate, and where the all important No limit but acquiescence rule came from..

Oh, and there's romance:

Tate was the only worthwhile and interesting thing in the entire world, and all Adelais wanted to do was spend the next sixty years watching her dress and eat and sing and walk and be.

[Alex (Morttified) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Per usual Sierra Simone has done an excellent job with this Far Hope story! Such a fun, smutty, historical WW romance. 🤭 The character and plot development are always amazing, even with the heavy amount of smut and you can’t help but root for the lovers in the novella. This is probably my favorite of the collection so far and the perfect audiobook for my spring cleaning!🥵🫶🏼 The spice is excellent, the history and light world building is intriguing and done so well, and the characters are interesting and so well developed for such a short story! Definitely a great listen and recommend it if you’re looking for something light and quick, but still super engaging and spice!

[Olivia-Savannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so the trilogy is completed! Finishing with a f/f steamy story.

This did a good job of being well rounded, and I believed in the love interests connection. Our main characters were great. I liked them but wouldn't read a longer book about them, so 100ish pages was perfect.

The most hilarious thing about this series continues to be that in each of them you hear about a secret sex kingdom that we never get to see. Which may bother some readers, but I was content with what we got :)

The steamy scenes in this were on point. Some good role play scenes here, and they worked 😌

[Stephanie ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting the usual tall, dark, handsome villain but I got an enigmatic female villain and a pious abbess. 👀

Originally a part of the Villain I'd Like to F... anthology.

I have a hard time finding FF books, more especially FFM (but that's another thing) and I was quite pleasantly surprised by this. Adelais is our villain in this novella and Tate the not so innocent nun. I don't generally enjoy the dominant/submissive FF (like in Thornchapel) but this wasn't half bad. Tate definitely blew my mind with her forcing kink and also, there was some knife play. Sierra didn't disappoint with the heavy lore.

There was insta love in a different way than the Ajax and Eleanor one and this one wasn't as good as that one, and I found the conflict to not make much sense.

I adored the little nod to Thornchapel and also the connection to The Chasing of Eleanor Vale.

Definitely an original novella, would love to see Sierra's take on a villainous man, because I don't think she has done one before, like a true villain.

3.5 stars ✨

#10 book in my reviewing books slump

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

BRB lowering the rating of all other erotica I've ever read to make sure this one stands above them (jk.... unless?).

NO BUT REALLY not only was this sexy and hot, it also had a real plot underneath it with interesting, fleshed out characters despite it being a novella... I've read full-sized books that couldn't manage what this did.

[Melanie MacInnis]

I needed to listen to this after finishing a re-listen of Thornchapel series. The 2 are connected for sure. My brain is spinning trying to link the worlds together. I knew there was some sort of connection the first time I read it, but doing it sequentially 🤯

And - I have a much better understanding of the historical backdrop now too, thanks to watching Vikings Valhalla.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable sapphic historical with an invading Norman FMC and an abbess FMC, which is a pairing I never thought I would say out loud. But Sierra does a good job of historical accuracy (for the most part) and it’s always fun to imagine some wild and unexpected pairings throughout history.

POV: dual third

You can expect: Norman invasion of England, Norman warrior FMC, abbess FMC, sex bargain.

Rep: queer FMCs

Spice: 3/5

CW: domestic violence (past), violence

[Lauren Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious Morsel

I am constantly impressed by Sierra’s creativity and delightful skill when it comes to blending history or religion with utterly profane decadence. Tate and Adelais are delicious together! My only complaint is that I want 300+ more pages to enjoy their exploits!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mild spoiler if youve not read any others of the series


This is probably my favorite of the series because it felt like we were finally told what the kingdom actually was. I also liked the relationship between Tate and the Wolf more than that of either couples in the previous books. That being said, for a series about orgies, there wasnt a single one and that's honestly a little disappointing.

[Nicole Singleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Nicole Reads Romance]

Read in the Villain I'd Like to F... anthology.

[Christine Georgiou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last book on the Far Hope series. This was an FF romance, and also the beginnings of how Far Hope came to be. Loved this story just like the other 2, fab 👍