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Supplicant

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After being left at the altar by her cold and brilliant professor, Church Cason, Charlotte Tenpenny had to leave school to take care of her younger brother.

But a fateful night brings Church—and his delicious, drugging kisses—back into Charlotte's life. And it stirs up a reckoning years in the making . . .

4 pages, Audible Audio

Published March 15, 2024

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1568 people want to read

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Sierra Simone

97 books24k followers

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5 stars
415 (27%)
4 stars
476 (31%)
3 stars
397 (26%)
2 stars
153 (10%)
1 star
64 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 231 reviews
Profile Image for Becca & The Books.
339 reviews9,678 followers
July 14, 2022
This was so dramatic and I was LIVING for it. As my introduction to Sierra Simone this was decent and I'm very hyped to move on to Priest!
Profile Image for Bibi.
1,287 reviews133 followers
March 28, 2021
Is it steamy? Yes, but the story is just so ridiculous with too many church-related references. Too cringe.
Profile Image for Sometime.
1,718 reviews173 followers
April 18, 2021
I was drawn to this story because it promised a heroine who was jilted at the altar with no explanation, loses her dream, suffered for 4 years, and the H thinks he can just waltz back in and fix it all? The angst, the beautiful angst!

Charlie does a good job of hanging onto her mad. Church treated her horribly and didn't even come to the chapel to explain. He just didn't show up. She made it impossible to find her when she realized that he wanted to keep her his dirty little secret, but not his wife.

Church has spent the past 4 years being miserable and drowning in guilt and regret. His reason for jilting Charlie showed what a selfish, weak coward he truly is. The poor h had to quit school after her dad stole all her money. She worked 2-3 jobs to support her 12 year old brother and lived in near poverty. She lied and told the H that she was moving from London back to the US and he hasn't been able to find her in the years since. The H says the only think keeping him going the past 4 years is that he knew the h was at school getting on with her life. He is horrified to discover the truth of his actions.

There were a few weak spots in the story. The h suffers from too much betraying body syndrome. She lets him get sexual within minutes of seeing him again after 4 years, despite her protestations of hating him. The H seriously thought that he could abandon and humiliate her, leaving her in her wedding dress, but that he wouldn't lose her, she would still want to be with him, at least sexually. I also thought there was too much time spent on the sex and the lust, and I wanted more time with the love and the tenderness.

The author does excel at describing the h's change of heart and their reconciliation. The H does the one thing that *to me* showed he was truly sorry and that he had changed. And the h really ponders the difference between forgiving the H (so that she can move on past her own anger and heal) and trusting the H. So even though she gives him another chance, she holds out and makes him work for and earn her trust, and I really liked that. In fact, it took until the end of the book before she felt she could trust him again. I liked that time passed and it felt like a natural evolution.

All in all, I liked this book. It was a nice angsty story with a truly remorseful H and a h with a backbone.

Safety
Profile Image for Tmstprc.
1,294 reviews168 followers
June 1, 2022
I almost always like Sierra Simone’s writing, the way words flow and how she tells the story; but I don’t always like the actual story. Again, that’s the case.

She’s jilted on her wedding day, her side of the church has guests and his is completely empty. Even as the truths come out 4 years later, I can’t get past this. Once he finally explains, I understand the why, but it’s not good enough; I can’t get past his abandonment and her humiliation. He has lived his rich, privileged life and she has struggled; all because he didn’t tell the truth. Her pride plays a part in her struggle, but he’s a failure as a man.

I like that he’s supposedly been celibate, lost and lonely.

Their reconciliation is too easy, there’s an ironic justice in his giving up what he originally thought was more important to preserve. His grovel? So beautifully written.

The epilogue 3 years later is well done.

All of this is to say, 5 star writing, 2 star story.
Profile Image for Raffaella.
1,947 reviews298 followers
July 31, 2022
The stars for the plot are -1000.
The stars for the writing style, which is rich and interesting for once, would be 4.
Since today I’m generous, I make an average of 2.
The plot is really what ruined the reading.
It’s a short novella, too short for my taste.
There are so many holes that I don’t really know where to begin.
The plot is nothing new. The heroine is jilted at the altar. The groom doesn’t show up, she has her life ruined and after four years during which she basically starves and works herself to death to keep her teenage brother who’s still at school, she meets the hero and guess what, he wants her back.
Oh, and exactly two minutes after she meets him again, they are having sex on the wall. Just like that.
WTF????
No, sorry, no.
I think jellyfish have more backbone than this idiot example of woman who is the heroine.
After this disgusting display of masochism we at least expect that the hero gives us a very very valid reason to jilt her years ago.
For example, he had to hide because the mob wanted to kill him and the heroine?
He had to go to war because his twin was prisoner and he had to save him.
He had some awful illness that he could transmit to the heroine.
He was in an accident and he lost his memory.
No, no sorry nothing of this kind.
The hero left her because he was a professor and his boss threatened to fire him and not to employ the heroine when she would have graduated.
Oh, his boss wasn’t the president of the United States or any similar powerful leader, so we can well guess that maybe he and the heroine could have gone to another town and have found other jobs in other uni. Or maybe they could have emigrated to the USA or in any other place the hero’s boss wasn’t boss, that is everywhere but that specific university where he was teaching.
I know I’m being bitchy but his reason was selfish and shows no love for the heroine.
And he could have at least showed up at his damned marriage.
But don’t worry, he regretted his decision.
He lived four years unhappy, with his wonderful job and his big money, because you have to know that he was loaded, so imagine how he must have suffered in those pitiful and deprived conditions, while the heroine, well the heroine after being jilted, came back home and found out her alcoholic father had eloped with all her savings so she had to stop her studies and work three jobs to keep her and her lil bro.
But don’t worry, she makes him pay.
No! Not at all! We readers don’t even have that lil satisfaction because she forgives him basically after only one week, because he left his job and wants to live like an hermit thinking how wrong he was to leaves the heroine and how unimportant is that job that he wanted more than the heroine.
Sorry this is one of the most idiotic thing I’ve read recently and believe me I’ve read many.
And the whole dark streak with the religious hints where he would be her god and she is his supplicant are really ridiculous.
Ridiculous because it refers to a love which is above all and everyone but when you read the book you wonder, where is this great stellar love?
Where, when the moment the hero had to chose between his so called great love and his career he chose his career without even a doubt?
Without even talking to her about his choice?
And if there was no love at least could he show her a lil respect and tell her what he thought and what he was about to do?
No! He didn’t even have respect for her, not at all.
All I see is a man and a woman who are horny and want to have sex all the time.
Yes, ok, it’s good, sex is good but I would like to know what will they have when all their enthusiasm fades?
You already have your answer.
And no, I don’t even care that he was celibate for years.
Love means that your beloved comes before everyone and everything. That you don’t want to hurt him /her and tries to do everything in your power not to hurt them.
This one was another big disappointment.
It seemed to me more an erotica than a romance. And not a good one, because religious kinks don’t do anything for me.
Profile Image for Katie.
711 reviews19 followers
March 21, 2021
3.25+ stars

A short but well-written story. I enjoyed the grovel. There were some holes and weak spots but essentially it was a solid short read.

h is abandoned on her wedding day by her older professor. She goes home to discover that her dad ran off with her savings so she is left to put her brother through school and support them both.

4 years later she runs into her professor while working one of her two jobs-caterer. He is surprised to see her working there and her general state of being-tired, thin and worn. Although she submits pretty quickly, despite being angry with him, her backbone grows and he works back into her good graces.

They have a HEA
Profile Image for Morgan.
635 reviews17 followers
April 17, 2022
If I am being honest, Sierra has become the cause of my ridiculous expectations. It’s not the media. It's not romance novels. It's Sierra Simone.

At this point it's not even fair. I mean, where do you find a love so intense that it makes you both the worshipped and the worshipper? Is that even a real thing?

For Church and Charley it is. Despite the heartache and betrayal, their love transcends. It's almost...holy.
Profile Image for Misha.
304 reviews176 followers
March 14, 2022
This was so poetic and good. I love smart toxicity!! I love smart melodrama!! I love infatuation! And mania! And intensity! And turmoil! This was balls to the wall intensity from page one.
Profile Image for Batool Zainab Suleman.
136 reviews30 followers
December 28, 2023
Stuck in My Head

3.45/5

I finished reading this more than a week ago but I can't stop thinking about it.

Was it a bit convoluted? Maybe.

Did the FMC have a terminal case of body-betrayal syndrome? Yes.

And was it a five-star book? No.

BUT

This book is so beautifully written and crafted that I can't help but find myself wanting to read it again and again and again.

It's a short read, one I found to be worthwhile, and it's a great rainy day read.

I didn't like some of the tropes and I struggled with some parts, but Simone has this wickedly seductive way of making you forget all the flaws by giving you heartbreaking smut that tears your soul into teeny, tiny pieces.

I really do recommend this book. Truly a ✨ pleasure ✨ to read and one I will definitely reread soon.
Profile Image for Lidia's Romance.
663 reviews328 followers
dnf
June 22, 2024
DNF @ 34%
The writing is great, the story is dragging. He left her at the altar, she says she hates him but not even one minute after running into him 4 yrs later, he already has his hand in her panties. Oof
Profile Image for Cheesecake.
2,800 reviews509 followers
dnf
November 23, 2021
I DNFed around 2/3 in.
I just couldn't get into the MCs. They were kinda moody, weird and deserved each other.
Plus he was kinda pathetic in an OTT fashion, by 2/3 in.
I mean I love a good grovel, but the person still has to have some self respect.
The h has the worst day of her life when the H ditches her at altar. Even his friends and family didn't show up.
Then 4 years later, she is working 2 low paying jobs to help her younger brother finish high school and get into college. They meet again and he's in her pants from the get go. The author shows that even though he can get with her physically, he is doing it partially as penance.
Nothing about their relationship seemed healthy.

It's a super simplistic story.
I skimmed the sex. And I skimmed to the end to see if his sister got any comeuppance. She was the one who outted him to his boss. No joy. In fact she's never mentioned again.

Meh.

Safety is kinda good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Cassandra.
828 reviews14 followers
November 14, 2023
This short story made many folks unhappy and I can see why but I still loved it.

Charlotte is left at the altar by her lover Church (who was also her professor) with no explanation. It sends her life on an unexpected trajectory into poverty as she alone, has to care for a younger sibling. Four years later she runs across Church again as she is serving at an event he attends. He pursues her relentlessly and she is victim to those pesky hormones despite feeling poorly toward him. Herein lies the issue most people had.

Charlotte is very confused by her feelings still but I feel like although I kind of wanted to smack her around and say" Girl, get a backbone!", Sierra Simone did a great job at explaining Charlotte's dilemma and her feelings. She did make her feelings known to Church and he DID listen. And oh my. How well does this author write a broken man? I can't remember the last time I read a man as broken as Church was by his own actions.

And he owned them. Every last hateful part of them.

And the grovel was tremendous 😁
Profile Image for ApoorvaReads.
637 reviews428 followers
August 30, 2023
dnf @75%


the starting was good but then it just got repetitive and the mention of “church” so many times had me💀🤡
Profile Image for ash |.
607 reviews118 followers
November 16, 2024
For a book about banging an archeologist, this was emotionally intense at times. I loveeee when Simone pulls out the religious symbolism <3
Profile Image for Leigh Kramer.
Author 1 book1,417 followers
March 22, 2021
My favorite erotic theologian returns with this compelling novella! Steamy as all get out, Sierra Simone has a gift for marrying the sacred and the profane. This doesn’t shy away from religious symbolism, that’s for sure. Church left Charley at the altar 4 years ago and she’s been struggling ever since. When she sees him while she’s catering a party, he comes back into her world with a bang, despite how angry she is at him. I loved watching them find their way back to each other. There are a lot of references to their past kink but not so much happens on-page here but I’d very much be into a novella just about that. I was completely caught up in whether Charley would forgive Church or if he deserved it and whether they could find a way forward despite what happened.

I wish it had done a little more to address their power dynamics, particularly from the past. They were involved for six weeks before she realized he was her professor. (It’s not clear on how this happened, if she didn’t know his last name or where he taught or didn’t know the names of her professors before school started.) They did not disclose their relationship and he continued to grade her. While I don’t think he gave her preferential treatment based on how he talked about it, it sure doesn’t look great from the outside and it unsurprisingly set up his downfall. Four years later, there’s still an imbalance between them class-wise and the story just barely scratches the surface of that. However, I was completely on board with them getting back together and then figuring things out along the way.

Character notes: Charley is a 24 year old bisexual white woman working in catering and at the supermarket. Church is a bisexual white archaeology professor—I didn’t catch an age for him but he’s much older than her. This is set in London, England.

CW: father was abusive toward younger brother , alcoholic father, father stole from heroine and abandoned her (at 20 years old) and her then-12 year old brother, alcohol, gendered insults, gender essentialist language
Profile Image for Lisa.
251 reviews48 followers
October 23, 2024
After being left at the altar by her professor, Church Cason, Charlotte Tempenny is left to fend for herself and to care for her younger brother. She takes quite a few odd jobs to make the money she needs to make ends meet and put her brother through school.

A chance encounter while she is working her catering job puts her back in the sights of Church, much to both of their shock. She now has to work even harder to keep him at arms’ length so she won’t get hurt again.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This book genuinely made me cry at the end. Hearing Church put himself on his knees and groveling to her made my heart explode. Knowing that he can see now how he feels for her and what she means to him makes me happy.

I just wish this book was longer! I knew, walking in, that it would be a novella, but I’m still sad that I finished it so quickly. I’m still pouting about that but it was well worth the money. I’ll more than likely be reading it again soon enough.

The biggest thing that I'm glad got resolved is what happened that led to Church leaving Charlotte at the altar. I'm glad he ultimately told her the reasoning for it and what happened leading up to her leaving her apartment. Her father is a major asshole, though!

I just wish there was more of a struggle between them, especially when it comes to Charlotte giving her heart back to him. However, I didn’t lower my rating for this since I knew the book was short. I just wish I had more information about their history. It definitely left me wanting more!
Profile Image for Karen.
1,634 reviews133 followers
October 8, 2022
I read all things Sierra, but for some reason I missed Supplicant when it originally came out in an anthology so I ordered myself the cute little paperback.

Isn’t Church a great name for a book boyfriend? Great name but bad man - he dumps our darling girl Charley at the altar and it devastates her.

Time spins on and oh my, oh my, Church finds his little one and the hunt is on to make her his again.

Biting, beautiful Church. How do I get a freckle on my lip? How do I get a man like Church? Maybe I should hang about more in museums.

I loved that Supplicant is based in the UK but there’s also an American part to it so both asshole and arsehole work perfectly.
Profile Image for Wangari.
1,690 reviews
March 26, 2021
other than Church being all broody, possessive and demanding, this story didn't have much going for it....
Profile Image for Raine.
188 reviews27 followers
August 12, 2021
Pure smut! This is the time when you want a break from everything else, perfect. Short story.
Profile Image for Jena .
2,313 reviews2 followers
avoid
July 31, 2022
Self note avoid

Doormat author = doormat h.
Profile Image for M M.
129 reviews2 followers
August 8, 2024
Overly poetic for two characters u won’t give a f*ck about
Profile Image for Flavia &#x1f319;.
337 reviews144 followers
February 9, 2025
5⭐️ 3🌶️

SIERRA SIMONE FUCKS ME UP EVERY 👏🏻 SINGLE 👏🏻 TIME!!!!

How she managed to make my heart ACHE in just 124 pages and go through 25 different emotions I will never know. It’s this magical witchy power she has that ties my hands and forces me to my knees. And I go, like a good little lamb.

I seriously miss groveling. We have got to bring yearning and groveling back. But here? God here we had both, but specially the groveling. In true Sierra Simone fashion, she gave us a delicious man who should have run over by a truck tbh after leaving her at the altar and waltzing back into her life 4 year later. BUT HE CAME ON HIS KNEES AND BLEEDING OUT HIS HEART FOR HER OK. I AM WEAK. I AM TOO INTO THE WRONG MEN. I TOO, AM A SUPPLICANT. He may have done it under the disguise of protecting them both but maaaaaaan does he repent and begs in his own ways and just spills filth into her ear and my ear and your ear. Ugh just delicious.

The writing… seriously the damn writing. I just want to crawl my way into her brain and curl up in a corner while I look around me and enjoy the magic that is Sierra Simone’s brain. Because it’s such brain that gives us filth mixed with poetry and God and history and just such a fucking good writing.

Short, spicy, angst, emotional, and surely made to make you feel a lot of emotions at once.

Shane East and Vanessa Edwin narrating this were absolute perfection. But then again, no one does a brooding British dom like Shane East does 😮‍💨
Profile Image for Becca.
305 reviews29 followers
May 30, 2021
For a kinky, autocratic monster, he was always careful with the boundaries I needed him to be careful with. He only invaded the parts of my heart marked for invasion.

It's the groveling, the worship & devotion from Church that had me swooning. I love when the hero is OBSESSED with the heroine.

Exhibit A:
You could survive me. That’s what I told her last night at the gala.
A pointless observation, really, because what mattered in the end was that I couldn’t survive her. I didn’t survive her.


I love Sierra Simone's writing and her ability to weave such a beautiful story in 117 pages. She managed to make me feel so many emotions.
Profile Image for Shel.
698 reviews12 followers
March 28, 2021
A love story so full of passion and emotion!

Sierra never fails to tear you apart and heal you beautifully. She is as eloquent in the destruction as she is in the reparation.

Charlotte and Church are so beautifully tormented and so fabulously head over heels in love.

I ached for them. I cried with them. I rejoiced in their joy.
Profile Image for Pilar.
207 reviews
December 17, 2025
I just want to know what kind of fucked up religious trauma Sierra Simone has that lets her write like this
Displaying 1 - 30 of 231 reviews

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