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Priest #4
Devil
Not yet published
Expected 11 Aug 26Birdie Cooper has nothing left.
Just one moment of weakness seven years ago—and she lost her job, her church, her only friend. Now she's working nights at a gas station to scrape together a living and a way to care for her sister, completely alone and separated even from the art that gave her life meaning.
Ryan Bell has never forgotten his first obsession.
He's been trying to find the tremblingly shy lecturer from his senior year of college after she abruptly disappeared after their first and only kiss. So when he comes upon a statue of Lucifer carved in Ryan's own likeness, two things become starkly apparent.
One: he knows how to find her now. And two: he's been haunting Birdie Cooper's memory as much as she's been haunting his.
Ryan can't offer love—or even an apology—but he can offer her a bargain, one crafted first and foremost to free him from his punishing obsession with her. If Birdie agrees to be his in every way for a single year, then he'll pay for her mother's care for as long as she's alive. And what does Birdie have left to lose anyway? The forbidden fruit is her only chance at salvation.
Unfortunately for Birdie, she might just be the only chance for his...
Just one moment of weakness seven years ago—and she lost her job, her church, her only friend. Now she's working nights at a gas station to scrape together a living and a way to care for her sister, completely alone and separated even from the art that gave her life meaning.
Ryan Bell has never forgotten his first obsession.
He's been trying to find the tremblingly shy lecturer from his senior year of college after she abruptly disappeared after their first and only kiss. So when he comes upon a statue of Lucifer carved in Ryan's own likeness, two things become starkly apparent.
One: he knows how to find her now. And two: he's been haunting Birdie Cooper's memory as much as she's been haunting his.
Ryan can't offer love—or even an apology—but he can offer her a bargain, one crafted first and foremost to free him from his punishing obsession with her. If Birdie agrees to be his in every way for a single year, then he'll pay for her mother's care for as long as she's alive. And what does Birdie have left to lose anyway? The forbidden fruit is her only chance at salvation.
Unfortunately for Birdie, she might just be the only chance for his...
528 pages, Paperback
Expected publication July 21, 2026
11 people are currently reading
6797 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Want to Read
February 23, 2026On my knees for whatever this is 🛐
ITS A DARK MM ROMANCE?? QUEEN I HAVEN’T EVEN MOVED ON FROM SAINT YET 🥹 (but I am soo ready)
Edit:
It’s not an MM, I am crying and disappointed. But that’s alright. The “MM romance” tag needs to be removed from Goodreads though 🥲
ITS A DARK MM ROMANCE?? QUEEN I HAVEN’T EVEN MOVED ON FROM SAINT YET 🥹 (but I am soo ready)
Edit:
It’s not an MM, I am crying and disappointed. But that’s alright. The “MM romance” tag needs to be removed from Goodreads though 🥲
October 23, 2025
we have been waiting patiently for ryans book .. its coming dont panic dont panic .. im panicking 🤭🤭🤣🤣🫠🫠🫠🤤🤤🫣🫣
Want to Read
December 29, 2025last time i read a sierra simone i fell into a never-ending spiral... i'm ready for it to happen again
preordered
March 12, 2026This is not a review but a suggestion to pre-order directly from the author's website instead of going through Amazon or other third party resellers.
Want to Read
October 14, 2025Oh, Hell Yes!!!
Want to Read
December 2, 2025Is Baby Bell's book MM? I'm hoping for another MMF from Mother 🙏
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Receieved an e-arc from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
4.5 stars.
I soooooo very badly wanted to give this 5 stars, and it was so very close.
I want to prefice this before I go any further: This was such an emotional ride. I LOVED the content warnings and the way Sierra Simone addressed the topics she tackles in this book. I have never read a book of hers before but found her writing and messages to be so intriguing and beautiful.
This book is DARK. She means it. It touches on religion, grief, anxiety, loneliness, depression, and then GUILT. Religious guilt especially! But Sierra does it with such a true understanding to christianity and its lore and messaging that I think it's done so well. And she places her message of what she wanted to tell with this story explicitly for us at the end: that we can be selfish.
It is not just romance and spice. And, well, while that's also done incredibly well, my main praise stems from the tone and messaging of Birdie and Ryan. Birdie, especially, just needs a freaking hug. Everytime you think it can't get worse for her and then it DOES. She symbolizes so much of what is wrong with christianity (I am allowed to say that, I grew up in the church the same way Birdie did), and how much they have harmed her. She stands by the idea that suffering is what it means to be a good christian. And Ryan tells her: fuck that.
Their love story is so beautiful because of this. It's not so much "come with me over to the dark side", because at the end Birdie and Ryan are still "good" people, but people who do not let others, in the name of religious piety, walk all over them anymore. Her growth was phenomal to read.
The only reason why I couldnt give it 5 stars is because I am a picky mofo. I loved the spice, but felt it was a bit too much at times. I was like, yes, thanks for the steam, but let me cry just a lil more.
4.5 stars.
I soooooo very badly wanted to give this 5 stars, and it was so very close.
I want to prefice this before I go any further: This was such an emotional ride. I LOVED the content warnings and the way Sierra Simone addressed the topics she tackles in this book. I have never read a book of hers before but found her writing and messages to be so intriguing and beautiful.
This book is DARK. She means it. It touches on religion, grief, anxiety, loneliness, depression, and then GUILT. Religious guilt especially! But Sierra does it with such a true understanding to christianity and its lore and messaging that I think it's done so well. And she places her message of what she wanted to tell with this story explicitly for us at the end: that we can be selfish.
It is not just romance and spice. And, well, while that's also done incredibly well, my main praise stems from the tone and messaging of Birdie and Ryan. Birdie, especially, just needs a freaking hug. Everytime you think it can't get worse for her and then it DOES. She symbolizes so much of what is wrong with christianity (I am allowed to say that, I grew up in the church the same way Birdie did), and how much they have harmed her. She stands by the idea that suffering is what it means to be a good christian. And Ryan tells her: fuck that.
Their love story is so beautiful because of this. It's not so much "come with me over to the dark side", because at the end Birdie and Ryan are still "good" people, but people who do not let others, in the name of religious piety, walk all over them anymore. Her growth was phenomal to read.
The only reason why I couldnt give it 5 stars is because I am a picky mofo. I loved the spice, but felt it was a bit too much at times. I was like, yes, thanks for the steam, but let me cry just a lil more.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Ahhhhh. Ryan Bell. Birdie. Sierra Simone beautifully writes truly screwed characters who you just can’t help but love. I demolished this book once and then went back for a second time. The writing is top notch, the research deep and the story worth the time you take to read it.
July 24, 2025
Preemptive 5 stars because we all know this is gonna be the shit.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
AHHHH I just cannot get enough of these deranged Bell brothers!!
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Genuinely have more feelings than I am able to articulate at this time
May 10, 2026
Now THATS a book. OMG. Perhaps my favorite Sierra Simone yet.
03-not-released
March 22, 202628th Jul 2026 / Changed to 11th Aug 2026
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews