Holy Ruin: A Forbidden Priest Mafia Romance

by Pia Sinclair

He hears sins for a living. She has one she can't tell anyone. God help them both.

Father Gabriel Delgado wears his collar like armor. Behind a mafia prince in hiding a man who took holy vows to cage the monster inside — not to protect himself from women, but to protect women from him. Eight years of cold showers that have done nothing to civilize what's underneath.

Sera Marin slides into his confessional with a dead husband, a stolen vault code, and enemies closing in fast. She's not looking for absolution. She's looking for sanctuary.

She picked the wrong priest.

Because when the men hunting Sera drag danger to Gabriel’s door, the collar comes off — and the man beneath it is no servant of God. He's the heir to a criminal empire. He speaks the language of violence as fluently as he speaks Latin. And he is completely, catastrophically certain that she belongs to him.

Now Sera is trapped between the secrets that could destroy Miami’s underworld and the possessive, merciless man who will burn down anyone who touches her.

Even if he has to damn himself to keep her.

Holy Ruin is a dark mafia romance featuring a sinfully forbidden priest hero, forced proximity, touch-her-and-die obsession, a morally grey heroine, and a possessive mafia antihero who falls hard. A love story built in the space between the sacred and profane.

For readers who like their heroes on their knees — and not always in prayer.

Genres: Mafia Romance

Kindle Edition

Published April 3, 2026

Reviews

[Eigna · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesante lectura, bastante dark. No había leído nada de esta escritora, y creo que voy a seguir con el siguiente

[Stephanie]

I just couldn't get into it. It was mostly the writing style.

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 95% because in this day and age an author dared to use the R word. Nope.

Don't know how that passed by editors but somehow the tone deaf words did. Shame on you

[Heather Breaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh lord!!!!!!

I love the sexy bits and reading how he healed and how she healed from her husband’s trauma and I’m heading on to the next book

[Rachael Farmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needs editing.

This was a hard read for me. Not because of triggers or anything like that it just honestly wasn't well written at all. It's so repetitive that its crazy and it jumps around so much. Characters just seem to know things that they have no business knowing at the time. Large parts seem to be missing. With a good bit of editing this could be a solid story. The bones of a good story are there but it needs help.

[The Bou]

This author could write great stories if she'd just ease up on the s3x scenes!!!

At some point it was just cringe 😬

Sera was basically a fountain for how wet she was all the damn time… « I could see a damp spot through her jeans » 🥴
And Gabriel was hard all the time. Ok he has been celibate for 8 years but please show some control!! He behaved like a teenager!! And a coward one.

Their libido were basically another character in the story that I have to stop. I don’t mind spice but every line being reminded that Sara is as wet as the ocean because Gabriel looked at her was ridiculous 🤦🏼‍♀️

We also have dead ex lovers for both of them which I hate.
Sera was comparing Gabriel with Julian all the damn time.

The idea was there, the writing was not bad it’s just mastering the balance between spice and plot that didn’t work for me.
I have rolled my eyes too many time by 40% that I decided to stop.

[BookishKindaGal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was on a serious one star reading slump BUTTT my first book of Pia Sinclair has just changed this. I loved her writing style.. every sentence keeps your attention. Most importantly, Gabriel was swoooon!

[Alinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird Book DNF

This was a really weird book. I gave up at 69%. It was disjointed to say the least. You'd be on one topic/thought and the next thing you know is skipped to a whole different scenario with no explanation how it got there. For instance, Logan approached Sera about what she was hiding and she told him then and then it goes to Sera seeking Logan out and not telling Gabriel instead.
Or one of them would have a thought then the next thing you know they're acting like the other person should know or does know what was going on without any explanation of the second person having discovered what it was.
I also thought both MMC personalities were very inconsistent. Gabriel was supposed to be a mafia prince but he actually had no idea what his father was involved in. Totally unrealistic. And Sera was wishy washy in her actions.
I don't know, it was just weird and hard to follow so I gave up. A lot of small plot holes that together made a giant mess.

[Psy Reads Tums · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading this book and seeing some of the reviews, I do have to agree that it was missing something or depth. The characters could have had more complexity. I found it interesting that the FMC was depicted as this person who can read a room and know exactly how to act/play because of how Julian, her husband, trained her. I couldn't help but think that this woman was in such a controlling/abusive relationship. Her husband controlled where they lived, who she spent time with, isolated her, and controlled the finances. I feel like there was a missed opportunity to show how domestic violence/abuse isn't just physical or name calling along with the complexity of how someone comes to understand that they were a victim and validating that.

[Ayo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay read

Something was missing. First time reading the Author. Something was missing in the story the writing was good so I'm willing to give another chance by reading logan's story to determine if I am a fan of this Autor or not.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sera & Gabriel

[Leonella Navas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gusto