THE PRIEST (The Original Sinners #9) by TIFFANY REISZ

“Don’t let him forget how loved he is. I love him and Kingsley loves him. Protect him and bring him home.”

The Priest by Tiffany Reisz was such a wonderful escape! This author never fails to feed my eternal insatiable hunger for more Søren, Nora and Kingsley. This compelling trio is like a drug of the best kind and every book feels like coming home to loved ones. The phrase ‘an infinite onion’, could not be any more apt as layers are peeled once more, letting us further into the soul of these three magnificent characters.

“I’m still your priest, aren’t I, Little One?” he asked. She kissed his chest over his heart. She knew if she could cut his chest open and look at his heart, she’d see her name tattooed across it, right next to Kingsley’s and Fionn’s and God’s. “You’ll always be my priest.”

When a priest commits suicide, Nora is unwittingly dragged into a case of hideous revelations and personal consequences, led by PI Cyrus Tremont. All the while Søren with his powerful presence, is in the background watching out for his Little One.  Prior to taking his own life, the priest attempted to call Mistress Nora. But why? Whilst in pursuit of answers, Cyrus and Nora strike up a wonderful almost sibling like friendship and both of them make significant self-realisations in search of the truth.

‘There they were, Cyrus thought, two fuck-ups with so many sins in their past, they’d need an army of priests and a five gallon bucket of holy water to absolve them both.’

I loved the mystical and pulsating setting of New Orleans, it drew me in completely and made the suspenseful dramatics that much more enticing. The vivid vibrancy was eerily charming. Whilst the cryptic case of the dead priest certainly led this story, there were epic moments of revelation of truths as well as a deep soul searching of the past between Søren and Nora. I lost count of my tears. However, the brilliant humour was still there in abundance, also. Oh and let’s not forget the heat of the trademark Tiffany Reisz kink….

“Went to Starbucks one day…Ordered a tall blond with whip. They gave me Søren.”

I don’t know how long I’ll be left satiated this time before needing my next Søren, Nora and Kingsley fix, however, I can once again solidly confirm that Nora is still and most likely always will be, my all-time favourite female character. That, without everything that is intrinsically Nora, I wouldn’t have my Søren or Kingsley. It’s a testament to the magnificent writing skills of Tiffany Reisz that no matter how many books down the line, the intensity of my love for these characters never wavers nor diminishes. Rather with every book my heart, which is already fit to burst, falls even more in love. The strength of my feelings for them surge and the need to peel more layers of that infinite onion deepens.

‘It was him, Søren, and who he turned into when he let himself free with her. The master. The monster. The beautiful sadist. That was the secret she never told anyone, not even herself, that she loved him more for his cruelties than his mercies. He was kind to everyone he met. He was only cruel like this to his lovers.’