The Saint (The Original Sinners, #5) by Tiffany Reisz

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Book summary:

In the beginning, there was him.

Gutsy, green-eyed Eleanor never met a rule she didn't want to break. She's sick of her mother's zealotry and the confines of Catholic school, and declares she'll never go to church again. But her first glimpse of beautiful, magnetic Father Søren Stearns and his lust-worthy Italian motorcycle is an epiphany. Suddenly, daily Mass seems like a reward, and her punishment is the ache she feels when they're apart. He is intelligent and insightful and he seems to know her intimately at her very core. Eleanor is consumed—and even she knows that can't be right.

But when one desperate mistake nearly costs Eleanor everything, it is Søren who steps in to save her. She vows to repay him with complete obedience…and a whole world opens before her as he reveals to her his deepest secrets.

Danger can be managed—pain, welcomed. Everything is about to begin.

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The Original Sinners series is one of the few series (perhaps even the only one) we all here at Way Too Hot Books more or less love. We do have some differences when it comes to characters, mostly male characters -- some like Søren, and some are Kingsley's fans -- but we all agree that it is special, and most importantly, none of us are indifferent. 

The Saint, book five in the series and the first prequel, was one of the books we were looking forward to reading most this year. And it is one of those books where you'll get two opinions about it: mine and Beatrix's.

Beatrix is a huge fan of the Nora & Søren love story. Since this book is about them, here's Beatrix's review first...

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Review:

Little One, to be with me is to hurt.

When I think of The Saint, I think...





Congratulations Ms. Reisz, not only have you completely changed my views on BDSM, now you've made me want to go to church...

~~~

I can say with certainty that, along with The Prince, this one is my favorite in the series.

~~~

You know that feeling when you just know you’re reading your next favorite book? Well, that is how I felt with The Saint; first when I got this book, I think I was shaking from excitement, then I wanted to read it all at once, but then again, I wanted to be reading it forever. Moreover, if I was not reading it, I was thinking about it. I was living in this little Nora & Søren bubble.

I remember first reading The Siren, and thinking who is this Søren guy and who does he think he is; now, we’ve come a long way since, haven’t we?

I think we needed to see Eleanor before she became Nora; and Søren before we knew him as the biggest sadist of the Underground. Although, we knew many details already, here we get a clearer picture. And I loved it! There is no a doubt in my mind anymore about Nora & Søren. They are it . I feel like the rest of the world sees one Nora and only Søren sees the other Nora, the true Nora.

Now, to talk about the story itself. Nico. What to say about him? What is the purpose of his character? What bothered me – not only here, but all throughout the series, is the fact that every male is in love with Nora. First Wyatt, then Griffin, Wesley, even Michael, and now Nico (and, they’re all younger, mind you). As soon as they meet Nora, they all fall on their knees. I say please.
I guess we’ll see how things further develop with Nico, but I really hope he’s not new Wesley, I don’t want Nora falling back into old patterns.

However, I just feel so content now, after reading this book, like my prayers have been answered or something. Whatever Ms Reisz writes now, I’ve no objections. I will be happy with whatever happens next because she gave us this.

So, thank you Tiffany Reisz, for giving us this gift, because there was no greater pleasure than reading about young Nora and Søren.

Amen. Amen. So be it.

I, on the other hand, as I say almost daily, am a fan of the King, so don't be surprised when you find his name many times in my review. ;)

 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮

Review:

“Once upon a time there was a beautiful 
girl named Eleanor who had secrets 
she wanted to keep. 
... 
Then the time came for this girl to 
take communion. As she reached for the cup, 
her sleeve slipped back, 
and her priest saw what she was.”
“What was she?” 
“She was mine.”

And so we went back to the very beginning of the story that became legendary, but before that we got a glimpse of the present.

The fact that The Saint takes place not only in the past, but also after the events from The Mistress pleased me for several reasons.

I was wondering what happened with Kingsley's son. Did Nora find him? What happened if she did? How did Kingsley react? Those were some of the questions that came to mind, and now I know.

Although I loved how The Mistress ended, mainly because of how things were wrapped up with Kingsley's story, somewhere in the back of mind I knew that ending was not ideal for Nora. Her story felt unfinished, and I feel like with Nico she could finally find that missing piece.

Since that part from the past that The Saint is about is mostly known from the previous books, the chapters from the present were the ones that made me wonder what would happen next, something that's very important to me in books. I love suspense. Also, they were a nice segue from one important part from the past to another, and I liked having Nora elaborating some things.

But most importantly, I liked these parts because I'll always want to know what these characters are doing now. Always. And to be honest, any part where there's even a mention of Kingsley is a part I like.

That said, you can imagine my grief because Kingsley wasn't much of a part of Eleanor's past until later on. This is the part everyone in love with the story of Eleanor and Søren will enjoy most. Since I'm not exactly one of those people -- my feelings towards them are rather complicated -- all the time the two of them were being all happy and in love, my thoughts kept going back to Kingsley.

Still, for the most part, I was able to enjoy it quite a bit. Most of the important facts about Eleanor's past from the moment she met Søren were more or less known, but seeing some of those events unfold in "real time" was very interesting. During that period, a lot about Søren and everyone else from his life was unknown to Eleanor, so when he would mention some things or give vague answers, we knew what he was referring to, while Eleanor was left in the dark. It was kind of weird reading about that Nora.

Some things I was wondering about got cleared up, mostly about Søren, and about his relationship with Eleanor. I must say, I was rather surprised by how little time they actually spent together. I was under the impression Søren kept her on a tight leash. I guess Nora had me fooled. He was more go grow up, and then we'll talk.

We got a better look into Eleanor's relationship with her mother, and father whose fate I was very curios about.

The part with Wyatt was really sweet, but ultimately it left me feeling bad for both him and Eleanor, but liking Kingsley more.

"I'm not saying I don't like sharks. 
I'm saying I don't know why you gave 
me a picture of a shark."
"The shark asked me to."

As always my mind keeps going back to Kingsley. One of the best parts of the book for me was the chapter when Eleanor finally met the Kingsley. It was hilarious.

"I love that reaction. That is the 
'you didn't tell me how pretty he was' 
look, oui?"

Speaking of getting to know Kingsley, that was the time before Eleanor learned the truth about Søren and Kingsley, so some of the things he said and did may not have been clear to her, but I just got sad over them.

"And a man in love with a woman in love 
with another man is the secondmost 
desperate creature on earth."
"What's the first?"
"A man in love with a man in love 
with another woman."

And, yes, I know my review for a book about Eleanor and Søren appears to be more about Kingsley than about them, but I won't apologize. He's my favorite. He's the King.

Is it November yet?

 

XOXO

 

Danija & Beatrix