Thighs and Prayers

I do want to preface this by saying I've yet to read Selah Gothic, but it is up soon! Kat Blackthorne makes me fall hopelessly in love with her characters, but Thighs and Prayers took it further. These characters weren't just ravenous for each other; they were desperate for what their time together brought. I am getting ahead of myself because before you get Sister Jezabella and Sister Lilith you get Reverend Mother Veilentine. Which from the beginning you can tell she isn't all that she makes herself out to be, again that comes later. Which I am not going to go into because no spoilers. The heart of this story is what well and truly made me realize why I always find myself back in the worlds that Kat creates. On the surface it is two nuns who are feral for one another, but beneath that there is oppression, finding yourself and gothic mystery that ties it all together. I'm fresh off the heels of this one, so my thoughts are rather all over the place. I didn't have stories like this when I was their age. Stories that could've helped me see that there was nothing wrong with me or that I wasn't "acting out" because I wasn't happy not being myself. Right in the thick of this book, I remembered the author saying how important this book was to her and that is why this book matters. It is beyond HOT, but it is everything you could feel about not belonging tied up in one. Often times readers find their selves lost in the pages that an author creates, they can put themselves in…

I got an ARC of this novel from the author, and I’m so glad I did because I have been *salivating* over it since she first posted the blurb. I am normally not into romances with priests/nuns/super religious themes - no moral reason, it just doesn’t do it for me. Kat Blackthorne’s religious-themed books, however, somehow always manage to hit and T&P is no exception. This book does a great job blending religious iconography with eroticism. It jumps right into it at the beginning, and in my opinion that’s one of the most crucial parts. It developed an unconventional congregation with Jezebella, her sisters, and the Reverend Mother, and did so it in a way that worked rather than felt weird. The biggest piece of this is the Reverend Mother and the way Jezebella’s mentor relationship with the Reverend Mother was written. It would have been so easy to make it feel slimy, especially because we see their sexual relationship before fully getting a sense of the religious dynamics and connection between their community members, but instead KB managed to make it feel decadent and almost holy. Also, the nuns care about each other and have a connection (the connection is loving women) that actually feels surprisingly sweet. The relationship between the nuns sold me, before we even meet Lilith. When Lilith comes into the picture, there is an interesting conflict and sense of distrust from the Alter of Lost Souls. She’s an outsider and they are definitely understandably suspicious, because…