Harvest of Sighs (Thornchapel, #3) in Some Like It Hot!

Apr 30, 2020 Babel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: good-plot, steamy, drama, dark-romance, mystery, sensual, triggering-scenes, secrets, submissive, dominant

One of my most anticipated books of 2020. This series is like an addiction. Unforgettable and infectious.

By now, you must know this is not for the morally squeamish and haters of kink. We are drowning in sin here :-D

The previous book ended with a cliffhanger that felt earth-shattering. And I couldn't imagine how the characters would survive it. It feels like sacrifice is paramount in this series. Everyone sacrifices something on altars of stone and heart.

Poe and Saint and Auden are inseparabl One of my most anticipated books of 2020. This series is like an addiction. Unforgettable and infectious.

By now, you must know this is not for the morally squeamish and haters of kink. We are drowning in sin here :-D

The previous book ended with a cliffhanger that felt earth-shattering. And I couldn't imagine how the characters would survive it. It feels like sacrifice is paramount in this series. Everyone sacrifices something on altars of stone and heart.

Poe and Saint and Auden are inseparable in this book despite the events that threaten to push them apart. In threes or twos, they offer amazing portrayals of lust, love, and torment. Proserpina and the priest together are heavenly, too. I have a weak spot for Becket with his ardent divinity and his unrequited love.

Delphine and Rebecca explore their passionate relationship against former animosity and social frowns, but it is their inner storm that poses a tableau of excruciating and bittersweet pain. Can they love each other freely or their inhibitions are too hopeless? I loved Delphine's vulnerability and her need for true love. I was deeply moved by the consequences of her trauma and how they were depicted. Despite my other preferences of characters, they present a captivating beckon.

The beauty of these words is insurmountable, painful and riveting. It is also inextricably immoral and primitively sacred.

The vividness of the prose rivals the plot of twisted sensuality and ancient curses. The characters sway between craving what they cannot renounce beyond reason and denying themselves the raw, frightening need of love.

A deluge of despair marks the atmosphere of this third novel, never in detriment of the festival of carnal scenes where all characters find both torment and endless pleasure. For a while, I missed the mysticism that was so pervading in the other books. Luckily, it has a very foreboding comeback towards the last part. It is then that revelations from the past blend with ritualistic prophecies and every character's arc explodes in the most hedonistic, hurtful, poetic way.

I felt so sorry and torn for all of them, how cruel the twists seem to hit my beloved boys and girls. Yet the outcome of the season was inevitable, and a little shortsighted for a couple of them not to see that they were welcoming the serpent into their lustful paradise. Alas, summer had to end with a fearful bang, oh my, it did.

This Wuthering Heights saturated with Saturnalia should be a dark classic. ...more

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Apr 30, 2020 Sissy's Romance Book Review rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-read, arc-author-publisher, contemporary, trt, 4-star, hot-steamy, cliffhanger, series, should-read-previous-book, lgbtqia

Harvest of Sighs by Sierra Simone is book Three in the Thornchapel Series. This continues the story of the 6 friends but highlights the story of Delphine and Rebecca. I do strongly feel you should read the previous books 'A Lesson in Thorns' and 'Feast of Sparks' before starting this one. Although each book does highlight different ones in the books they all intermingle with each other which leads to those cliffhangers. This book touches on a lot of issue that they go through. This book along wi ...more

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May 09, 2020 Erin McFarland rated it really liked it

Shelves: sassy-moms-say-read-romance, dark, must-read-authors, forbidden-romance

Harvest of Sighs is the third installment of the Thornchapel series and one of my most anticipated books of the year. This series has captivated me and draws me in deeper and deeper as the story progresses.
In this installment we get to see more of Rebecca, who has remained a bit of a mystery up until now. This book has taken a character that for me was a little meh, to quickly making her one of my favorites of the six. She is full of depth and I love her strength and her vulnerability....when Harvest of Sighs is the third installment of the Thornchapel series and one of my most anticipated books of the year. This series has captivated me and draws me in deeper and deeper as the story progresses.
In this installment we get to see more of Rebecca, who has remained a bit of a mystery up until now. This book has taken a character that for me was a little meh, to quickly making her one of my favorites of the six. She is full of depth and I love her strength and her vulnerability....when she shows it. Delphine also blossomed in this book too. She is a lesson in female empowerment. She took what tore her down and built herself a brand because of it. She turned the tables and used it as a strength rather than a weakness. I admire her for that. That doesn't mean that she still doesn't suffer, because she does, and it's heartbreaking. She's also the perfect compliment to Rebecca, who appears to be so stoic and reserved, where Delphine is boisterous and affectionate.
We also get to delve a bit more deeply in to Beckett. His internal struggles come to a head in this book and I really felt for him. The only time he seems to be truly happy is with Poe. The rest of the time he seems to struggle between the world that the six of them created and the world that he has chosen for himself, and the pull of the forbidden just only gets stronger.
We were left with quite the ending for Auden, St Sebastian, and Poe. Auden is like the devil on the shoulder of St Sebastian tempting him with all of his desires, but they set boundaries. They set limits, and brothers don't do what St Sebastian wants to do. The tension is palpable and there is only one way it can end....with the promise that was made to Auden that Poe and St Sebastian promised to uphold.
We also get a glimpse in to the backstory of how these six are connected, and it's just as twisted for the older generation as it is for our favorite sextet. We see how generations before fared when it came to keeping the magic alive outside of Thornchapel, and it wasn't always pretty, and to be honest, it is quite dark. I've always waited to see if this group can be the one who can lay Thornchapel's secrets to rest and live as they want to, or is Thornchapel's hold so strong that it will ultimately destroy them. We know the ritual, we know how it is supposed to end, how it ended for Poe's mother, and for Estamond. I can't wait to see the final layers peeled back and all the secrets revealed in the final book. ...more

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