Tag: Celia Aaron

The Prophet’s Proprietary Perfect Profits A Book Review

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How I wished for a five-star sequel, and here we are, and already I can’t wait until I get my first look at the promised land or “The Church” but “The Prophet” was able to move the mountain the last inch, so? The Prophet’s Proprietary Perfect Profits

Was it God, the “Father of Fire,” “The Morningstar,” hell one of the things I love about writers is the ability for us to play God and with “The Prophet” let me say in Celia Arron I trust no question. I am sure however that many of you do have queries and if the first one is this book worth a read, well my review of The Maiden (The Cloister Trilogy #1) was four stars, this one gets that final fifth star and well deserved.

If you want to see what I thought there “Hey There Delilah, My Maiden” was that review, as for this tale we are brought back almost immediately where The Maiden left off in a state of “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” Delilah is in trouble from all sides, The Prophet, the son, the senator, or would it be better to say the father, the son, and the holy ghost, either way, she finds herself trapped in Hell once again. The Prophet’s whose anger and madness knows no bounds, Adam who makes her body burn with unholy desire or the shame and rage that awakens through Evan Roberts who wants her for his own.

I brought this up before how religion will use beautiful women, and whether it’s their heat, the dark desires that burn inside because trust me if you read this title you’re not exactly innocent, or the knowledge of what The Prophet does, to quote a more reasonable madman, there will be blood. Besides The Prophet and Evan Roberts and the “hero” Adam other characters have been expanded such as Grace, Adam and Noah’s mother and Noah himself as the crimes against the maidens grow ever more heinous but who Delilah is investigating is brought to light. The sex is still somewhat subdued but with everything else that is going on and the explosive ending two sides of the same coin.

Some people might be turned off but this title revved me up, if the book were any more on fire I would be worried it might go all “Fahrenheit 451” in my hands, no this title is nothing like that only the emotions that will burn inside you from everything. Anyway, that is enough of me blowing smoke but remember there’s an inferno waiting once we pass the first darkness which is Delilah’s destructive indoctrination.

Spoiler warning ahead if you haven’t read the first book; ready, okay, we start with dear Delilah being locked away for her escape attempt from Heavenly Ministries and a while at least she is a shadow of her former womanhood. Adam Monroe is, of course, letting more of his sweet guy persona show while maintaining the brooding boy motif that makes all the woman go knocky in the knees as he lays even more of a claim on his maiden.

While The Maiden focused more on the sexual training of the girls and there is plenty of sex in this we see more of the violent side of Heavenly and the madness that has created The Prophet and his victims. To take the body is one thing, someone’s life is another but to declare war on the soul; I was somewhat taken aback at the shift it Delilah’s personality; it’s when I saw everyone else that I felt indeed a bit hopeless. Not that the characters aren’t good but how Adam is coming off with his new plans and I remember someone once saying that if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your ideas, the problem is as the song goes “there are too many prophets here” honestly.

Adam remains mostly the same, a love-struck fool, with violent tendencies albeit he has grown bolder but the things a man will do for love or obsession, to see that The Prophet could show such restraint when it comes to Delilah. If the characters aren’t chasing love it’s power which brings in some surprising twists and turns; there was one, in particular, that might have sucked me in and then threw me out of the story so much that I thought my Kindle was screwing up again. That part of the story comes back around eventually, but I was so confused for a bit, though it made my heart jump; there are other parts of the story that brought out a leap or rise to other parts of my anatomy.

Other that Delilah and Adam, Evan for as twisted as he is, I believe is quite compelling and if the location of the story hits too close to home for me, the politician I think we all know someone like that, *cough* president *cough*. One character meets a violent end; again if you got into the first book you weren’t holding out much hope for him or her anyway, but with the death, we are witnesses to one mind-blowing revelation; still, Delilah has no clue.

Is that the reason I gave “The Prophet” five stars, it might sound better than paying attention to Evan, the bloody nature of this story, the sex between Adam and Delilah or should I say Emily, big spoiler but I would have given anything to be Adam at that moment. Yes, there will be more spoilers from here on and things I didn’t like, but that can’t take away the five stars this book truly deserves, it is quite incredible.

For example, that moment Adam and Noah run into the FBI, my heart dropped and then the moment was just glossed over and eventually comes back around to one of them wearing a wire, what all transpired at that meeting? I would have liked to see more “Zombiefied” Delilah/Emily and especially would have enjoyed watching her beg before The Prophet after her torture or something between her and Sarah, but that’s only my wishful thinking. Delilah/Emily does a full 180 or 360 from hating The Prophet, loving him, hating again it happened a bit too fast for my taste honestly like her grueling torture could be reversed in seconds though I am grateful it happened.

My favorite part of the entire story was when Adam chose to save Delilah/Emily the only way he could, though he had already taken her virginity he needed everyone to see it done this time and that was the hottest action. Evan attempting to court Delilah/Emily and the other things he did to her, a terrible man but compared to The Prophet he’s a saint, don’t get me wrong he is all sorts of evil. There’s a toss-up between The Prophet killing and then finding out who murdered Delilah/Emily’s friend which I will leave because it is profoundly shocking but what is Adam to do; if he lives of course.

I give it five stars because it was a little bit sexy and a little bit bloody, throw in some revelations, and you can’t wait, but I am, so much stuff on my reading list but not if, when you get “The Cloister Trilogy” make sure you read them all because I intend to. Will they have to add another star for the third book “The Church,” the chapel and the cathedral are a bit too out there for my liking, what am I saying, The Prophet’s Proprietary Perfect Profits.

Hey There Delilah, My Maiden

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Would the motto of Heavenly Ministries be, to abandon all hope ye who enter here, well if that hope is five stars but what’s wrong with four; question what is wrong with religious people liking pretty girls; just me then? Hey There Delilah, My Maiden

The things you can get away with in the name of God; someone once said “Dom unto others as you would have God Dom unto you” and that someone ended up in jail for a little less than what this book entails overall. “The Maiden” by Celia Aaron is another title ripped straight from the headlines or at least it should be, we’ve got the stupidity of the “Prosperity Gospel,” the evil of the Catholic Church, and they made a mini-series about David Koresh’s cult.

With an understanding of this I rather watch The Maiden, if they ever thought to make it a movie because it’s a remarkable book, I was hooked and so is my erotica reading group, I would have read the sequels myself if they weren’t already reading them. This title hit home for me quite literally from the location to the type of church I knew as a child, to the family dynamic such as “perfect obedience.” There is a stark contrast between what is known as BDSM and what the general public believes, and using the church’s teachings to show that is awesome, the lives of the maidens and the families within Heavenly Ministries community.

Long story short we have this young woman, renamed Delilah who joins the cloister maidens of Heavenly Ministries, a bit of a convent; two words “Virgin Territory” a movie worth watching. Since when did convent become synonymous with the word brothel, and they have one. Delilah’s life is now the property of The Prophet. More importantly is the rights of his son Adam Monroe, another father-son duo *sigh* though the family is more nuclear, minus having a dog. The twist is what she hopes to find out from this church/cult; now those are synonyms being how I know the church to be; anyway another good girl, bad boy with kind intentions type of tale honestly.

Let me put it out there how churches will use beautiful women to entice people but it’s a thin line as with The Prophet, the people know one side, but he hides the other from them; sex as long as nobody talks about it. You should also be aware that as I said there is BDSM, but anyone that knows about abuse may do well to skip this though I think in both aspects “The Maiden” is rather tame somewhat.

Maybe I just read darker material though already being on the second book “The Prophet” that the darkness is cranking up, but of course that will be for another review I’ll try to stay on this one. As far as Delilah and Adam Monroe are concerned, I guess I do tend to lump all these characters together from different titles, the only thing that changes are motivations, and so there has to be something especially jarring, and with this, there wasn’t that in the Maiden.

Delilah other than her looks is the somewhat righteous girl looking to find justice which means infiltrating The Cloister as a Maiden, a group of twelve holy women who are to be placed by The Prophet’s direction to the rich, the powerful, and others The Prophet can use. Delilah without a doubt has a fiery personality which needs some breaking if she is to serve and that task falls to her protector, Adam. How does one find the truth in a web of lies because it becomes quite clear that is all that exists as the maidens begin their training and here’s a hint yes they will be on their knees, but it will be a lot less praying, shocker?

Adam is a man that I can relate to, hates his dad, doesn’t believe anything about the church that he belongs to, finds holy women hot as hell but moreover a woman that wants to tell him no but knows better. Now he can’t be the perfectly righteous man, these stories are never about that, but his feelings for Delilah drive him to defy his father and lead to some actions that could mean the death of them both. He also loves his mother; I swear if you give some guy washboard abs, a dark history, some unforgivable crime and make him declare allegiance to a girl, and you have 95% of the genre easily.

Other characters such as The Prophet himself as a hypocrite or Noah Monroe who is desperate for some semblance of a family and Grace the Head Spinner who I would take to be like Aunt Lydia from The Handmaid’s Tale only younger. We also have a slight bit of politics and heroics from everyone including other maidens and spinners and the network that keeps such an organization intact and running smoothly.

So why four stars and not five, other than my usual ranting, raving, carrying on about the general state of this genre the sex was kept somewhat to a minimum, only a pair of maidens I believe losing their virginity. I should add a spoiler alert but if you want to know if you should read this; if you don’t get offended by those who take God in vain or want a break from seeing what churches honestly do and would instead imagine it, or if you like dark erotica, then please have at it.

As I’ve already said there is a lack of sex, here I was expecting an orgy, but the maidens must know virtue to a certain extent for any prospective buyers, so don’t set your hopes so high but the tease is worth it. The Prophet is a typical bad guy, on the one hand, he spouts all the religious doctrine to rule but he is like any other leader wanting the money and the power that comes from his position, but we’re supposed to be figuring Adam out anyway. Delilah with her quest doesn’t quite have a plan besides her work learning about the compound, seeking who she needs to know and payback but how will this bring all of Heavenly down on them?

Some of my favorite parts are near the end, that’s not a bad thing, but they keep you on the edge of everything else, and you have one more chance to turn away; ready, READY, okay when Adam and Delilah have sex so she won’t lose her virginity to The Prophet. There is also the escape attempt of the maidens from the compound that I couldn’t put down; I was as hooked as Adam was keeping Delilah from her freedom. Other than the sex there was the touching moment between Adam and Noah; I did say no dogs, but Noah has a lizard and a cat not that The Prophet wouldn’t kill them too, showing that Noah has a heart like Adam and if animals die, so help me God.

To think this isn’t my first read from Celia Aaron, I’ve also read “Dark Protector” another four out of five stars like this, always on the edge of glory and what will I give “The Prophet” which is the second book in “The Cloister Trilogy.” Until then my mother would be happy to know I’m back in the church but probably not this one but with such pretty girls and a man here or there I can relate to truthfully Hey There Delilah, My Maiden.