REVIEW: The Virgin by Tiffany Reisz

The Virgin by Tiffany Reisz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So sum it up: For years, Kingsley Edge warned Eleanor the day would come when she, the mistress of a well-respected Catholic priest, would have to run and hide. She always imagined if that day came she'd be running away with Søren. But instead, she's running from him.

Knowing Søren and Kingsley will their use their influence to bring her back, Eleanor alone, penniless and scared takes refuge at the one place the men in her life cannot follow: the abbey where her mother has taken orders. Behind the cloistered gates of the convent, Eleanor hides from the man she loves and hates in equal measure

She cannot, however, hide from her true nature. When Eleanor befriends a young virginal nun, she faces a startling sexual awakening. But Eleanor can't stay forever, and the lure of her real life beckons beyond the locked gates. But to follow her fate means to leave Kyrie behind, a sacrifice Eleanor refuses to make

The lure of the forbidden. The temptation to sin. The price of passion has never been higher, and Eleanor will have to pay it if she ever wants to go home again.

***ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

Word of warning: If you've yet to read any of the books in this series, I would highly recommend that you don't read this review any further. I won't give any spoilers away in terms of this particular book, but it's going to be hard to write this review without giving away incidents that have previously happened.

With that being said, I have to say that I enjoyed this story much better than it's predecessor, The King. If you're familiar with the other books in this series, then you know that once upon a time Nora left Søren. In this particular story, we find out not only what happened to bring Nora to the point of walking away from her entire world, but what also brought her back. Intertwined in the book as well, is Kingsley's story of how he met his Juliette- Both aspects that definitely didn't disappoint.

I have to be honest here... Even though I was seriously excited to start this book, I was a little hesitant going in only because The King was such a big let-down for me. God, it hurts my heart to even say that since I've loved every book in this series but unfortunately, that one didn't really do it for me like the others did. All doubts aside though, it's a known fact that every Tiffany Reisz book related to this series is an auto-buy for me so despite being initially skeptical, I was still ready to dive in head first and hope it was worth the read. Needless to say, I was beyond happy with how it turned out.

So many gaps that were left in The Original Sinners books were explained in this story, that I never even realized I was missing. Everything just came together so perfectly, only enhancing the series altogether and in the best kind of way. So as I mentioned before, this book gave us a look into both Nora and Kingsley's world the most- We learned all about Nora's time away from her beloved Søren... And while I did enjoy this aspect of the story, I couldn't help but wish for more time spent with the two of them together. I understood why that couldn't happen, but it didn't stop me from wishing it all the same. Intertwined throughout Nora's time away from the only world she's ever known, we also come to understand Kingsley's desires on an entirely new level. We're able to see how much he truly craves for the family that he once lost, while never letting go of the undying love he felt for the one man who's held a special place in his heart in the process.

It amazes me how we can come to love these characters even more than we once did. With each new chapter in their lives we learn a special new detail about them, and see them in a light that is beyond what we could have ever imagined- I can honestly say without a doubt that these characters are ones that I’ll never tire of. The Virgin was beautifully written, and it was such an experience to be apart of every aspect that this story entailed. I can only say that I can’t wait to see the story that we’ll get with The Queen.