Sins of the Father – Isabel Lucero

He comes to me through a lattice in a confessional booth in my church.

He’s brash, vulgar, and confessing to things that would send him to hell, and yet, I find myself intrigued by the mysterious man.

His sinful words thrill me. His way of life, so different from my own, has me coveting excitement that’s long been missing. The more I’m around him, the more I realize how long I’ve been deprived of so much, and the more my own deviance begins to emerge.

On paper, nothing about the two of us makes sense, and there are many reasons why I should keep my distance. I try to be pious, but if anyone were to find the skeletons in my closet, I’d be excommunicated from the church.

When something from my past reveals itself, I find myself being pulled into a way of life I didn’t think would be in my future, and now I straddle the line between right and wrong. Morality vs necessity.

I’m a priest. He’s a murderer. But we’re both sinners.

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Sins of the Father is a standalone novel by Isabel Lucero about a forbidden romance between a priest and a hitman.

Father Carlo’s world shifts when a mysterious man delivers a cheeky non‑confession that awakens desires he’s long suppressed. The man, Javier, returns with provocative questions, eventually meeting Carlo face‑to‑face. His shameless flirting leads Carlo to discover a hidden taste for kink, turning a self-flogging session into eroticism

Their affair is tested when Carlo’s estranged father summons him back to inherit a legacy he resists. With threats to Carlo’s life and unaware of their connection, Carlo’s father hires Javier as his bodyguard. Determined to protect his priest, Javier finds himself caught between loyalty and love.

From their first faceless encounter in the confessional to the explosive finale, Javi and Carlo’s chemistry is electric. Carlo folds rather quickly, understandable, given his resolved is not iron-clad, having been forced into priesthood by a father who rejected his sexuality.

While Carlo struggled, we are spare much of the woes about faith and sexuality by having our priest go on a sabbatical and thus free to sow his oats with clear conscience. Javi, delighted to have a bonafide priest, had plenty of fun with the priestly vestments. Despite it being kinky, their connection is also surprisingly tender, genuine and deep.

Javi, a Latino hitman who hires his services to the mafia, shares a close bond with Carlo’s father, whom he’s also tasked to protect though has no idea of their familial ties. While some twists are predictable, the revelation of Carlo’s identity still lands with impact, especially told through Carlo’s perspective, where we only glimpse Javi’s reactions.

The mafia subplot is as compelling as the romance, as we witness Carlo’s transformation from reluctant priest to newly appointed heir amid gunfire and betrayal. Their father and son reconciliation is bittersweet, adding weight to the story’s emotional core.

Though Carlo trades one shackle for another, he ultimately embraces his legacy and really came to his own here with a violent yet liberating resolution, in a move worthy of Michael Corleone.

Sins of the Father is a story of fallen apples that are ripe for the taking. Dark, sensual, and irreverent, overall, it proves that forbidden fruits are worth the fall!

Rating
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

Soundtrack: Sin
Artist: Nyline
Album:

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