Dark Side of the Cloth

The Righteous, Book 1

By: Brooklyn Cross

Narrated by: Martin Martinez, Ivy Wilde

He didn't believe in flowers, but he would hunt down everyone that ever hurt her.

Groomed from birth to take over the Cartel, darkness was all Dean knew. Except that he had no interest in running a gang, and even less in being the next El Chapo like his abusive father.

So, he ran.

That’s when the Army found him. He was highly sought after for his unique skill set, and quickly became a valued member. Finally, he found a place where he belonged, until the righteous came knocking with an opportunity for a new life. So, he put on the priest collar and settled into the small town, happy with his new beginning.

Then, he saw Yasmine Jacobs.

Wracked with survivors guilt, Yasmine struggled to put that dreadful night behind her. She tried to move on and take over the family business. She thought her life was fine the way it was. That is, until the new priest, Dean O’Sullivan came into town. Confession was supposed to cleanse her soul, not damn her for the thoughts running through her mind.

How long would she be able to deny her basic primal instincts, when circumstance kept pushing them together?

But who exactly was the forbidden fruit?

©2022 Brooklyn Cross (P)2023 Brooklyn Cross

I Must Confess...I Enjoyed This!

Fans of the series Dexter will probably enjoy "Dark Side of the Cloth"....instead of a forensic investigator it's a priest that hunts seriously evil people. I love that that this title was performed in duet style and I liked that it had sound effects to increase my listening experience. Both Martin Martinez and Ivy Wilde are new to me and I liked them enough to seek out more of their work. This is my 2nd Brooklyn Cross title and I am ready to devour anything she produces.

4 starz - I would listen again

Forgive me father… for I am obsessed!!

3rd person/dual pov
Spice: 4/5

I am so glad I finally started this book! When I saw the audio was out I grabbed it right away.

The way the book starts showed me real quick how much this story was going to grab me and pull me in. It’s dark and tragic but with a little bit of light shining on a possible happy ending off in the distance. Yasmine’s character pulled at my heart with all the pain she’s experienced at such a young age on top of the domino effect it caused on the rest of her life. I took an instant liking to her and adored her relationship with Mabel.

But our “man of the cloth” Dean blew me away. His flashbacks to his past sometimes made my stomach turn knowing what his father put him through as a kid. Combine that with the hellacious situations he found himself in while serving in the military and I’m quite shocked he turned out as good of a man as he did. He’s kind when he needs to be or with someone he cares for and ruthless when it comes to his punishments. I applaud the work he does and I have to say some of the punishments were very creative and nicely done. 😆

Now this book gets to some spice fairly quickly haha, I truly wasn’t expecting it when it did happen even if it was just a sprinkle of spice. It made for a very awkward and funny moment between the two main characters the first time we see them interacting. Throughout the rest of the book that steam gets built up the more, they’re around each other. The tension grows as they keep pushing at the lines between them and fighting their internal battles over whether or not they should give in to their temptations. Every time they blur that line it just got hotter. I can never look at a confessional the same way again haha that was top-tier right there. Dean switches from the collected neighborhood holy man to a dominating and passionate lover flawlessly. It really made those spicy moments just a tad spicier in my opinion.

I also like the way the religious aspect was written into the story. You’ve got moments where there is a sermon, funeral, or other priestly duties that were described in ways that are familiar and you could see them playing out in the real world exactly like that. Then on the other hand you had moments where Dean spoke of religion in pretty thought-provoking ways. Asking questions or making statements that at some point I’m sure most of us have had or thought of as well. But never in my life did I think a man reciting anything about the Bible during any form of foreplay would be as sinfully hot as it was in this book. Talk about a jaw-drop moment - I was panting through fits of giggling with that one lol!

The audio for this was freaking phenomenal as well. Not only did the narrators give an EPIC performance to all of the characters they portrayed but the sound effects that were added in were an amazing extra touch. They really helped set the tone of some scenes and/or heightened the emotions they were meant to convey. It turns listening to a book from simply reading a story to an immersive experience. So yes the audiobook is highly recommended!!

Now due to the nature of this story, the content is pretty dark. Brooklyn does not shy away from details and paints very vivid and clear pictures of what the characters are seeing, smelling, feeling, etc. It is imperative if you have any triggers to read through the TW first before diving right in. And if you’re listening to the audio be prepared for some things to be more emotional than if you were just reading it. When I say these narrators get into these characters I am not exaggerating, and again they excelled at this performance. It’s one thing to read about a character breaking down but to hear their voice and the pain or heartache in it well it just hits different.

I cannot wait to continue with this series and see where it leads next.

Unfortunately no

The story feels all over the place, The spice feels out of place, and this whole story just doesn’t flow smoothly.

The performance was a no for me, the FMC was too breathy, even during normal interaction with other characters and the MMC was awkward at times.