Guest Review by Day_Zeee: Light and Wine by Sparrow AuSoleil

by Sarah Reads - 7:00 PM

Author: Sparrow AuSoleil
Title: Light and Wine
Release Date: June 25, 2014

What’s set Marc apart forever is also what’s brought him and Lacie together.

He's spent his entire life searching for and studying love, but Heaven on Earth with hazel eyes and a teenage heart has taught him more than any book, mission, or seminary ever could. While she struggles with accepting what she's always had, he guards her path and guides her soul toward the most enduring kind of love.

Faith isn't always believing in something you can't see. Sometimes faith is embracing what's been right before your eyes all along.

Between stolen candy and soft surrender, centuries-old sacraments and a brand new day, this is a story about two people accepting God’s greatest gift, even if no one else will.

Guest Review by @Day_Zeee

Rating: 5 of 5 Hearts

Before I begin, let me just put out there that this book isn't going to be for everybody. Some people have hard limits when it comes to mixing religion in with romance, and that's fine, I get it. Then there are those who like the forbidden romances, the taboo stories, if you are one of them- read on and then go pick up this book!!

"The love we carry flows with His divinity. It's a gift and it's more than strong. It's tempting."

What’s set Marc apart forever is also what’s brought him and Lacie together.

He's spent his entire life searching for and studying love, but Heaven on Earth with hazel eyes and a teenage heart has taught him more than any book, mission, or seminary ever could. While she struggles with accepting what she's always had, he guards her path and guides her soul toward the most enduring kind of love.

Faith isn't always believing in something you can't see. Sometimes faith is embracing what's been right before your eyes all along.

Between stolen candy and soft surrender, centuries-old sacraments and a brand new day, this is a story about two people accepting God’s greatest gift, even if no one else will.

This story is so beautifully written that as I was reading it, I was highlighting like a madwoman and realized that it was going to be almost impossible to narrow down my excerpts for a review! The authors have written this forbidden love story between Father Marc and Lacie so poetically that I felt compelled to go back and re-read the entire book just so that I could savor every word.

"Years of unfulfilled yearning stirred and strengthened by this afternoon's confession rolls through me. Silent and unabated, it settles in my chest and palms and hips, and makes every cell of me yearn for precious love."

I know what it's like to yearn for love, so it was easy to understand how Father Marc feels. He has love for his parishioners, and love for his God, but he knows that something is missing. Something that is fulfilled when he is with Lacie, and although their romance is forbidden and wrong, I love the way that he worships at her alter like she is his last communion. He is completely devoted to her and it is beautiful, and if you can get past the fact that he is a teacher and she is his student, and also that he is her priest (double whammy I know!), and just read the words for what they are; you will see exactly what I am talking about. Love.

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"I close my eyes and fold my hands behind my head, abiding the impulse to palm and press against physical yearning that aches and remembers. With my chest covering hers, I could feel Lacies's heart pounding to feel me where I was, between and above and sliding along for the first time. Dazed and desirous eyes opened wider under mine as I remained amazed and attentively still, and she lifted her hips up, parting her lips around the sound of need. "oh..." Her breath was back and her voice was high, and I wanted to ask if she was sure. I didn't want to open the most priceless gift either of us had ever been given until she was certain it was for me, that it had always been, but before I could find words, her right hand slid to my lower back and she pressed. She arched against me, and I could feel her chest barely containing beats that kicked and pushed, struggling to bring us together. God help me, I pushed, too. And just like that, she opened to me, and her yielding flooded my veins with heat and shock and the need for more, for all of her."

This is a relatively quick read. I got through the entire book in a couple hours, but don't let that discourage you from picking it up. My heart was racing as I read through each page because it was sexy, and I kept wondering and worrying that they were going to get busted, is somebody watching them, does anyone have any clues that this is happening, etc.

I recommend it to everyone that enjoys romance, the poetic writing style has me seriously in love with the author and impatiently awaiting her next release. I wouldn't be opposed to reading a part 2 of this novella (HINT HINT to the author if you're reading this). :) Just remember, I got dibs on Father Marc so you better not be claiming him as your bbf!

A thousand miles apart but together in devotion, Sparrow AuSoleil is driven by a desire to embrace love's madness as well as its miracles. Aiming to honor love in all its forms, from tender to taboo, they've written several collaborations together in addition to their individual work.

Inspired by a photograph, Light and Wine was passed back and forth for over a year. Written only while both halves of Sparrow AuSoleil were present in love's focus, it grew in restaurant booths and on long bus rides, underneath blankets and over the moon. It is the first published effort for both writers.