Tiffanie has lived a sheltered life is caught between two men -- one with a shady past and the other is out for revenge. Trey and Damon are childhood best friends that were caught up in the drug business. One left the business and the other stayed and ended up doing time. Damon is thrilled to have Trey back and hopes to bring his best friend into his business, Trey has other plans.

And in the end, there will only be one man standing...

This is a well written book that includes love, forgiveness, revenge and murder. The hero Damon. and heroine, Tiffanie are both caught up in a web of revenge that stems from their past. Great read from author Murray. I recommend it.

I was very ambivalent when I started reading this book because Tiffanie got on my nerves. I had to remember she was young, new to all aspects of a relationship and Damien was more mature in all aspects. As the story progressed I experienced a range of emotions, anticipation, fear, anger and hope that Tiffanie would realize she was being played. After focusing on Tiffanie I came to realize that I was fearful for her for another reason, Damien, the quiet storm. When I finished the book all my concern was for Tiffanie, no woman should be placed on a pedestal and hope to have a healthy relationship. I would recommend this book to others because it is well written, great characters and a huge OMG moment.

I enjoyed this book! Very relatable but gives us a lesson on lust and being human.

The Devil comes in all kinds of packages, sometimes he's comes disguised as a brother friend.

Damon and Trey are childhood friends separated by common sense. Back in the day they ran the streets together dealing in narcotics. Damon always had a plan to get out and go legitimate. Damon's father tried to impart his street wisdom to both young men ... "Anybody who plays to stay deserves to go down." Trey thought the good times would last forever -- without consequences -- he was wrong.

Now it's years later -- Trey is just out of jail but instead of being grateful for his fresh start he is fueled by revenge falsely thinking that he was betrayed by Damon. Damon's fiancee Tiffanie has heard all about Trey and doesn't like him but upon her first glimpse of him she feels an undeniable attraction and she is soon consumed with thoughts of him.

Though I didn't buy into the entire story line nor all the actions and reactions of the characters -- they just didn't ring true to me -- I still enjoyed reading Lust.

With revealing and introspective first-person narration, the plot follows conventional methods. The characters are skillfully delineated in the exposition; the central conflict lies within the Tiffanie herself as she considers using her body to gain intimacy and only later realizes that this supposed sexual satisfaction is, in fact, exacting a heavy price. The reader is taken steadily toward a moment of truthfulness, when she finally reveals the reason for her pain. The story does not ends abruptly, though there is a denouement that satisfies and leaves one believing in the power confronting evil. Moreover, readers are left wondering if she has confronted the very thing she fears.

Despite intentions to remain emotionally removed from their story, Tiffanie and Damon move subtly into self-reflection. Each begins searching for understanding and meaning. Though, she languishes in sorrow and he embraces rationality, if only momentarily. This more honest tone takes over the story as Tiffanie’s mood becomes confessional, revealing pain and loneliness rather than a flat recounting. Murray wants readers to see that for this sexually unsatisfied Christian wife, self-awareness follows and is a consequence of impetuous, self-damaging actions. Enter Trey, the novel’s antagonist and a scholar of the streets and lust. Tiffanie is faced with the ultimate choice. The choice between the hearth (home) or the furnace (Trey), and uncharacteristic of a preacher’s grandchild, she wants both. While managing to only share the details with her best friend, she begins to recoil from the destructive desire she develops for Trey. When Tiffanie realizes her love for Damon exceeds the confines of sexual fulfillment, she realizes she is merely the victim of her mother’s faults and almost curses the day she was born. Appearing to be a slave to lust and the mistress of repression, Tiffanie struggles between the two facets of her character. However, this pattern of restlessness, dissatisfaction, and emotional destruction continues until she finally realizes is happening.
What Murray seems to do in Lust is construct a kind of summary of sexuality, in which she attempts to integrate sex with other aspects of human experience. Moreover, lust is used here as a metaphor for the human condition. The human longing for relational passion is the central doctrine. It is a source of both aspiration and destruction, the most fundamental ingredient for survival and, in the struggle between license and restraint, the means by which human beings exercise their freedom.

Exquisitely and powerfully, Murray presents the story of a young woman’s effort to face a family secret that has held her emotionally hostage, preventing her from arriving at both sexual and romantic happiness.

Upon delving further into the story, I believe it portrays a dissatisfaction almost inherent in the lives of women – the inability to experience passion and peace and the ephemerality of marital (or relational bliss) in the midst of emotional turmoil. The explicitness and concern with a woman’s sexual satisfaction, and subsequent relinquishment of her heart, exists in Lust, but Murray is less intent on rendering the reader into shock through blatant exhibitionism.


Murray renders, though will all the delicacy and appropriateness required of Christian fiction readers, the reader to see Tiffanie as one of us. She is not a warped, lustful woman wrapped in her own self-imprisonment; but, a woman (our sister, daughter, or best friend) whose initial avoidance of love reveals the tragic-comic dimensions of our own lives and the subsequent effect of lust.

This one really boggled my mind ... I am not sure what the intent was with this book : was I supposed to feel any sympathy for Tiffanie at any moment of this story? I mean, really?? I am going to go on and say no cause there is no way this could have been the writer's intention seeing how just stupid the whole situation was. Like, I got it that the title of the book is "Lust", written in bold glittered letters. But if the whole plot is just about this woman lusting after some guy and then feeling all guilty about it and then ....nothing, I am not sure it needed to take more than 3 sentenced to get around it. I really could care less about "Tiff's" (ah) inner turmoil. Not that I hated her or found her despicable and all that finger-pointing and bible waving shaming that is supposed to be the social norm toward women in her situation. I actually thought she was a decent person, and my have been an interesting (flawed) character if not for the stupid plot she was put into. I was even a bit sad for her and wondered why on earth her so-called best friend hasn't advised her to do the first and only thing she should have done the minute she realized what was happening (even before Trey landed in there): talk to Damon and go see a freaking counselor. I mean there is no shame in seeking counsel from someone whose job is tu actually do that. And I am sure since Damon loved her so much he would have ended up listening and going with her. But I guess we would had missed the utter stupidity that was this story so...In the end, the only feeling I could muster from any one of those two is some pity : for Damon, who, except for the many time he called woman "female (ugh!), sounded and acted like a great guy (...until he did not) who didn't deserved to be treated the way he was (being lied and betrayed by people he trusted; and for Tiffanie who looked and sounded like a decent character trapped into a bad B romance novel. Trey being just a non-character I assumed I wasn't supposed to feel anything for him and so I didn't. also the ending was just...what was it supposed to be again? Like am I supposed to believe that those two are now just gonna be happy ever after, now that they've decided to keep lying to each other and literally burying their problem rather than face them and try and work at resolving them? Yeah, right....

VCM has penned an intriguing novel that touches on desire, faith, family, forgiveness and friendship. The story was a page turner from cover to cover. The characters & situations are relatable. Each page keeps you wanting to turn to the next.

There's a saying, "Lust tends to be more about me." Somebody should have shared this with Tiffanie before she became infatuated and filled with desire for her husbands best friend. Trey is out for revenge and the best way to stick it to his best friend Damon is by getting with his wife. Shouldn't these adults know better? This is a fast paced read that everyone is sure to enjoy, five stars!!

Definitely something different from Victoria Christopher Murray. I welcome change and I'm looking forward to the other books in the Seven Deadly Sins series. Tiffanie, was a bit too weak for me and her constant need to blame for response to temptation on other grated my nerves. Girl, just own your stuff, you wanted that man. More attention could have been given to character development, but overall, it was a good read.

First of all, Victoria Christopher Murray is the queen of the opening sentence and she brings it again in Lust, the first of the Seven Deadly Sins series. After reading Lust, I am convinced Victoria Christopher Murray is a writer chameleon. I think she could write any genre she chooses, and do it well. A+ for the descriptions, the jargon, the authenticity of the characters. This is Bold writing.
As the title suggests, Lust is a gripping, highly sensual read. Ladies, keep your legs pressed close and the fan on high, because this is Grown Folks Business. A key lesson is that even when we know better and want to do better, our baser urges takes over and we can either ride it or fight it. Those of us who know how to truly fight temptation are without excuse. We also know there are consequences. The question is, can we live with them?
My absolute favorite scene was how Damon handled his business. He handled it well. Trust. There was only a minor minor interaction that I didn't think was needed for such a strong page-turner, but why am I nitpicking when a book delivers?
A question to consider: Is there a difference between lust and love and do we confuse the two?
A Couple of favorite quotes from Lust:
"The truth always end up shining bright when you watched and waited."
"...whether the devil is outside or whether he has wormed his way inside, he is defeated."
*** I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review.