This is the 3rd book in the Nolans series by Andie J. Christopher which can be read as a complete standalone. With that said, I highly recommend you read the first two because, in my opinion you get so much more out of this book and the character development that way (but again, totally not necessary). I do not have the words to express how much I loved this book and appreciated how even a taboo subject was handled with such grace and care while still being super engaging.

Andie J. Christopher gave us a swoony, angsty, steamy, will then/won’t they forbidden romance that had me not he edge of my seat and I’m here for it.

This book follows Sasha Finerghty and Father Patrick Dooley. Sasha is a competent, beautiful, good girl on the outside but she has a rebellious side waiting to get out. Years after taking his vows, Patrick begins to question his life’s path especially when Sasha is in his presence. These two have palpable chemistry that can’t be acted on so the reader enjoys a fun push pull of their relationship with a lot of internal monologues and long looks that heated up the pages.

I truly enjoyed catching up with the entire cast of characters with the glimpses we got of them in this book which felt like I got an extra epilogue on those stories. I also loved the new character that was introduced in this story, Sister Cortana who stole a few scenes with how her personality jumps off the page.

I am extremely hopeful that there will be a fourth book because now I want to know what is next for this couple as well as some of their single friends!

The premise of the story of a priest and layperson falling in love was intriguing. I just didn't connect with it, especially with clergy who curse in the first several pages. I guess I wanted less of a Fleabag and more of Call the Midwife? Just wasn't for me. DNF

This is the third book in Andie Christopher's Nolans series, and I could not be more excited. These books are definitely standalone, but there are spoilers for the HEAs in the other books in this one.
Heres the synopsis for Hot Under His Collar: He’s forbidden fruit and she’s a rule follower, but their connection is something to believe in.

Father Patrick Dooley joined the clergy to fulfill his mother's dying wish. While it once gave him purpose, he not so sure it’s his calling anymore. But it’s all he’s ever known and he’s not sure what he wants to do with his life if he decides to leave the priesthood. How can he reconcile his faith with his growing desire to live a different life?

Sasha Finerghty was content to admire Patrick from afar while she dated men who were perfect on paper and wrong in real life. But with Patrick’s church in need of funding to keep a community program afloat, she’s just the girl to solve their fundraising problem. Spending more time together only fuels Sasha’s crush on him, who finds a kindred soul in her.

The more Patrick gets to know Sasha, the easier it is for him to see a future unfolding for them. But it will take a leap of faith to turn their friendship into something more, and neither of them are quite ready to make the jump.

For those of us fully living in the Nolan's world, this book is something of a departure. Sasha and Patrick might be thrown together but they aren't new to each others world and they've always had something of a spark between them. Patrick being a priest has always stood like a great barrier reef between them. I like that neither of them really pushed the attraction until they sensed the other might be interested. I like that Sasha never asks Patrick to leave the church and we see Patrick struggling with his place and and faith before Sasha comes around. This book deals with religion a bit and for a southern Baptist like me it was an altogether unfamiliar world, but I found it respectful and a good acknowledgement of the pros and cons of the Catholic church and the preisthood as a whole.

I sincerely hope Christopher isn't done writing the stories in this world, cause everytime I read one I am one step closer to believing I might be the kind of girl someone marries.

**I recited an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
I have to say up front that I adore Andre J Christopher. Her drunk romance history videos are spectacular. I’ve also listened to her speak on several author event panels and she is amazing.
Now don’t em to this book. It was hard for me to get into this story. I have read taboo stories with Priests before but this book didn’t feel like that. My brain was having a hard time finding a space for it. You have these two really lovely people with issues who are drawn to one another. They both acknowledge it’s wrong but they cannot stay out of each other’s orbit.
Patrick made the priesthood his vocation. Mostly because his mom was sick and she wanted a priest in the family. When my brain finally clicked to “oh he took the wrong job”, I was able to connect to him easier.
Sasha has a shitty family. They say and do really awful things to her and she chalks it up to them looking out for her. They aren’t. Her parents are toxic and it takes therapy and reflection for her to understand that they are not good for her.
I loved the found family and the push and pull. There were no rash decisions. They made some mistakes but overall it felt really authentic to the characters.

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Hot Under His Collar by
@authorandiej & it was SO good. Good girl heroine w/ naughty wishes. Catholic priest (!) who pines for her despite his vows. So much yearning & chemistry for days! A+ dialogue, wild family drama, & fun side characters.

I had waiting for Patrick and his story with Sasha did not disappoint. A slow burn of perfection. Yeah, just perfection!

Woohoo! Now we get the Fr Patrick and Sasha story...
Sasha is the black sheep of her uptown, wealthy family- she tries to fake as much as possible for family ties, but a girl can only take so much. No way will she marry a boring, rich douchebag like her sisters just to make mommy happy. When she laid eyes on swarmy Fr Patrick Dooley...her heart and panties were on fire. The man is untouchable though...
Fr Patrick has taken an oath to the church and that includes chastity. So when it comes to sweet Sasha- his faith is tempted to the limits. What would his mother (God bless her soul) think of him having impure thoughts of this woman?
When working on a fundraiser to keep his pre-K at the church running- the two are in constant contact...can they keep their feelings in check? Or does God have different plans for their hearts?

I don’t know about y’all but I loved the “Hot Priest” plotline in Fleabag so when I saw this book I was excited! 📢📢📢 However, I wish I had lower my expectations a little bit or had simply realized that this wasn't going to be Fleabag 2.0.

My main problem with this book was that it was A LOT of telling and not showing. We were told repeatedly that these two characters had this intense chemistry and attraction towards each other, but like where ? 👀 I didn’t see it. I enjoyed this book but I wish I had gone in with lower expectations and that’s completely on me.

If you’re thinking about picking this book up, DO IT 👏🏼 get that taboo romance reading 👏🏼

Andie J. Christopher made my Fleabag-loving heart sing with her edgy, witty, and heartfelt take on forbidden romance with a priest. Her scintillating and droll prose will hook you and keep you on your toes. If you like your romcoms naughty and deft, HOT UNDER HIS COLLAR is the book for you.

So this book exists, and I'm not really sure why it was necessary. The only good thing I found in this was that the author called out some of the failings of the Catholic Church. Father Patrick Dooley is "not like other priests" because he works at a bar and swears and drinks and supports divorce and does all kinds of things priests shouldn't do. As a character, his relationship with religion was the most interesting thing about him. He joined the church because he was heartbroken and it was the dying wish of his devout mother, much to the chagrin of his atheist father who owns a bar. Sasha Finerghty dates everyone she can in order to stop thinking about Father Patrick, but of course, all of her attempts to do so only bring the two closer together because he sees all the dates she goes on - at his father's bar. Sasha, with a self proclaimed kink for authority figures, has her own set of issues with her wild family and is upset with the man she's dating (literally only to avoid her feelings for her priest) tells her he's separated and in the middle of a divorce. The pacing was weird, and I found so many of the lines of dialogue cheesy and so so cringey. Lastly, I am not Catholic and 100% do not understand how the religion and priesthood function, but while discussing this story with a Catholic friend while reading, I'm pretty sure the author got some key elements wrong.

Thank you so much Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Although this book can be read as a standalone, it is the third book of the Andie J. Christopher series. In my opinion, it's better read in order, because you get a better appreciate for Sasha and Patrick's relationship and how they've changed as people since the beginning of the series.

Hot Under His Collar follows event planner Sasha as she struggles with her year-long crush on Father Patrick Dooley. On top of it, she deals with an overbearing mother, where outward appearances are everything, and your true self needs to be kept deep down. Father Patrick Dooley feels bound to the wish he granted his dying mother that he would enter the priesthood. Ten years later, as his feelings develop for Sasha, he starts to question it all. When the pair start working closely to raise money to save the pre-K program that is near to Patrick's heart, they have a hard time denying the sparks that are flying. Are their sinful and taboo desires strong enough to turn their backs on everything they believe in for the chance of true love?

I've loved Sasha and Patrick's characters since the beginning of the series, so I loved that book delved more into their backgrounds and their "why" of their public selves. The author does a great job in the first two books depicting Sasha as someone perfectly put together, prim and proper, but beneath she doubts heavily and is riddled with uncertainty about her self worth, which is so relatable. So many of us lead private lives that are very separate from our public lives and I liked that Sasha struggled with that throughout the book. Also, there is a ton of mystery in the first two books as to why Patrick entered the ministry, so I was glad to know the backstory and his motivations. It also shed some light on how lonely his vocation is for him, despite helping others and always being around people in some capacity.

Because the book deals with forbidden love and the Catholic faith, it might rub some readers the wrong way. I liked how the book explores the theme of questioning the connection of faith and the church. It examines Patrick's struggle with his calling to help, but seeing the corrupt underlying issues of money, power, and primitive hierarchy. I also liked how Patrick did push the traditional Catholic views when it came to LBGTQ+ issues and leading with your heart, rather than antiquated rules.

The true star of the book was Sister Cortona, who saw through Patrick's crap and called it on him. I loved her comedic timing, how she knew absolutely EVERYTHING going on and the secret she's kept for years had my heart melting for her.

I really enjoyed the book, but I did like the first two books more.

4.5 stars

A romance novel for lovers of romance novels. The average person who picks this up will not enjoy it, but romance readers will devour it. This book is the third in Andie J. Christopher’s Nolans series and I highly highly highly recommend reading the other books in the series before this one. The characters in the first two books feature frequently in this book. I read the first two almost a year ago and I found I couldn’t remember who was who. That being said, I found this book to be an absolute delight.

I know that for some, the idea of a book with a Priest as the hero could be a turnoff or seem sacrilegious. I’ve watched Season 2 of Fleabag about 10 times so I have no such issues. Now, I am not Catholic, I’m a Mormon, so this book wasn’t putting my religion and its issues in the spotlight. However, was able to empathize with Patrick because his issues with the Catholic Church are some of the same issues I have with my religion. Despite Patrick being a Priest, I don’t think I would consider this an inspirational romance.

I love love love Sasha. I love that she takes a 1000 piece puzzle to a bar. I love that she takes Patrick on a non-date to the Art Institute to see an exhibition with pieces from the Met Gala when they did the Catholicism theme because The Art Institute of Chicago is amazing in and of itself but Heavenly Bodies is literally the Greatest Art Exhibit I have ever seen. I love that when she walks into a meeting with Patrick and a Sister Cortona her first instinct is to curtsey to the nun. I also really liked Patrick. As noted above above I found him and his religious struggle empathetic. I also liked how dedicated he is to his family.

If the above wasn’t good enough I loved all the random pop culture references. I am a stickler about pop culture references in books because sometimes there are so many the book ends up feeling dated even if I’m reading it around its release. This book perfectly bends the references into the book so they feel natural. There are references to everything from Mean Girls to Derry Girls to Good Bye Earl. Perhaps the absolute best is the direct reference to Dreaming of you by Lisa Kleypas and its infamous hero Derick Craven. These references just filled me with delight.

Honestly this is probably a three star book. I had some issues with the pacing and the ending seemed very very rushed, but the little details just tickled me and made me bump it up a star. I’m not sure if there is going to be a fourth in the series, but if there is, I will happily read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hot Under His Collar is Andie J Christopher’s third book in a loosely connected series following a group of friends in Chicago as they navigate love in the city. Hot Under His Collar specifically looks at Father Dooley and his best friend’s wife’s best friend Sasha. Sasha may play the part of stereotypical Catholic good girl but in reality she is anything but-- she can’t stand her toxic family, she doesn’t believe in God, and she is in love with a frocked Catholic priest. But, at least her wedding planning business is going well! When she agrees to collaborate with Patrick she doesn’t anticipate how all of this extra time together will impact their relationship… and make him seem even more irresistible. Unfortunately for both of them, they are incredibly off limits to each other! I really enjoyed reading this book. Both of the main characters were so complex and it was really entertaining to watch them try and fight their attraction to each other for almost the whole book. This book is seriously slow burn-- you’ve been warned! I found the writing a bit repetitive but the story is engaging overall and it was definitely a unique concept. If you are religious you should be warned that you may find some of the content offensive. I would also recommend avoiding if death of a parent or fat shaming are triggers for you!

Hello forbidden love! This book had my attention from the first page to the last. I loved how easy it was to root for the characters to be together. Yes, this story has some aspects of “instant love” but it’s insinuated in the book that the main characters have known each for a while...so it’s not instant in the same way as they just met today and are in love. This love/like/lust for each has been simmering for a while, but it just can’t happen. Or can it?? I thought the steam in this book was very good, and the connection between the characters was almost really intense. If you do not practice the Catholic religion, I think this book offers a lot of learning points about the religion as well. The MC family is pretty awful, so that could be triggering for some people, especially the way her mother hones in on the qualities of a “good Catholic girl.” I think the story was well-written and engaging, and I felt like this was a solid romance!

I usually try and read my review books in order of release date, but sometimes, an ARC or e-galley lands in my lap and any self control goes out the window. Such was the case when Berkley Romance granted me "wish" to read an early digital ARC of Hot Under His Collar by Andie J. Christopher, a book I feel as if I've been waiting for from the first moment we met Father Patrick in Not the Girl You Marry.


I've thoroughly enjoyed all of Andie's romances (her heroines are boss ass bitches, and her heroes are YUM), but I suspect Hot Under His Collar might be my favorite one yet.


It's also worth noting that I read this book in less than 48 hours, which is the fastest I've finished a book since my twins were born last May. But this book just demanded my attention, and the sizzling tension between Patrick and Sasha was too much to resist. I wanted to spend every waking moment with them, and I loved every moment of it.


Seriously, the sexual tension oozes off of every page, and the chemistry between Father Patrick and Sasha is palpable. Hot Under His Collar is temptingly taboo, but it never felt disrespectful or dismissive of Patrick's faith or his religious calling. (But I'm hardly one to judge, so take that with a grain of salt.) The build up to their inevitable couple was intense, but my god, is the wait worth it. Every moment between Patrick and Sasha felt like both a tease and a promise, and the payoff is deliciously good.


I also loved that I couldn't wholly predict where everything was going. Sure, I knew our couple was headed towards their HEA ... but how? What would their obstacles ultimately be? Who would help them and who would hinder them? Their relationship was frought with challenges and I was just never quite sure where the curve balls would come from.


Just writing this review, and thinking about this book again, I'm more certain than ever that this is definitely my favorite of Andie's books to date. I already per-ordered a shiny finished copy of Hot Under His Collar, and I look forward to diving in for a re-read as soon as it lands in my greedy little hands.

Forbidden love takes center stage in the newest installment of Andie J. Christopher’s romcom series about a group of close-knit family and friends.

Sasha Finerghty has got it bad for hot priest Father Patrick Dooley. She’s been fine lusting after him from afar for that past few years, but when he needs help saving the church’s Pre-K program, Sasha’s event planning business steps in to help. Father Patrick is questioning his faith. He became a priest to fulfill his mother’s dying wish, but when he no longer feels connected to what was once important to him, and instead feels connected to what he can’t have, Sasha and Patrick embark on a journey to fill both of their lives with more meaning.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were easy to root for and their attraction to each other was made clear pretty much right off the bat. I would have liked to see their emotional connection develop a little more, but it was insinuated that they had known each other for a while, sharing the same friend group, so maybe there was some off-page friendship building that occurred. I am not really a religious person and don’t know much about Catholicism other that what is portrayed in the media so I can’t comment much on the handling of the religious aspects of the book, but I did appreciate that Patrick was trying to make progressive moves from within the church.

I did not care for Sasha’s family one bit. Her mother is horrific, her father is complacent and lets the mother be awful to Sasha, and the one sister that Sasha claims isn’t so bad is really still pretty awful. Her whole family is a mess, and I liked how Sasha stood up to them in the end. From a young age, Sasha’s mother had drilled into her what she thought a good Catholic girl should do. Get married to a Catholic man with money, have kids, and never, ever get divorced no matter how unhappy you are. I love that when faced with the decision of choosing who and what she wanted over what would please her mother, Sasha chose her own wants, familial consequences be damned. The relationship with her parents was toxic, and I like that she noped the heck out there.

The steam factor was pretty good on this one, although I thought when they got together it might have been a little higher than it actually was on page. Overall though this was a really fun and fast read!

*Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Once I saw that there would be another book in the Nolan’s series, and that it would be about Father Patrick and Sasha I had to try my luck and request an ARC from NetGalley. Success! I was approved.🎉

4/5 ⭐️
Christopher definitely has knack for romantic comedies with some surprising spice!! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with the topic of religion but I was pleasantly surprised and found the book enjoyable and well done. I am not an overly religious person so I cannot comment as to how this might read for others.

📚 Forbidden Romance
📚 Relatable Characters
📚 Family Drama
📚 Spicy

If you’re in the mood for a steamy, laugh out loud, rom-com, this book will hit the spot.

Thank you @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse @berkleypublishing for my #gifted e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Pub Date: 7/20/2021

#HotUnderHisCollar #AndieChristopher #authorandiej #NetGalley #penguinrandomhouse #spoilerfree #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookish #bibliophhile #booknerd #romancereaders #booksandwine #readersofinstagram #flippin_and_sippin_mn

I started reading romance novels as a way to heal from the trauma of growing up as a gay girl in the Catholic Church. So reading this book, which has a Catholic priest (Father Patrick) as its hero, was complicated for me. On the one hand, it is a book that is itself about healing from Catholic trauma and is doing a lot of work to try to unpack the very real harm that Catholicism does on both a micro and macro scale. On another, reading a book with an earnest defense of the Catholic Church was really hard.

Father Patrick believes that he can do good, progressive, inclusive work by operating within the system, and it’s part of why he stays in his position even when he begins to suspect that his vocation isn’t for him anymore. He is so driven to helping people, and he believes that he priesthood is the best way he can do that. In theory, this is very noble. In practice, though, and when faced with the actual trauma that the Church has inflicted that he is complicit in, it become hard to swallow, regardless of the secret, private work that he does.

This is a very Catholic book. In both of the characters, it is very invested in questions of guilt, rules, and the choices that make you a “good” and “bad” person. These are so very essentially culturally Catholic, Irish American themes, and it was so interesting to see them tackled in a romance novel. Sasha spends so much of the book grappling with her perception of herself as a “good girl” and her guilt about breaking the rules of her family and her culture, and I found this so relatable and complicated in a book about sex and Catholicism.

The first third of the book contained a lot of exposition, which made the prose feel strained at points. The plot was essentially a series of scenes set next to each other, and the story felt contrived at times in order to get Sasha and Patrick in the same place. This book is all internal conflict and for that reason, we don’t actually get the chance to watch them fall for each other. They are acquaintances-to-lovers, and they both have very lusty crushes on each other until we’re told that they love each other. I didn’t understand why he felt like she was “special”, and what they saw in each other that made them choose to overturn their whole lives. Because it is so internal, I don’t think this is a romcom, in that it’s not very funny. It’s high angst, high sexual tension, with not a lot of explicit sex on page. I also love the title!

I am really interested in the work that this book is trying to do in bringing explicit conversation about Catholicism into romance, I just think that the work is so hard that the book falls a little short in executing it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

Hot Under His Collar is one of the most chaotically sexy romances I've ever read. The sexual tension between Patrick and Sasha burns hot enough to scald. If you're a fan of forbidden romances, you need to put this on your to-read list ASAP. I also loved how Andie J. Christopher handled Catholicism and wrote a hero of faith who even I (an agnostic, pro-choice, LGBTQ reader) could root for. Probably my favorite book in the series!

I can not put into words how much I loved this book by an die! It falls in line with her other books as far as loving the characters and making you obsessed from page one!