Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an Arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'd give this 3.5 stars. Though it was certainly not my favorite Sierra Simone book (cough, Priest, cough) it was still entertaining and well worth the read.

You can always count on Sierra Simone to turn up the spice level and get your blood boiling.
I loved the diversity representation such as different races, culture, and sexuality. There is a lot of bi-awakening in this book and I feel as though it did it justice.

Very alluring, very spicy, and yummy!

Well done, Sierra.

I knew Sierra Simone was known for her bold storytelling, and when I read the tropes, high-heat, gothic, dark academia fairy tale filled with lantern-lit rituals, foggy moors, and obsessions that last for a lifetime, I knew I needed to read it, so I didn't hesitate to request the book.

This story starts when twelve years ago Proserpina Markham left Thornchapel and the two boys she gave her heart to behind. Now Proserpina has returned, hopeful and wary, drawn back into the world of the seductive and elegant Auden Guest and into the orbit of his worst enemy, St. Sebastian Martinez. The beautiful and brooding St. Sebastian is as irresistible as ever, and Auden is just as handsome and arrogant, leaving the three of them hopelessly entangled by the hasty promise they made all those years ago. As Thornchapel slowly tightens its coil of truths and lies around them, the reluctant threesome starts unraveling into a mix of filthy, holy pleasure and pain, awakening a centuries-old fate that will either bloom like a rose or destroy them all.

The story grabs you and will not let you go. I loved the pace and the angst between the three main characters, and I would recommend not starting this book at night because it kept me up reading late (and I love my beauty sleep), but I simply had to know what happened next.

I do, however, feel a little deceived. From the book description, I knew there would be three characters entangled in a love story, but I did not expect another three to join the party. As the story progresses and Thorne Manor casts its magic over the characters, a lot of things happen, and in my humble opinion, the other three characters felt a little extra.

I love thrilling stories that combine mystery and spice, and this book knows how to keep you entranced until the end. Fair warning, this is not a standalone and it has cliffhangers, so think twice before picking it up at night because I found myself starting book two at midnight with no regrets.

Thank you so much to Sierra Simone, NetGalley, and Bloom Books for sending me this ARC.

Great spicy slow burn. Really enjoyed it, specially the relationships between all the 6 characters and all the ways they share love and their relationship with the place. They are also extremely likeable characters.
The atmosphere of the location and the house and chapel in the woods in enchanting and whimsical and very much somewhere I would love to go visit.
Loved the positive portrayal of BDSM, polyamory and bisexuality as well as devotion and religion.
The plot in this one is soft, sort of speak. Not a lot happening, a lot of planing, knowing each other and exploring feelings. Also, a lot of being horny. And a lot of paving a smooth way for the next book in the series.
The book, in my opinion, was a little long and think it could be easily been the same length with more story. As it feels like the book ends when finally something is happening. And it let me a bit disappointed, I think a little more should have been discovered, we have countless questions but absolutely no answers and I think at least a tiny discovery would have worked wonders to ease the disappointment.  But I still liked it very much, and I am eager to read the next one to finally continue the story, and satisfy my curiosity.

Okay but Sierra can we talk!? ARE YOU OKAY!?
This book was AMAZING! I had all the feelings, it was spicy, it was just WOW. I cannot believe the things that came out of these beings mouth! It won't top Father Bell in my eyes, but they're a close second. St Sebastian, holy cow! Wow wow wow.

Thank you to Sierra, Bloom Books & NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC!

thank you for the arc! i recently got into gothic style romance and horror and i think this was a good middle ground. it’s a suspenseful little mystery filled with smut (as expected) and the first in a series of stories like this. i’m not super into the group lusty action that’s going on here but overall a good read!

Thank you Bloom Books and Netgalley for the ARC of A Lesson in Thorns!

This was such an interesting story with very unique characters, a gothic and mysterious setting, and a captivating premise. While it did feel like the plot was being pushed aside to make way for the smut at times, I did find there was a good balance of storytelling and smut. I loved seeing the FMC find herself and see her confidence grow over the course of the book. I also loved how the characters all had very different personalities that somehow meshed well together.

This was my first book by Sierra Simone and it definitely won’t be my last!

A Lesson in Thorns
By Sierra Simone

-dark academia
-6 people
-very kinky

This is a rebrand, and the first in the series.

This gave me Cruel Intention vibes without being Cruel (so far). Poe is trying to find out what happened to her mom, and ends up back at the last place with the last people she thought she’d be with. Thornchapel. They find books about what used to happen, rituals, and they decide that sounds like a good idea. What happens after they complete a ritual? Do they remain friends? What secrets get revealed? I can’t wait

This is erotica with a storyline. I went into this completely blind, and I suggest everyone should. This was not my introduction to Sierra. I’ve read the New Camelot and Lyonesse series. I’m familiar with and love her writing style. It’s unique, eloquent, and different and I know it’s always going to be a good read for me.

Sierra could teach a master class in show, don’t tell. Her use of descriptive language is eloquent and beautiful. This book drew me in from the prologue. As with every book of hers, there is incredible world building. Every book I read plays like a movie in my head while I’m reading, but Sierra’s books take that to a whole new level. Thornchapel is a character in and of itself and you want to uncover all its secrets.

This book is sensual, captivating, intriguing, and addictive. It can be hard enough to develop two main characters you connect with in a book. This has six, and you fall in love with every single one. They are all incredibly well-developed with layers upon layers. I really just don’t have enough good things to say about this book.

A dark academia gothic erotica story about six friends who are sexually obsessed with one another. This is a start of a series and ends on a major cliffhanger. The characters read as very immature but I do think that kind of just comes with how they will grow hopefully in the next books. I do adore Sierra Simone's writing style and am curious how she will continue the story!

Hold on to your seats this is going to be a hot, steamy and wild ride!!! -Auden “Audey” Guest -St. Sebastian “Saint” Martinez -Becket “Becky” Hess -Delaphine “Delph” Dansey, -Proserpina “Poe ” Markham -Rebecca “Bex” Quartey As children, Auden Guest’s Estate at Thornchapel was their playground. As Adults it becomes something more. Proserpina wants to find the reason of the mysterious disappearance of her mother, receiving a cryptic letter it brings her back to Thornchapel. A place from her childhood and the boy she hated herself for loving. After twelve years she is back...those six childhood friends now adults; all back together at Auden’s home, but what’s the real reason they are all there? Mystery, Infatuation, Intrigue, Lust, Secrets that must be solved and so much more. That is what you will get in this book and it is only the beginning as this ends in a major cliffhanger! So many questions I have but I will have to wait for the next book to hopefully have some answers. Get Ready!

A romantic, tense, bonded group of friends returns to the house that ties them together. While they all returned for their own reasons, Poe is there because it't the last place her mother was seen alive. While the group relearns how to work together, through their pasts, filthy thought are shared amongst them. Who will be the first to cave to their desires? What is Thornechapel hiding?

A scary, yet sexy novel with intense characters and a captivating story.

I have a lot of feelings about this book and they are not all good.

First, I loved the queer rep in this book. I personally love a book where all of the characters are LGBTQ+. I also loved this setting, and the spice when it finally hit was pretty well done.

The writing in this was just odd. I received an ARC for the soon to be released Bloom books version so I thought some of the clunky writing would have been fixed, but it was definitely still there. This book is trying to be two things at once and it just didn’t mesh well. Half of this book is very flowery and atmospheric writing that will talk about a hallway for pages. The other half of this book is cheesy dialogue from a group of immature individuals who think they are the most mature people that have ever existed. It makes for a very jarring reading experience.

All of these characters are immature, and they read like teenagers talking about sex for the first time. So much of this book talks about sex, kink, and BDSM, but it is from the perspective of people without much experience in it. Our FMC, Poe, for example talks about how she has been involved in the BDSM community for years even though she is only 22 and is a virgin who has never been touched in any kind of sexual way. This translates into a bunch of inexperienced young adults trying things they don’t know much about without anyone really guiding them in any way.

I get that you need a “virgin” for the ritual aspect of it, but this was a group of six people that literally only thought about sex 24/7 (To the point where multiple characters talk about having to masturbate multiple times a day to get through the day) and yet half of them were virgins because they were all waiting for the “loves of their lives” aka the group of kids they knew for one summer when they were 10? It was a stretch.

This book read like a 90s porn but if 85% was the cheesy lead up to the deed. I love erotica where the spice is the plot, and I love books that have spice that adds to a complex plot, but this book was somehow both and neither. This was all build with some payoff. I know this is book 1 in a series and it does end on a cliffhanger, but I honestly don’t think I can make it through another book like this.

I know there are a lot of people who love this book, and I went into this believing with 100% certainty that I would be one of them, but unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me. I think I’m going to go reread Priest because that is by far the superior book from this author.

Rating: 3.0
Spice Level: 4.0

A lesson in thorns hooked me since page one with this hidden secrets, mystery filled angsty romance.

The idea of polyamory that Sierra Simone wrote worked very well in this novel, however whilst reading I discovered it’s not my favorite romance trope to read.

I loved priest by her (it’s my guilty pleasure) but unfortunately I found this one confusing with which plot type the author wanted (spicy or cult mystery vibes) and repetitive with wording, which lowered my rating.

While this personally wasent a favorite for me I think it can be for any Spicy, dark romance lovers!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc 🤍

Binged this Sierra Simone and now have to go down the Thronchapel rabbit hole because I need to know what happens next! Poe has been away from Thornchapel for 12 years after her father made her leave but she’s never forgotten it. Now years later she returns as I librarian to go through the library achieves and see her old friends. Sparks instantly fly between the lord of the house and her former friend along with another man she was interested in.

Thank you to Bloom and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

This remains one of the horniest series I've ever read. Gothic academia vibes, love triangles, magical orgies. What happens in Thornchapel stays at Thornchapel (or does it?). The prose is gorgeous, and did I mention horny? Mysteries, and just sometimes you really are attracted to all your friends so what else can you do?

I understand that this book and the rest of the book in the series are categorized under the erotica genre. However, I wish there was more story building in the series. The first half of the book, it feels very slow and the only thing we really know is that they were not together in the past ,12 years ago and everyone is reunite again. The chemistry between characters was not there for me so it made reading the spicy scenes difficult. I wanted to like this book because I loved all the books in Sierra Simone's priest series. This as an individual book, I just wanted more out of it in terms of plot and character development.

4/5⭐️
3/5🌶️

Poe Markham is back at Thornchapel, a place which has called to her since she left over ten years ago. There to catalogue the manor’s library, she also wants to use the opportunity to find out what happened to her mother… especially after receiving a note recently which looks to be written in her mother’s hand. What follows is a reunion of acquaintances, a revelation of past secrets, and a development of a tangled web of relationships between all six friends.

This was dark, mysterious, sexy and fun! I was fascinated about how ‘behind’ I felt in this book… so much saultry yearnin’ and burnin’, thrills and mysteries I was trying to unravel, and a enticing building of numerous relationships in multiple different directions. This book was HAWWWWT and I loved every delicious moment building toward the end. And that little cliffy we were left on! Ah! Makes me need to ingest the subsequent stories STAT! I love SIerra’s writing… the build-up and anticipation was exquisite, leaving me wanting more and more.

Tropes in this story:
-Mysterious pasts & secrets
-Secret society & rituals
-Second chance of a childhood love
-Ķĩņķ representation & education
-ALL the different delicious pairings: MF, MM, FF, MMF
-“We can’t; you’re not meant for me”

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book via Bloom Books and NetGalley, but my review is all my own.

One of those books that I didn’t know…I NEEDED!!! Glad that I did grab this one and yet Sierra Simone knows how to pull you right in. SHE KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE NEEDING! Let’s go and read more books by her because she brings it all to us.

Dark, poetic, and dripping with tension this book is like wandering into a haunted cathedral where every whispered word is a temptation and every glance is an invitation to sin.

Sierra Simone does not hold back with the forbidden longing, the tangled relationships, and the kind of sensual, atmospheric storytelling that makes you feel like you’re under a spell. The prose? Lush and hypnotic. The characters? Deliciously complicated. The tension? So thick you could cut it with a dagger and still not make a dent.

TL;DR: If you love mystical gothic settings, slow-burn desire that hurts, and characters you shouldn’t want but absolutely do, this book will ruin you in the best way.

A Lesson in Thorns follows 6 friends that reunite where it all started 12 years ago. Proserpina Markham has returned to Thornchapel to help organize the library there. Poe meets both St. Sebastian Martinez and Auden Guest who is the new owner of Thornchapel. Poe hasn't seen St. or Auden since she was the bride and both men were "married' on the alter of the chapel. The three can't seem to not be drawn together as they navigate their new world of pain and pleasure. I want to thank both NetGalley and Bloom Books for letting me read an advance copy of this book.