#ava wilde

Temple of the Tentacle Priests by Ava Wilde took me back to the days of sneaking and reading my aunt’s over-the-top harlequin romances full of unattainable men and ridiculous situations. Except with a sprinkle of monsterfucking. Well, maybe a little more than a sprinkle. Okay, let’s be real - there is a lot of monsterfucking in this book.  Which makes sense considering our main character, Dr. Poppy Flynn, is a frustrated and unsatisfied sex psychologist who signs up to travel to Hearthpetal, another dimension where monsters of all shapes and sizes exist and sex is something close to holy.

In Hearthpetal, women are put up to auction and chosen by the highest bidder to basically help them reproduce. When Poppy is chosen by a tentacled priest at a template dedicated to studying pleasure, she is tempted into agreeing by the offer to continue her own research. The last thing she expects when she accepts is to develop a deep attachment to the priest who chose her, Father Calder. The question is - will Father Calder be able to keep his vow of detachment as he and Poppy begin their research together? Or will Poppy’s sharp tongue and stubborn personality change everything?

What I loved

This book is exactly what it says it is and I love that. There is mayhem, filth, humor and so much monsterfucking it almost felt illegal.

Father Calder. He is a sweet angel baby who needs to be protected at all costs. He tries so hard not to break his vows but in the end, he chooses what he wants even in the face of death and I just think that’s beautiful.

The author threw in so many different types of monsters and Poppy threw her legs open for every single one of them without discrimination.

Things I wish were different

Poppy clearly has an unhealthy obsession with sex and I’m saying that as someone incredibly sex positive. I kind of wish it had been addressed in the book at least once but at the same time, this is just a silly, funny monster romance so who cares?

By the end of the book, I decided I never want to hear or see or use the word cream ever again. Not surprising considering I already don’t like that word in this context but it was so repetitive and overused that it pulled me out of the story a couple times.

All in all, I definitely enjoyed reading Temple of the Tentacle Priests in all of it’s suspending your beliefs and enjoying the ride glory. I would recommend it, probably with a grin and a cackle, to anyone who likes spicy chaos, a side of humor with their smut and monsterfucking.