Customer Reviews

Sex in the Sanctuary

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

APOOO Rating: 4.5 stars

Ever wanted to know what goes on behind closed doors in the lives of the nation's first ladies? Lutishia Lovely's Sex in the Sanctuary gives a sizzling and sassy view. Vivian Montgomery, first lady of Kingdom Citizen's Christian Center, is the essence of what a first lady should be. She is polished and poised, loves her congregation and is loved in return. She has a heart for women and seeks God for ways she can be a blessing to them. To top it off, Vivian is Derrick Montgomery's queen. There is no other woman for him. He loves her, protects her, prays for her...and loves to do all he can to pleasure her.

Tai Brooks appears to have it all together like her best friend, Vivian. The truth is, she is facing the fight of her life. Tai, the first lady of Mount Zion Progressive Baptist Church, believes her husband, King, is, once again, testing the limits of her love and her faith with his infidelity. Suspecting anyone that walks into the Lord's house in a cute, little skirt, Tai questions how much more she can take. With God's strength, advice from Vivian, and support from her mother-in-law, with her been-there-done-that attitude, Tai is set on a journey to find out what she is made of.

Lutishia Lovely's first novel was a delight to read. Serious topics, such as forgiveness, sexuality, and animosity between women, are laced with hilarious and high-spirited characters and dialogue. The drama, comedy, sisterhood, lessons, and heartaches will keep you glued to the page. If you want picture-perfect or watered down Christian fiction, then Sex in the Sanctuary is not the book for you. You will find characters who love God, have struggles, mess up, cut up, have sex and even curse a little bit. If you want a story full of real pain, real talk, and real love, then this is the book for you. There is another storyline in Sex in the Sanctuary, just as intriguing, involving singles searching for love and how far some will go to get it. I will have to wait for the sequel, Love Like Hallelujah, to find out if it will be Christ-like love or crazy love. I look forward to reading this author's future work.

Reviewed by Donielle Ruff
APOOO BookClub

Vivan Montgomery has it all: beautiful home, wonderful children, and first lady of Kingdom Citizen Christian Center. Happily married to Pastor Derrick Montgomery, their marriage is the envy of many...Tai Brook is Vivan's best friend and married to Pastor King Brook and first lady at Mount Zion Progressive Baptist Church.

They appear to have a happy marriage but all that glitters ain't gold and Tai is putting up an front but her womanly intution is telling her different. King has had many affairs and despite his numerous denials, Tai believes he is having an affair once again. When the identity of King's latest mistress is revealed, Tai is shocked and surprised and she issues an ultimatum: either your mistress or your family. Who will King choose?

Sex in the Sanctuary is an impressive debut by Lutishia Lovely. Filled with unforgettable characters, realistic scenes, and LOTS and LOTS of drama that make this book worth checking out. While Sex in the Sanctuary deals with Christian themes, it is not your typical "christian" book, the language may be offensive to some but this book is a very enjoyable read! Can't wait until the sequel comes out!! Reviewed by Shay C of PeoplewholoveGoodBooks

I want to start off by saying, I enjoyed this book. Despite the criticisms I am going to list, I really did enjoy the book. I won't leave you with a summary, as you can find that at the top of this page and with other reviewers. I was most captivated by the story of Tai and King her cheating husband. While I can't fully relate (as my husband has remained faithful) her struggles between divorce and marriage were real. I loved their relationship, as I believe it's the most fully plausible in the book, and it kept me coming back.

The book from the stance of women in the ministry, first lady's especially, was well written. The author also included an outline for a women's conference that I believe would be absolutely AWESOME, if it was local.

My criticisms:
I would not list this book as Christian fiction. Yes, there are scriptures - yes, the characters talk to God - yes, they are all families in ministry trying to walk according to the Word, and yes, they are praying... however the language I can move past - plus another reviewer has already addressed it very well - though it has no place (in my opinion in Christian novels). I understand her urge to make the characters realistic, in that in certain situations, even pastors can drop a word or two... I get that, absolutely, I'm just not so sure we need to read about it! I could have picked up a Linda Howard novel for that. What I can't move past are the sex scenes! They are not as explicit as a Harlequin romance novel, but what's missing isn't a whole lot. I don't mean to pick on Harlequin, but I used to be an avid reader of their books, so it's what I can relate this to.

The adulterous sex scene - way too much! There is one thing to glaze over the fact that a husband and wife are enjoying their sex life, but I felt dirty reading about one husband enjoyed almost explicit sex with his mistress.

As a woman who recently loved and enjoyed Harlequin romance novels, and trying to overcome issues with sexual purity (i.e.: explicit romance novels), this book can send you back where you started. If you're overcoming an addiction to porn, this book can send you back to the internet or video store, or wherever. If you're overcoming issues with lust... prepare to not find a soul in this book who is not lusting after someone, minus (maybe) Derreck. The men and women in this novel struggle with remaining celebrate during their singleness, their struggles are real!

Last thing, there was absolutely no accountability or repercussions for King, the cheating husband. As a minister, especially one whose affairs were no secret, he should have had to deal with (realistically) a backlash from the church. He should have been kicked out, he should have had to issue a public apology... something! He seemed to have some level of accountability with Derreck, though not true accountability, and no one held him accountable (except for his wife, but only in the context of their relationship).

Like I said, I liked the book. I would simply list it as mainstream fiction, as Christians should hold ourselves to a bit higher standard when it comes to what our eyes read. A new Christian may not see some of the flaws, and see this as OK. It's not. The marriage struggles are real, many of the relationships are realistic, and however, it was overboard in the sex, sin, and language areas.

I told my husband, that I think Sex in the Sanctuary is written by a women who used to write Harlequin romance novels, and then got saved. It's a cross over between the two - too much of a crossover for Christian fiction.

I am an avid reader of Christian fiction. This is one of few books that I had a hard time finishing. The only reason I did finish is because I was urged to by my mom who reads both Christian and secular fiction.

I was completely taken aback by the vulgarity of language used throughout this book when referencing sexual acts and the cursing throughout was very distracting as well. I was not expecting this from a Christian fiction novel and this is actually the main reason I choose to read only Christian fiction. I can do without the profane language. I'll pick up one of the many available secular titles for that if I feel the need.

The storyline was ok but because of the cursing and overall vulgarity throughout, I can't say that I enjoyed this book. It was all too distracting for me.

I loved the book...I was looking at the reviews and let me start off by saying that this book is not a Christian fiction book. It's fiction and it tells us what happens inside of a Christian family and on the Church grounds.

Now to make a long story short this book deals with a christian foundation with Vivian and Tai. Both are bestfriends and also first ladies of their husband churches. Vivian has the perfect life with her husband and Tai is going through hell with hers. When things goes wrong Tai runs to Vivian for advice. But will she take Vivian or God Advice?

Now you have Cy and he is the Millionaire and all the women in the church has their eye on him. But he only have an eye for one lady of the church. All the ladies does things to get his attention but Millicent will go way beyond the call from God to get his attention. The things Millicent do to get his attention shock the church that nobody will never... forget. She says it's God that tell her Cy is hers but is it really God that she is talking to her?

This author brings the book to life by taking you into the drama of the church that keeps you laughing. It's someone in this book that you can relate to. I highly recommend this book to all

Realizing that there are different styles of writing and different ways to tell a story, I hesitate to be critical. This story was sometimes hard for me to follow/keep up with. I was somewhere between 1/2 way and 3/4 of the way through it before I became comfortable with the style, was able to enjoy reading it and was also able to resume my normal reading speed. Again, I am NOT saying that the writing is bad. It was just not the style that I usually read for enjoyment. Although much of it is probably very true, I was taken aback by the use of profanity throughout the novel - especially by the pastor's wives etc. It's not that people probably don't do that in real life but it wasn't what I expect when I look for Christian fiction. I will admit that it bothered me but again, different strokes for different folks. I would never tell an author how to express his or herself when creating a story. The overall storyline was good and authentic as (given the current state of some of our religious leaders) it could have easily been pulled from USA Today. I look forward to the sequel b/c Millicent was a trip! LOL

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the first page to the last. This story is not your typical church book. I felt like the author actually told the TRUTH about church people. You have Tai, The First Lady who is married to King the pastor of Mount Zion Progressive Baptist Church. King is no perfect husband and sure isn't a good example of a pastor. He takes Tai through it with his ungodly ways.

Then there's Vivian, Tai's best friend who counsels and stays by Tai's side to help her through everything King puts her through. And oh my goodness, there's Millicent. She's beautiful, intelligent but only has eyes for one man who doesn't have eyes for her..wait til you read and find out how far she will go to make his eyes stay on her! And there's Hope..she's single..saved and looking in all the wrong places for a man.

Lutishia Lovely did an excellent job writing this story! She took time to bring each character to life and I love how detailed she is! She is now one of my favorite authors!

Highly recommended!

This book may have been fiction but I know personally women who have experienced the situations in this book. This is a great read from the beginning to the end and I was sad too when this story ended. The bright side is the author put an excerpt at the end of this book that lets you know that story is not over at least for one couple. I can hardly wait for the next installment to come out!

Looking at the title of this book you are not quite sure what to expect, but one thing is for sure, it is non-stop excitement!!!!! You are introduced to the Brooks and Montgomery families and from that point on you are a part of the family! Two different pastors, different cities, diffenert problems but Faith in GOD and Love for one another keeps this book going. It is racey in parts but so is life, and it is nothing that has not been seen or heard of before. They keep you interested in what is coming next. A good book for a mature, non-bias person who is looking for some thought provoking situations and solutions. I am new to this author but you can rest assured that I will read whatever she puts out for now on! GREAT BOOK!!!!!

1st time reading a book from this author and now I'm glad I've discovered her writings. Was looking for an interesting read and I truly found one. I was pleasantly surprise with the way the stories continued to flow and held my attention span. I had put the book down for a couple of weeks and was able to pick it right back up at the story line I left at. I'm going to read the rest. A good read.