The Preying Pastor by B. Love

The Preying Pastor by B. Love

Add to Your Goodreads

Buy it on Amazon

“She needed to be careful, for if you walk with the prey… you eventually become the prey.” 

Dallas Carver-Monroe has managed to live with a fairytale façade for the past ten years. Growing up in a religiously strict home caused Dallas to do whatever it took to please her parents – even if that meant marrying her high school sweetheart, Seth, right after they graduated. Dallas and Seth had a genuine connection, but she didn’t think he was the man she was supposed to spend her life with. Still, she married him to make sure they didn’t have sex and start a family without making vows before God. 

After almost twelve years of hell on earth, Dallas is tired of the happily married First Lady façade that has been forced upon her. Just when she thinks she’s about to break free, tragedy strikes, and Seth’s evil deeds and enemies become her own. Silver lining? Ra Jake. 

When Ra Jake returns home, he has only two priorities – fix things with his ex, Cree, and successfully protect the Pastor’s wife. Under different circumstances, Ra would have turned down the job. Losing his last client has caused pain to plague Ra in a way that he never thought was possible. Had it not been for a favor being owed to an old friend, Ra would have never taken on the responsibility of guarding another human being’s life. 

Upon first meeting, Dallas and Ra would rather be anywhere than with each other. As time progresses, they create a genuine bond so deep it’s hard for anyone, Seth and Cree included, to be able to reach. But the old saying is… all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, this rings true for Dallas and Ra, and they will have to fight for their hearts and their lives before Seth’s horrible decisions rob them of both. 

I admire and appreciate Love’s ability to write spiritually based stories without being preachy while staying wholly committed to the story's spiritual message.

Dallas and Ra posses the type of love/relationship that I aspire to have one day; one that is solid in Christ and the other.

Dallas is Seth’s wife. That’s all that she’s ever known or has ever been. She went from childhood to motherhood without leaving time for herself to grow as a woman. Seth's story is pretty much the same. They grew together but never spend time focusing on their personal growth. As a result, their relationship as husband and wife suffered. Seth went from the praying pastor to the preying pastor. He drank, gambled, and cheated; leaving Dallas to tend to the children while nursing a broken heart and an impending divorce. 

Seth was a bad guy in that he never respected his marriage or his relationship with his children. But bad guy or not he was not a bad person. He was a struggling man of God, and people often forget that being a Christian doesn’t levitate you to a position that disregards you from the human experience. Christianity doesn’t beget otherworldliness in the way people expect that it does.

Seth had a lot of growing up to do and he accomplished that, but unfortunately for his marriage, it came too late. 

Dallas was a sweetheart. She was light in an otherwise dark situation. I think Love does that often and well. She often pens flawed characters that are light in the darkness. She’s mastered that well.

And what can I say about, Ra? Ra was… everything. He was masculinity as we’ve come to know it. He was assertive yet gentle. He was a man’s man so to speak. I admired his strength and solidity. Ra is a street guy that grew into something more. I liked his character a lot.

The love story and the backstory that grew in the book captivated me and didn’t let go until I got to the very last page—which I dreaded. I didn’t want this story to end.

The characters were solid and realistic. The story was engaging. I was very pleased. The pacing was longer than I’ve known some of Love’s books to be, but it was perfect for this story.
The Preying Pastor was an enjoyable story; that hit all the right notes.