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Devout Trilogy #1
Sacred
One hall pass--redeemed. In college, I made the mistake of falling in love with Ward, who was deep in the closet and terrified to come out to his conservative, religious family. He called me Master. Said he loved me. Said he'd be mine forever. I guess he lied, because he ghosted and didn't even attend graduation. It broke my heart and f*cked my head. Eventually, I moved on, married a great guy, and became a US senator. Guess who just showed up as a freshman senator? And guess who's my hall-pass f*ck? Did I say I moved on? I guess I lied. Ward can't run from me now. This MMM contemporary political romance features older main characters, a second-chance at first and lost love, power exchange, pining, frenemies to lovers, a secret workplace romance at the highest levels of our nation's government, political intrigue, and a satisfying HEA. Book 1 of the Devout Trilogy, a standalone spin-off trilogy set in the world of the Governor Trilogy, the Devastation Trilogy, and others.
212 pages, Paperback
Published June 30, 2020
About the author
Lesli Richardson
169 books450 followersLesli Richardson is the writer behind the curtain of her better-known and more prolific USA Today Bestselling Author pen name, Tymber Dalton (her "wild child" side). She lives in the Tampa Bay region of Florida with her spouse and too many pets of various species. When she's not playing D&D with her friends or shooting skeet, she's a part-time Viking shield-maiden in training, among other pursuits. The two-time EPIC award winner is also the author of over two hundred and fifty books and counting.
She lives in her own little world, but it's okay, because they all know her there.
She also loves to hear from readers! Please check out her website for links, and to sign up for updates to keep abreast of the latest news, snarkage, and releases. There you'll also find reading order lists, and more information about her different series.
She lives in her own little world, but it's okay, because they all know her there.
She also loves to hear from readers! Please check out her website for links, and to sign up for updates to keep abreast of the latest news, snarkage, and releases. There you'll also find reading order lists, and more information about her different series.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 24, 2025
LOVED this. Definitely laid the groundwork that had me shook at the end and immediately starting book 2
October 1, 2020
Okay, so this read was agreeable, no less no more. Characters were well portrayed and I think I could get to care about them and their journey but everything felt a little too "told" and not really"shown" enough. There was a bit much of bla bla bla going on and the plot is hiiiighly predictable but somehow I found myself slightly caught. I'd like to see where this goes with book 2.
December 29, 2024
I absolutely need to know what happens in the next books
August 17, 2020
Devout Trilogy by Lesli Richardson (Tymber Dalton) is a political based romance that kept me glued to my kindle and had my mind raced about these men when I had to put down the story to do things, like work and sleep. These stories combined to a 4.5 star read for me!
Sacred, Profane and Penance combine to tell an outstanding story of loss, love and a happy that though mist could never imagine for themselves is one perfect for these three men (yes I said three, this is a m/m/m menage and boy does it work)
Liam is a senator, and Daniel is a congressman’s chief of staff when Ward, Liam's "Ghost" from his past appears well things take on a whole new dynamic for Liam and Daniel who were a happily married dom/sub couple. There were a few time I did want to "strangle" Liam but I have to say the author did an amazing job at allowing me to appreciate why he did what he did and Daniel well I adored Daniel, he truly loved Liam all of him not just the pretty shiny parts.
Now Ward... man did my heart ache for this man.... I am not going to share more than to say you will quickly understand why he does what he does and you will be rooting for him to "fit" into the picture.
I have come to relay on this author for her ability to TELL ME A STORY..... and she delivered that in spades, the story is masterfully woven with heat and emotion with current day and past tense and in each book as you learn more about these men she shares the story without being repetitive.
Each book moves the timeline forward in the end allowing the reader to be with these men for the years it take for their forever happy to play out.
I am trying so hard to rely the emotions I felt while reading this without giving anything away.
The love found in the end had me smiling from ear to ear as I knew everyone got what they needed!
I also wants to add that it was so helpful to me as a reader to be able to understand what each character obtained from the BDSM element of this book.
Sacred, Profane and Penance combine to tell an outstanding story of loss, love and a happy that though mist could never imagine for themselves is one perfect for these three men (yes I said three, this is a m/m/m menage and boy does it work)
Liam is a senator, and Daniel is a congressman’s chief of staff when Ward, Liam's "Ghost" from his past appears well things take on a whole new dynamic for Liam and Daniel who were a happily married dom/sub couple. There were a few time I did want to "strangle" Liam but I have to say the author did an amazing job at allowing me to appreciate why he did what he did and Daniel well I adored Daniel, he truly loved Liam all of him not just the pretty shiny parts.
Now Ward... man did my heart ache for this man.... I am not going to share more than to say you will quickly understand why he does what he does and you will be rooting for him to "fit" into the picture.
I have come to relay on this author for her ability to TELL ME A STORY..... and she delivered that in spades, the story is masterfully woven with heat and emotion with current day and past tense and in each book as you learn more about these men she shares the story without being repetitive.
Each book moves the timeline forward in the end allowing the reader to be with these men for the years it take for their forever happy to play out.
I am trying so hard to rely the emotions I felt while reading this without giving anything away.
The love found in the end had me smiling from ear to ear as I knew everyone got what they needed!
I also wants to add that it was so helpful to me as a reader to be able to understand what each character obtained from the BDSM element of this book.
January 27, 2026
0 stars. MMM D/s series, book 1 of 3
OMG the melodrama! Written in Liam’s POV, you get sick of the OTT pinning over a 20 year old lost ‘ghost’. Ignoring all the insta-love with both Ward and Daniel, there is no good explanation for why a college romance would leave such damage in Liam’s psyche.
So it feels like a story with faked angst, with a confusing timeline that jumps all over the place with flashbacks.
And to top it off, you eventually realize that Liam is not even likable as he is an untrustworthy piece of shit who really doesn’t deserve Daniel. This IS a story of betrayal and he absolutely knew it yet deliberately committed it!
So the book title is really ironic because there was nothing he considered truly sacred! Especially when he promised each man what he could never honour . What a piece of shit!
The sex was quite meh too.
The book ends on a cliffhanger, in reality each book is really a section in the overall story, so they should have been a single book!
OMG the melodrama! Written in Liam’s POV, you get sick of the OTT pinning over a 20 year old lost ‘ghost’. Ignoring all the insta-love with both Ward and Daniel, there is no good explanation for why a college romance would leave such damage in Liam’s psyche.
So it feels like a story with faked angst, with a confusing timeline that jumps all over the place with flashbacks.
And to top it off, you eventually realize that Liam is not even likable as he is an untrustworthy piece of shit who really doesn’t deserve Daniel. This IS a story of betrayal and he absolutely knew it yet deliberately committed it!
So the book title is really ironic because there was nothing he considered truly sacred! Especially when he promised each man what he could never honour . What a piece of shit!
The sex was quite meh too.
The book ends on a cliffhanger, in reality each book is really a section in the overall story, so they should have been a single book!
July 8, 2020
Wow!!!
I have been reading each of the books that have come out and every one of them tells an unique story and this is no different.
There are times in this story that I have cried and laughed. There was also a time I wanted to walk into the pages and smack Liam upside the head. When you love your spouse no secret is too big or small and you should always share with them and trust them. It just might come back to bite you in the butt.
Until Next Time... Tabi
I have been reading each of the books that have come out and every one of them tells an unique story and this is no different.
There are times in this story that I have cried and laughed. There was also a time I wanted to walk into the pages and smack Liam upside the head. When you love your spouse no secret is too big or small and you should always share with them and trust them. It just might come back to bite you in the butt.
Until Next Time... Tabi
December 25, 2020
This series was eh. There was no real story or drama. Just a tale that should have been a single book and not a trilogy. Daniels story was the shortest and it should have been the longest. The timeline was way too stretched out
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 7, 2021
It’s good but felt rushed. Liam appeared in a brief scene in a previous Trilogy. I’m used to a deeper insight into the character’s thinking in this series but this time - I didn’t get that.from this one.
October 27, 2020
This is Liam's part of the trilogy, and WOW is all :)
June 7, 2023
This whole series was too short for me, the characters were underdeveloped and uninteresting.
Read
November 30, 2021This is a review for the whole trilogy (Sacred, Profane, Penance)
I loved the premise of the Devout trilogy---happily married senator's ghost from the past shows up as a new senator, and he's still in love with his Master. I was so excited when I saw that the main character of the first book was a Dom and the ex who broke his heart was his submissive (somehow I had expected it to be the other way around from the blurb).
Problem #1 - What the ever-loving fuck was Liam thinking? He threw away fourteen years of love simply by NOT COMMUNICATING with his husband! They had freaking talked about his ghost! He had a blank cheque! Literally one text would have solved the entire conflict of book one and two. They were in the same building! Ugh. Think how nice it would have been if Liam kept it in his pants for one day. We get a tiny hint of that, like how Daniel tortures Ward with clothespins but plans to hide that from Liam in case his Master gets any more sadistic ideas.
Problem #2 - Since when is Daniel a switch? I understand that he needed to rebuild his trust in Liam, but the whole of book 2 gave me whiplash AND it threw their dynamic way out of sync. I didn't buy that Liam allowed Daniel to practically Dom him for years. I didn't like that Daniel was setting out to hurt and punish them (even if it hurt himself too to take off the day collar). I don't care that the book says they deserved it, it was just emotionally wrenching for no good reason at all (see Problem #1). Book 2 ends with Daniel still not submitting to Liam and making a big deal out of it (even though in the beginning he seeks reassurance from Liam and he's still his boy?). And then in Book 3 Daniel decides he's ready, completely out of the blue, and the book ends without showing how Liam and Daniel re-establish their dynamic? I mean seriously, there have got to be roadblocks after all they've been through and the changes in Daniel's personality in the bedroom.
Problem #3 - What the fuck was up with Ward's backstory? I mean, a murderous powerful politician father and a conniving wife and apparently he ghosted Liam to save his life? Fuck that. I hated how Ward's book was taken over by his divorce and his dad's death. I wanted to see him with his Sir and Master.
Problem #4 - WHERE WAS THE POLITICS? See the thing I liked about To Clan and Conquer was how there was a BDSM power dynamic and a space war and alien technology and too many patients and petty politics and disability. The three characters didn't just talk about sex. Things happened. Plot happened (other than relationship arcs, I mean). So, when I heard that this was a book about senators and congressional politics and what not, I was excited for their political lives too. But it seems the most important things they did in office was (a) cheat on Daniel and (b) make up with Daniel. Seriously? Seriously? The most "political" thing that happened was Daniel collecting "leverage" (It really annoyed me how that was played. He has evidence against a paedophile and he holds it until it's personally useful to him to release it? He had proof to get Ward out of his marriage but he does nothing for four years?). And there was nothing on any policies or bills or appointments or anything.
Problem #5 - Time passes too fast. Four years vanished in the wink of an eye, and apparently nothing changed between Liam and Daniel? And Ward spends months away from his lovers and he thinks they're separated permanently but he still sends morning texts?
Problem #6 - Why, why, why were they Christians (and pro-life)?
I loved the premise of the Devout trilogy---happily married senator's ghost from the past shows up as a new senator, and he's still in love with his Master. I was so excited when I saw that the main character of the first book was a Dom and the ex who broke his heart was his submissive (somehow I had expected it to be the other way around from the blurb).
Problem #1 - What the ever-loving fuck was Liam thinking? He threw away fourteen years of love simply by NOT COMMUNICATING with his husband! They had freaking talked about his ghost! He had a blank cheque! Literally one text would have solved the entire conflict of book one and two. They were in the same building! Ugh. Think how nice it would have been if Liam kept it in his pants for one day. We get a tiny hint of that, like how Daniel tortures Ward with clothespins but plans to hide that from Liam in case his Master gets any more sadistic ideas.
Problem #2 - Since when is Daniel a switch? I understand that he needed to rebuild his trust in Liam, but the whole of book 2 gave me whiplash AND it threw their dynamic way out of sync. I didn't buy that Liam allowed Daniel to practically Dom him for years. I didn't like that Daniel was setting out to hurt and punish them (even if it hurt himself too to take off the day collar). I don't care that the book says they deserved it, it was just emotionally wrenching for no good reason at all (see Problem #1). Book 2 ends with Daniel still not submitting to Liam and making a big deal out of it (even though in the beginning he seeks reassurance from Liam and he's still his boy?). And then in Book 3 Daniel decides he's ready, completely out of the blue, and the book ends without showing how Liam and Daniel re-establish their dynamic? I mean seriously, there have got to be roadblocks after all they've been through and the changes in Daniel's personality in the bedroom.
Problem #3 - What the fuck was up with Ward's backstory? I mean, a murderous powerful politician father and a conniving wife and apparently he ghosted Liam to save his life? Fuck that. I hated how Ward's book was taken over by his divorce and his dad's death. I wanted to see him with his Sir and Master.
Problem #4 - WHERE WAS THE POLITICS? See the thing I liked about To Clan and Conquer was how there was a BDSM power dynamic and a space war and alien technology and too many patients and petty politics and disability. The three characters didn't just talk about sex. Things happened. Plot happened (other than relationship arcs, I mean). So, when I heard that this was a book about senators and congressional politics and what not, I was excited for their political lives too. But it seems the most important things they did in office was (a) cheat on Daniel and (b) make up with Daniel. Seriously? Seriously? The most "political" thing that happened was Daniel collecting "leverage" (It really annoyed me how that was played. He has evidence against a paedophile and he holds it until it's personally useful to him to release it? He had proof to get Ward out of his marriage but he does nothing for four years?). And there was nothing on any policies or bills or appointments or anything.
Problem #5 - Time passes too fast. Four years vanished in the wink of an eye, and apparently nothing changed between Liam and Daniel? And Ward spends months away from his lovers and he thinks they're separated permanently but he still sends morning texts?
Problem #6 - Why, why, why were they Christians (and pro-life)?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2020
Sacred is book one in the Devout Trilogy, and introduces us to Liam and Daniel. Liam is a senator, and Daniel is a congressman’s chief of staff. They’ve been married ten years, and everything has been good – even with Liam’s ghost lurking in his mind.
Liam and Ward were together all through college and law school, then Ward just disappeared. Liam spent a lot of years emotionally wrecked, until he met Daniel and they fell in love.
Now Ward is back on the scene. Will Liam tell him off for ghosting on him, or risk his marriage and his career by trying to pick things back up?
Another great series! You need to read all three in the trilogy to get the complete story, but each one is worth it!
Liam and Ward were together all through college and law school, then Ward just disappeared. Liam spent a lot of years emotionally wrecked, until he met Daniel and they fell in love.
Now Ward is back on the scene. Will Liam tell him off for ghosting on him, or risk his marriage and his career by trying to pick things back up?
Another great series! You need to read all three in the trilogy to get the complete story, but each one is worth it!
September 13, 2021
This trilogy could have easily worked as a longer novel instead of three shorter works. However, I did ultimately enjoy the way Richardson structured all the reveals and ordered the points of view. This book skirts pretty close to the edge if cheating is a hard limit for a reader, but luckily Daniel is here to be the GOAT of this trilogy and set everyone straight (or incredibly not straight, as the case may be).
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews