4 Forbidden Romances for Everyone Still Lusting after Fleabag’s Hot Priest

The OG of priest romances, The Thorn Birds has been scandalizing (and titillating) readers since it was first published in 1977 and then adapted as a TV miniseries in 1983. Colleen McCullough’s classic Australian family saga chronicles the lives and loves of three generations of Clearys. Among them is Meggie Cleary, who grows up idolizing an ambitious young priest named Ralph de Bricassart. Over time, as Meggie reaches adulthood, the two fall in love, but can never quite find a way to be together. When you’re in the mood for soapy drama, you can’t go wrong with The Thorn Birds.

Sure, crushing on a Catholic priest is ill-advised, considering his vow of celibacy, but that’s nothing compared to falling for your stepbrother. When Blaire’s mother passes away, she reluctantly moves into her dad’s home in Florida, where she has to spend too much time in the company of her new stepbrother, Rush. He’s as arrogant as you might expect the son of a rock star to be, and pushes Blaire’s buttons like no one else. Of course, he also understands her better than anyone ever has, and there’s no denying the passion that flares between them…. Once you pick up Abbi Glines’s Fallen Too Far, you won’t put it back down until you’ve turned the last page.

Imagine moving to a new town after your father’s death and your mother’s cancer diagnosis. Then imagine learning that your cute neighbor, the one person you could see helping you through all of this, turns out to be your new teacher. For 18-year-old Layken, the heroine of Colleen Hoover’s New Adult romance Slammed, it’s a torturous reality. Will may only be three years older than her, but his position at Layken’s high school means any relationship between them would be highly inappropriate. The angst is strong in this one, but you’ll love every minute of their story, which continues in the books Point of Retreat and This Girl.

Timing is everything, and as Fleabag and her priest could attest, sometimes you meet the right person at exactly the wrong time. In S. C. Stephens’s Thoughtless, the first book in a gripping series, Kiera is convinced that her sweet, devoted boyfriend of two years is The One...until she’s not. The true test of their relationship comes when they’re forced to go long-distance, and Kiera befriends a local rock star, Kellan, who inspires in her all sorts of inconvenient feelings. Before long, Kiera finds herself smack-dab in the middle of a messy love triangle between two good men she can’t stand to hurt. If you felt for the impossible situation Fleabag found herself in, you’ll relate to Kiera’s just as much.