house of dark delights / bound in moonlight by louisa burton

Horny and immortal. Druids for pimps. Lucky humans. =P

If something is so well written that it lures me in to an actual interest in the characters’ lives, loves, and luck, it shouldn’t be a guilty secret now, should it? House of Dark Delights shelters delights not just of the carnal nature but also in the way words are woven and the characters are fleshed out. Nestled deep in the French countryside stands a castle that has for centuries lured guests with erotic promises. The chateau’s residents are immortal creatures who live to satisfy the desires of others—and their own. A Nordic elf and Babylonian succubus in love with each other but who must find other partners to feed their hunger, a lusty satyr who’s been the subject of numerous paintings and sculptures, and a djinn who just wants to be left alone with his books but who is obliged to satisfy the unspoken appetites of any human who touches him—they are beautiful and seductive and strangely helpless. In every encounter, there is sensuality, magic, and mystery. Sex is pleasure but also something more. The guests findspeace, redemption, and deliverance, willingly or inadvertently. The story goes back and forth from encounters centuries ago, when they were still hunted, to the present, where the chateau owner must find a psychically gifted bride or else the Druid line that protects the immortals will die. In Bound in Moonlight, the sequel, this issue is still unresolved.