Whispers of the Flesh

Château de la Grotte Cachée, the Castle of the Hidden Grotto, is home to four immortals with voracious appetites for sex. Darius, recluse, shape-shifter and healer, is a djinn who upon being touched by a human, must fulfill their innermost desire. Lili is a succubus and craves sex like a woman yearns for a perfectly fitting bra. Elic, LIli's lover, needs sex as well but can only find satisfaction with a human; alas, he and Lili have a relationship built on love, partner-sharing, and mutual masturbation. Elic also has another unique trait. He can transform into "Elle", a female who has sex with males, then can convert back to "Elic" and impregnate a human female with the semen he stole. And then there's Inigo, a satyr who'll take whomever he can get: male, female, other immortals. Three tales take place in this novel; the latter two are intertwined with flashbacks. The year is 1829. David Beckett, a Jesuit-in-training, arrives at the chateau with the goal of redesigning the castle's gardens. But he also has a secret mission. Reports have reached the Vatican of orgies, demon possession, and debauchery. David must uncover what is true and what is false. But with Lili setting her sights on him, it's going to be difficult to hold to his self-imposed vows. Part two takes place in modern times. Emmett Archer is dying. Isabel Archer, daughter and heir to the administration of the chateau, wants nothing to do with the immortals. You see, the heir would be responsible for finding Adrien, the seigneur of Grotte Cachée, a Gifted wife. Since Isabel is madly in love with Adrien, finding him a mate is on her to-do list right below cleaning the London Tower latrines. At thirty-five, Isabel's biological clock is ticking down. Using her father's illness to return home, she seduces Adrien in the hopes of becoming pregnant with his child, not that she'd ever let him know if she did. Chloe is Emmett's ding-bat nurse's aid whose sexual appetites match the immortals, but whose sensibilities and dereliction of duty make you hope she drowns in one of the chateau's springs or ponds (unfortunately, she doesn't). Grace Garvey, a unique lesbian lady I wish the book would have shown more of, is the second nurse's aid and the eventual recipient of one of the immortal's "gifts". I can't give you much more without spilling the proverbial beans, but I can say everyone (but maybe Chloe and who cares about her? I guarantee you won't) winds up having a happily ever after. Break out the champagne. Whispers of the Flesh is book three of the Castle of the Hidden Grotto series, but stands quite nicely on its own. I haven't read the earlier two books, but if Whispers of the Flesh is an indication of the quality of the other two, I'll be checking them out shortly. Erotic? Definitely yes. Has a plot? For the most part, yes, though none of the tales have exceptionally complex nuances. Characters well written? Yes, again. Well edited? Yep. And Ms. Burton manages to convey a lot

A young Jesuit in training named David arrives at the Château de la Grotte Cachée, home to beautiful immortals that survive on mortal sensuality. He is there to investigate whispers of demon behavior. He finds so much more then demon behavior he finds himself and David will never be the same after this trip. The second novella included in this title takes place in the same location several years later. The Château's administer is dying and his daughter Isabel is going to take over his position. Isabel is not terribly thrilled with her new responsibilities since it includes finding the man that she loves other women. Through flash backs we learn a little more regarding the history of this castle and its occupants and Isabel may just find out she can have her happy ending. This is an intriguing collection of stories. Since I have not read any previous titles I feel pretty confident that you can read them out of order...although I am sure that reading them in the correct order will no doubt enrich the tales. These stories are very sensual in nature, but Ms. Burton's writing is very lyrical and this adds to the "flavor" of the stories. I personally found the second story a little bit more enthralling but both are entertaining in their own right.

'Whispers of the Flesh' contains two separate stories that are linked through the location in which they are set, the infamous Castle of the Hidden Grotto in France. The first story, based in the 19th Century, features David Beckett, a young Jesuit priest-in-training who is visiting the grotto to investigate reports of demons there. David has been one of the church's demon investigators for many years but is visiting in the guise of a landscape gardener to cover his investigations. David may uncover rather more than he expects and, not only that, he may find the very people he is searching for are not as evil as he previously thought. The second story occurs in the present day where the current administrator of the castle lies dying. His daughter, Isabel, is at his bedside but can't quite ignore the man that she loves who is in charge of the castle. Unfortunately, despite the fact they both love each other, she and Adrien cannot be together as he has to marry one of the 'Gifted', mortals who see auras and more, and Isabel's father isn't Gifted (although her mother is). But as we travel back thirty years in the memory of a friend of the dying man's, to a special house-party with a large group of free-spirited people, we learn more about the history of these people and Isabel may find things are a little different than she thought. Both stories are well-written and the historical one felt reasonably researched. The plots in both had their interesting aspects although I felt the story of David Beckett rather fizzled out at the end. There were several characters in both stories about whom we learned little and I wondered if the author is planning to write more about this group of people. In line with this genre of book there was a lot of sex and I did feel that, particularly in the second book, much of it was gratuitous and unnecessary to the plot - we learned a lot about the dying man's nurse's sexual adventures, for example, and not all that much about our hero and heroine. However the quality of writing of this book marked it above many others and the second story was particularly effective in slowly unfolding history and how events many years before affected people today. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

Burton's third installment in Grotte Cachée series is the best so far. These two stories, Certain Devils and Satisfaction, both do what I want in a story: they create characters that I care about, responding in believable ways. These stories reuse slightly supernatural characters from the earlier books, too, the gods and goddesses (or something like) who seclude themselves in this distant corner of France. These stories do something else that I like, too: they create and sustain an erotic intensity sure to seduce any willing reader, possibly more than once. The first of these stories is a seduction itself. An intense young man enters the chateau, determined to unearth its secrets. He arrives already certain of what those secrets are - and dead wrong, at least in every way that matters. It turns out that what he came for isn't so very secret and, in the end, he unearths his true self to himself. After that first story's claustrophobic focus on just one character, the second widens the perspective. Many characters play their roles. In fact, central characters play several roles, separated by decades in time. Burton weaves these many strands together gracefully, just as well as she followed the thread of one character in the first story. And, in both cases, dramatic tension resolution move at an easy and rewarding pace. That pace leaves lots of room for carnal interactions, which Burton scripts in loving detail. The players enter their play willingly (mostly) and happily. That wasn't always true in her earlier writing, and I find it much easier to enjoy. You could probably read these books in any order. Although the eternal characters remain constant throughout, the separate vignettes occur at widely spaced times. Overall development of the series comes more as a filling-in of detail, not a strictly chronological continuity. As a result, newcomers find equal welcome no matter where in the series they start. I recommend this to any reader who enjoys adult themes, and who has the privacy in which to enjoy them fully. -- wiredweird

Enter into the Château de la Grotte Cachée (the castle of the hidden grotto), a secluded castle in France. It is the administrateur's job to provide carnal nourishment for the immortals or Follets, which live there; a djinni (shape shifter), a Nordic elf, the Goddess of the new moon and a satyr. Sex from mortals is something they can't live without. But because of their delicate status, they also require a protection and privacy of sorts. This book contains two stories detailing different individuals' experiences at the Grotto at different times. Certain Devils - Elic, the Nordic elf who can change from man to woman, and Lili, the Goddess of the new moon and succubus, have been a couple for hundreds of years. One of Elics immortal quirks is that he can't have sex with another immortal/Follet. He and Lili have learned to work around that, mostly by bringing mortals into their bed. Over the years they have shared hundreds of lovers. When David Beckett, a Jesuit demon hunter, shows up at the Grotto disguised as a landscape artist, Lili is not only physically attracted to him, but finds herself besotted with the young man. This brings out the jealousy in Elic and causes problems in their comfortable love life. Satisfaction - Isabel's father has been the adminstrateur to the Chateau and the Follets for many years. It is a family tradition that has been past down from one generation to the next. He is dying now and is content because he thinks that his daughter is going to take over his post. She's not. Part of the job involves finding mortal playmates for the Follets; the other part involves finding a gifted woman to make a marriage/love match for the guardian of the Follets, Adrien, so that he can produce more gifted children that can carry on the family tradition. Isabel won't do this job because she has been in love with Adrien since they were teens. She knows she can't have him, that doesn't mean that finding someone for him to have is something easy for her to do. This story weaves a present day Grotto story with a glance back to the Grotto in the 1970's when Isabel's mother and father met. It is also a continuation from the last story in the second book of the series. I loved the second book, Bound in Moonlight, I found it a highly entertaining and sexy read. However, this book surpasses that, easily. All the elements that I loved in the first book are here; steamy sexual encounters, fascinating chateau guests and the charming and playful follets. What's not in this book is an overload of the bondage and S & M type lovin' that got a little too much for me in the previous book. Her sex scenes in both books are excitingly explicit and gratifyingly graphic. But her storylines in this one are by far her best. In this book she added more detail and emotions to the characters, making them come alive. It's definitely still a highly erotic tale, but this time you get a more captivating story and the characters mean more to you;