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Hidden Grotto #2
Bound in Moonlight
In this provocative follow-up to her sensational debut, House of Dark Delights, Louisa Burton issues another invitation to the notorious Castle of the Hidden Grotto?a place of entrancement, temptation, and searing eroticism.
For centuries the Castle of the Hidden Grotto, tucked into the French countryside, has provided its guests with a captivating haven where no fantasy is taboo and any erotic dream can be indulged. Seduced into this world by the chateau?s beautiful immortal residents, the latest crop of visitors cast off their inhibitions and surrender to their deepest longings?.
A sheltered heiress is appalled by the licentiousness she encounters at Chateau de la Grotte Cachée, until a beguiling stranger frees her from her gilded cage by tutoring her in the arts of love.... A rector?s daughter, in despair over being ruined and impoverished, allows herself to be sold at a slave auction for one week of sexual servitude to an aristocratic master with unorthodox tastes.... A woman with ancient ties to the castle is forced to confront her destiny?and a passion as consuming as it is forbidden.?
Irresistible and deliciously dangerous, Bound in Moonlight propels you into a world of intoxicating sensuality you?ll want to return to again and again.
For centuries the Castle of the Hidden Grotto, tucked into the French countryside, has provided its guests with a captivating haven where no fantasy is taboo and any erotic dream can be indulged. Seduced into this world by the chateau?s beautiful immortal residents, the latest crop of visitors cast off their inhibitions and surrender to their deepest longings?.
A sheltered heiress is appalled by the licentiousness she encounters at Chateau de la Grotte Cachée, until a beguiling stranger frees her from her gilded cage by tutoring her in the arts of love.... A rector?s daughter, in despair over being ruined and impoverished, allows herself to be sold at a slave auction for one week of sexual servitude to an aristocratic master with unorthodox tastes.... A woman with ancient ties to the castle is forced to confront her destiny?and a passion as consuming as it is forbidden.?
Irresistible and deliciously dangerous, Bound in Moonlight propels you into a world of intoxicating sensuality you?ll want to return to again and again.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
2 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
Louisa Burton
7 books77 followersA pseudonym used by Patricia Ryan.
Louisa Burton is a painter, writer, and collector of rare books who travels extensively, but whose home is in New York. She is a lifelong devotee of Victorian erotica, history, and mythology. Of particular interest to Louisa are the beings known by demonologists and mythologists as Sexual Demons: incubi, succubi, satyrs, djinn, and vampires, among others. With the Hidden Grotto series, beginning with House of Dark Delights, Louisa is weaving those passions together into an epic work of erotic fiction.
Louisa Burton is a painter, writer, and collector of rare books who travels extensively, but whose home is in New York. She is a lifelong devotee of Victorian erotica, history, and mythology. Of particular interest to Louisa are the beings known by demonologists and mythologists as Sexual Demons: incubi, succubi, satyrs, djinn, and vampires, among others. With the Hidden Grotto series, beginning with House of Dark Delights, Louisa is weaving those passions together into an epic work of erotic fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 13, 2010
Louisa Burton’s first book, House of Dark Delights, is an erotic fantasy set in a place which is literally enchanting. She has followed it with Bound in Moonlight, a collection of three stories, or novellas, which resemble a set of Russian wooden dolls, each containing a smaller doll down to the tiniest in the center. Each story takes place in a different historical period and each is referred to in a later story. In fact, the sexual imagery of objects hidden in other objects recurs throughout the book.
In a letter to her devoted French lover in 1922, a fictional American woman admits that she is the anonymous author of a scandalous novel published in 1903:
"Suffice it to say that Emmeline's Emancipation is something of a roman a clef. Which is to say, the events described in that book actually happened, more or less. I changed the names of everyone involved, of course, and altered some details to make it more entertaining and more difficult to identify me as the author. The most major change is the setting. It didn't take place in Scotland. It was a castle in France called Chateau de la Grotte Cachee."
The Castle of the Hidden Grotto, as it is called in English, seems to have been built in ancient times (at least in its original form) over a vaginal cave which is a pipeline to inexhaustible sexual energy. Grotte Cachee resembles various real-world sites believed to be sacred because they are built over natural energy centers. The chateau is the "real" setting for each of the stories in this collection, and everyone who accepts an invitation to visit the place falls under its spell.
Snippets of Emmeline’s Emancipation are included with the author’s explanation of what “really” happened when she arrived, as a naïve American heiress hoping to meet up with her titled English fiancé, and found him busily enjoying two women at once. In the discovery scene, the fiancé is not at all apologetic, and he warns “Emmeline” that if she breaks their engagement and cheats him out of the immense dowry promised by her father, he will make sure that she never gets another proposal from anyone who “matters.” To top off his arrogance, the fiancé makes fun of “Emmeline’s” large picture hat, which looked like a fashion statement when she put it on, but which has been drenched by rain before her arrival at the chateau.
Years later, “Emmeline” recounts how she was rescued from emotional devastation by a seductive man who seemed to be a permanent resident of the place, and who showed as much interest in her pleasure as in his own. She was “liberated” from an Edwardian double standard and from the cold-blooded convention of marriage as a financial transaction. As a worldly-wise middle-aged woman in the 1920s, “Emmeline” is proud that she has never been bought or sold in marriage.
Ironically, the successful author’s French lover has proposed to her, and he is the man who matters most to her. Her letters to him while she recovers from a skiing accident show one side of a playful debate about how a man and a woman can best maintain an honest, satisfying relationship.
The middle story, “Slave Week,” is prefaced by a quoted passage from “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” by Lord Byron (circa 1812), and it is set against a background of the Napoleonic Wars. It shows the desperation of a proud young woman who is left with no respectable means of supporting herself, and her situation is both melodramatic and believable. The reader is reminded that “ruined” maidens were regularly fished out of rivers in that time, and that their fate was usually blamed on themselves. Financial considerations are unavoidable, and Caroline, our heroine, is eventually rescued from death, shame and starvation, but there are enough twists in the plot to prevent the story from being a conventional romance. During a secret week of debauchery at Grotte Cachee, Caroline is enlightened in several ways, and so is the gentleman who both rescues and torments her.
This story is the darkest and most gripping piece in the book. The two central characters both have depth, and they have both suffered from outrageous fortune before they meet. Cliff-hanging suspense is provided by the likelihood that these two people would rather continue to nurse their wounds in secret than surrender to love. The BDSM activities are not unusual (for modern readers of erotica), but the sex is emotionally intense.
The last story, “Magic Hour,” is bittersweet. It is set in current times, but it shows that hereditary roles and a sense of responsibility can still prevent a young man and a young woman from following their hearts. Isabel, a young innocent somewhat like the “Emmeline” of yesteryear (and who seems to be named for a character in a novel by Henry James), stumbles onto the set of a porn movie version of Emmeline’s Emancipation, being filmed at Grotte Cachee. One of the stars is described as “Brigitte Bardot meets Edith Wharton.” Isabel is amused, but she is more interested in her childhood friend, the young lord of the castle who inherited the title of Seigneur on the death of his parents. Now that both of them are adults, he shares some of the secrets of the place with her, including the reason why he can never run away with her and why certain things happen as they do.
All three stories are elegantly written, and they give an impression of being just a sampling of the rich history of Grotte Cachee. The sex tends to be heterosexual, aside from a few couplings glimpsed on the sidelines and the existence of a being who seems able to change genders at will.
The charm of these stories is in the conception of sexual fantasy as an exclusive, luxurious and timeless place to which the author has given each of us an engraved invitation. Presumably, the kinds of sex which happen there are limited only by the imaginations of the visitors. This reader hopes that the energy of Grotte Cachee will inspire the author to continue the series.
------------------------------------
In a letter to her devoted French lover in 1922, a fictional American woman admits that she is the anonymous author of a scandalous novel published in 1903:
"Suffice it to say that Emmeline's Emancipation is something of a roman a clef. Which is to say, the events described in that book actually happened, more or less. I changed the names of everyone involved, of course, and altered some details to make it more entertaining and more difficult to identify me as the author. The most major change is the setting. It didn't take place in Scotland. It was a castle in France called Chateau de la Grotte Cachee."
The Castle of the Hidden Grotto, as it is called in English, seems to have been built in ancient times (at least in its original form) over a vaginal cave which is a pipeline to inexhaustible sexual energy. Grotte Cachee resembles various real-world sites believed to be sacred because they are built over natural energy centers. The chateau is the "real" setting for each of the stories in this collection, and everyone who accepts an invitation to visit the place falls under its spell.
Snippets of Emmeline’s Emancipation are included with the author’s explanation of what “really” happened when she arrived, as a naïve American heiress hoping to meet up with her titled English fiancé, and found him busily enjoying two women at once. In the discovery scene, the fiancé is not at all apologetic, and he warns “Emmeline” that if she breaks their engagement and cheats him out of the immense dowry promised by her father, he will make sure that she never gets another proposal from anyone who “matters.” To top off his arrogance, the fiancé makes fun of “Emmeline’s” large picture hat, which looked like a fashion statement when she put it on, but which has been drenched by rain before her arrival at the chateau.
Years later, “Emmeline” recounts how she was rescued from emotional devastation by a seductive man who seemed to be a permanent resident of the place, and who showed as much interest in her pleasure as in his own. She was “liberated” from an Edwardian double standard and from the cold-blooded convention of marriage as a financial transaction. As a worldly-wise middle-aged woman in the 1920s, “Emmeline” is proud that she has never been bought or sold in marriage.
Ironically, the successful author’s French lover has proposed to her, and he is the man who matters most to her. Her letters to him while she recovers from a skiing accident show one side of a playful debate about how a man and a woman can best maintain an honest, satisfying relationship.
The middle story, “Slave Week,” is prefaced by a quoted passage from “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” by Lord Byron (circa 1812), and it is set against a background of the Napoleonic Wars. It shows the desperation of a proud young woman who is left with no respectable means of supporting herself, and her situation is both melodramatic and believable. The reader is reminded that “ruined” maidens were regularly fished out of rivers in that time, and that their fate was usually blamed on themselves. Financial considerations are unavoidable, and Caroline, our heroine, is eventually rescued from death, shame and starvation, but there are enough twists in the plot to prevent the story from being a conventional romance. During a secret week of debauchery at Grotte Cachee, Caroline is enlightened in several ways, and so is the gentleman who both rescues and torments her.
This story is the darkest and most gripping piece in the book. The two central characters both have depth, and they have both suffered from outrageous fortune before they meet. Cliff-hanging suspense is provided by the likelihood that these two people would rather continue to nurse their wounds in secret than surrender to love. The BDSM activities are not unusual (for modern readers of erotica), but the sex is emotionally intense.
The last story, “Magic Hour,” is bittersweet. It is set in current times, but it shows that hereditary roles and a sense of responsibility can still prevent a young man and a young woman from following their hearts. Isabel, a young innocent somewhat like the “Emmeline” of yesteryear (and who seems to be named for a character in a novel by Henry James), stumbles onto the set of a porn movie version of Emmeline’s Emancipation, being filmed at Grotte Cachee. One of the stars is described as “Brigitte Bardot meets Edith Wharton.” Isabel is amused, but she is more interested in her childhood friend, the young lord of the castle who inherited the title of Seigneur on the death of his parents. Now that both of them are adults, he shares some of the secrets of the place with her, including the reason why he can never run away with her and why certain things happen as they do.
All three stories are elegantly written, and they give an impression of being just a sampling of the rich history of Grotte Cachee. The sex tends to be heterosexual, aside from a few couplings glimpsed on the sidelines and the existence of a being who seems able to change genders at will.
The charm of these stories is in the conception of sexual fantasy as an exclusive, luxurious and timeless place to which the author has given each of us an engraved invitation. Presumably, the kinds of sex which happen there are limited only by the imaginations of the visitors. This reader hopes that the energy of Grotte Cachee will inspire the author to continue the series.
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September 14, 2025
Wonderful book. I believe I liked the first just a liiiittle bit more, but I still enjoyed this one, and I’m excited for the next.
January 12, 2009
If you enjoy well-written erotica interwoven with a large dose of mythology that slips into the real world, both past and present, you'll enjoy this book. Written in three parts, from different perspectives, at different points in time, it will be a difficult book to put down. Interesting characters, use of language and description that provides a quality read. Highly recommended.
September 3, 2012
Much better than the first one. My heart is still reeling and I am so confused over what will happen in the next two books. I cannot pick a favorite between the three stories for I have enjoyed them all greatly.
January 8, 2008
If you read this book before bedtime you will most likely have very sexy dreams. My only problem was the last story that ended rather abruptly. So, if you like erotic stories check this one out.
July 3, 2017
The creativity, mythology and passion continue (yea!).
I like how the stories are dipping in and out of time.
This one ties with the first one for being my favorite out of the first 4... a few scenes here just demand rereading.
Really well done, interesting erotica.
I like how the stories are dipping in and out of time.
This one ties with the first one for being my favorite out of the first 4... a few scenes here just demand rereading.
Really well done, interesting erotica.
December 12, 2018
Can you really just do that? You can take the famous 1882 painting from a master artist and just use it as your book cover? If I wanted to I could take Dali's melting clock and just appropriate them for my book or movie or CD cover?
August 20, 2021
3.5 stars
June 19, 2024
Spicy, saucy, vignette style book with a loose thread of reoccurring characters in the same place over generations. With just a touch of midsummer night dream like greecian fantasy flavoring.
August 1, 2015
I rarely read erotica, but just as the Follett's with their many conquests, I devoured Bound in Moonlight. Though comprised of three separate stories, each one builds a bit from the last, answering questions the reader begins to ask themselves as enticing nuggets of histoire are exposed. The chateau itself is described in such detail as to transport the reader to its darkened corridors filled with heat and desire.
Tutelage is the story of Emily Townsend and her experience at the chateau, as told through letters to her long time lover, Remy. While the story is interesting, mainly due to the exploits of those at the chateau, some language and turns of phrase seem too modern for the 1922 time period, and Emily can be somewhat one-dimensional.
Slave Week is, by far, the best of this volume. Fleshy characters with interesting back stories and lovingly developed story lines make up this tale. A week as a sexual slave would have been the very last avenue for a rector's daughter to secure money, but for one young woman it seems to be the only choice she has left. Ruined by love, and disowned by her family, Caroline Keaton has decided to end it all on the anniversary of her lover's death - his life lost at Waterloo two years before. Thinking death is better than living in squalor, she throws herself off the newly built Waterloo bridge into the freezing Thames. As she is being hauled off to gaol she meets the man who will change her life, Lord Rexton, who saves her from the asylum and introduces her to the Chateau de la Grotte Cachee. After arriving to the chateau, Caroline is exposed to a world of sex she could never have imagined, a world that she is both repulsed and entranced by. Purchased by her savior to save her from the abusive Dunhurst, the young novice learns the ecstasy of absolute pleasures and the heartbreak of betrayal.
Magic Hour finishes this volume, doing so by answering any lingering questions regarding the Folletts, as well as treating the reader to one more intensely intimate scene. This story, however, seems incomplete and more like a vignette than something of flesh. The brevity of it leaves the reader feeling a bit off kilter, much like Caroline in the previous story when Rexton delivered the "first part" of his "punishment" to her.
Bound in Moonlight might best be approached like a sexual encounter for the mind; Tutelage, the foreplay, loosens the reader up, easing them into the mood with tidbits shared via letters to a lover, while Slave Week is the act of intimacy itself, long and sensual, and Magic Hour is the moment just after climax when the lovers are recovering from their fervent intimacy. Though the narrative is sometimes lacking, and the characters (mainly in Tutelage and Magic Hour) lacking depth, Bound in Moonlight is worth a read for anyone who enjoys the genre.
Tutelage is the story of Emily Townsend and her experience at the chateau, as told through letters to her long time lover, Remy. While the story is interesting, mainly due to the exploits of those at the chateau, some language and turns of phrase seem too modern for the 1922 time period, and Emily can be somewhat one-dimensional.
Slave Week is, by far, the best of this volume. Fleshy characters with interesting back stories and lovingly developed story lines make up this tale. A week as a sexual slave would have been the very last avenue for a rector's daughter to secure money, but for one young woman it seems to be the only choice she has left. Ruined by love, and disowned by her family, Caroline Keaton has decided to end it all on the anniversary of her lover's death - his life lost at Waterloo two years before. Thinking death is better than living in squalor, she throws herself off the newly built Waterloo bridge into the freezing Thames. As she is being hauled off to gaol she meets the man who will change her life, Lord Rexton, who saves her from the asylum and introduces her to the Chateau de la Grotte Cachee. After arriving to the chateau, Caroline is exposed to a world of sex she could never have imagined, a world that she is both repulsed and entranced by. Purchased by her savior to save her from the abusive Dunhurst, the young novice learns the ecstasy of absolute pleasures and the heartbreak of betrayal.
Magic Hour finishes this volume, doing so by answering any lingering questions regarding the Folletts, as well as treating the reader to one more intensely intimate scene. This story, however, seems incomplete and more like a vignette than something of flesh. The brevity of it leaves the reader feeling a bit off kilter, much like Caroline in the previous story when Rexton delivered the "first part" of his "punishment" to her.
Bound in Moonlight might best be approached like a sexual encounter for the mind; Tutelage, the foreplay, loosens the reader up, easing them into the mood with tidbits shared via letters to a lover, while Slave Week is the act of intimacy itself, long and sensual, and Magic Hour is the moment just after climax when the lovers are recovering from their fervent intimacy. Though the narrative is sometimes lacking, and the characters (mainly in Tutelage and Magic Hour) lacking depth, Bound in Moonlight is worth a read for anyone who enjoys the genre.
December 2, 2014
**2.5 stars**
A little dissapointing. Only one story had some merit (the second one) but I felt that the important relationship building parts were glossed over. I think the author had enough story to write a whole novel about this couple but got caught up in the novella format from the first book.
Tutelage was written in a epistolary format - I don't know you, but recounting salacious happenings in a letter seemed really weird to me - and again, parts of the 'education' were glossed over. Slave Week was the best story. Here we have an impoverished rector's daughter and a very tortured Lord discover many new things about themselves in the bedroom. This was a very interesting couple and I felt that the story could have used another 100 pages, specially the hero's background, which was all dumped on the heroine all at once. I also felt she shouldn't have forgiven him so easily after what he did (which was a doozy.)
Magic Hour was the worst of the lot. Loosely tied to Tutelage, it ended with the two main characters going their separate ways. I guess the idea is for the story to continue in the next book but I'm not sure if I liked this one enough to continue the series. We'll see if I'm in the mood after enough time has passed.
A little dissapointing. Only one story had some merit (the second one) but I felt that the important relationship building parts were glossed over. I think the author had enough story to write a whole novel about this couple but got caught up in the novella format from the first book.
Tutelage was written in a epistolary format - I don't know you, but recounting salacious happenings in a letter seemed really weird to me - and again, parts of the 'education' were glossed over. Slave Week was the best story. Here we have an impoverished rector's daughter and a very tortured Lord discover many new things about themselves in the bedroom. This was a very interesting couple and I felt that the story could have used another 100 pages, specially the hero's background, which was all dumped on the heroine all at once. I also felt she shouldn't have forgiven him so easily after what he did (which was a doozy.)
Magic Hour was the worst of the lot. Loosely tied to Tutelage, it ended with the two main characters going their separate ways. I guess the idea is for the story to continue in the next book but I'm not sure if I liked this one enough to continue the series. We'll see if I'm in the mood after enough time has passed.
March 26, 2008
I picked this up at the Border's Bookstore, from the bestseller section. I was incredibly surprised to find that it is straight up erotica and would have been more appropriately titled "The House of Bizarre Sexual Proclivities."
I blushed through at least 200 of the 300 page book, which is the second in a three part "historical series." The book can be read alone, (without the other 2 books, not people)... and while I could easily imagine it in the supermarket with the romance paperbacks, i still did enjoy it or what it was (literary pornography.)
It tells the store of a estate in France that is home to 3 non-human entities and a druid overseer, that survive by participating in a series of sexual activities. Each of the 3 stories of the book , is told in historical context and the main characters are likable (although badly behaved.)
If you need some sexual motivation- this is your book.
Author: Louisa Burton
Publisher: Bantam Books
Copyright: 2007
Genre: Romance/Erotica
Pages: 30
Date Read- 3/11 & 3/12/08
June 1, 2008
Each erotic tale is as unique as the heroine it is written about. Each story saturates the reader in a heavy dose of the sensual and the sexual, and this erotica is detailed, explicit and titillating. Nothing is taboo in the Grotto, anything goes, and the stories are definitely not for the prudish. While I like to think of myself as an open minded and audacious kinda gal, there were a few scenes in Slave Week that were a little too much for me; they edged a little too closely on the Sadomasochistic side for my tastes. It did not, however, ruin my enjoyment of the story, or the book on a whole. I found I liked each individual story for its own merits and when the third one ended I was more than bummed that this sinfully sexy ride was over. I have gone ahead and ordered the first book and look forward to reading the third. Ms. Burton is a gifted story teller, for sure.
Cherise Everhard, June 2008
Cherise Everhard, June 2008
May 6, 2011
The way this author touches upon a fantasy and turns the phrase of it into a beautiful scene, is incredible.
I can't get enough of this series.
I am a published paranormal romance writer, and my goal is to be as captivating as this author.
She has the gift of being able to delight your senses, while she weaves so many small stories into the background, your head will spin.
Buy it, enjoy it, and pass her name around.
Burton is as good as Gold.
I can't get enough of this series.
I am a published paranormal romance writer, and my goal is to be as captivating as this author.
She has the gift of being able to delight your senses, while she weaves so many small stories into the background, your head will spin.
Buy it, enjoy it, and pass her name around.
Burton is as good as Gold.
April 23, 2008
Sequel to House of Dark Delights--Burton continues to reflect on the life and times of the follets, their keepers, and their consorts, depicting hot steamy encounters with heartbreakingly vivid emotional scenes as she continues to unfold the rich and erotic history of the chateau. The modern day plot thread is spun out a little further, adding the hook and tease for the next book in the series.
May 5, 2009
Overall I liked this book, but not as much as the first in the series. This time around there was more history about the grotto and its inhabitants. And the stories about some of the guests delved more deeply into their relationships. Which would be fine, but I really just wanted more smut. ; )
September 29, 2012
Not for good LDS members to read. I read it when I was inactive, and have repented of this sin.
July 17, 2010
Loved it as much as her first!
April 13, 2015
It was okay.
June 28, 2016
Not exactly epic storytelling. But i've grown fond of the idea of the Grotte Cache and will likely read the third book.
September 8, 2017
Not as good as the first book, but it's still good. Burton still got me enticed.
August 22, 2014
Pretty dirty, pretty entertaining.
March 28, 2017
More erotic adventures of the denizens of Chateau de la Grotte Cachee. This book consisted of three novellas. I thought the epistolary style of the first was a strange choice of format; the sex was decent enough, but I didn't care for the story. The second novella was undoubtedly the best, and by far the most lurid. The third was my least favorite; I thought the story was dull, the sex rushed and uninspired, and the ending unfinished. I can only guess that it's continued in a later volume. I will still continue this series, because the premise is so cool and sexy, but I wasn't impressed with this book.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews