BOOK OF MASKS - Nathalie Gray
Torrid Tarot: The Hermit
Ellora’s Cave www.ellorascave.com
ISBN: 978-1-4199-0914-6
April 2007
Erotic Paranormal Romance
Rated E-rotic

Venice, Italy - Present Day

Jasmine Dunmore’s trip isn’t turning out anything like she’d expected.  An unknown aunt died, leaving Jasmine an ancient wooden tarot card, Il Tempo, and a house in Venice, so she travels to see the house and sell it.  When she misses the stop for her hotel, she decides to visit her house first, and then loses her reservation.  Because of carnivale, rooms are impossible to find, and Jasmine finds herself staying in the abandoned, run-down house she owns.  In the middle of the night, music and a glowing light draw her to a grand ballroom that wasn’t in the house earlier, and the orgy taking place in the room.  Jasmine’s attention is drawn to the enigmatic Vespero, and she finds it impossible to resist him.  Until the man in gray arrives.

Lumere, also known as Il Tempo, has one duty above all others: guarding the gate into the mortal world.  His fellow demons would like nothing more than to be able to enter the mortal world and wreak havoc on humans, and Lumere must not let them.  Jasmine holds the last key to open the gate, and Vespero will do anything to get Jasmine to do it.  Jasmine believes that the adventures she is having every night are nothing more than dreams, but will Lumere be able to convince her otherwise before Vespero persuades her to free him?

Nathalie Gray blends fantasy and reality in BOOK OF MASKS and introduces an alternate history to tarot cards.  Jasmine is a strong, independent woman who doesn’t typically give in to spontaneity, and is struggling a bit financially.  The temptation of visiting Venice in order to sell the house is too much to resist though, and it isn’t long after arriving that she begins to realize that she should have.  As she sleeps, she’s drawn into the other realm – that of the demons desperate to live in the mortal world.  The card that she inherited is that of the Hermit, or Il Tempo, the Guardian of Time.  After meeting Lumere she realizes he is the Hermit, but everything that is happening is only in her dreams, isn’t it?

A highly erotic and interesting tale, check out BOOK OF MASKS.

Jennifer Bishop