Ah, I love Halloween. All the strange things in the night come out in this spiritually dark part of the year. I wanted something different to read, something more than boy meets girl; boy has sex with girl; boy has sex with girl again. You know, something with a twist, a dark side.

As if by magic, a copy of Mooncusser Cove by Darragha Foster found its way into my computer. More than a story of love and lust, this novel is the history of the Mooncussers and Paladins who used to, and still do, inhabit a New England beach.

The Mooncusser clan was cursed years ago with a need to feed on sexual energy. Once a piratical clan interested only in gold and silver, they become a group who lustily feeds on the sexual desires of the unfortunates who come upon their beach.

The Paladin family long ago began to serve the Mooncussers in exchange for their lives. Guards and protectors of the clan, the Paladins become immune to the Mooncusser's power. If a Mooncusser daughter wants a mate, she must choose carefully for she has the power to kill the men she had sex with. Only a Paladin can withstand the sexual assault of a Mooncusser daughter.

Vesper Highgate-Adaire, named after her grandmother who did wicked things with women, is the last of the Mooncusser clan to still inhabit their old beach. Over the years she has taken to feeding upon the townspeople in the area, but she had been warned by her father never to stay in one place for too long.

Already Vesper has seen evidence that her power to make people forget the feedings she takes from them is failing, a few are remembering. To protect herself she decides to open the old Mooncusser mansion as a pleasure bed and breakfast called Vespers by the Sea. Thoughts of highly sexed people fill her mind as she imagines she will no longer need to feed from the townspeople and her secret will be safe.

As wonderful as that might be, after several hundred years, Vesper feels lonely. Knowing only a Paladin could safely be her lover, she undertakes a search to find out if any Paladins still live. She discovers that there is only one left and invites him to her home.

Jerrod Castenada is surprised at his inheritance of a stretch of beach, especially since it borders the fabled Mooncusser Cove. The subject of his next book, he finds the Mooncusser clan to be endlessly fascinating. It is almost as if he already knows all details he is finding in his research.

But his brain is a fuzzy thing of late. Thrown from his SUV in an accident, Jerrod remembers only bits and pieces of his life before the accident. What he can remember is the feeling of being a pirate the whole time he is in his coma, dreaming of sailing the seas and of pillaging and plundering, an odd thing to be thinking when fighting for your life.

When Jerrod receives the invitation from Vesper Highgate-Adaire to help her fix the mansion in exchange for her providing him with information for his book, he thinks he's hit the jackpot. Little does he know that Vesper is more of a prize than he suspects. Not only is she willing to tell him of the Mooncusser history, she is also an amazingly open sexual woman in need of some male companionship. Who is he to argue with the needs of a woman?

I will leave it up to you, dear reader, to discover what happens when these two meet to open Vespers-by-the-Sea.

Darragha Foster has created a brilliantly written story filled with detail and history that puts most other novels of its type to shame. The characters are rich and full-bodied like a fine wine, and the story is just as intoxicating. What about sexual tension? Ah, yes, that too will leave your head spinning and your heart beating fast. Who could ask for anything more?

Make sure you give yourself ample time to read Mooncusser Cove . It is a sensual romp through the history of two piratical families and it's such a tasty read you won't want to rush through it.
 
Reviewed By Sabine Maurier
© October 2007