I finished an ebook last night! I know, that shouldn't be an accomplishment, but I just finished judging 7 books for a contest and it took a looong time. It was lovely to get out my ebookwise reader again.

The book I read was Masquerade of the Cursed King by Vanessa Gilfoy. It is a novel length, sensual heat rating release from Ellora's Cave, and book one of her New Pangaea series. This book, set far into Earth's future, is based on one of the "unhappy" tarot cards and is a dark, rich read with really interesting fantasy ideas imbedded within it. Erick is the cursed king in question. His family life has him twisted so much that he can't see the wife his friends want him to take and believes she's evil. Eleanor loves Erick, but spends her time plotting an escape from his country where she's basically imprisoned. She is a hybrid elf, which in some ways makes her powerful and in other ways really messes up her life. This book is worth the read alone to see what Gilfoy does with her take on elves. "Masquerade" is a great read for those who like dark fantasy or are craving something deep and seriously sexy. The sex is hot but doesn't include anything outside of regular M/F relations.

As a writer, it was interesting to see how much fantasy world-building the author could fit in while still making the book very sexy. The two aspects were well integrated.