A Kiss of Shadows (Merry Gentry, #1)

by Laurell K. Hamilton

Laurell K. Hamilton's 'Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter' novels have established her as a force to be reckoned with. Her voice is fresh, her style sensual, her characters leap off the page and her blend of the contemporary and the supernatural is both original and exciting. Now, in A KISS OF SHADOWS, she introduces readers to an unforgettable new heroine: Meredith Gentry.

A Los Angeles private investigator with a strange speciality - supernatural crime, Merry has an even stranger secret: she's a Faerie princess in hiding, and on the run from her own otherworldly realm. For her aunt, the malevolent Queen of Air and Darkness, has dispatched her chief bodyguard back to the mortal world to fetch Meredith back, whether she likes it or not. She is to be the pawn in a plot that will transform the future of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Her role: to enjoy the constant company of the most beautiful - and immortal - men in the world of the Sidhe. Her reward: the crown. The penalty for refusal: death...

Rich, sensual and full of earthly pleasures, dazzling magic and memorable characters, some as deadly as they are beautiful, A KISS OF SHADOWS is an unbridled tour-de-force of the imagination where folklore, myth and legend come together with thrilling, erotically-charged adventure.

• ISBN10: 0345423399
• ISBN13: 9780345423399
• Publish Date: 3 October 2000
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Ballantine Books Inc.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[mitabird]

3.5 stars

[inlibrisveritas]

I've read LKH's Anita Blake series so i wasn't expecting too much of a difference, but as I read I realized that her skills are much better in writing these erotic type stories then the vampire hunter series. I really enjoyed it despite the amount of sex that the man character seems to have in a matter of a few days and how many guys, but it's a constant reminder of the fact that she is not human. A very good book, not just romance but it has actually depth to it.

[Melanie]

This is a re-read and re-listen for me. I've loved this series since I first started with it years ago. I love the characters and all their different personalities. I have a tendency to enjoy books with lots of likable secondary characters and Ms. Hamilton's books are full of them.

I really like the back story that comes with each of these characters. They each have their own issues and their own personalities. Some of those things I love, and some get on my nerves. But as with real people, it is all of these things that make them all great.

As for the narration, Laural Merlington does a great job. There are many characters in this book and only more to come. She does a great job keeping the voices separate and distinct. The maliciousness that she puts into Queen Andais's voice is perfect. She does mispronounce Doyle's name in this book, though I believe it is fixed in later books. She pronounces it as it is spelled, not as it is intended in the glossary of the book. Still overall, I love the narration.

[ibeforem]

This book is best categorized as “light on plot, heavy on sex”. It wasn’t bad, if you like to see how many different characters can have sex in the same book, sometimes under quite extraordinary circumstances. However, I like Laurell K Hamilton, so I’ll probably read more of these.