Product Description

I am Princess Meredith, heir to a throne of faerie. My day job, once upon a time, was as a private detective in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, princess has now become a full-time occupation.

My aunt, Queen Andais, will have it no other way. And so I am virtually a prisoner in faerie–trapped here with some of the realm’s most beautiful men to serve as my bodyguards . . . and my lovers. For I am compelled to conceive a child: an heir to succeed me on the throne. Yet after months of amazing sex with my consorts, there is still no baby. And no baby means no throne. The only certainty is death at the hands of my cousin Cel, or his followers, if I fail to conceive.

Now Mistral, Queen Andais’s new captain of the guard, has come to my bed–defying her and risking her terrible wrath in doing so. But even she will hesitate to punish him in jealous rage, because our joining has reawakened old magic, mystical power so ancient that no one stands against it and survives. Not even my strongest and most favored: my Darkness and my Killing Frost. Not even Mistral himself, my Storm Lord. But because Mistral has helped to bring this magic forth, he may live another day.

If I can reclaim control of the fey power that once was, there may be hope for me and my reign in faerie. I might yet quell the dark schemes and subterfuges surrounding me. Though shadows of obsession and conspiracy gather, I may survive.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20627 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-30
• Released on: 2007-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .92" h x 4.98" w x 6.92" l, .38 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780345443618
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

From Publishers Weekly
In bestseller Hamilton's steamy fifth in the Meredith Gentry fantasy series (after 2005's A Stroke of Midnight), the fey former Los Angeles PI has given up detecting and fully embraced her duties as Princess Meredith NicEssus, potential heir to the faerie throne. Since the extremely orgasmic princess's foremost duty is to prove her fertility in order to gain the throne, she spends most of her time bedding her immortal sidhe royal guardsmen, giving each a fair shot as her future consort. All the group sex has a profoundly transformative effect: her men are regaining their full powers, and the long-dead faerie gardens are springing to life. But when Meredith and her merry men inadvertently find themselves in the territory of King Sholto, who has been betrayed by others in the faerie court, there's deadly danger even for immortals. Lots of earth-shattering, supernatural sex and a rousing climactic battle will have Hamilton's fans panting for more. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
Praise for Laurell K. Hamilton

A Kiss of Shadows

“I’ve never read a writer with a more fertile imagination.”
–Diana Gabaldon


A Caress of Twilight

“Sensual, without a doubt . . . This book moves like a whirlwind.”
–St. Louis Post-Dispatch


Seduced by Moonlight

“This [faerie] society is one of the most detailed, imaginative and lovingly drawn in all fantastic fiction, and the Meredith Gentry series has become something special.”
–San Jose Mercury News


A Stroke of Midnight

“Nonstop action . . . This book will leave you breathless.”
–St. Louis Post-Dispatch


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author
Laurell K. Hamilton is the New York Times bestselling author of the Meredith Gentry novels: A Kiss of Shadows, A Caress of Twilight, Seduced by Moonlight, A Stroke of Midnight, as well as twelve acclaimed Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, novels. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Visit the author’s website at www.laurellkhamilton.org.


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Should have been the end of "Stroke of Midnight" instead of a stand-alone book.
OK, OK, it's still got more steamy, group gropes than really necessary - and some this time are weirder than ever, but AT LEAST THERE IS SOME PLOT DEVELOPMENT. Not as much as I'd been craving, mind you, but some. At only 212 pages, I knocked this book out over the morning commute and lunch period. So it was a bit like dieting - just enough to make you wish you had a full meal. I was disappointed that there wasn't more because, in all honesty, this felt more like the end of Stroke of Midnight or the first third of a new book than an entire book that should stand (and sell) on its own. That said, I was delighted because it was not just one sequential orgy - there was actually a bit of progress on the plot (e.g., there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Merry and her men to get out of the sithen). Still no progress on going to the Shining Court. Still no progress on visiting the Goblin court. And Merry is still acquiring men like a hound acquires fleas - her sex scenes are starting to seem like a Cecil B. DeMille movie with a cast of thousands, many standing about doing a whole lot of nothing. I've started just skipping over them at this point because I'm bored. There is no emotional intimacy in all this stuff. I miss that and would really like more scenes where there is emotional progress with Doyle and Frost. Sex is fine, but empty sex - bleh. Anyway, I miss Frost. I miss Doyle. I want them to be more than wallpaper. I miss plot. I miss tension that isn't involving sex. Don't know about everyone else, but I am pretty tired of seeing this world only through Merry's libido. It needs some heart, too. I'm a huge LKH fan, but I encourage her to return to some of her earlier writing style.

Story lost for the sake of sex
This book has no plot and consists of four episodes or scenes, three of which are sex scenes. I read that LKH couldn't figure out what genre she was writing in. It's erotica. E-R-O-T-I-C-A. It's not, as she puts itit, "more like hard-boiled mysteries, or horror novels in tone of writing, but the romance and the magic ... there, too."

Because there is no plot, the book is short, and the entirety of the story takes place over less than a day, I hardly know what to write as a synopsis. Let's see the timeline goes as follows: Merry wakes up in bed with some of her men. Another lost artifact appears. Gives all of her people more power. Aunt Andais is not happy, but like all of the evils in your books, she's emasculated (I think this is a masculine adjective, but don't know what the feminine counterpart is). Andais lets Merry do everything that Merry wants. Merry goes on to have sex with Abeloec, Mistral, and one other character. There is a run in with Sholto. Something paranormal ensues. It's easily resolved. Everyone is happy.

This "book" (and I use that term loosely and defined as words bound and sold with a cover from a NY publisher) is nothing more than a series of scenes. It cannot work as a stand alone novel. It has virtually no relation to the previous book (i.e., what happened with the accusation against Rhys of raping the Seelie woman? Or the ball that Taranis is holding? or cel losing another guard? or anything?). It has no resolution. No crescendo and denouement unless we can count each orgasm as a mini story.

The saving grace is that there are tender moments between Frost and Merry and Doyle and Merry which almost makes it worthwhile. What am I saying? Of course, paying $17.95 for this pap isn't worthwhile unless the reader is a sick addict. I just am so invested in the original series with Doyle, Frost and Merry, that any tiny scrap makes me happy. Sick. I am sick. I need help.

LKH, what has HAPPENED to you????
Sadly, this is not a positive review. To give you an idea of how much I was prepared to love Mistral's Kiss, let me share the fact that I discovered the Anita Blake series a few years ago with Obsidian Butterfly, and within two weeks I purchased and read not just that entire series, but the one or two Merry Gentry books then available, as well. At that point, I began to pre-order and then immediately consume every new book that was published within a day of receiving it. It was with some regret that I'd reach the end of each book - knowing I would have to wait for the next installment, but content with the fact that it would be well worth my patience.

It has been pretty much a given that I would love anything by Laurell K. Hamilton in the two series and I have read both entire series SEVERAL times. Unlike many of her fans, I haven't terribly minded the steamier route her more recent books have taken, as for the most part, there were still crimes to solve, evil plots to overcome, and a fairly cohesive and forward-progressing story line - at least until her last two books. Danse Macabre was merely so-so, with a lot of loose ends left hanging from previous books, and the sex, while copious, generally managed not to be sexy. Still, the book was SOMETHING to tide me over, and I had hopes the poor quality of the story was a fluke. Then came Mistral's Kiss.

Between the number of pages and the size and spacing of the text, let me warn you that Mistral's Kiss is more a novella than a full novel; worse, it almost felt like she ran behind schedule and didn't have time to flush out the story, so they made do with what they had. Some of LKH's books were fairly huge, and they were meaty reads. Here, I feel like nothing was really accomplished, I didn't learn anything of much interest, and I didn't really CARE for the characters the way that I normally do. The only nice thing I can really say about the book is that the proof-readers did a better job than usual - the editing of her books is usually beyond awful.

One can only assume that LKH's publishing company is getting greedy and pushing her to grind the books out, but I hope they figure out that they are KILLING their cash cow. The magic is gone. I see she has another book coming out mid-2007, and I can only assume the worst. I might not even buy it, and I'm about as die-hard a fan as you will find.

Regretfully, I would only recommend Mistral's Kiss for the relentless Merry Gentry fans determined to stick with the series to the bitter end. I hope Laurell K. Hamilton slows things down and starts taking more time with her books again. The earlier ones are magic and have a permanent spot on my keeper shelf.