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A Kiss of Shadows (Merry Gentry #1)

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 29,158 ratings · 990 reviews

"My name is Meredith Gentry, but of course it’s not my real name. I dare not even whisper my true name after dark for fear that one hushed word will travel over the night winds to the soft ear of my aunt, the Queen of the Air and Darkness. She wants me dead. I don’t even know why."

Meredith Gentry, Princess of the high court of Faerie, is posing as a human in Los Angeles, l...more

ebook, 480 pages

Published January 18th 2001 by Random House (first published November 1st 2000)

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Jul 15, 2011 Kat Kennedy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-that-deserve-painful-death

There was a lot about this book that I didn't like, but only some of it can be legitimately complained about.

I can't really complain about the amount and type of sex in this book like I could for Anita Blake because, unlike Anita Blake, this book is meant to have sex in it! It is Erotica.

Sure, the silent, gaping, hole where my soul is shrieking over the tentacle sex would be fun to discuss, but I really can't. I highly doubt many people would pick this book up without knowing that it's freaky be...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Renee Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Renee by: Diane ~Firefly~

Shelves: borrowed, urban-fantasy, series, fantasy, pifm, series-to-continue

I've created one long run-on sentence to plot this book for you. English majors, turn away now. Okay... Ready?

Merry has a boyfriend who used to be a seal and when they had sex he turned back into a seal so she ran away with a guy who has tentacles all over his torso and started to have sex with him but they were interrupted by a hag who she turned inside-out and thus found out that she was wanted back as a princess in her fey court which meant that she needed lots of sexy hunky guards all around...more

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Nov 28, 2008 John rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When Lauren and I prepared to go to upstate NY a little over a week ago, we looked around the Providence library's website for audio books we could download. Although I wasn't familiar with her work, I'd heard an interview with Laurell K. Hamilton on one of the podcasts to which I listen, and the first book of her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series wasn't available, but the start of her newer Meredith Gentry series was available.

We've very much enjoyed Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, and f...more When Lauren and I prepared to go to upstate NY a little over a week ago, we looked around the Providence library's website for audio books we could download. Although I wasn't familiar with her work, I'd heard an interview with Laurell K. Hamilton on one of the podcasts to which I listen, and the first book of her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series wasn't available, but the start of her newer Meredith Gentry series was available.

We've very much enjoyed Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, and from the start this novel seemed like it might be in a similar vein. The basic premise is that all sorts of fantasy creatures, starting with fairies (or fey, or elves, or sidhe--call them what you will) and extending to goblins, brownies, and many you've probably never heard of are not only real, but unlike in Butcher's Dresden series, these fantastic creatures have for some time been living openly among us. The setting is the present day, but it's a modern world which has been shaped by the existence of these fantasy creatures (Hitler, we learn, first allied with some of these creatures, but they turned against him when he tried to weed out "impure" magical creatures). The fairies--at least one court of them--have a sort of independent city-state in Cahokia, Illinois (at the mounds, of course!), though many live in mainstream society, albeit as essentially foreign nationals with special laws applying to them because of their magical natures.

The story here centers on Meredith (Merry) Gentry, a fairy princess who's been on the run from her family for the past three years. Because of her mixed ancestry (part brownie and human as well as Sidhe), she's mortal (instead of immortal like the Sidhe) and apparently has far weaker magic than her fairy kin. Despite this, she still has a high place in the royal succession of the Unseelie fairy court. That's the set-up: I won't say much here about the plot.

Although we found the book enjoyable enough to see it through to its finish, we weren't terribly impressed. Hamilton spends far too much time on description, to the detriment of her work. She describes people and places to a ridiculous extent, apparently in love with similies. As a result, the plot moves with excruciating slowness: an important character shows up, something happens, and then we have to wait for Hamilton to describe the character's appearance, his or her relationship to the main character and to others, the character's personality, all the possibly-relevant details of this character's appearance on the story's stage at this juncture... and on and on. This is bad enough, but then she has to over-explain everything that happens, every decision that the character makes... before it was over, we'd find outselves laughing--at least, after screaming in frustration--as we poked fun at Hamilton's style. I know that fantasy is a hard genre to write: so much needs to be explained because it's not our world, the rules are different, but there's definitely such a thing as over-explaining, and too often Hamilton falls into that trap. Too often, when not boring us with extraneous details, she sounds like she's talking down to us. If this was her first novel--and not just the first in the series--I could understand, but she'd written at least 8 books before this one; if this is what her mature work looks like, I have no interest in reading any of her earlier stuff, and I doubt I'll continue this series either.

Even beyond those criticisms, when the plot moves in unexpected directions--and it does--frequently those directions aren't wholly satisfying. The first part of the novel seemed as though it was going in one direction, but instead it went in a whole different direction, with the first bit of plot being left behind quickly and all of the other characters from the beginning completely forgotten by the end: several characters who Meredith purports to care about in one fashion or another are just completely dropped with barely another mention.

The thing is, there is something appealing about this novel. Her characters do, for the most part, have a certain something that holds the readers' attention and draws us in. There are moments where the characters really come to life. Hamilton is known for writing very sexually-charged fantasy, and rather sadly the sex scenes are one of the highlights--probably her best writing. The book reads like a trashy romance novel for the reader who also loves fantasy, but it's too slow-paced to really work as the light read to which it seems to aspire. Considering how many other good writers there are out there who I haven't read, I don't plan to spend more time on Hamilton's work any time soon.

I suspect that the stylistic flaws that bugged me so much here were accentuated by the fact that we were listening to this as an audiobook. While these things might annoy if being read on the page, they are easily enough skimmed over. When each word is read to you, however, it's impossible not to notice and be frustrated. Oh, and the reader, Laurel Merlington, does a competent job differentiating the characters with different voices, though at times her male voices come off as more flat than I would like.(less)

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Nov 21, 2008 Daniel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would rank Hamilton as one of my favorite writers, but for her fatal flaw. She creates wonderful characters and settings, but inevitably she has to bog them down with in your face sexual situations.

Kiss of Shadows is no different. In this book Hamilton does a wonderful job of creating a strong female protagonist, Merry Gentry, and describes an intricate fairy world that she belongs to, full of strange creatures and filled with political intrigue. But in order to enjoy Hamilton's skill at descr...more

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Apr 05, 2009 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, laurell-hamilton

Very interesting story line. Much different from the Anita Blake series. This features Meredith Gentry who is a princess of the Unseelie court. However, she has been missing from that court for 3 years because her aunt (the queen of the Unseelie court of Darkness and air) had tried to kill her, and the others in court had been challenging her to duels. So she's been in hiding, forced to wear glamour so that no one recognized her.

She took a job in a detective agency, and in the course of an inves...more

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Feb 03, 2010 Adrianna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Adult Women

Recommended to Adrianna by: Shelli

Shelves: fantasy

When my friend first recommended this author to me, I wasn't expecting much. If Laurell K. Hamilton was so good, why hadn't I heard of her before? One of the main reasons she remained under my book radar was because I usually stick to historical romances and even then specific authors of the genre. The first couple of pages in A Kiss of Shadows left me blown away. Hamilton creates a world that blends multiple genres: fantasy, science fiction, suspense/thriller, and even romance. I knew it would...more

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May 04, 2013 Synesthesia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What can I say? I like this book. I don't feel guilty about my pleasures. It's entertaining, but for the love of the Goddess's sweet, bountiful lactating tits can she PLEASE stop using the world spill that way?

spill 1 (spl)
v. spilled or spilt (splt), spill·ing, spills
v.tr.
1. To cause or allow (a substance) to run or fall out of a container.
2. To scatter (objects) from containment: spilled the armload of books on the desk.
3. To shed (blood).
4. Nautical
a. To relieve the pressure of wind on (a sai...more

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Dec 04, 2008 Bernard rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: public-library

Similar to Stackhouse's Southern Vampire series, Butcher's Dresden files , or the author's other series – Anita Blake. A modern/fantasy tale, where magical elements are present and well known in the story setting. Our world, our technology, but with magic.

In this case it's the fairies. The Seelie & Unseelie Courts (and goblins etc) came to America back in President Jackson's time and live among us. They're also tabloid fodder. The protagonist is a private detective, who is actually a fairy p...more

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Apr 09, 2008 Michael Sorensen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Women who enjoy their storybook sex in their face.

Shelves: old-favorites

I have enjoyed Laurell K. Hamilton's work for many years now, starting with the redoubtable Anita Blake. However, that series has devolved into what amounts to a sexual free for all (not that I have anything against sex, but I tend to like story more) in which she spends hundreds of pages in self-analysis over whether or not to have sex with this or that new person, animal, fay-thing, god, demon or whatever. The trouble with established bestselling authors is the power they began to weild over t...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

4.5

It's like "Game of Thrones", but with fairies and sex. I love it.

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Mar 13, 2011 ♥gια∂α♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ammetto di aver fatto una cosa che non si dovrebbe mai fare: comprare un libro per via della copertina. Appena poi ne ho letto le recensioni, mi sono spaventata, convinta di essermi andata a prendere un libro assurdamente spinto, volgare e senza una buona trama... invece mi sono totalmente ricreduta!!!!

Non posso negare che sia spinto (gli ultimi libri che sto leggendo sono tutti così o.O... forse dovrei iniziare a preoccuparmi XD), però sinceramente pensavo peggio, molto peggio.

E' un fantasy/thr...more

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Jan 27, 2009 Penelope rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Merry Gentry is in hiding, living in Los Angeles as a Private Investigator of supernatural crimes, she is doing pretty well. That is until one case reveals her as Princess Meredeth NicEssus, the lost Princess of the Unseelie, or Faerie court. She is brought back home, to the place where she had been running from for the past three years. The place where attempts on her life had been overlooked by the Queen, and even accepted by some of the nobles. It had been made very clear that she was wanted...more Merry Gentry is in hiding, living in Los Angeles as a Private Investigator of supernatural crimes, she is doing pretty well. That is until one case reveals her as Princess Meredeth NicEssus, the lost Princess of the Unseelie, or Faerie court. She is brought back home, to the place where she had been running from for the past three years. The place where attempts on her life had been overlooked by the Queen, and even accepted by some of the nobles. It had been made very clear that she was wanted dead.

Merry knows she will be assassinated when she returns home but Andais, Queen of Air and Darkness--Merry's aunt--has other plans for her.

----

I wanted to love this book; I really did. The imagination and thought that Laurell K. Hamilton put into this book is amazing. She created a world where humans and Faerie (or Sidhe) live and cooperate together. Her Fae are imaginative, unique, and glorious; my favorite Fae characterizations yet. I love the plot and premise, and Laurell's writing style only adds to the story.

That having been said, I can only give this book three stars. Why? The main reason is that I felt as if the story ended in the middle of the book. There were a couple of things that happened which made it suspenseful, but the book had no real story arc. I felt cheated at the end, as if there should have been more to the story.

I loved the characters in this book, but I feel as if I didn't get to know them well enough. Merry moved from one man to the next, then back again so fast that we only got to see the personalities of a few men. I loved the imaginative way the intimate scenes were described, but the feeling of detachment we often received afterward was offsetting. It was as if those moments meant little to Merry, so they meant little to me. This book had the potential to be one of my favorite paranormal romances, but I don't think it pulled it off.

Though it came short of being a great book, Laurell K. Hamilton's descriptive writing and interesting world are too tempting, and I am still interested in reading the next in the series.(less)

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May 06, 2013 Moira rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

2.3.2013:
Na tu knihu jsem se těšila, Hamilton mám hodně ráda a byla jsem zvědavá.
Autorka v této sérii přeskočila úvodní detektivní práci, která mě tak zaujala na Anitě, tedy aspoň podle jedničky to tak vypadá, a vrhla se rovnou na, ehm, milostné vztahy? Nejsem si jistá výběrem slov. Ale nechci říct, že je to špatné, aspoň vím, na čem si stojím hned od začátku. :D Skoro mi to teď, po třech dnech, nepřijde ani tak děsivé. A Hamilton píše neuvěřitelně čtivě. Co se vztahů a chlapů okolo hlavní hrdin...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Smcleish rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Originally published on my blog here in May 2003.

I have for some time been a slightly guilty fan of Hamilton's Anita Blake series (the guilt from the feeling that I shouldn't enjoy something as violent where the violence is quite sexual and the sex quite violent as much as I do). Kiss of Shadows is rather more serious as a fantasy novel, while it has similarities to Hamilton's earlier work.

The setting of Kiss of Shadows is basically the modern world, except that Celtic folk myth is true, and so...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Perv Pack rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: erotica, fantasy

The Merry Gentry books are an urban fantasy series by author Laurell K Hamilton, best known for her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. There are currently eight books in the series and a ninth is in the works, but it does not have a release date. The series is written in first-person narrative through the eyes of Meredith “Merry” Gentry, a faerie princess turned private eye for a magical detective agency. Her glamour skills are unrivalled at either court and she is the only Sidhe (pronounced “s...more The Merry Gentry books are an urban fantasy series by author Laurell K Hamilton, best known for her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. There are currently eight books in the series and a ninth is in the works, but it does not have a release date. The series is written in first-person narrative through the eyes of Meredith “Merry” Gentry, a faerie princess turned private eye for a magical detective agency. Her glamour skills are unrivalled at either court and she is the only Sidhe (pronounced “shEE”) royal born on American soil. She fled the faerie courts after thinly-veiled assassination attempts were threatening her life (as she has mixed blood, she is mortal and can die). She has been hiding in LA working for Grey’s Detective Agency.

In the first novel, A Kiss of Shadows, Merry is outed as the long-lost Unseelie princess through an investigation into what is described as ‘magical rape’. After being revealed, she must return to the Unseelie court to see her Aunt Andais, the Queen of Air and Darkness. Andais issues Merry and her own son Cel a challenge, the first to bear or sire a child will gain the throne and Andais will abdicate. The faerie courts are in trouble, you see, less and less children are being born to couples and they are in desperate need of some. Cue the copious amounts of sex.

Merry is given a Guard by her aunt, to act as her bodyguards and lovers. The main members of her guard are Doyle, Frost, Rhys, Galen, and Sholto. She gains and loses a few others over the course of the books through alliances and deception. My favourite of the guards are Doyle, Frost and Galen. Galen is a younger Sidhe warrior so they effectively ‘grew up’ together and have loved each other for a long time and it shows in their interactions and when they have sex. Merry teaches Frost and Doyle to love. While these men were part of Andais’ Guard she forbid them to have sex with anyone other than her and forbid them pleasuring themselves as well. Before Merry, they may have loved Andais, but she ignored them for so long they turned bitter and it took Merry a long time to break through that.

Now the sex. There is a lot of it. It ranges from vanilla sex to polyamorous blood play to metaphysical sex and Andais is into all sorts of kinks. Oh yes, there is tentacle sex. Merry is descended from fertility goddesses with means she can have sex as often as she desires with any of her guard (or really anyone she wants to), even against their will, but Merry would not do that.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoy the series. It has become a bit formulamatic in the later books, but they are still an entertaining and fast read. The book titles are (in order): A Kiss of Shadows, A Caress of Twilight, Seduced by Moonlight, A Stroke of Midnight, Minstral’s Kiss, A Lick of Frost, Swallowing Darkness, and Divine Misdemeanors

Reviewer: Courtney (less)

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Dec 22, 2012 Heidi Tieman mclennan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: laurell-k-hamilton

Another good series by Laurell K Hamilton. Nice new spin on the paranormal that I haven't discovered yet. Very creative and steamy! Love it!

My name is Meredith Gentry, but of course it's not my real name. I dare not even whisper my true name after dark for fear that one hushed word will travel over the night winds to the soft ear of my aunt, the Queen of the Air and Darkness. She wants me dead. I don't even know why.
I fled the high court of Faerie three years ago, and have been hiding ever sinc...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Readers of Supernatural Romance

An interesting read set in the modern era, but incorporating the realms of Faerie and their denizens. Especially intriguing were the depictions of the various courts and their members.

The main character, Merry Gentry, is a mortal faerie princess who has hidden herself away from the realm of Faerie in order to thwart various assassination attempts. Found out and summoned back to the Unseelie court by its queen, Merry walks a delicate line weaving politics, sensuality, and fae custom to keep herse...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Susie Carson rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: no-longer-interested, fantasy, adult-not-for-kids

I checked this book out from the online collection at my library because it sounded like an interesting fantasy romance, not being at all familiar with the author. It started out somewhat promising, albeit slow. Author tends to be overly descriptive, especially when it comes to appearances. The mystery plot was pretty good, but then Merry was discovered to be a princess and all of that was forgotten. The one part of the story I liked, and it disappeared. So then she starts on her plan to get out...more

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May 14, 2012 Kathy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An Excellent Adult Fae Dark Urban Fantasy Romance

There are over 300 reviews for this book already, so my review will be brief. I've never read anything from this author before but decided to take advantage of the free download from Kindle.

Even though I'm sure most of the complaints concerning Laurell's writings have merit; I let a lot of the negative reviews surrounding Laurell's books get in the way of me discovering a fantastic author. If you are disturbed by multiple sex partners or frequent...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Laphalene rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Porn, porn, porn, porn! Watch the protagonist almost have sex with a small army of supernatural males, primarily of improbable good looks, some of whom merit the same descriptions to the point that I can't tell anyone apart other than odd hair colours.

This is the ultimate Mary Sue epic, half breed with pretty hair and powers from both fairy courts is massively polarizing to everyone she meets (all love or all hate her) and her promiscuity goes past liberated sensuality and into the territory of...more Porn, porn, porn, porn! Watch the protagonist almost have sex with a small army of supernatural males, primarily of improbable good looks, some of whom merit the same descriptions to the point that I can't tell anyone apart other than odd hair colours.

This is the ultimate Mary Sue epic, half breed with pretty hair and powers from both fairy courts is massively polarizing to everyone she meets (all love or all hate her) and her promiscuity goes past liberated sensuality and into the territory of not knowing how the character gets anything done because she's so busy cock teasing anything capable of being cock teased, even things that have odd hooked structures. Merry is a private investigator, because PIs are sexy, this is relevant for only the first sliver of the book. Being a fairy princess her wicked aunt the fairy queen summons her back to shag her way through a harem of hot fairy knights while we get out body horror, bishonen and mid-range body damage kinks massaged. Thank you Ms. Hamilton, for that you get a star.

A grotty, grubby tour of kinky female sexuality, this book loses in coherence and structure. I'd never thought I'd say this but it ends up coming on too strong, universally desired Meridith the "Elvish American princess" is so busy being fed a sea of K-pop style magic dudes that being attacked by sentient rose bushes and discovering flesh melding magic seem like they come out of left feild, and telling what the hell is going on a lost cause. The plot: aunty's heir is a douche, aunty is a controlling dominatrix from hell, aunty gives the heroine a key to her private stock of horny, absolutely divinely perfect immortal men and tells the latter the only way they're getting off is with her niece, only there's so many boys that nobody gets a chance to display a personality- I'm vaguely aware there's a dark skinned guy with a magic mouth, an albino who's a little scary, an old water god with ancient pride, a family friend and a guy with tentacles instead of testicles and a twisted little gnome-lizard-thing who carries his wife around like an angler fish inversion. Also evil cotton candy twins and a jerk ex-fiance, who might as well be an insult in wigs for all else we have time to know about them. (less)

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Apr 15, 2012 Rosa Folgar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Meredith is niece to the queen of the unseelie fey. Always the weakest, too much a lesser fey and too human to be full sidhe. After her father was assassinated and her consort leaves her, her life is more in danger than ever and having no strong power, decides to disappear. She moves to Los Angeles and lives as a detective until one day a case lands at her door that leaves her right back to the queen herself and the mercy of the unseelie court. Kind of. Aunt Andais does not want to kill her, her...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Alicia Jespersen(orangepeacock313) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So as promised i have finally finished the first book in the Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton, and now here is the review.

I enjoyed reading this book, but the begining was rather slow. But most books start out slow so…… I guess its fine. I just prefer that there be some major action that ropes you in on the very first page. The book starts out with Merry at the Grey Detective Agency, where you meet her boss.(Jeremy Grey) There she is asked for her opinion on a case that they might t...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Roberta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007

Un bacio nell’ombra inaugura la nuova serie della Hamilton, basata sulla protagonista Meredith Gentry. Meredith è una principessa sidhe, ovvero appartiene al mondo fatato e nello specifico alla Corte Unseelie. Seconda nella linea di successione al trono, al momento occupato da sua zia, la Regina, dopo il cugino Cell, Meredith è sempre stata trattata come un outsider presso la Corte Unseelie in parte per la sua ascendenza mista che l’ha resa anche mortale, in parte per la mancanza di una mano del...more Un bacio nell’ombra inaugura la nuova serie della Hamilton, basata sulla protagonista Meredith Gentry. Meredith è una principessa sidhe, ovvero appartiene al mondo fatato e nello specifico alla Corte Unseelie. Seconda nella linea di successione al trono, al momento occupato da sua zia, la Regina, dopo il cugino Cell, Meredith è sempre stata trattata come un outsider presso la Corte Unseelie in parte per la sua ascendenza mista che l’ha resa anche mortale, in parte per la mancanza di una mano del potere. Per garantirsi la sopravvivenza a Corte Meredith dovrebbe disporre di molto potere e della volontà di utilizzarlo senza molte remore, invece la sua vulnerabilità la rende succube dei molti duelli a cui la sfidano, duelli perfettamente legali ma in realtà orditi dal cugino Cell che la odia, con il silenzioso beneplacito della Regina, che adora il figlio Cell quanto odia la nipote Meredith.
Per questo Meredith dopo essere sopravvissuta a stento ad un ennesimo duello, decide di trasferirsi nel mondo umano, a Los Angeles e di viverci in incognito prendendo tutte le innumerevoli precauzioni del caso, aiutata dal fatto che l’unico potere vero di cui dispone è un’innata capacità di utilizzare il glamour ovvero la capacità di apparire diversamente da come si è. Un giorno però, durante un’indagine Meredith si trova in una difficile situazione nella quale la sua identità viene svelata, e viene così raggiunta dalle Guardie della Regina, ben intenzionata a farla tornare a Corte per ucciderla. Nonostante Meredith cerchi di fuggire, il tentativo non va a buon fine ed è costretta a tornare a Corte, dove le sorprese sono molte…
Questo nuovo romanzo si dimostra fin da subito molto diverso dalla serie basata sul personaggio di Anita Blake: Meredith Gentry è una donna troppo sensibile in un mondo dove gli intrighi di corte sono all’ordine del giorno, e la sopravvivenza è legata al potere e alla sua esibizione. Una novità, o meglio l’amplificazione di un elemento già presente nella saga della Risvegliante, è l’incredibile sensualità descritta nel libro: nel mondo Faerie il sesso è un elemento alquanto importante, e Meredith discende da cinque dee della fertilità. Non posso dire molto senza rivelare più di quel che è lecito, basti dire che nel romanzo l’azione investigativa è in secondo piano, mentre spiccano gli intrighi di corte in cui in effetti il sesso riveste un ruolo predominante.
Scritto in modo magistrale, con la tensione sempre altissima, e una tensione sessuale altrettanto alta, il romanzo invita a leggere leggere e ancora leggere. Peccato che la trama di per sé sia effettivamente scarsa, che molti particolari relativi a questo nuovo mondo siano ancora oscuri e che il finale sia un po’ “leggero”.
Direi comunque che come primo libro non si possa criticare più di tanto. Vedremo gli sviluppi..(less)

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Oct 13, 2011 ***Dave Hill rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(Original review 3/7/02)

Summary: [2] LKH starts a new series, seemingly because she couldn’t portray enough rough sex in her Anita Blake books. This new set of tales, of a mortal faerie princess, fleeing the dangers of the Unseelie Court only to have them catch up with her, could have used a prequel novel — “Here’s how Meredith’s life is like before it gets completely changed.” Instead, we have to settle for a few chapters of that before things get turned completely upside down. LKH, as in the B...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Jason rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This book came out just before the market was flooded with urban fantasy books, and before "paranormal romance" was even a term (I don't think Twilight was around either, but I'm going to be lazy and not look :-) ), and I checked it out of the library at that time over 5 years ago. I foolishly picked the book up expecting something Buffy-esque. I was quite incorrect.

Kiss of Shadows gets two stars for having a pretty well designed fae culture and politics, and the main idea is the main character,...more

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Apr 29, 2011 Dan Laskey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ok, I'm ashamed to admit I read this one. It was picked at random as part of a dare out of the collection of books I received for my kindle. Basically its about fairies living in modern times among the humans. Even though they were called fairies, you could really think of them as like mystical wizard types sorta...maybe not. Anyways, they weren't fairies like Tinkerbell anyways. Think Harry Potter, but much much much more sex. Like too much sex. The whole book revolved around the main character...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Jennelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

*A review of each book will come eventually, but for now I'm just going to review the series*

If you have seen my review of Hamilton's Anita Blake series you will know that I found Anita unlikable, Merry on the other hand though, is quite like-able. She wants what is best for her people and is willing to do almost anything to protect them. In Anita Blake I complained about the sex, and there is quite a bit of that in this series as well, but it doesn't bother me. The reason? In Anita Blake it sho...more

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Sep 19, 2010 OpenBookSociety.com rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Brought to you by OBS Member Deannerenee

This is the first book in the Meredith Gentry series and I really liked it. It is the first series I’ve read that had to do with the Fae, so I was unsure of what to expect. When I started reading the book, I was prepared not to like it, but to my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The author did well in explaining the background without being too much and too boring. The characters were defined and you knew who and what they are.

The book is about deceit, mur...more

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Aug 13, 2010 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series were the only books I've read of hers before diving into the Gentry series, the first book of which is Kiss of Shadows.

When I read lines like: I heard someone scream: it was me! – then I knew I was reading a Hamilton novel. Her Gentry book was similar to Anita Blake's books in many ways. We have a young woman who is coming into her own in discovering her new-found powers and abilities. For Anita, she was more than just a raiser of the dead. For Merry Gentr...more Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series were the only books I've read of hers before diving into the Gentry series, the first book of which is Kiss of Shadows.

When I read lines like: I heard someone scream: it was me! – then I knew I was reading a Hamilton novel. Her Gentry book was similar to Anita Blake's books in many ways. We have a young woman who is coming into her own in discovering her new-found powers and abilities. For Anita, she was more than just a raiser of the dead. For Merry Gentry, she was more than just a mortal in the immortal world of fairie land.

As in the Anita Blake novels, where werewolves and vampires are not myth but reality, so too is the reality of The Unseelie Court of fairies, goblins and elves and so on.

Hamilton really gets into the sexuality of the situation even more so than in the Anita Blake books. Merry pretty much will jump on anyone who looks at her and enjoys these men immensely, as she teases and flirts with certain death. Her aunt, the current queen, has been looking for Merry for some time. Merry has been undercover as a detective working for a supernatural detective agency until caught and brought back to the fairie land that she originated from.

Confronting prejudice and attempted assassinations as well as some crazy news reporters, she deals with these things fairly well.

My criticisms center around plot! When we start at the detective agency and find one case that exposes her as the missing fairie princess, Hamilton drops the agency bit completely. We don't get back to it until nearly the last chapter of the book and then rush through what they're situations are.

The bad guys were hard to follow and center on. Yeah, we had the Prince Cel and his minions but they were not clearly developed for me. His animosity towards his cousin Merry was not clearly explained. Her relationship with a former lover was not explained enough for me to understand his actions and betrayals. And finally, when she was allowed to have sex with her Guard, all I got for my reading pleasure was some softcore pornography!

On the other hand, I did enjoy the potential of a world that deals with the magic world and humanities' response to it. There is made mention of World War II and Hitler and their dealings with this fairie world, and this was enticing to me. Unfortunately Hamilton does not develop much of a history of this world – she seems more interested in paragraphs describing wardrobe and matching socks & hairstyles rather than plot and story.

I'm sure the later books in the series solve these problems as there is so much introduced and not enough development of main characters or much explanation as to motive. I'm not sure if I will continue in this series, but it being such a welcome change from vampire novels, you just might give it a try.

Recommended for those loving romance novels with a bit of supernatural flair for the dramatic.

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Jul 02, 2010 Tara b rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ok. So if you read the quick blurb up the top you get the idea of the book.

Merry, fae, magic and sex. Its Laurell!

I enjoyed the book and excepted it for what I suspected it to be.

I don't open these books for anything other then a quick break from the world.

You open the cover and its drama drama with a touch to much politics for me. But still 6 books later. I like the series.

I must say, I don't get a clear picture of it all. I don’t really have any idea who Merry is, really.

I was getting itch...more

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About Laurell K. Hamilton

Laurell K. Hamilton is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two series that mix mystery, fantasy, magic, horror and romance. Her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels from Berkley Books began with GUILTY PLEASURES and continues to thrive with over sixteen volumes to the series and an comic adaptation. There are now more than 6 million copies of Anita in print worldwide, in 16 languages. Hamilt...more

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Books by Laurell K. Hamilton

Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #1)

Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #3)

The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #2)

The Lunatic Cafe (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #4)

Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #5)

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Quotes from A Kiss of Shadows

“Men don't settle down because of the right woman. They settle down because they are finally ready for it. Whatever woman they're dating when they get ready is the one they settle down with, not necessarily the best one or the prettiest, just the one who happened to be on hand when the time got to be right. Unromantic, but still true.” — 458 people liked it

“A girl could never have too much jewelry or too much weaponry.” — 115 people liked it

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A Kiss of Shadows (Merry Gentry #1)

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