The Kiss & The Killer

Faery Bargains #2

by Melissa Marr

"It’s not all blood and magic in my business, despite what people wanted to believe. Sometimes it was blood, magic, and cartoon bandages."

Half witch, half killer, wholly unsuccessful at every Faery Bargain so far...Geneviève Crowe makes her living beheading or resurrecting the dead in near-future New Orleans. After entering an accidental engagement, overcoming attempted murder, and discovering a family secret, Geneviève is ready for things to settle down, but carnival season in New Orleans is not the best time of year for "normal."

When Eli Stonecroft, the faery who has claimed her heart despite her best attempts, offers her a new faery bargain--she's smart enough to say no . . . right up to the point when she has to decide between dealing with the consequence of this faery bargain or facing the killer alone.

As the draugar mix with the locals and tourists, and bodies start to pile up, Geneviève is enlisted by the faery king and the draugar queen to find the killer amidst the swirl of parades and parties of carnival season.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Romance, Fae, Paranormal, Magic, Paranormal Romance

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 15, 2021

About the author

Melissa Marr writes fiction for adults, teens, and children. Her books have been translated into 28 languages and been bestsellers in the US (NY Times, LA Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal) as well as overseas. Wicked Lovely, her debut novel, was an instant New York Times bestseller and evolved into an internationally bestselling multi-book series with a myriad of accolades.

In 2024 she released a queer fantasy (Remedial Magic via Bramble), a picturebook about a wee one and his two moms (Family is Family via Penguin), and a DC Comics graphic novel about teen Harley & Ivy (The Strange Adventures of Harleen & Harley).

An Illumicrate edition of 6 Wicked Lovely books will release in 2025.

If she's not writing, you can find her in a kayak or on a trail with her wife.

Reviews

[S.M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Incredibly disappointing on several fronts. One, the author desperately needs a new proofreader. Two, there was no narrative tension in the latter half of the book. It was nice to see the MC and her love interest get together, but the writing itself was boring.

Three, there is SO much missing between the end of the first book and the beginning of the second. The MC's anger toward the love interest evaporated without explanation. She referred to one character by a nickname and treated her so differently from how they'd left things at the end of book one that it took several chapters before I realized it wasn't a new character. And the MC's relationship with the local queen of the draugar had turned from skeptical alliance to literally familial. (There are other examples, but these three things directly impacted the main story line and should have been kept to the main story line for reader comprehension.)

I assume all the missing pieces are covered in book 1.5, but there is so much missing that 1.5 should just be called book two regardless of length. I'm particularly annoyed about this part because book 1.5 isn't even published yet. There is no way to fill in the blanks for another two months, and even before the story started to bore me I'd decided that there was zero chance I'd return to the series in June and shell out more money for it.

Overall, I'm very irritated that I paid full price and I recommend against anyone else doing so. I've gone so far as to remove the author from any alerts I get through BookBub.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot going on in this one and Geneviève goes through quite a bit. I really like how Geneviève's relationship between Eli and her changed. It's for the better for them and despite how much Geneviève fights it, it is right for her, Eli always has her back.

Geneviève encounters quite a bit on her work front, does things she didn't know she could, things she probably shouldn't and maybe even has a new enemy. It's a good thing she had a ton of good people around her to help and give her a safe place to be.

[Cheyenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m pleased with this book in ways I didn’t expect. With book one, I enjoyed seeing Genevieve and Eli interact, but The Kiss and the Killer solidified their relationship dynamics for me: Eli’s longtime love of Genevieve, Genevieve’s own realizations with him, and the fact that faery bargains can and do still trap the fae.

Wary of spoilers? The coming ones are minor.


Beatrice’s presence grows and is very much appreciated as a complicated familial dynamic. Even those who don’t frequently appear on-page feel relevant: Mama Lauren, Christy’s (marginally) increased importance, and all of the friends still gathering together for Gen.

Even Alice became more enjoyable in her protective behaviors towards Gen, and her complicated relationship to Tres is still mentioned. They stay important pieces to the plot, even in brief moments.

The introduction of Ignatius Blackwood felt odd initially, but he grew on me quickly and will certainly be significant in the future. A man wielding magic, Beatrice knows him and has a little-known history with him. He is powerful in his own right, and his involvement in the plot has me even more eager for the next installment of this series.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a complicated relationship with the books by Melissa Marr. Her books are not entirely grabbing me and yet they refuse to let me go. It's been a while since I read the first book in this series and last week I all of a sudden wanted to read this book. And although it once more felt like the book was a little all over the place, I enjoyed it immensely. Especially because the relationship between Geneviève and Eli is just amazing. I love their banter, how they love each other and how everything just seems to happen to them because none of them understands completely how everything between them works. I can't wait to continue this series!

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I definitely liked this additional novel in the series, calling it the second book feels a bit misleading. I did not read the novella set between books 1 and 2. Unfortunately, the start of this book assumes heavily that you have. It felt like I'd missed several important events that allowed character arc progression.
While I would recommend this series, it is with the caveat that you read the novellas as they appear to be important to the timeline.

[Lenore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I liked this book. It made me smile in places reading and I feel like the style is consistent with her other works that I also enjoy. Now that being said, I do see areas that nit picky people will complain about.
It is definitely adult in that this book is 100% romance with graphic sex scenes with a little fantasy horror background noise and colorful wording mixed in.
In between the fantasy there are some real world issues I feel like people can relate to in this story.
- being a strong female
- being a jewish female ( although this is stated but i don't see any real character details about this)
- fear of infertility
-fear of a poor genetic make up to pass on

Issues?
- Eli is too perfect.
- Gen's bar friends are flat and awkwardly introduced in this book. Her best friend is literally introduced with Eli's bar as some sort of bargaining chip for why Gen should be happy he hired a manager and then she's explained as someone who just randomly disappears which I feel like is an opening for another story but I mean as a person in the book she had does he even have a speaking part? Her adoped brother also had no personality or real role in this book other than trying to establish she has a life outside of Eli and people that she cares about on mundane Nola Earth .
- Gen seems very un learned in grave magic beyond the basics and randomly doing strong magic when convenient. Maybe this was addressed in the first book? Her mom is a witch, her grandma is a witch in town and she raises a witch from the dead yet she runs from all her responsibilitys-unless its a sword fight... (general character flaw that makes her relatable) and never has time to learn more about what she can do.

- Ally- Ally gets the most speaking time as a side character in a story which is fine but the author reminds us multiple times that Ali tried to kill her in the last book I don't need her to be reminded that many times. Then Eli keeps referring to her as a renfield and I wasn't sure at first if this was a reference to something in the first book I guess it's actually a reference to the Dracula character but I don't understand how Allie is a rimfield other than she worships Gen?
- Trey- are we done with him now that hes been sold to grandmother? Or a problem that will continue to need be solved in the next story like I don't understand how he's losing time and doesn't remember being in Houston.... If he's devolving like he said wouldn't he not be able to do normal business and act like a normal person while he was in Houston other than almost fighting someone on accident? was he a member of safari before, maybe that was in the 1st book?I know that Ali was a member of safari before ....and are they using an ancient vampire venom for the Safari members that's making them skip the infantile stage I guess that's another problem to be solved in the next book obviously Safari is still an issue so that is definitely still an issue for the next book.
- Okay the gay guy at the Safari member in Houston's hotel, cool gay community grab but if she's so powerful and she's so hateful why would she have a gay man I'm assuming she's also hateful towards working in her building...tolerance for her son's lifestyle? Idk i need more info here.
- Iggy is obviously an issue. I feel like his love interest will include Ally. The reference to the voodoo queen out of nowhere I don't know she's discussed previously or the voodoo guy that Jen thinks maybe link to Iggy I feel like that could have been tied in more instead of just thrown into that chapter with these names like I have heard them before...
Oh and the dead girl that she spent like a whole paragraph describing that was calling out to her when she was in the outs are we going to get her story?

There may be more but gotta go

[Debby Tiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but it was a bit repetitive compared to the first book and the prequel novella. I could see all of the series being made into an omnibus and reedited for better continuity/less redundancy. The story is high on character relationships and developments and low on coherent plot. Half the time I feel like there is a major plot point, the characters just use it as a chance to rest and get to know each other better, instead of having any justified concern at the latest development (although to be fair, seems like Crowe’s life is full of concerning developments, so maybe they just don’t faze her that much).
But I don’t really even mind, cuz I was LIVING for the character development. The addition of Iggy seems promising and

Favorite character: is absoLUTELY still Alice! Love her so much.

I also really liked Gary in this book. He got a bit more time on the page and some development, so it’s nice to see the cast of characters rounded out.

I feel like Marr used the genetic soup of some of the characters as a bit of Deus ex machina, so I was unimpressed with that resolution and how it smacked of coercion. It blurs the line of consent in ways that made me uncomfortable, even though Marr tried to rectify that by making the parties all lovey-dovey.

All in all, I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it.

Quotes:
“Where you go, I go. Where you are hired, I shall be. Where you behead, slaughter, or defend, I shall be. As long as I am able, this is how things shall be.”

“To behead or not to behead. THAT is the question.”

“Always prepared. It’s like the assistant’s code or something, right? Do I get a merit badge for this?”

“I am a beheading sort of woman.”

“‘Obstinate ass,’ I grumbled.
‘Pot, kettle,’ he said cheerily.”

“No slaughter is too much for the sake of my granddaughter.”

“What sort of name is Tommy for a draugr?”

“Surely, you don’t think I am without contingency plans for my contingency plans?”

“Ours was a complicated friendship, founded in murder, built on blood.”

“Strange to see you without a corpse you’re trying to explain away.”

“The will of the fae magic was compelling us to boink like bunnies, as if my own lust wasn’t overpowering enough.”

“. . . misquoting the Bible like it’s an art.”

“Did ancient dead grandmothers dressed for battle roll their eyes?”

As you can see, this book is ripe with interesting moments (and plenty of gore and beheading).

[MandyViolete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet again this author went above what I anticipated! The characters are well written and I enjoy getting to ride along their adventure. The author is able to draw the reader into the world and I was zoning into the story so much that I lost track of everything else going on. I loved the unexpected twists, but the action is what kept me glued to the pages most! This series is definitely a must read!

[Louisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading this book, loved all the developments in the book! So much happened, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here!

[Alix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs editing/proofreading but god enough to continue the series

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

New Orleans received a grant for their police department if they hire Geneviève Crowe. It's carnival season in New Orleans and Geneviève doesn't know if this is a favor to her, or an opportunity for her to be targeted on the streets with the uptick of draugr attacks. And it might take a faery bargain, with all the strings to find a killer.

Why I started this book: I was hoping for more...

Why I finished it: Not sure what it is about this book that makes it feel out of sync, just a little bit staccato with thoughts, or characters jumping around. But I kept reading to the end to see what happens next, so win?

[JW USA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

I like the characters but there a huge jumps in the plot that make me feel like I missed a book.

[Stephanie Vianelli-nixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t know about the novella between book 1 and 2. This was a problem since I was lost at the beginning of the novel.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really loving this series! Some of the best paranormal fiction I've read and very close to Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series for great world-building and an addictive couple of main characters in Gen and Eli.

The melding of vampires (here called Draghr) and the Fae really works well. I love how the worlds collide and combine for an interesting and complex plot and feel.

I really love Genevieve as our ass-kicking main character, and Eli as her partner/love interest. Melissa Marr really writes engaging characters who are both strong and vulnerable and all the characters in this series, including the supporting (Gen's assistant Allie, and all her friends, her Mother and even her "grandmother") are really great characters that you like and want to root for.

This is the second full novel in the series, but the third book I've read (there's a novella between books 1 and 2) and I am so into this world and its characters. I have loved going along with Gen et al on this continuing adventure and I'm excited that there are more books in this series. I will definitely be continuing with this world. Love it!!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half witch, half killer, wholly unsuccessful at every Faery Bargain so far...Geneviève Crowe makes her living beheading or resurrecting the dead in near-future New Orleans. After entering an accidental engagement, overcoming attempted murder, and discovering a family secret, Geneviève is ready for things to settle down, but carnival season in New Orleans is not the best time of year for "normal."
When Eli Stonecroft, the faery who has claimed her heart despite her best attempts, offers her a new faery bargain--she's smart enough to say no . . . right up to the point when she has to decide between dealing with the consequence of this faery bargain or facing the killer alone.
As the draugar mix with the locals and tourists, and bodies start to pile up, Geneviève is enlisted by the faery king and the draugar queen to find the killer amidst the swirl of parades and parties of carnival season.

Heather's Notes
I do like this series. I like how Genevieve and Eli interact. I like the plot line however, I do hope we get more information about what is going on in the next book.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mardi Gras is approaching and the threat of draugr violence against humans is increasing. Genevieve is approached by the NOPD – they have been given a grant to hire her to hunt draugr. They will not tell her who gave the grant and Genevieve’s intuition tell her there may be a more sinister reason for wanting her on the streets. Genevieve now has an acknowledged relationship with draugr queen Beatrice which provides some protection but provides just as much danger. Her relationship with Eli is in a fairly good place although she still worries about his obligation to sire heirs. This is a great continuation of the Faery Bargains series, and I can’t wait to see what is up next for Genevieve, Eli, and the rest of their group. I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes urban fantasy.

[Kalli Kounavong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melissa Marr has once again fulfilled my expectations and then some. She has gone above and beyond every time. I love her characters. They each have their own personalities, their own quirks. No two characters are the same. In some books, you find carbon copies of characters but Melissa Marr builds her worlds out of the vast tapestry of imagination and gorgeous fantasy land that lives inside her mind. And we get to share in that beauty and watch them come to life. The worlds and characters are so complex and intricate. The Kiss & The Killer is the 2nd of the Faery Bargains series. This book is full of action and thrill and will keep you guessing. 5 stars and 2 thumbs way way up.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't wait to read more about Genevieve and Eli. Their slow burn romance is starting to heat up! We learn more about their friend's and family, which just complicates everything more! Genevieve is still putting down the dead and Eli is working with her. This time New Orleans wants to hire her, during Mardi Gras, do do what she normally does to protect the citizens, but most importantly, the tourists. But who is funding the grant the police are given to hire her?

More fighting, more mysteries to solve and more need to keep the dead in their graves.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geneviève Crowe is still beheading the undead and trying to avoid marriage to the faery prince, Eli Stone, to whom she is engaged. Someone has specifically requested her work and it leads her to a posed set of draugar. That same someone is trying to take over the role currently held by Geneviève's great-great-etc.-grandmother as the queen of the undead. And she has to deal with that even while her dead genes seem to be taking over.
There's a lot going on in this book but it moved quickly and left a lot open for the next book.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Kiss and the Killer, Genevieve’s faery Bargains have not been going in her favor. Which just draws her tighter into Eli’s world. She is a witch with extras, and the extras are what keeps her very visible to others.

Eli is a faery prince who shuns living in Elfhame and prefers to live in New Orleans while owning a bar. And pursuing Genevieve. I’ve read Blood, Martinis and Mistletoe, book 1.5, which helped me appreciate The Kiss and the Killer, there is a lot to absorb in this book. Still, I really enjoyed it.

[E Varady · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

Gave up 47 pages in. The romantic gushing is too over the top. We are 20% into the book and more time is spent on the romance than the plot. I have whiplash because she is suddenly ok with the bargain that made her his fiance and she's all over him, when at the end of book 1, she wasn't happy about it. They're acting like teenagers which would be cute if it wasn't every single page.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genevieve has been approached by NOPD to patrol the streets to keep them clear of draugr. It seems that someone wants Genevieve in danger. Luckily, she has friends, family and Eli at her side to help figure out who is behind the grant that was offered to pay her salary and put her in danger. Genevieve and Eli are becoming very close and are struggling not to end up married. Great story with lots of adventure. Looking forward to the next book!

[Ronel Janse van Vuuren · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite part was Geneviève and Beatrice going on patrol together through New Orleans. So funny!

I liked the new layers to Geneviève’s powers. Ally as her assistant is weird and hilarious. Eli’s right: she collects strays.

The various traditions of fae marriage was interesting – especially how Geneviève and Eli tried various ways to stay unwed.

More mysteries left unsolved which makes me want to read the next book immediately.

[Katie Kaste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fairy Fun

Genevieve and Eli are continuing their engagement and beheading of the dead. New Orleans is full of people trying to find and hurt Genevieve. Her powers are stronger now that she has drank blood from her grandmother. I really am loving this series. The stories are elevating and expanding the universe. I can’t wait to read more in this series.

[Imarru · Rating 2 out of 5]

Going from book 1 to book 2, I felt like there was a lot missing. But figured maybe I somehow just missed it. Going from book 2 to book 3, there is a lot missing. If this stuff is in the .5 books, it still would’ve been nice to have like a recap instead of just assuming everyone reads the .5 books.
Other than the missing parts between books, I think the books are okay.

[Sep · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Melissa Marr book. A delightful blend of fae, vampires, and drogens. The setting is a futuristic New Orleans and the prejudice against magical creatures mirrors modern non-binding behaviors in an interesting way.

[Mia Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, better then the first one. I actually really enjoyed this! The author chilled out on the over the top exposition. Some things were repetitive which a better editor would have caught, but overall I really enjoyed this one.

[Brittany Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book and world building. It got a little repetitive in a couple places where I felt like we were retold information that we had already been told in the first book. But otherwise I really enjoyed the characters and story.

[ROMEOISNOTFUNNY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish I could rate in halves. I would say 3.5. Some great scenes that keep you gripped and wanting more detail, but not having that detail leads to confusion and a little disappointed, not with the character but with the painting painted.

[Alicia Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how the romance really came to life in this book. And I realize If you jump to the third book you’re going to be highly confused 😂 so read her other faery bargain books that tie into book 2 and 3