Rating: 
Summary: Different but as good as Anita Blake
Review: Everyone searches for the missing Unseelie Sidhe Princess Meredith is. Especially interested is the paparazzi that sees locating her as a passage to the big time. However, they have no idea that finding her means she would have to go to the Unseelie Court, which means her death. She fled St. Louis with the clothes on her back, hiding in LA as Meredith Gentry. She obtains employment at the Grey Detective Agency. While working on a case involving Sidhe artifacts and a cult of worship that could lead to the fey vanishing from the continent, somebody recognizes Meredith.The Queen of the Unseelie Court Meredith's aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness Andrais demands the princess return to court. She sends her personal bodyguards to insure Meredith obeys. To her surprise, Meredith is glad to be home. Her aunt decides to make Meredith one of her own, having concluded that her son is a pervert not suitable to rule. The first to conceive a baby will be the next ruler, but Cel will kill to attain the power he believes belongs to him. Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton will compare Meredith to the author's popular character Anita Blake. Both share a high moral timber, but Meredith is more pragmatic due to a strong sense of service and loyalty. The potential for Meredith to stoop to Cel's level in future tales is high, something Anita would find repugnant. Thus, Ms. Hamilton has created a player different than anyone starring in her previous works. A KISS OF SHADOWS is enthralling and exciting showing an alternate earth where the Sidhe are on equal footing with mankind in an environs that seems real. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to love it......
Review: I have been reading Laurell K. Hamilton for a couple of years now and am a HUGE fan of the Anita Blake series. I went out and purchased this new book hoping that it would be as good, but it wasn't. Don't get me wrong, it had it high points and it had it's not so great points, it just wasn't the "stay up all night to finish it" kind of book. I don't know if it is that I have been spoiled by the Anita Blake books or if that I just expected something different, but I guess you have to just take this one for what it is......the first in a series that needs some fine tuning and some deeper character development. I look forward to reading the next one to see how things evolve.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the money.
Review: If you want to read a book about sexual escapades, this is the book for you. If you prefer a little plot with your books, pass on this one. Had this been the first Laurell Hamilton book that I had read, I would never have picked up another. The early Anita Blake books were excellent, however I think the writer has begun to believe that all we readers want are sex fantasies. That has made up more and more of her latest books. The action was always the best part, there really was none in this. This one was just pure trash.
Rating:
Summary: Perverse but entertaining
Review: This book was interesting, grotesque and entertaining. Avoid it if you dislike sex mixed with violence (though it's not vicious or misogynist like some thrillers). Some of the reviewers have rated this as though it were an Anita Blake vampire series novel -- it is not. It is the start of a new series. The author does a convincing job creating a picture of a very alien lifestyle, the Sidhe Court. The heroine, Princess Meredith, is gutsy and likeable. One reviewer was bothered by the promiscuity; I felt the sexuality was a legitimate aspect of alien culture. One criticism: the ending was very unresolved --too much "wait for the sequel"! I enjoyed the book, but it's definitely among the "guilty pleasures" type.
Rating: 
Summary: Good if you realize it is a fantasy
Review: The story doesn't follow the description of what the book is about. It actually follows Meredith's return to court and what that means to the politics there. It is interesting to find out how the dynamics have developed. The contest between Cel and Meredith is not introduced until the end, which leaves us something to look forward to in the sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Comparing Merry Gentry to Anita Blake
Review: Inescapable, I suppose, so let's sum up: Capable, strong, independent leading women; petite, beautiful; inner pants holster set for a cross-draw. There the comparisons end. With no background in fey fables, Ms. Hamilton's earlier foray into fairyland (Bloody Bones) left me confused. You too? Never fear, the "Merriverse" sketched out in A Kiss of Shadows is well-defined and easy to follow even while remaining complex enough that you know there's more yet to be revealed. (One of Ms. Hamilton's finest traits, to me, is that she doesn't explain away every detail. Notice how many questions remain about Edward, even after Obsidian Butterfly.) A Kiss of Shadows spends much of its time setting up Merry's background and introducing the players, which I suppose accounts for the slimness of the detective storyline (and the one star I knocked off the rating). The cast is impressive, talk of Merry's "hism" (a play on "harem") is fulfilled in grand style, and Ms. Hamilton touches on some reportedly well-known characters and legendary critters. Where Anita is squeamish about intimate relations (will she ever get Nathaniel's hair brushed?), Merry Gentry has no such qualms. Sensuality is part and parcel to her nature. Not just when the action turns sexual, but in how she and the fey interact with the land and other elements. Ms. Hamilton is explicit, no bones about it, almost overwhelmingly so. (A second read helped.) For Anita Blake readers, Ms. Hamilton brings up questions of comfort: Why between stark violence and unabashed sensuality is one more comfortable than the other? The promise is there, as it was with Guilty Pleasures, and I look forward to the next entry in this new series. (Review based upon the Advance Reading Copy of the first hardcover edition.)
Rating:
Summary: A Unique Blend
Review: Employing a savory blend of fantasy and reality, "A Kiss of Shadows" will fascinate and horrify simultaneously. Laurell K. Hamilton's story of a faerie princess with a sardonic wit and an overactive libido is a unique blend of magical and mundane, beauty and beastliness, sensitivity and sexuality. Princess Meredith must forge a path through the tangled intrigue of the Faerie Court, when all she really wants is to remain obscure and at peace in today's modern, human world. The tale will draw you in, and keep you, spellbound. Beware of faerie magic! A warning to those sensitive to such things -- Hamilton's writing includes numerous violent and sexual situations.
Rating:
Summary: As Done for the Undead and Lycanthropes, so too for Faeries!
Review: * As an avid fan of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, I was excited to hear that she was beginning a new series. In reading "A Kiss of Shadows", I have found that Hamilton has once again captured that unique flavor that crosses the genres. A fantasy book set in a modern day United States, it also contains elements of political intrigue, suspense, elemental magic, private investigation, and sexual elements that push the envelope. As readers we are given a glimpse into the social and political world of the faerie court. In much the same way as vampires and lycanthropes are common to the world of Anita Blake, so to are magic and the faerie courts to the world of Meredith 'Merry' NicEssus. * In the person of Meredith, we are presented a woman of strong will, who walks the fine line between human and something else. As we come to discover the environment in which Merry grew up, we can begin to understand what motivates her. Whether it is her interaction with her aunt (Queen of the Unseelie Court), her aunt's personal guard, her cousin Cel, or those around her in Los Angeles, we find that her reactions adjust to the situation around her. * The aspect of "A Kiss of Shadows" that intrigued me the most, was the manner in which it approaches the good/evil aspects of society. What humanity might think of as evil in human society, Merry might view as necessary to have survived her years in the Unseelie Court. Meredith's views on sex are also rather unique. Because of her upbringing, she lacks a certain sense of modesty that extends itself further into her relationship views. * Never to be outdone; Hamilton breathes life and personality into every character in her books. From the heroine to the supporting characters, and in the case of this book, even things and places like 'The Black Coach" and the mounds of the Unseelie Court. Even the diverse races have their own unique feel. * As you enjoy the rollercoaster ride of emotions "A Kiss of Shadows" takes you on, you arrive at the end with an insatiable hunger for more. If I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of this book, I find I can hardly wait for the next book in the series. * Despite all of the enjoyment I got from reading/experiencing "A Kiss of Shadows", I was left with one unanswered question. Does this book take place in the same world as the Anita Blake series, or are the similarities merely cosmetic? Additionally, if both characters (Anita and Meredith) do live in the same world, might we some day have them meeting to overcome a common foe?
Rating:
Summary: Better than the Anita Books
Review: Merry Gentry, the heroine of the first book in Laurell K Hamilton's new series is far more interesting than Anita Blake. Her intelligence and sense of compromise make her actions far more interesting than the often predictable Anita Blake. The Fey have taken on new life and their inhuman ambiguity give this book a cutting edge that had me racing through it in less than a day. My fears that this book would just be a rehash of Anitaverse books proved unfounded. This world seems to be even sharper and more vivid and has me waiting impatiently for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Story time
Review: A Kiss of Shadows is a fast paced complex book that invites the reader to share in the characters longings for home and of acceptance. The main character Princess Meredith NicEssus has run from her relatives in fear of her life. Now however she has been found and the excitement begins. I was not a reader of Mrs. Hamilton's writtings but after reading this book I went out and bought three other books she has written. If you like a book that grips the imagination and take you on a journey to a place your mind has never been to before then buy this book it is truly a page turner. I found no weak spots in the plot from the first page till last it was a joy to read. At times I found myself thinking this is the way fairy stories are suppose to be written.
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