Rating: Summary: I really liked it! Review: First of all I must say that I a huge fan of Laurell K. Hamilton. I find her writing to be fun, funny, serious, and sexy all at once. Even more it often mirrors real life in that it looks at how people react to situations even if they aren't "real". In the case of Seduced by Moonlight I will admit I couldn't give it 5 stars because I found the first part of the book to be a bit slow, necessary yes, but slow. Merry is reviving the magic in the Unseelie courts, is trying to find a husband through *trial by fertility* and must deal with the reality of having a crazy Aunt who happens to be the most powerful and bloodthirsty woman in the court, in short, the Queen. That gives Merry plenty of emotional sh.. um stuff to shovel. But to me it is those very emotions that give Merry depth and help make her real. Emotion is not an easy thing to deal with even in simple times. I found the last half of the book to be simply brilliant. We see Merry coming into her powers and learning what it really means to be a Queen. When the men face the Queen and sacrifice themselves for each other, it was so beautiful, I have read it again and again. Towards the end the plethora of men may be a little much for some (it wasn't for me) now but I think as Ms. Hamilton continues to write and give stories and emotions to the guards that we have only just met they will all be unique. I for one am already looking forward to the next books in both Laurell K. Hamilton's series. And I hope that no matter what the reviews say that Ms. Hamilton will keep writing for all of us who truly love her work!
Rating: Summary: Ill Met by Moolight Review: There once was a writer named Laurell K. Who wrote of few good books but lack-a-day! Much to this reader's sad dismay, She got lost in a pile of pitiful porn. Her characters left plotless and forlorn. Her reader could only feel miserable scorn. Until she finds a tale worth the telling, This reader will no more be the dollars a-shelling For transitional doggerel tattered and torn And musical beds from night to morn. There is more to life than emotionless sex; There is conflict of character and stories complex. A full story with good characters is all that I ask! So until the author is up to this task, There is nothing to say, But farewell, adieu and good day.
Rating: Summary: Not Seduced At All... Review: Definately not enough meat to the story in my opinion. I kept reading, waiting for something to happen, for the story to form, and next thing I know the book was over! I'm usually a fast reader but this book only took me about 5 hours to complete. And all the new men...I had trouble keeping most of them straight because they weren't developed. I ended up with a lot of questions and more than a little frustrated. I'm hoping that Ms. Hamilton wrote too much and divided the book in two, because I would hate to think that shes losing her touch.
Rating: Summary: Major disappointment. Review: I've been reading LKH books since I was fourteen. I've read and own every last one of them. The last two Anita Blake books were a real letdown, but I keep reading them in the hopes that we'll get past the gratuitous sex (that's right, GRATUITOUS.. some of it's plot-advancing but there's so much I could do without!) and get on with the mysteries, the horror. It's been clear from the beginning that the Merry Gentry series would involve sex as an integral part of the plot. That's fine. I was warned, I read anyway, and Kiss of Shadows was still great. Caress of Twilight.. not so much. Seduced by Moonlight? A new doorstop, practically. Sex sex sex sex sex. If Merry doesn't have sex with every last male introduced by the end of the series, I'll be vastly surprised, because that's the way it's headed. It's not that I object to sex, it's that I object to the gratuitous nature of it. We've seen Merry have sex what seems like a thousand times. It's getting SO BORING I can barely stand it. I never thought I'd get tired of sex, but this book has done it. Even the new girl-on-girl scene was a yawner. I'd much rather she start cornering the people who are keeping secrets from her and start demanding answers. I'm shocked that no one in the books have noticed that she's starting to walk bow-legged. Sex every night, sometimes several times a night, for months? Orgasm after orgasm after orgasm every time that ring touches someone? How does she have the strength to walk, to get out of bed?! Anyway. A disappointment. Too much sex, not enough plot advancement, or heck, not enough plot at all. When your favorite scene is a bloody slaughter that relieves all the unrelenting sex, it's time to look askance at the book. I'll give LKH two more books, one Merry and one Anita, before I stop spending my money on this stuff.
Rating: Summary: This Seduction is a Snooze Review: This book is a very disappointing effort. Laurell Hamilton's two previous Meredith Gentry books were sometimes impressively imaginative, witty and erotic. All that seems to have disappeared from Seduced By Moonlight. Only at the very end of the book, maybe the last 50 pages or so (I'm guessing and in no mood to research how thin a section of book it was) does anything worth reading happen. None of the activity promised at the end of book two, except for the brief return to the Unseelie Court, takes place. We have to wait a few more years, apparently, to move Merry a week into the future. Pretty boring. And annoying. I hope Ms. Hamilton isn't turning into another one of those horribly frustrating authors who write multiple-volume novels where nothing happens for volumes and years. I don't think most readers will stick around that long.
Rating: Summary: Just what I want from the Merry Gentry series Review: This novel is better than A Caress of Twilight; more like A Kiss of Shadows - i.e. violence as well as sex. I like the Meredith Gentry series just the way it is. I'm no longer buying the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels in hardcover and I was tempted not to buy this novel, but I'm glad I caved in. I enjoyed it a lot, especially the last quarter of the novel. There is a lot of backstory - about the guards, about sidhe history, and about sidhe powers. And there are assassination attempts by a totally unexpected source. Not to mention the building realization that Merry needs more control over her guards - that they need to stop looking to Doyle before they obey her. NOTE: there is only one major sex scene in this novel so I don't know what all those reviewers are complaining about. I'm puzzled as to why people who hate the all the sex in the Merry Gentry series keep reading the series. From the beginning, in A Kiss of Shadows, the series was established as being saturated with sex. Personally, I like it. But if you don't, why in God's name do you keep reading it?
Rating: Summary: hmmm...if porn were a novel....(spoiler alert) Review: laurell, laurell, laurell. what have you done? the best part of this book was the machiavellian manouverings at the Unseelie Court, but first i (along with all your other faithful readers) had to wade through a hundred or so pages of sex, sex, and oh, for a change-more sex. when the characters weren't having sex, they were talking about it-even though they have plenty of better things to worry about, like, oh, say, merry channeling the Goddess, assasination attempts, and objects of power mysteriously appearing/coming back to life. for some reason, a good part of this book seems to focus on frost pouting and whining that merry doesn't love him best, even though she does (exactly why escapes us). the plot flow is interrupted (the characters mean to do something important, such as merry un-crazying her aunt with that good ol' healing spring water, then it is suddenly never mentioned again, never mind done), questions we are patiently waiting for the answers to (such as how exactly did merry's father die, what exactly did Rhys DO when he was a death god and when will merry get around to that alliance with sholto?) are barely answered or ignored altogether, and favorite characters such as jeremy are missing entirely, while a slew of new men are introduced at the end of the book on the thin reasoning that andais wants merry to sleep with them, when we are more interested in what cel's been up to than who (else) is getting into merry's pants. these new characters are not fond of merry (everything from 'i'll nail you because you're there and the queen's making me, but i don't have to like it' to 'i hate your mortal guts and i wish you would die') and the feeling is mutual, BUT SHE DECIDES TO SLEEP WITH THEM ANYWAY! what exactly is she going to do with sixteen Unseelie men, plus a whole lot of goblins? i'm sure we'll find out in the next book whether we want to or not. how shall i put this? DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! if you really need a merry boost, i advise you to reread A Kiss Of Shadows.
Rating: Summary: Not bad, but not quite enough substance for me... Review: I read “Seduced By Moonlight,” with great anticipation, over a two day period, and, while I thought it was pretty good, I would have to agree with another reviewer, that it was just too short. I think the entire story line took place over a day or so in the life of our heroine, Merry Gentry, and it really didn’t go far enough in tying up loose ends, nor bring any sort of conclusion to anything. It was more like a very long teaser, than a true stand-alone story, in my opinion. Merry is, unfortunately or otherwise, like Anita Blake, in Ms. Hamilton’s other well-known series, gaining new abilities, but the story isn’t being advanced very much, at all. The scene with Queen Andais, while graphic, does not really add anything to the story, other than to emphasize how much of a sadist the Queen is; and the relationships with the other Ravens, now made a part of Merry’s entourage, are not fleshed out, really, in any way, and we need a lot more fleshing out, in my opinion. For example, Sholto is supposed to be allowed into Merry’s bed, as payment for the sluagh going after Merry’s (and the Queen’s) enemies. Where was this even agreed to in the book? Yet, its mentioned as a fait accompli, in the banquet scene, without any prior mention being made. I think it’s an okay book; not the greatest in the series, by far, and I would seriously recommend waiting until it comes out in paperback, if you just must have it in your collection (that’s what I’m going to do). I will certainly be waiting for the next one in the series, with hopes that it will be more substantial, and will fill in a lot of empty blanks left by this volume. Keep up the writing, please, Ms. Hamilton, just give us more to chew on next time.
Rating: Summary: I got too bored by this Review: I've read all of Laurell Hamilton's other works and enjoyed them tremendously. However, I found myself so bored by this one that I actually planned on washing dishes to get out of trying to finish this. I gave up after about 110 pages. I enjoy sex scenes as much as most males (I hope), but there was almost no action at all up to the point I surrendered. Too much space was wasted trying to catch the newer reader up to what has happened. I'm sorry that my feelings are such for a very good author but, at least this time, she struck out for my tastes.
Rating: Summary: Not her worst, but not even close to her best. Review: OK, here's the bottom line. If you want plot, character development, political intrigue, and a storyline, pick up another book. If you're looking for very wordy smut or soft-core porn, then this is right on target. Notice I said 'very wordy'. It is. It takes LKH two and a half pages to describe a simple kiss between Merry and Maeve. Um,,,,,,yawning already. The minimal storyline is that it's about a month after the defeat of the Nameless and Merry and her guards are still discovering new magics. Merry is also negotiating with the goblins for more time to their alliance. Oh, you do remember that the answer to every thing is sex with Merry, right? That's the whole storyline in a nutshell. Multiple instances of problem-solving sex with Merry. The main thing I noticed was a jarring little reoccurring theme - Merry doesn't know how beautiful she really is and therefore needs constant reassurances. Over and over again. From every creature who gazes upon her. It doesn't even take Psych 101 to check out the author's picture and realize that Merry's physical description is a pretty good match, if you give minor allowances for hair and eye color. Actually, they both appear remarkably similar in appearance to another LKH creation. Can you guess? Why, none other than Anita Blake, who seems to suffer from that very same low self image. Imagine that. Overall, I've got a cold and feel lousy, so it wasn't a total wasted afternoon on the sofa with this book and my dog.
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