Seduced By Moonlight

Rating:
Summary: Same s---, different title.
Review: OK, I was almost reconciled to the sex-for-plot substitution. Almost. Both the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry books have headed down that path. But this time, I was more distracted by the annoying overuse of a couple of metaphors / similes involving having the moon inside someone, making them "glow". I think this was used several times in the same scene. At least in the same chapter. Hello, proofreaders and editors? Other faux pas were equally annoying, and made reading painful.

When these books, starting with Anita Blake, caught my attention, they had plot, characters, snappy dialogue, and did I mention plot? If the entire Merry story arc were a week, this book would be a minute. Almost nothing happens to advance the plot, and it happens slowly.

I won't be springing for a hardcover next time. Maybe not even a paperback . I hate it when a good thing ends badly. As a friend said, "When the story is over, stop telling it." Please.

Rating:
Summary: Need More Merry - NOW!
Review: My only real criticism is that it may well be another 24 months until we get another installment in the Merry Gentry series.

Very well written, and while a bit talky at times, the plot is smoothly advanced. The bedrooms scenes, one of LHK's strong points are as good as ever, but it's interesting to note - no actual baby-making took place.

The plot developments are very interesting, and surprisingly well researched. The character developments are equally fascinating - a lot in insight into hearts and minds.

A real winner.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read, Fantastic World
Review: It wasn't exactly what I expected and it could definitley have been longer (all of her books can be - once in her worlds you just don't want to leave) but it gave a fun look into the courts of faerie and their intrigue and horror. The sex scenes were hot and there was a lot of character development that kept it from being too much of just a bridge book (which is basically what it was - So yes, the first two books are necessary to really understand what many of the undertones are). There are some points were Merry's voice sounded just a little too much like Anita Blake's, but I suppose the tougher her character has to be the more that will become a risk. At this point I'm all for Rhys becoming king...

Rating:
Summary: The third Merry Gentry
Review: I am always impatient for the next LK Hamilton book and there was a long wait for this one. This novel is less a mystery and more an in depth look at the alternate reality that Hamilton created in her first book. Although it is not my favorite of the series, I wouldn't have missed this one for anything. Merry and her Ravens' characters are further developed, and Merry is sent back to the Unseelie court, where we get a more in depth look at life there. I was a little uncomfortable with the lesbian overtones in two of the scenes, and the violence is much more explicit in this novel than the previous two, but the book was a very enjoyable read none the less. The next one should be very interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, considering it's not a cyberpunk
Review: I must say that this book, along with other "Anita Blake" books that, to me, are gothic because of the supernatural angle they all take and I don't usually like them, because I lean toward such cyberpunk and Sci-Fi/High-Tech as "Neuromancer", "Prey", "Snow Crash", and "Darkeye: Cyber Hunter". But I really liked this book and am enjoying the others with this very strong female character. My tastes in books has just grown, thanks to "Seduced by Moonlight".

Rating:
Summary: Quality takes time..
Review: Began and finished the book in one day. Definitely adds some interesting fodder for the rest of the series. While the book does end abruptly, this book obviously was required to set up future story lines in the series. I still enjoyed it immensly, as I do any of Laurell's books. Gave it 4 stars for a weaker plot than most of her books, but definitely see it as a bridge to much better things.

As for writing them quicker, as some readers have suggested...while I would love to see that, the writing process does take time, and to write a good book takes longer. I am amazed that she is so prolific a writer as she is...one book a year is very fast.

I see distinct changes in both the Merry and Anita series...but I don't see it as a downfall. People change as they experience life, and these women have definitely gone through quite a few experiences! And strong-willed women very naturally would be upset at losing thier independence (or whine as some reviewers have claimed). I'l bet that as the story unfolds you will see these characters re-center themselves as they adjust. Even the strongest people need to vent occasionally.

Rating:
Summary: A Bit Disappointing
Review: I enjoyed getting to peek in on Merry's world again but nothing really happened, no one grew or changed, no relationship deepened and little to nothing was explained. The scene with Andais demonstrated that the Queen is gaining respect for Merry and knows her own son does not deserve to rule but that's about all that changed there. And for all the horsing around in the bed did anyone notice that there wasn't one consummation that could result in pregnancy? Lots of weird stuff but no one got down to the business of getting Merry with child.

Check this one out from the library, you won't get much for your hardcover money.

Rating:
Summary: Seduced by Laurell's Books
Review: 'Seduced By Moonlight' by Laurell K. Hamilton is an excellent and typically chaotic addition to the Merry Gentry series. Hamilton is the Robert Altman of Romantic/Horror fiction ' she likes her cast big, unruly, and eccentric. This can make for fun but confusing stories (at the end of the book Merry has 16 guard/studs in her entourage and its not easy keeping them all straight) that rely less on plot and more on character.

Merry is in a race to get pregnant before her cousin in order to claim the Unseelie crown and bring fertility back to the Fey, and she's not having an easy time of it. Whoever is the first to get pregnant gets the crown, and since Sidhe haven't been fertile for a long time Merry has to have sex as often and with as many different hot immortal men as possible.

Merry's mortal ' and because of that more vulnerable to assassination attempts than the average fey. her Human, Brownie, and Sidhe bloodlines make her less than an ideal choice of ruler for the many of the Unseelie court; Merry is a target who's lucky to still be alive.

Merry is one of the most interesting female characters out there ' and not just because it's her duty to have sex with as many different hot fey men as possible. She has emotional depth and is flawed enough (despite her extraordinary life) for the reader to like.

Rating:
Summary: waited.....worth it
Review: The story is great, with an interesting world and characters. Even if you are new to the Merideth series, points are constantly being reviewed from the previous two books so it is easy to catch up. I have read the series from the begining and found the reminders a little annoying. Don't we already know that Cel will kill Merideth once he is released from torture? Or that the Selee Court never found Merry pretty, therefore she was rejected by them and she lived with the Unselee? The story is good, Kitto and Rys have an interesting meeting very early. And Doyle...well you should read for that alone. If Ms. Hamilton wrote these books faster, would we care as much who impregnates Merideth?

Rating:
Summary: Very unsatisfying
Review: I found this book to be very unsatisfying. Most of it contained descriptions of rooms, places, dreams, people, but the action didn't take the reader much beyond the previous book. The only thing that really happened is that Merry defended herself once again at her aunt's court, acquired a total of 16 lovers and perhaps or perhaps not became immortal. The book was short for the time it takes for the next one to be published and lacked the sexual and sensual parts that we have come to expect from this series. Sex was mostly metaphysical and the little "real" sex that took place was not as exciting as in the other two books in this series. On the one hand this would have been a welcome surprise if there had been more substance to the rest of the book, but without sex and with almost no story the book left me disappointed considering that I waited a year for it to arrive.