Rating: 
Summary: She ain't called Princess of the Flesh for nothing!
Review: Ever since the Anita Blake series took a wrong turn down Tedious Alley, I've been purposely avoiding the Merry Gentry books because everything I've heard about them idicates that they have all the elements that makes later Anita Blake bad times three. Let's just say that while I didn't hate the book as much as I thought I would, I didn't exactly like it either. See, it's kind of like saying being hit by a truck isn't as painful as I thought it would be.
I can sum up the plot of this book in one sentence: Merry Gentry aka Princess Meredith NicEssus must have sex with many beautiful men and have a child before her cousin does to claim the Unseelie Court throne. Sounds more like the premise for an adult movie on CineMax than a plot from the author who was once known for twisting, fast paced plots. If Hamilton wants to write erotica that's perfectly fine, but the problem is her erotica is ridiculously set-up and lots of talk, little action. In short it's boring because of long-winded set-ups that usually end up being a tease and the act itself often will make you cringe or laugh.
Meredith is also called Princess of Flesh because of a horrific power in her hand that allows her to reduce people into a gory blob of flesh. I think it's also a pretty accurate moniker becuase this character doesn't have much to her character besides being a heartless ammoral sex-machine. Her conflicts are usually something of the long of how can she get out of having sex with this fey creature and have sex instead with her harem of perfect fey men. It doesn't exactly fill me with sympathy for this character especially when she's so callous that she doesn't care much for the people she does sleep with but absolutely positively refuses to do it with others because they aren't physically pefect.
Her harem of men don't show up until the second half of the book, so they aren't really developed that much beyond one note personalities. There is Galen, Merry's childhood friend whom she'd really like to bang. There is Doyle, the strong silent protective type. There is Rhys, the charismatic happy-go-lucky one. And there is Frost, the distant one. The one thing they have in common is they are all desperate for sex, some of them having been celibate for several hundred years.
If it seems like I've talked a little to much about the sexual content of this book, I'm sorry but there isn't much else to talk about. Seriously, the plot is just a bunch of often ridiculous events that usally culminate into Merry having sex. Merry has to go on a stakeout for a case her detective agency is working one: Merry gets raped by the suspect and loves every minute of it. Merry goes to police station: She drives the cops mad with lust and is nearly raped again by the entire presinct then goes home to boff a seal man. Merry is on the run from fey assasins: Merry takes time out to have sex with a guy whose got tentacles growing in strange places and is shocked when an assasin interupts them. The ridiculousness of the sex of toned down for the second half but then we go through pages and pages of tedious fey politics that ultimately lead to Merry doing her new harem. As much as I hate to say it, sex is about the only thing to this book and there isn't enough of it.
I'm almost tempted to give this book the lowest rating possible because this tedious dime store erotica spilled into Anita Blake series and completely ruined it, but A Kiss of Shadows isn't quite bottom of the barrel quality. And if Merry "Every Hot Guy Wants Me Bad" Gentry isn't totally LKH's Mary Sue Avatar I'll eat this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldnt put it down...
Review: I am hopelessly hooked on Laurell K Hamilton. Every book that I pick up that she has written sucks me in and keeps me enthralled until the last page. I have read all of her Anita Blake books, but this was my first taste of The Merry Gentry series. Needless to say, it was very entertaining and action packed...things Ive come to expect from any Hamilton book. There was a bit of sexual overkill as well, but Hamilton does tend to go overboard in that area and I was not surprised or offended by it.The book oozed with a steady supply of unbearably hott men as Merry made her way from one adventure to the next...trust me, even though her life was constantly in danger, she was one lucky girl. All in all, this was a fabulous read. A definite keeper.
Rating: 
Summary: My tepid reaction....
Review: I half enjoyed, half disliked this book. I will continue the series, which I suppose means I liked it more than disliked it, but I have complaints about it.
As has already been mentioned here, the detective-mystery portion of this story was over with quite quickly. It seemed almost a precursor to the main meat of the story, that being Merry's return to the Fairy Court. I sort of failed to see the purpose of the detective agency at all, other than as an explanation for what Merry had been up to since fleeing years earlier, and perhaps as a set-up for the book's sequels. I don't know.
The sex in this book isn't very explicit, and is certainly interesting, but it very quickly became overdone for me. At a certain point of the book, I laughed to myself, thinking "Here we go again. EVERYONE WANTS IN THE SACK WITH MERRY." My laughter quickly changed to eye-rolling, as indeed, every male in the book seems to want her. Tiring.
While the character isn't particularly arrogant, I do dislike LKH's methods of having the character describe their "gorgeous beauty"; an example would be a line such as "My hair looked like luscious, gleaming black rubies, spread across the pillow" or something along those lines. I find that arrogant and irritating.
I have never liked LKH's choice of clothing descriptions. Merry's constant choice of wearing "thigh highs" sort of turned my stomach. I understand this is somewhat a "sexy" choice, but it also seems kind of outdated. One of the characters, Rhys I believe, is described as wearing an outfit with a circular opening in the front of his shirt to showcase his abs. Um, yuck! I won't even go into the use of cowboy boots, or jeans tucked into boots, royal-blue suit jackets, or shirts tucked in. It just seems so un-stylish, non-contemporary. Outdated. I had the same problem with the Anita Blake series in this aspect.
Merry has a constantly flirtatious relationship with her "harem", who appear as a lineup of anime-type guys; each with a different color of floor-length hair, each with a respective power (Barinthus, the blue-haired sea-god; Rhys, some former death-god; Galen, the green-haired 'softy' who's a good cuddler; etc). This was kind of interesting, but there is so little history given with these characters that they seem unimportant and interchangeable. With the character Galen, Merry reveals that they've always had a "cuddly" relationship. Nice, but boring. I would have liked more details on who each was, their powers and histories, not just the portrayal of them as a panting stable of testosterone.
Also I had trouble following the differences and court standings of the different races (brownies, goblins, etc)... there wasn't much description given here. I think more of a balance between descriptions of this sort, and descriptions of the "heated looks o' promise" between Merry and her "studs" should have been explored.
All this being said, I'm going to read the next book. It's a fun read for sure. But if you're expecting an intense, mysterious, fairy-lore-myth-meets-modern-day kind of story, get it from the library. It's interesting enough, but definitely focuses more on the sex than perhaps the description on the back lets on.
Rating:
Summary: No comparisons, please.
Review: I have read every book of the Anita Blake series. I had my favorites, but I enjoyed the overall series. I bought "Kiss of Shadows" with no expectations beyond the hints that the characters were even better than that of the Anita series. I have an interest with supernatural tales, and this book makes a good start. No, not every character was detailed, nor was every lead in the plot explained. I simply remember that this is a start to a series and those little hints will grow into wonderful new tales. I don't think it is fair to compare this book with the Anita Blake series because this is just one book, just starting. Meredith, the missing fey princess, is dragged back into UnSeelie Court life. Surrounded by beautiful, backstabbing fey, she must determine who is friend or foe in order to survive. Finding her powers just in the nick of time, Meredith earns her born right of princess of the UnSeelie fey. Give this book a try and read it all the way through. I found it to be worth every penny.
Rating:
Summary: one of my favorite guilty pleasures
Review: I just finished re-reading this book, and it remains one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Although this is certainly not a book to pick up if you are looking for high brow literary content, it makes a great summer read.
Merry is a strong, witty character and her harem of sidhe warriors is very much the stuff of fantasy. The story is entertaining and keeps you turning the pages of the book, and the author weaves a plot that can lead easily into several more books.
Strong sexual content makes this book a big no-no for young readers, but for grown-ups the book is a great deal of fun.
Rating:
Summary: Open Minds Create Good Book
Review: I must warn those that have already taken the leap into the imaginary world of Laurell K. Hamilton's wonderful mind in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. This book can in no way compensate for it's predecessor's many books, characters, and plots. This book only displays a minimum view into the life of Meredith Gentry. The book does, however, reveal many specific characteristics about Merry that differs incredibly from Anita Blake. Her attitude towards people and the situation that surrounds her, her strengths and weaknesses, and her constant chase for sexual attention from the men around her. The sex scenes written into this book are explicit, yet, no where near pornographic. The lead character simply explores her sexuality more openly than Anita Blake. Does it make this book hard to read? Definitely no. If the reader is searching for a character who isn't as hard headed as Anita Blake, then this book is perfect. My suggestion would be to pick this book up before you take the plunge into the world of Anita Blake. If you already have taken Anita by the horns, then approach "A Kiss of Shadows" with a very open mind and you will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: sexy and surreal
Review: I was turned on (so to speak) by a friend who loves Hamilton's work. I had to admit that Hamilton pulled me into her fantasy world almost immediately, and I never read any of the Anita Blake novels. A number of people have objected to the sex in this novel, but I found it quite well done. Writing sexual scenes is probably one of the scariest things a writer can do. Use one cliché, one over-charged word, and the whole thing becomes ludicrous. These descriptions are exciting without being over-the-top.
That said, I think she spends a little too much time on the sexual energy of the situations and darn little on the actual mystery at hand. I enjoyed the trip to the sidhe home court and the political machinations, but never really understood what happened with the case they left behind at the Gray Detective Agency.
I also read the second book in this series and felt that it had more story and a little more depth. Here's hoping the new series will continue to pick up in style and polish.
Rating:
Summary: Being a Faeire Princess is not all its cracked up to be...
Review: I wonder what I would have thought of "A Kiss of Shadows" if I had not read Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake novels. Of course, for anybody who has read any of the ten novels about the Vampire Hunter and her complicated love life the similarities are blatantly obvious. We are presented again with a diminutive young woman with a strong sense of personal honor who discovers she has come into powers she never suspected she had, told in first person by our heroine so we always know everything she is thinking, including why she selects her clothing and how she hides her weapons. So Hamilton's fans will surely have the feeling they have been here before, and will be denied the perspective of fresh eyes when reading this first novel in Hamilton's new series (the next of which appears in March 2002). This time Hamilton's heroine is an insider to the tumultuous political intrigue, third in line to the throne of her people. The Princess Meredith NicEssus fled from the courts of Faeire, knowing that because of her mortality she would not survive another duel as she was unwillingly drawn into a power struggle over the question of succession. For three years she has lived among the humans, working as Merry Gentry for the Grey Detective Agency ("Supernatural Problems, Magical Solutions"), while sighting of the missing elfin princess became as popular as Elvis sightings in the tabloid press. Once again we are presented with a world "in media res," where the back-story on the heroine's circumstances are doled out during the narrative (along with some interesting references to what the fey did to Eva Braun with Hitler ticked them off). We assume this is the same alternative reality as the Anita Blake books since she has encountered the fey. But while part of "A Kiss of Shadows" takes place in the St. Louis area, there is never any mention of vampires, werewolves or animators. Early in the novel Meredith is "outted" by circumstances, and is stunned to find that things have changed at the high court and that apparently her aunt, the Queen of the Air and Darkness, no longer wants her dead. Or is this simply intrigue wrapped up in intrigue after intrigue?
Yes, the sexuality of these characters is prominent throughout the novel, as has increasingly been the case in the Anita Blake novels, although here it is tempered somewhat by the idea that sex has political implications to the fey. Certainly Princess Meredith embraces the joys of sex, as well as the prices it demands at times, more willingly than Anita has for the most part. But then Hamilton, who has created some of the most intense scenes in contemporary horror literature, has been writing for mature readers almost from the start. There is growing concern about the sex in her books, but the violence has almost always been more excessive and ultimately more compelling. The main difference between this and the Anita Blake books is that here there is a definite story arc, having to do with whether Princess Meredith will be able to stop her cousin, Prince Cel, from inheriting the throne. As the mists of uncertainty are swept away, what is revealed is a much more black and white world, where the battle lines are clearly drawn. Certainly there are a lot of recognizable features to this new beginning, but Hamilton has always been an engaging writer and I will be interested to see what happens next.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly awful.
Review: If you're after soft porn for the mentally deficient, this is it.
It doesn't even make the grade as 'good', or 'fun' trash romance.
Unlike some actually erotic stories, this writer's self-indulgent, cliched, clumsy attempts in the *soft porn* genre (no, this is not a *fantasy* novel) fail dismally on every level.
I read this and the next in good faith, on recommendation. Wished I hadn't.
The only thing it has going for it is that it's essentially harmless.
0 Stars was not an option, so 1 will have to do.
Rating:
Summary: Anita Blake without the baggage
Review: Kiss of Shadows' Merry Gentry is reminiscent of Anita Blake--only she has no qualms about sleeping with all the gorgeous men in her life. I wonder if Hamilton finally got sick of writing Anita and just worked out her inner erotica. In any case...
This is definitely a good book if you don't mind gratuitous sex. It's even fun gratuitous sex (Merry has a harem!), but it defiantly doesn't need to be there. Hamilton's portrayal of the faerie court and all its weird politics is original and imaginative. I especially liked the sluagh and Sholto. Hamilton's Andias also takes a new spin on the "wicked stepmother" archetype by making Merry's aunt at once Machiavellian and still somewhat likeable.
Hamilton doesn't really do much in terms of the P.I. aspect of this novel except use it as a way to get Merry back to court, and that's fine since this novel is really about fey politics, not mystery.
Overall this was a good, fun book. It's nothing meaningful or inspired, but it is definitely a good quick read.
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