Urban Fantasy (Merry Gentry 4) (A Merry Gentry Novel)

It seems that LKH has decided to abandon plot for character development in her more recent novels. While character development isn't a bad thing, it is important to advance the plot as well. Robert Jordan manages to write 800 pages every four or five years and incorporate major plot and character development into each installation. Maybe LKH should try a similar strategy- take a little longer getting the books out (yes, I know- a year is hard enough!) but really work on incorporating all aspects into the storyline.

I think the problem with LKH is that she tries to keep with the mystery/horror genre, but loses it with her desire to present sex and "interesting" characters. There's a murder at the beginning of this novel, but it becomes almost tertiary to the novel instead of a primary focus. When the crime is actually solved, it's such an anti-climactic letdown that the reader almost doesn't realize it's happened!

I will continue reading this and the Anita Blake series, but I do hope that LKH manages to fix this major flaw in her writing for future works.

'cause Laurell Hamilton's following what has become your stock-in-trade: little to no plot with steamy sex scenes to "compensate" for said lack of plot.

That said, I think the Meredith Gentry series is better than Anita Blake. Anita Blake started out with really great plots, and has gone downhill into No-Plot Purgatory. Meredith Gentry is set in a fascinating world with the Seelie and Unseelie courts, treachery, political machinations galore.....and steamy sex scenes. And at least the sex scenes have something to do with the over-all premise: Meredith has to get pregnant by somebody (or some body).

As for this book, it's a pretty good entry--it wasn't until about halfway through that I realized we weren't getting to the Seelie Court anytime soon, which annoyed me more than a little--but still, it's a pretty good read.

Of course, we're part of the problem--if we'd stop buying these books, maybe Laurell Hamilton would start writing better novels again.

Much of the current dissatisfaction with Laurell K. Hamilton lies in the fact that many of the people who first became fans signed on for the early Anita Blake novels that were about plot-driven violence rather than plotless sex. "If we'd wanted porn," say the fans, "we would have bought a subscription to Cinemax!" For myself, I was never a big fan of Anita Blake, either before or after the shift. The violence made me queasy and the sex bored me. But then came the Merry Gentry series. I really liked the series, because it incorporated something I'd been interested in as a child (fairies, not sex). I very much enjoyed the spin of fairies as ancient gods, I loved the descriptions of the sithen, and absolutely adored elements such as the Black Coach. Fun stuff! Interesting stuff! In this context, I was on board with all the sexy encounters between Merry and her guards.

By the third book in the series, I was disappointed to see that the Merry books and the Anita books were becoming pretty much interchangeable at that point. But up until the last section of the book, A Stroke of Midnight seems to take the series back in an upward direction. Sure, the conversations could all be condensed by half (or more) with no detriment to the plot, and much of the text is repetitive. Yes, some character development and/or odd changes of heart are perplexing. But this book really did do a lot to further the series plot by way of introducing the sithen (i.e., fairy er, faerie, mound) itself as a character, and clarifying what the point of all this has been, which is not just Merry's ascension to the throne but the reawakening of the faerie world. If you can put aside your critical faculties and just enjoy, then it's an entertaining and engrossing read. I wanted to give the book four stars, but because the end seemed to sink back into the pointless morass of sex-as-plot, I ended up giving it three.

As others have noted, this book could easily have been a chapter or two in a more densely plotted book. But still, if you can ignore the last part of the book, this is an enjoyable improvement over the previous book.

I find Laurell Hamilton's charictars a bit touchy, combative for my taste. It irritates me all the way through the books. I can hardly wait for the next one. Two good series. Very well written. Very different format and style from what I am used to (science fantasy) I have no problem putting out money for one of her books.

"A Stroke Of Midnight" is the fourth novel in Laurell Hamilton's Princess Meredith Nic-Essus/Merry Gentry series. If you have not read the other three books, this is not the place to make your acquaintance with Merry and her fey friends for the first time. There is much to fascinate and intrigue between these pages, but not for novices to the High Court of Faerie. I suggest beginning with "A Kiss Of Shadows."

I view Laurell Hamilton's tales of Merry Gentry as effective serial fiction - an epic story which is told over a number of separate installments. A "Stroke of Midnight" is not a stand alone book. The series' bottom-line is that Faerie is dying - Seelies and Unseelies, all. The sidhe rarely have children anymore, which is why Merry must bear a child in order to reign. Meredith's Aunt Andais, the Queen of Light and Darkness, is almost convinced that her son, Cel, would make a really rotten king, which is why she made Meredith co-heir, with the crown going to whoever becomes a parent first. Merry has a 6 month head start because Cel is imprisoned for a variety of heinous crimes he committed. He is fortunate his mother loved him too much to do the just thing and sentence him to death.

As the novel begins, Princess Meredith is still inside the Unseelie's hollow hill, their haven or sithen. She and her elite bodyguards, each a potential father to the child she has been challenged to bear, and each a potential King to the Queen she may become, flew in yesterday from Los Angeles at the Queen's invitation. There was business to discuss and a special court banquet to attend last evening. The human media, with camera crews and photographers, have been allowed into the sithen today, an event which rarely occurs. When the Princess and her entourage arrived in St. Louis, she was almost assassinated and one of her guards was wounded protecting her. The press conference is being held to show the world that Meredith is well. As the reporters prepare to leave, Merry is informed that there are two dead bodies in the hallway near the kitchen - one human reporter and one Unseelie have been murdered.

Meredith manages to convince the Queen to allow a local police detective and crime lab to work the murder cases with her and her crew. Human forensics are much more effective than faerie magic when solving a murder, or two. Most of the Merry men have detective experience. Back in LA they work, along with Ms. Gentry, for the Grey Detective Agency, which specializes in "Supernatural Problems, Magical Solutions." The whodunit is just one of the intriguing subplots which unfold here, as is a plot to overthrow the Queen.

"A Stroke of Midnight" deals, primarily, with the acquisition of power, the consolidation of alliances, outing enemies, and either winning them over or eliminating them. Meredith's acceptance by the Nonseelie Court is imperative if she is to rule there one day. Many courtiers view her as a partial human, a mortal mongrel, not fit for the throne. Fey politics are extremely complex. The saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," takes on a whole new meaning in the world of the immortals. If Merry comes into power and the good guys win, the lost power of the faerie will be restored. If they lose, I don't want to be around to watch. The novel's action, fast paced as it is, takes place over a short period of a few days. However, much is accomplished in demonstrating to the Unseelies how powerful Princess Meredith has become.

And her powers have increased significantly over the last two books. Danu, the Goddess whom the Tuatha De Danaan are named after, appeared to Merry in a dream, and she was given a sacred chalice. The chalice remains with Meredith in the waking world. The Goddess will walk with Merry again, and with a few select Ravens, in an "other-world" where their powers of old will be renewed. Merry, through the Goddess, is now able to restore past magic and supernatural gifts to some of her guards - to reawaken their godhead. Maeve Reed, Hollywood star, and a Sidhe exiled from Faerie, was remade into Conchenn, the faerie goddess she once was. Rhys is Cromm Cruach once more, as in times of old. And Doyle has taken on new form, actually many forms. The heavy silver octagonal ring Queen Andais gave the Princess has also regained power on her finger. In this book the ring's power increases as, seemingly, do all whom Meredith touches, especially her Raven warriors. She has picked up several new ones, at the Queen's behest.

For those who are turned off by Meredith's sexual activities, I say, do not place human values on the fey. Merry may be mortal, but she is not a human being. And who is to say she will remain mortal? She does have connections to the Goddess, after all. Also, the sex is not very graphic, certainly not by today's standards. As a matter of fact not by the standards of 25 years ago either. There is just too much going on in this magical world to obsess about the act necessary to make Merry pregnant and to restore fey power. I don't think Ms. Hamilton invented fertility rites. I know it bothers some that the Princess "sleeps around," but monogamy is just not part of the plot.

As always, Laurell Hamilton has come up with a winner. Although I am a die-hard Anita Blake fan, it is difficult not to quickly be drawn into the world of faerie, and Merry and her men are delightful. I find Ms. Hamilton's novels, in both her Anita Blake and Princess Meredith series, to be extremely well-plotted, with taut narratives. The dialogue is superb, often humorous, and hip, per usual. There are flaws, but I was so busy enjoying myself, I didn't bother to count them. Highly recommended!
JANA

Like the subject line says, although I still read these books for the mild entertainment they provide, I don't feel like buying them. Checking them out of the library is a lot cheaper, and I won't have a shelf full of books that are all starting to sound alike with little advance in plot. Very sad, really. I wish Ms. Hamilton would take a hard look at these books and try to retain at least some semblance of plot and characterization. But she has abandoned these in favor or phrase and scene repetition and a bevy of beautiful, horny guards who Anita has sex with but doesn't seem to care about. Sound familiar? Yawn.

This rating is all about the publisher of the audiobook, and not about the story itself, which I've just barely started listening to and will probably enjoy as much as all of Ms. Hamilton's other titles.

Here is a copy of the email I sent to Brilliance Audio.

I preordered Laurell K. Hamilton's "The Stroke of Midnight from the store.com. My husband and I couldn't wait to receive our copy. We waited weeks and often mentioned how we were looking forward to receiving our copy. It came today. The packaging of the product so very much took away from our excitement that I had to look up your website and write. The CDs came in a thin cardbord box that was so tight that it took me 30 seconds to manage to worm one CD out of the box. I was about ready to simply rip the box apart!!! Each CD was in a boringly white paper envelope - again, this was so incrediably cheap, it totally took away from the experience.

This was not the first time I have felt outrage (yes, outrage) over your packaging. Other titles have been purchased as cassettes and the tapes come in thin cardboard boxes, the tray does not want to slide out of the sleeve, and the tapes are not even in individual casette boxes - how cheap.

Now, compare another audio book we purchased on CD - Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" published by Random House. Starts out also with a cardboard box, but that's where the similarity ends - upon opening the cardboard box, I can easily slide out one of three cardboard (but nicely done) CD sleeves. Each is sturdy and attractivly holds three CDs. I never once thought about ripping up the box in frustration just to remove a CD. And, even though it's all cardboard, it's attractive and I didn't feel I was receiving a cheap product.

I wish I could have purchased "The Stroke of Midnight" from another publisher, even if I had to have paid more, it would have been worth it to have an experience that builds on the story not distracts from it.

I just don't understand the negative reviews to this book. It can only be that people are offended by the sex in the book on principle. Because the main character is channeling a fertility goddess, it makes sense that sex would play a big role in the story line. And Ms Hamilton's books all have an eroticsm to them which is why many of us love her work. So don't be misled by those who would have you believe there is no plot in this book. Apparently they just didn't like the plot and arc of the story but that is their issue, not the book's flaw. I can not wait to hear what happens in the next installment. I only wish I didn't have to wait another year for it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. After the disaster of Incubus Dreams I was afraid Ms. Hamilton had lost her gift. My belief in her writing abilities has returned after reading, A Stroke of Midnight. Now comes the long wait for the next installment.

Their passion reawakens powers long forgotten, and I'm intrigued, but there is so much violence and bloodshed that this particular book in the series didn't quite do it for me like a few of the others did. Blood and gore and meaningless sex... too much sex for my liking, because it slowed the plot and distracted me from the storyline, all signs of romance being tossed onto the floor, right next to the bloody Lord and his intestines.

Parts were great, as usual, since my same favourite characters are there, but many, many more characters were introduced, and I was both unable to and uninterested in keeping up with their names and hair colours. My Darkness' admissions in this book made me swoon, and my Killing Frost is still MY Killing Frost. :) If both courts of faerie are unravelling before their very eyes, then I guess I'd better find out what's going to happen next.

The Meredith Gentry series is, essentially, a series of erotica or soft-to-medium core porn, depending on your definitions. It is far better than most
such books, because it actually has an interesting plot and excellent characterizations, and is well and competently written, but if you have no taste for a book with a great deal of graphic descriptions of sex, you'll want to stay clear of this whole series. On the other hand, if the concept of a truly well-written set of stories that include a great deal of very unapologetic, very graphic sex interests you, this is definitely a series to keep in mind. This book, fourth in the series, continues the ongoing plot arc that has been developing throughout the first three; Princess Meredith continues to grow in power and jockey for position in the unseelie court of the fey, gain more allies and more loyalty from the allies she already has, and walk the minefield of the moods of her aunt, the queen.

Fourth in the Meredith Gentry erotic horror/urban fantasy series revolving around an Unseelie faerie princess who is part-human, part-brownie, and half fae. And the contested heir to the throne.

My Take
It's a matter of choice and interpretation: the magic is returning to the Unseelie Court through Merry's actions. Even the sithen is coming alive, twisting time, nature, and décor. If Merry took the prudent course to placate her aunt and stay alive, what would happen to the artifacts, the magic? Would it stay or leave? Would it be gone for good?

As always, stepping into any fae court is like walking onto a minefield. It's also Hamilton's opportunity to poke fun and question our perspective on sexuality. To wonder why we as a society continue to believe that sex is dirty, wrong…and it is pretty funny what happens at the press conference.

It's personal growth and change from signs of the goddess approving Merry, learning from whence comes Frost's arrogance, the truth of Merry's father's judgement on Galen even as he's growing up, Kitto's discovery that life is not a bed of roses (at least not one without thorns) no matter which court you are a member of, the true difficulty in polyamorous relationships. Change includes conflict for the arrogant pure sidhe who believe they are the upper rung of the Fae. A power that has been diminishing until this weak, half-human shows them up. Their own pride has brought them an heir who values humans, those who are considered less. And I do love how Merry rubs that one in! For it's sex with Merry that brings each man into his former power, that makes the sithen begin to return to life.
"…be nice, be nice until it's time to stop being nice, then destroy them…"

It's also loss. A loss of childish dreams and a fear of loss for those who despise Merry but need her blessing as well as that experienced by those who adore her.

It's both more dangerous for Merry and less in a way. The queen is always a terrifying prospect. The more so as she discovers Merry's increasing powers and despises Merry's sense of fair play. For the knowledge the queen is gaining on how the fear she has engendered throughout her guards is coming back on her. How much Andais reveals about her own son and his plotting. How much the court reveals publicly and privately. It's really impressive how very diplomatic Merry can be with the queen.
The queen has never understood that fear is not an aphrodisiac—and the Prince's and Queen's guards all notice how much more fun Merry's men have.

It doesn't seem to matter how often I re-read this, but I just don't get what made Frost and Doyle freak out. They're normally such rational men. Well, Doyle is, anyway.

Hmmm, let me think, save a man who tried to kill me…or save a man who tried to save me…hmmm…

Kieran's disgust for Merry, his sarcasm causes Merry to remind him that "we are deities of nature" and that the sidhe have forgotten this. As has the queen! But the queen's anger also causes her to let slip in court, words that condemn Cel.

Ooh, there is definitely something between Doyle and Queen Niceven! And we learn a tremendously important bit about sithens and rulers! That the current status of two courts was not the norm and how the first Unseelie Court came into being. How courts and sithens formed.

The more I learn about the Seelie Court, the Fair and Shining Ones, the more disgusted I am. And Kitto reveals the truth about what happens to goblin-sidhe babies…oh, lord…

The Story
That troubled homecoming is getting worse when a demi-fey and a human are found murdered in the sithen. It can’t be covered up or hushed, and it’s up to Merry to ensure the queen accepts this.

Nor do the assassination attempts stop; they’re simply not directed at Merry anymore.

The Characters
Meredith “Merry Gentry” NicEssus is a beleaguered faerie princess considered a mongrel by those who don’t know her and as a goddess by those who do love her. And that crowd is increasing all the time, LOL. She’s also the Princess of Flesh and Blood, two hands of power, and she has five fertility deities in her lineage. Besaba is Merry’s Seelie mother, the one who hated Merry for being born, for being Besaba’s Bane, for looking more Seelie than herself. Prince Essus is Merry’s sixteen-years-dead Unseelie father, a former god.

Merry’s Merry Men now includes:
The originals are Doyle, the Darkness, once known as Nodens, the god of healing; Frost is the arrogant Killing Frost gaining powers he never had; Rhys, the Lord of Death, has regained his powers as Cromm Cruach, “Red Claw”, and it’s not his oldest or only name; Galen is Merry’s first love and the friend of her childhood, the green man; Nicca, who has sprouted real wings from those tattooed onto his back; and, Kitto, the snake goblin who is part of Merry’s alliance with Kurag, is anticipating her needs.

The plant and vegetable deity guards sent from Seduced by Moonlight , 3, include Abeloec, a drunken addict, was once the greatest libertine of the Seelie Court; Carrow was one of the great hunters and taught Merry the ways of bird and beast; Amatheon with his flower petal eyes and shoulder-length copper hair who despises Merry’s blood; Onilwyn, a bootlicking toady of a tree lord who hates Merry with all the arrogance of a sidhe; Usna is a cat-like sidhe; Ivi with his entrapping hair that looks like leaves blowing in the wind; Hawthorne; Adair, an oak lord, who now claims Merry as ameraudur, finally succumbs; and, Briac.

The new ones include Mistral, once a storm god and now the new captain of the Queen’s Ravens; Crystall with a voice like chimes in the wind with hair that seemed a prism as it throws light into the colors of the rainbow; Arzhel; Aisling, a.k.a., Terrible Beauty, is the most beautiful man in the world, able to make women instantly besotted with him.

The new ones from Prince Cel’s Cranes include Biddy, half-human and half-Unseelie sidhe, had been one of Prince Essus’ Cranes until his death, and she was given over to Prince Cel’s guards; Cathbodua, a former goddess of battle, a battle scald crow with a cloak of black feathers; and, Dogmaela, nicknamed Cel’s dog and forced to do his dirtiest work because she refused sex with him.

Beatrice, the pastry chef, was a demi-fey, cursed into her current size and cast out of the Seelie Court, and one of Merry’s friends. Harry Hob is a hob with drinking problems and one of Beatrice’s lovers. Maggie May, a brownie, is the chief cook for the Court and Merry’s great-aunt by way of being her great-grandmother’s sister on Merry’s mother’s side. Dulcie is one of Maggie May’s faerie terriers—and pregnant. Peasblossom is a tiny demi-fey who is friends with Beatrice. Mug is a demi-fey enthralled with the sidhe; she now works in the kitchens.

Andais, Queen of Air and Darkness, is Merry’s sadistic aunt who loves to torture people into fearing her. Eamon is her consort; Tyler is her human boy toy. Prince Cel, the last pureblood sidhe of a house that has ruled for 3,000 years, is her imprisoned son, beyond psychopathic, who has been hunting Merry since her birth, to kill her. Madeline Phelps is human and the court publicist, paying attention to fads, fashions, and how the court is seen by the outside world. Christine is the queen’s human secretary. Whisper is one of the few guards remaining in the Queen’s Ravens, her bodyguards. Too many leapt at the queen’s offer.

Kieran is the Lord of Knives with a hand of power to match; Madenn is his wife, once a goddess of youth. Lord Innis is the Conjuror of Phantoms. Cel’s guards are in on the assassination attempt: Hafwyn, a sidhe healer forbidden to practice who had been part of Essus’ guard; Melangell, a.k.a., Sweet Poison, is the temporary captain of the guard while Siobhan is imprisoned for her attempt to kill Merry; and, Kanna.

Lord Leri notes that the ring lives again. Afagu is head of one of very few truly neutral houses. Dilys is head of one of the sixteen and has never liked Merry. Elen is a survivor of Nerys’ house and notes that children would be a blessing in Faerie. Maelgwn, the wolf lord, questions the queen. Brave man! Blodewedd, created from spring flowers of oak, broom, and meadowsweet, is the head of the house to which Kieran belongs. Dormath, the door of death, is the head of the house to which Siobhan and Innis belong. Gwennin is the white lord, thrown out of the Seelie Court who still thinks he may return to it.

The sluagh are the least human-looking of the fae, nightmares that even the Unseelie fear. And the court of the last wild hunt. Sholto, their king, the Lord of That Which Passes Between, is half-sidhe, half-nightflyer.

Queen Niceven is ruler of the demi-fey and made a bargain of blood in an alliance with Merry. One she regrets, for she has pulled Sage from Merry’s side. Nor does she feel respected...with reason. Penny and Royal are two of the demi-fey, twins, who have no wings, and Royal is willing to chance a miracle for himself.

Kurag is the Goblin King who regrets his alliance with Merry. Holly and Ash are two goblin-sidhe with a reputation among the goblins for fierceness who want Merry to bring them into their powers; they have laid challenge to any other goblin.

Major Walters is the fae liaison with the St. Louis Police Department; his volunteering is simply a career move. Dr. Caroline Polaski is the head medical examiner for St. Louis County—she doesn’t like Marquez either. Jeanine Carmichael is one of Polaski’s assistants and susceptible.

Special Agent Raymond Gillett was one of the federal agents who investigated Prince Essus’ murder. And now a betrayer. Special Agent John Marquez is too arrogant for words. Joanne Billings is the wife of the president of the United States and a friend of Merry’s.

An ameraudur is a person, a war leader, chosen for love, not bloodline. A person for whom another would give his life gladly. The chalice was the cauldron of plenty in another age. It has returned to faerie through one of Merry’s dreams. The sithen is both living and not. It will respond or not, and not always in the way you wish. The Goddess and her Consort are the life of Faerie and its magic. The Goddess claims that she didn’t stop speaking to the fae, but that they stopped listening to her.

The Cover
The cover is shades of purple with what appear to be an aroused Meredith in a low-cut gown and wearing a silver barbed wire necklace, caressing the top of one breast with her head thrown back in passion.

Myth says that midnight is when bad things happen, and both evil and blessed events are leading up to A Stroke of Midnight.

This story picks up the day after Seduced by Moonlight concludes. A press conference is held to talk about the assassination attempt against Merry at the airport the day before. One of the reporters goes missing and is found dead, along with one of the demi-fey. The mystery involves those murders, an assassination attempt and who is using spells to cause problems.

More powers are brought online via sex, both directly and indirectly. Merry’s powers are affecting the sithen, which is also responding to her. Both of these are upsetting to the queen. And a serious charge is leveled by Taranis against three of Merry’s guards.

Book four pretty much takes place in the course of one very busy day. There are four (I think) sex scenes, but they’re pretty graphic and the results are far-reaching, so very important to the story. There is a lot going on in this mostly fast-paced story. As with the Anita Blake series, some conversations, while revealing things that matter, can start to drag.

Definitely a worthwhile read, but not a good book to start with if you haven’t read the prior ones in the series. There is enough back story provided, but this story just won’t hit you the same way. Start with A Kiss of Shadows.

The Good: Merry and her men continue to be awesome, navigating the deadly political situation they've been thrust into. A murder mystery in the Slithen mixes the world of magic and faerie with the human forensics. I love how everything Merry says or does changes the whole of faerie. Her every action seems to push the plot into a new direction. You never know what the magic may do.

The Bad: The book moves at a quick pace the entire time, except when things get sexy. Those scenes seem to go on at a snails pace. Which makes very little sense since Merry is usually in the middle of a time-sensitive perilous situation when the clothes start coming off. All of this is important to the overall plot of the series, but it would be nice if the pace was balanced throughout.

LOVED this book! I love this entire series, I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did being that this was my first fantasy series I’ve ever read before, but she’s an amazing writer, so descriptive like poetry at time, but at the same time NOT too much like other authors where that might start to bore you or lose you. She makes it so easy for you to be IN this “World” she has created w/these characters as you read. Highly recommend! I have 2 equal favorite authors & series, this author, this series, & C.L. Wilson’s Tairen Soul Series, Both series ivolves the Fae in a beautiful way that’s NOT Young Adult, it’s Adult.
*If your looking for great writing that’s keeps your attention, captivating characters you fall in love with, & a fantasy world that’s just indescribable how amazing the magic & fantasy world is,how it’s described & how the society Of Fae & Fae politics work too...The love of a female lead character-strong,brave,& a beautiful woman on the inside if not More than how gorgeous she is to the world.

Fourth installment of the the Merry Gentry series....I'm feeling a bit more and more like "really, did she really just gain another power?"

But that was a common thing I though in the Anita Blake series too.

Regardless of all the magical powers that our little mortal, Meredith, comes into in this book, I think I'm just having a hard time dealing with the duration of time it happens in.

Now I understand that these powers are magnifying since she's back in the mound and such, but this book literally only the next 24 hours since the end of book 3.

Summed up, Merry has added yet again a few more people to her 'slept with' list. Which includes but not limited to: Adair, Amatheon, and Mistral. She's also made the sithen come alive once again, had the ring find it's first "love match" in centuries, and become some sort of power being able to mark her men.

Though seriously far-fetched...I do adore these stories. They are fun to read and just very entertaining.

I really don't have much to report on this book, it just kinda fell flat for me.

Till next time.....

Meredith Gentry #4: A Stroke of Midnight, by Laurell K. Hamilton

I just finished "A Stroke of Midnight," the fourth book in the Merry Gentry series. I'm still not sure what I read. I feel like I need a roadmap with step-by-step directions to keep up with all the new sidhe figures introduced, and their "adventures" with Merry.

There's an attempt at a plot in this novel, when a fey and a human reporter are found murdered in the sithen after a press conference. Merry persuades the queen to allow her to bring human police into the sithen, in an attempt to collect forensic evidence and also to preserve human-fey relations. Unfortunately the mystery of how an immortal fey was killed is quickly shunted aside in favor of sex, and a lot of it.

In the previous novel in the series, Hamilton gave Merry a new ability - restoring sidhe to their "godheads," or returning powers they had lost centuries ago, through sex. This specific ability gives Hamilton a lot of opportunities to include, and even make, sex necessary. But there's a point when too much is just TOO much. Personally, I continue to read the Merry series because I like the world the author created - I very much enjoy her re-imagining of faerie, of the light and dark courts, and of the sidhe, the arrogant and proud nobles and their culture. I don't read it to see Merry having sex scene after sex scene.

I have another problem with this book. The paperback version is 385 pages. The events of the novel cover a period of ONE day. At this rate, Merry's visit to the faerie courts is going to take 3+ novels to tell.

I keep reading this series because I like the idea it started with - a modern-day faerie princess trying to take the throne and save her people. Even the requirement that she be pregnant before gaining the throne made sense - but I don't think that made it necessary for Merry to be in any one and everyone's bed, especially when in previous novels she was very concerned with who her king would be.

2/5.

There are so many things wrong with this book, it's hard to know where to start. But I can tell you right now the most basic reason for this, and all the other negative reviews; the book is badly written. The language is repetitive, stilted, and simplistic; the plotline is underdeveloped; the pacing is uneven; the editing is atrocious; the characters are shallow, unrealistic, uninteresting and overpopulated.

I was struck by the numerous plot holes and illogical character statements. For instance, Meredith, the main character, decries the other sidhe nobles as bigots for objecting to her non-sidhe blood. Yet one of the overarching themes of the series is the fact that the sidhe are disappearing. In fact, the entire impetus behind Meredith sleeping with numerous sidhe is to produce an sidhe heir to the throne, and it has been stated, numerous times, that only a sidhe can truly satisfy another sidhe as a lover.

Meredith is also written as a "Mary Sue" - an idealized character who is one-dimensional and unsympathetic by virtue of the fact they have no flaws. Meredith is the perfect mate for every guard, is the only one who can restore the sidhe to their power, is a better queen than the real Queen (even the real Queen has been doing this for 3000 years and Meredith isn't even 40 yet), etc., and etc. You get the idea.

The sex scenes, which form the major content are..boring. The sidhe bodyguards Meredith is having sex with all seem to be the same character, with a different description of their hair/eyes/coloring. They are all emotionally needy and, well, whiny; an odd trait for males who used to be gods, have been alive for centuries, and are supposedly masters of trickery, torture, magic and mystery.

Far too much time is spent on repetitive dialoque at the expense of the advertised plot, which was a murder mystery - which is never solved and given scant space amid all the sex.

Meredith's goal in life is to get pregnant. How will she know which of her men sired the child? Meredith has so many lovers now it is hard to keep track of them, and difficult to understand how, physically, she can accomodate them all. Meredith is also taking on female sidhe lovers through the use of a fallacious plot device. This appears to be a conspicuous attempt to draw in a wider audience by adding lesbian sexual encounters to her repertoire

The entire book seems to be a blatant attempt to drag out the series as long as possible, and the author does not even have the decency - never mind the self respect - to attempt to write original scenes and phrasing.

This is a series that started out promisingly enough, but is now rapidly going downhill. I'm disgusted, as a reader, at how the author and publisher are treating their audience. If you've made it this far, you'll no doubt be tempted to get on with it regardless, but my advice - at least don't waste your money on a hardback or even a new version of this book. Wait for the library edition, a clearance sale or a used version.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books of this series. However, I have to say this book and the one just before it really have caused Merry Gentry's books to lose their original charm for me. I found myself wanting to know when the endless sex scenes that took more than a chapter get through would end and we could get back on the track for the actual plot.

More and more I find myself throughly disliking Meridith Gentry and her male entourage, and finding Merry's aunt, the ruler of the Unseelie Sidhe, Queen Andais far more interesting. All Andais need do is enter a room or give a glance and she says more than Merry is capable of in the entire book. This supporting character is far more in keeping with the legendary disposition of what makes the Fae who they are. The Fae aren't nice, they don't grant wishes; historically they were feared and revered for a reason.. When held next to her Aunt Andais, Merry just looks quite shallow and vapid by comparison. I've heard of the biological clock ticking, but this series takes that metaphor and brings it to a whole new level. Perhaps if Laurell K. Hamilton did a series featuring Queen Andais and the earlier history of Faerie BMG (Before Meredith Gentry), that would be far more satisfying than the soft porn that this particular series has become.

The Meredith Gentry series makes me wish I were not such a nice person. I don't want to keep reading these books. Truthfully, they keep disappointing me. But I am a person who finishes what she starts, and four books into a series I won't give up. I just won't.

That being said, A Stroke of Midnight is by far the second best Meredith Gentry novel after the first. The last two books were more a "Faerie Court Politics for Dummies" course rather than actual novels. I get so sick of reading about how the fey will never lie. Really? I've only had it beat into my head 1,000 times, I almost forgot. Also, you should always compliment a sidhe who is trying to look nice. And when they look for comfort they touch one another. I get it! Can we get on with the story now please?

A Stroke of Midnight almost went on with the story. I'll say... about 50 pages out of the entire 366, which is a lot considering the drivel contained in the last two stories. At least this book gave me a little info about why faerie started fading, what the sithen means to the future queen, and FINALLY a taste of what Queen Andais is all about. I'm still not satisfied. I still think I'm being strung along so that I will continue to shell out $8-$20 (depending on whether I spring for the hardback) for a series that has no clue where it's going and just expects me to go along for the ride. I have to be honest, though. This ride is a little boring and I might try to get off at the next station.

Stroke is the operative in "A Stoke of Midnight." Merry spends most of the 360+ pages stroking her guards egos and erections. The sex scenes are poorly written, and yet again Hamilton falls into the same scene over and over--even going so far as to use the same descriptive words and phrases. How many times can Merry glow like she 'swallowed the moon'? Everytime she has sex--which is way too many times.

Hamilton compromises what little plot she built up in the last novel. The Goblin Court awaits with the dangerous half-sidhe twins wanting to boik Merry. The King of the Sluagh awaits since he has been promised to boink Merry. The King of the Seelie awaits, though he is one of the few Merry has not boinked or promised too--but who knows that could change in future books. Basically everyone awaits to boink Merry-- but first she must finish her sexual liasons with the raipdly growing guards; Merry can't say no to anyone, even people she hates. (The last sentence is the basic plot of this book)

The plot goes nowhere. A murder mystery seems like a waste of space and is never fully resolved. Though LKH has a tendency to wrap up a novel in three pages, she doesn't even go to that trouble with this book--I have a feeling the book was cut in half...and at the most annoying point.

Worse, LKH spends chapters negotiating sexual positions (and not with goblins) and wasting pages on blabbing before ever sexual encounter and after every sexual encounter about what new magic Merry caused to appear because she happens to be the Goddess Incarnate and reawakening everyone--at one point the Goddess even takes her to task for being such a fertility deity and always having too much sex while reawaken the magic of the fey.

LKH take the wisdom of your own Goddess character and cut some of the sex before you sales start slumping.

Sometimes you really can judge a book by its cover. Judging by the swooning, cleavagey woman who seems to be in the initial stages of ecstacy, with a bit of soft purply lighting, "A Stroke of Midnight" looks like a fantastical romance novel. And that... is what it is.

The cover aside, Laurell K. Hamilton's latest Merry Gentry novel is, like many of her latest novels, a minor disaster. "Stroke of Midnight" is actually better than most of them, with the complex political machinations that Hamilton is so good at. But smothering those machinations are sex and a glacial plotline.

After the events of the third book, the human media has been called into the sithen for a press conference centering on Princess Meredith. But no sooner has the conference ended than a pair of corpses -- one human, one fey -- are found. Merry convinces the Queen to let her investigate the human way, and begins delving into whodunnit.

To make things even more complex, the Goddess has been doing wonky things with Merry's powers -- now when she has sex with fey, their powers are reawakened, and then become godlike once more. Needless to say, this is doing lovely things for her obedient harem. But Merry also has to focus on the mysterious murders -- and the plot that may be forming against her aunt.

Sounds intriguing? Well, in theory it is. Unfortunately, the entire plot is not only inundated in softcore porn, but it also takes place in about twenty-four hours. As a result, the plot is so drawn-out and glacially slow that I kept wanting to bang the book against my head.

And, of course, the sex. Hamilton's writing has gotten downright nymphomaniacal in recent years, and "Stroke of Midnight" is no exception. There's virtually nobody Merry doesn't have elaborate and varied sex with, or hasn't had sex with in the past, except for close relatives. Really, she must have supernatural powers if she isn't walking funny by now.

On a more serious note, though the sex has a part in the plot, it's so frequent and detailed that it all blurs together into one throbbing, ecstatic, orgasmic blur. These things are not Hamilton's strong point, and it sabotages the book to have so much of it made up by Merry's sexual gymnastics with men, women, fey, demi-fey, and anything else that walks and talks. (If she has sex to get pregnant, why women?)

And the writing is much in the vein of the sex scenes -- boring, filleresque and rather uninvolving. This is probably because Hamilton is setting it in one day, no more, and so she has to flesh it out with a lot of repetitive dialogue and endless internal pondering. The more supernatural scenes are interesting, but they are also nothing new to readers of this series. And at the end, it merely feels like a teaser for book number five.

What "Stroke of Midnight" does to redeem itself is revive some of those Machievellian power tangles. Sure, Cel is in his cell, but there is plenty of hostility and plotting. This is where Hamilton shines, and if there had been less sex and more plotting, this book might well have blosssomed.

"A Stroke of Midnight" has a few steps in the right direction, but they are baby steps. In the end, it feels deeply unsatisfying, more suited for a drinking game (if Merry has sex with a weirdly-appendaged fey, take half a sip) than for serious fantasy reading.

The problem with A Stroke of Midnight, the fourth book in Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series, is too much sex. Hard for me to believe I just typed that. "Too much" and "sex" are concepts that don't normally go together in my mind. But in this case it's true.

The book starts well. Merry and entourage are inside a fairy mound when a fey and a human reporter are found murdered. It's the human offed in Faerie who's the real problem. Police and news crews are waiting outside the mound to swoop in. Merry and her aunt Andais, the Queen of Air and Darkness and the mound's ruler, need to solve this crime themselves - fast - before they have the fairy/human equivalent of a major international incident.

Great set-up, huh? I was wiggling my toes inside my little fuzzy bunny slippers, settling in for a thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery, fairy style. Then the sex started. This is not, in and of itself, a bad thing. I like a good sex scene as well as the next person - maybe more. But the problem here is that after the sex started, it never stopped. The entirety of the rest of the book has Merry bonking one guy after another. Even I got a bit bored after awhile. Where was the murder mystery? Where was the investigation? What about the major international incident - y'know, the one it's vitally important Merry stave off?

I kept waiting for the sex to stop, for the book to remember it had a plot. And the number of remaining pages kept getting thinner and thinner. Finally, flipping ahead (which will give you some idea of how little what I was reading grabbed me), I saw there were only five chapters and about 50 pages left. I thought, "Okay, NOW we get to the murder mystery. Man, those last 50 pages must really rock." At which point we embark on a five chapter sex scene. Not even a particularly good one, at that. The murder mystery? Solved by peripheral characters "off-camera" and presented to Merry as a fait accompli at the end of the book. Jesus wept. Lots of sex in addition to a well-developed plot, fine, lovely. Lots of sex INSTEAD of a plot is an entirely different matter.

The sad thing is that while Laurell's plotting skills have gone to hell, her prose has gotten very good. There are passages in A Stroke of Midnight that are absolutely beautiful. They just need to be embedded in an actual story.

You would think with all the great bed partners princess Meredith would be pregnant by now or dead with all the people trying to kill her. I am still likening the story line and I can't wait to see who will end up in Merry's bed next or who will die trying to kill her. I think for this one series I am on "Team Darkness and Frost" to be the baby daddy. I guess I will have to keep reading and see where this leads. Happy reading.

In amateur story writing terminology, this book would fall under the category of a PWP (Plot? What plot?). I have to agree with several of the other reviews posted here expressing disappointment in this so-called story.

This book is much more like an unedited chapter. The 'token' murder was pointless and Hamilton could not even keep her crime scene facts straight from one chapter to the next. Was the victim stabbed or did she have her throat cut? Not that it really matters because it has nothing to do with Meredith trying to get pregnant and become queen.

And let's face it, Hamilton's books have become horribly predictable. Her female leads constantly bemoan the fact that their lives are so messed up and everyone is so much bigger, more powerful and deadly then they are. Yet invariably every male character is brought low by personal demons, past horrors or emotional weakness and has to be saved by the heroine. (Usually with some form of sex either tangible or metaphysical.)

There's no denying that Hamilton can paint a pretty picture with words and her sex scenes are certainly steamy but she appears to have run out of ideas for an actual story. This whole Meredith Gentry epic should have been wrapped up in three novels. I don't know what kind of contract Hamilton has with the publisher but they would be doing her a favor to let her out of it.

Save your money. If you have to have this book, wait for it to come out in paperback and buy a used copy. Better yet, just sit in a bookstore for a couple of hours and read it for free.

Each book delves a bit deeper into the unseelie sithen and how the courts, politics, and nature of pagan or Wicca like concepts shaped Merry's life. It a LKH book there is plenty of sex, magic, and action. What makes this great is that the over describing has purpose. I love dark fairy tales! Merry's guard grows and so do the blessings of Danu.

Where, oh where, are Merry and this story going? So far, in three previous books, Merry has been called back to court, ordered to get pregnant, and given ample supplies of gorgeous men to assist her. The current unbalanced queen resents her. The queen's son, Merry's insane cousin, with the aide his noble cronies, wants her dead and has tried several times to kill her. The rest of the characters, are either having sex with her, trying to have sex with her or angry because they won't be having sex with her.

I realize the characters are Ms. Hamilton's to control, but p-l-e-a-s-e. She's killing us with paper cuts here. I will gladly take an eighteen-hundred page book, if it will get the characters beyond one torturous day a book. We have waited through the latest two books for something more than additional sex partners and added details.

I share the author's reluctance to get Merry pregnant, because she'd loose her lovely herd of sexy guards. I do not want to loose either Doyle or Frost myself (so, twins would be nice). And, I see the significance of advancing Merry's power for her to be queen. That said, however, this book really does not progress the story line. The first and second book moved the story along. The last one and this one have only added detail and then ended abruptly. The story line remains stagnant. I can only hope Ms. Hamilton will give those of us who have been faithful, a clue in the next installment?

I admire Ms. Hamilton's imaginative talent, however, I must agree with the other reviewers. Where is the other half of my book? If I could I'd have given 21/2 stars for half a book.

I truly hope it is just a bad editor, and not the author's waning interest in the character, that has stalled here.

Princess Meredith NicEssus is back in Laurell K. Hamilton's fourth novel in this series, "A Stroke of Midnight." After an attempt on her life, Meredith and her bodyguards hold a press conference to do a little damage control. Unfortunately for them, a member of the press is murdered in a section of the sithen where reporters weren't supposed to be. A demi-fey is murdered, as well. Since magic cannot trace the responsible party, Merry decides to call in the human police, with the Queen's permission, of course. With the action of the novel spanning just over 24-hours, Merry and her posse must race to find the killers and avoid more assassination attempts.

This fourth installment was definitely an improvement over the third one. However, that does not mean that this book didn't have its problems. First, I found it totally unbelievable and incongruous to have human police investigating a crime inside the faery sithen. Have words like medical examiner, autopsy, CSI, and DNA thrust into this, no pun intend, fairytale environment was too jarring and made little sense.

Second, the entire book covered a little over 24-hours of time. It was an interesting attempt, I am not sure that it worked though. Too many things were drawn out when they didn't need to be, just to cover that time expanse.

Third, the endless sex really needs to stop. I am completely fine with a little action now and again, but Merry should really just change her name to Debbie and move to Dallas. The character is a total slut. And sex scenes span chapters. CHAPTERS. Why? There is no need for that. I just don't get it. I have seen the gratuitous sex kill other author's work and if Hamilton doesn't reel it in, I can see it happening to her, as well.

Overall, it was still a fine novel. Definitely room for improvement, though.

First, I have to whole-heartily agree with the other reviewers that the audio version is a disaster. I generally do not pay attention to the person narrating the book, but from now on I will. I will never buy anything narrated by Laural Merlington.

Her male voices are laughably bad. I think she is trying to make them sound deeper than her vocal range allows. They all just sound gravely and indistinguishable from each other. But it just isn't her difficulty in performing the vocal characterizations, I don't think she was even reading what she was performing. There is one point where the text says that the character barely had enough breath to gasp a reply. Yet she performs that statement in an almost perky manner.

All in all, the narration very was bad and a big distraction to the story.

Now, on to the story itself. It was OK. It was perfectly average. This isn't a groundbreaking novel, but I don't feel like I wasted my life by reading it. There wasn't a lot of plot advancement. It was more like a day in the life of the characters.

You really do have to read the books in order. Anyone picking up the series at this point really will not understand what is going on. There wasn't a lot of explanations as to the backgrounds of the characters and their motivations. (Personally I like this, but only because I've read everything in order, so far.)

As for the sex... Consider that the entire plot of the series can be summed up as follows: "A fairy princess descended from five different fertility gods is in a race to get pregnant in order to claim her throne before her evil cousin claims it." Given this set-up, what exactly would be considered gratuitous sex? It is all related to the plot.

If this bothers you, I'd suggest not reading this series at all. But if you like a lot of spice with your fantasy then by all means read this book and the entire series.

Laurell K. Hamilton is a very good writer. She has developed a facinating universe with a very complex characters. This is what I love about her stories. It's because she is such a good writer that I found this book disappointing. I expect more than I feel we got.

This is not a stand along novel. It will not make a lot of sense unless you have read the other books first. I was in the third chapter when I realized that it assumed that you were very familair with what happened during the last book. So, I went back to the beginning and read all 4 in order.

That's when I realized that these weren't really 4 novels, but one and we are still in the first 1/3 of the book. I don't agree with the people who are saying that the sex scenses are totally unnecessary. Her power is through sex magic so some is necessary. But I do agree that there are way too many of them and they are too detailed.

The story is very complex with the re-awakening of the fairy magic, the madness of Prince Cel, the torn queen (who wants the return of magic, but rather it wasn't Merry bringing it and whom everyone fears), the goblins, the demi-fey and the Seelie & Unseelie Courts. Then, of course, there's the interaction with the mortal world.

There's a lot she can do with this, but I think that she is spending a little too much time in secondary character development and not enough in action.

If she wants to write as if it were a weekly serial that's OK with me, provided that she gives us books more frequently. At the rate we're going, it will be 3-4 years before we get to the Seelie Court... And that's supposed to happen in two days time.

If we are only going to have a book once a year, I would prefer it to have more action.

I figure my title for this review pretty much sums up my feelings about this series.

OK, here's the way I see this plot unfolding (ever so slowly) over the next twenty or so books: Cel finally does something that Merry can't or won't ignore and they fight. She kills him and sets Andais off on a murderous rampage and then Merry kills her too. Merry is then Queen of the UnSeelie Court. At some point she's going to take over the Seelie Court too--that's pretty obvious. The two courts will be joined and everybody will be happy except the people who don't like mongrels, mixed breeds, goblin-lovers' etc. Hamilton has cleared the way for Merry to get pregnant, probably by Doyle, but still keep Frost and other assorted men as her lovers (It's OK if it's invitation only). Fairy will become united and strong again and those who are outcast will be welcomed home. The Court will be a better place, ruled by a benevolent monarch who brings fertility and magic with her touch. Sure, the cost of that is you have to listen while people explain things she should have already known about over and over again. You have to sit through reading about how her big, tough macho guards cry at one blink of her beautiful three colored eyes. You have to sit through so many sex scenes with so many men with beautiful long hair and odd quirks that you can't keep them straight any more. But isn't that a small sacrifice to make to bring magic back to the Fey?

I was disappointed with Seduced by Moonlight and Anita Blake's Incubus Dreams and decided not to purchase any more of Laurell K. Hamilton's books unless I am sure they are worth the hardcover price. Ms. Hamilton is officially in my try-before-you-buy reading list of authors whose work has gone haywire. I borrowed this book from a friend and while this is better written than the two aforementioned novels, Laurell has not fully recovered her former riveting storytelling style. Faerie Princess Meredith is still trying to conceive a child from one of her guards in order to become the next queen of the Unseelie Court (how much longer will LKH stretch this storyline?). She is somewhat concerned over who will be the king to her queen (she loves all of her guards, after all), but is willing to marry whoever becomes the father of her child. Now Merry has to investigate the murder of a lesser fey woman and a reporter who were killed during a press conference (where SBM left off). She has allowed the human police to take part of the investigation -- something that the Queen Andais reluctantly accepts. Merry suspects that one of Prince Cel's followers was responsible for the crime. Merry also has to deal with her men, one of which brings an unexpected twist to the whole king to her queen thing. And these things happen in a twenty-four-hour period. There are various twists throughout the novel.

The opening chapters were great. The readers get a feel of Merry and her close relationship with her guards -- namely Rhys, Frost, Doyle and Galen -- in a more unique way. I also like how the murder mystery comes into play. But I have the same complaint about this novel that I had with Incubus Dreams. The murder investigation gets lost somewhere in the midst of metaphysical and magical sequences and Merry's interactions with many, many characters. There are some new ones in this installment. And they drove me nuts. There are far too many characters in this series, most of which are male. For a large portion of the book you will get this: mindless dialogue, interactions with characters that include tears and violence, sex scenes with people watching, obtaining new powers, meetings with Queen Andais that illustrate her sadistic side, and so on. The murder investigation is more incorporated into the filler stuff than it was in Incubus Dreams, but everything got tedious after a while. There was not a great deal of action until the last sixty pages or so. There are fewer sex scenes in this novel, and they were far shorter than the ones in the earlier books, which is a relief, for I have always thought LKH's sex scenes were boring. Laurell K. Hamilton likes to run around in circles with a lot of dialogue and internal monologues. I am glad that it appears that Ballantine Books, unlike Berkley Publishing, has a smaller word-count limit -- otherwise we would have gotten over six-hundred pages of rambling. The editing is also better here than in ID, but there are still a lot of word repetitions. Hamilton sure likes to type the words "tired" and "spill" a lot. As for Princess Merry herself, it has gotten to a point where I can't tell the difference between Merry Gentry and Anita Blake anymore. I have always thought that most of the male characters in this series were more or less replicas of the ones in the AB series, but now the heroines are also almost indistinguishable. This wouldn't have happened if Anita hadn't started a harem all her own... but that's another can of worms. All in all, A Stroke of Midnight is still below par to Hamilton's earlier work, but it nevertheless entertained me and that is why I give it three stars. However, she is still on my try-before-you-buy list.

Just finished reading A Stroke of Midnight. I started with the Meredith Gentry series before moving on to Anita Blake. I loved MG and her faeries! Sure the sex was different but they were still fun. LKH was creating a fascinating world based on old celtic myths and fairy tales. It was cool. But with ASOM I see that the magic is gone for me. LKH had a good plot line for a faery murder mystery and never uses it! Instead she traps the reader in a freaky, creepy hallway for half the book while Merry has sex with more faery guards in said hallway with the other guards standing around watching. Did she lift these scenes from some internet porn site? It was creepy and I don't normally shy away from sex scenes. Unless LKH is writing them apparently. On the plus side, I only found two completely bad sentances (one was incomplete) and only about 6 or 7 sentances that made absolutely no sense. So somebody must be making an attempt to edit. Good for them! But overall, I'm starting to think that LKH wastes the wonderful worlds and characters she creates.

Laurell Hamilton used to write fiction with the occasional steamy scene - now all she writes is porn with just enough storyline for a back-cover synopsis. I wouldn't even call it "soft" porn.

This particular book was especially disappointing because the resident PI character (Meredith Genry) does absolutely no detective work on what by now has become the story's token murder. She decides to call in human police because the fey, over the centuries that they've had to live, are apparently unable to hide their mischief from forensic science. At this point, because with all there is for Merry to do, there just isn't enough time for her to have all the sex she wants, time within the sithen speeds up so that she can. That's all which takes place until the last chapter, when we learn that the Queen has solved the crime in her unique psychopathic idiom...she picked a suspect and tortured a confession out of him, making the entire investigation moot.

I've been reading Hamilton's work since the beginning of the Anita Blake series, when I lived in St. Louis myself. The local flavor and the unique blend of genres was extremely attractive. The memory of the experience held me to the series, and the author, long past the point of enjoyment.

And at this point in her career, I doubt that Hamilton could stop writing porn. She has already alienated the audience which enjoyed her books for the stories - if she were to try to go back to that style, then she'd stop selling books altogether. So I propose that she pull out all the stops with an Anita Blake/Meredith Gentry crossover, consisting entirely of swapping sex partners surrounding a lesbian love-fest centerpiece. The fanbois will love it.

Please Ms.Hamilton, get the storyline back i'm begging you!

Ok, first off, there was an intriguing plotline at first, the murder of a demi fey and a human reporter. But that quickly got put on the back burner so Merry could have sex with..4 guards? 5? i stopped counting. i skimmed through alot of this book, the sex scenes just got a bit over the top for me.

Merry does bring a guard into into powers they didn't have, and that was worth reading, even though she does it through sex. This is sort of like Seduced by Moonlight, almost a transition book. It takes place in one night, at the Unseelie Court. There is a few mentions of Prince Cel, Merry's cousin, but other then that, it seems her quest for a baby isn't the purpose of the series anymore. There's no danger really, even though there are an attack or two. I just got a bit frustrated at the end, when they still hadn't officially solved the murders.

I'm hoping the next book is better then this one. I don't consider myself a prude by any standerds, but a complete plotline would be nice. It got three stars simply because of the few interesting parts in the book. Like the threesome that causes her and the two guards to suddenly appear in Quen Andais' chamber.