Review | A Kiss of Shadows

A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton
March 2006 by Ballantine Books
468 pages
Amazon + Good Reads

"My name is Meredith 'Merry' Gentry, but of course it's not my real name. I dare not even whisper my true name after dark for fear that one hushed word will travel over the night winds to the soft ear of my aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness. She wants me dead. I don't even know why...

I fled the high court of Faerie three years ago and have been in hiding ever since. As Merry Gentry, I am a private investigator for the Grey Detective Agency: Supernatural Problems, Magical Solutions. My magical skills, scorned at the courts of Faerie, are valued in the human world. Even by human standards, my magic isn't flashy, which is fine by me. Flashy attracts attention and I can't afford that.

Rumour has it that I am dead. Not quite. I am Princess Meredith NicEssus. To speak that name after dark is to call down a knock upon your door from a hand that can kill you with a touch. I have been careful, but not careful enough. The shadows have found me, and they are going to take me back home, one way or another.

So the running is over. But the fighting has just begun...

Rich, sensual, brimming with dangerous magic, A Kiss of Shadows is a dazzling tour-de-force where folklore, fantasy and erotically charged adventure collide."

-Good Reads

Alright, Ke-sha - I've read it. Are you proud of me? I really liked this book until about 35/40% of the way through. That's when I realized that Meredith was going to have sex with literally everyone and that the men were going to fawn over her all the time. Call me close minded, but I will not have that shit. I would have enjoyed this story more if it was focused on the sex but unfortunately, we have to deal with the most ridiculous plot line ever that tries to work the sex into something meaningful and plot driven. I would have also enjoyed the story if Merry played an active role in what was happening to her but unfortunately, she didn't. Most of the sexual encounters apparently happen TO her and she seems to have no qualms about it. I entertained the notion of continuing on with the series until I found out that there eight more books. Yeah, no.