Product Description

The time has come for Meredith Gentry to put aside her detective work and fulfill her ultimate obligation to the world of Faerie - where her efforts to conceive an heir to the throne of the Unseelie Court are crucial to restoring magic, and life itself, to the Fey kingdom. And though her quest to produce an heir may be full of sensual pleasures, it is also fraught with peril: the shadows of intrigue stalk the royal court, and sabotage lurks at any turn. Merry's cousin schemes and plots, determined to see her fall. But, in the once-dead gardens of the world of faerie, something has re-awakened an all-powerful, malign magic. And Merry's own powers have turned wildly - dangerously - unpredictable. As plots and counterplots are hatched and strategies and subterfuges played out, the destiny of an entire world turns upon the fortunes of Merry Gentry: object of obsession, target of treachery and pawn of uncertain fate.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49194 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From the Back Cover
Once upon a time I had a day job: I was a private detective. But now my other life has become a full time occupation...I am Princess Meredith, heir to the throne of Faerie.

A virtual prisoner of my aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, I am incarcerated with just some of our world's most beautiful men for company. They are my bodyguards - and my lovers. For I have a duty to perform: I must produce an heir. And if I fail? Well, then my life is forfeit and death awaits at the vengeful hands of my treacherous cousin Cel and his followers.

But now Mistral, captain of the queen's guard, has come to my bed. In so doing, he defies her and condemns us both. However our pleasure has reawakened an old, wild magic, a power so ancient that none can stand against it - neither my strongest, most favoured consorts nor Mistral himself. If I can but reclaim control of this fey power, there is hope and we may yet survive...

Herein lies the sensual, twilight world of Meredith Gentry, where the erotic and the exotic, the decadent and the deadly collide. You have been warned...

About the Author
Laurell K. Hamilton is the New York Times bestselling author of the Meredith Gentry novels - A Kiss of Shadows, A Caress of Twilight, Seduced by Moonlight and A Stroke of Midnight - and fourteen acclaimed Anita Blake Vampire novels. Her new Meredith Gentry novel, A Lick of Frost, is published in Bantam Press. Laurell K. Hamilton lives in St Louis with her family. For more information on, see her website at www.laurellkhamilton.org

Customer Reviews

A nice read, but sex is not a story in itself.
First of all I would like to say that I have loved the other books in the series with Merry Gentry. This one however dissappoints me quite a lot. The story in Mistral's Kiss carries on immediately from A Stroke of Midnight. Literally. But this time there is so much detailed sex in the book that it really detracts from the story. In the end whenever I came to a sexscene I would skim the next few pages until I was past it, because it just became so boring in the end. I thought that other reviewers that had written the same, were just old maids and conservative bigots, but I have to agree that the detailed sex scenes are just boring. I like and enjoy sex in a book, but it has to be a part of the story and not most of the story.
I didn't know how short this book was until it arrived. With Hamilton I always like a good heavy plot and this time it arrived in a small package. You might think when reading it that the first half of the book belonged in the real end of A Stroke of Midngiht with the last half being part of whatver major work comes next in the Merry Gentry series.

Bsides from that, what there is of a story is excellent but absolutely too short. 3 stars as I think Hamilton could have done a vastly better job.

Ok but....
I still think Hamilton spends way to much time on sex and discussions about sex and feelings without getting anywhere. I wish she would go back to the style of the first books (both Merry and Anita).

This is an ok read though, but get it from your local library instead of buying it if you can. And then buy some Kim Harrison books instead, because they are everything the first Anita books were and more.

Poison kiss
Laurell K. Hamilton's books are distinguished by her unique style -- lots of sex, very little plot. Don't expect it to change.

And "Mistral's Kiss" continues the stagnant sexathon that her other books started, with the continuing erotic adventures of Merry Gentry (or as I like to call it, "Merry Does Faerie"). Though there is some plot in this one besides sex, nothing much really advances except a tacked-in plot twist.

In previous books, as we're told here, Merry Gentry has to have a baby before her cousin Cel, or she's dead. She does this via detailed group sex with her guards, and found that having sex with her guards (which she does ALL the time) reawakened their dormant magics. Now Faerie gardens are starting to bloom again. Yay for her.

In the meantime, Merry has more work for the Goddess and artifacts to deal with, as well as a new hunky guard on loan to her, Mistral. Queen Andais is not so happy with everything that is going on, but is powerless to stop it -- especially when Merry gets involved with Sholto of the Sluagh, and Sholto wakens the legendary Wild Hunt...

If you were to remove the hundred-plus pages of nonstop sex, then "Mistral's Kiss" would probably be a very bracing short story. Unfortunately, Hamilton packs the entire story with sex -- which would be just fine, if all other aspects of Hamilton's writing weren't halfhearted at best.

In fact, it feels like a few stray chapters of another book. Plot points are rehashed, threads are dropped as others are raised, and the finale is an anticlimactic sputter, although it promises that something important might happen in the next book... or the one after that. As it is, the plot is simply glacial -- Hamilton moves it forward a little, but not very much.

Why? Sadly the plot has gotten stuck in the stagnating "sex revitalizes the kingdom" storyline. The concept is intriguing and could have been interesting if Hamilton had actually gotten into it. But in here it's just another excuse for lots and lots of overly-detailed, mechanical sex, and a new power-a-day for Merry to acquire. Even Hamilton's writing has lost its bite -- it feels like she's on autopilot.

Merry herself is getting duller with each successive book -- in this book, she seems more like a walking blow-up doll than an ex-detective/faerie princess. Doyle and the newcomer Mistral are actually fairly interesting, but she now has so many paramours that it's hard to tell one feminine, long-haired anime-style fae from another.

"Mistral's Kiss" struggles to spread its thin plot over the relatively short length, but only occasionally moves the plot forward. Not for those who like a little (or a lot) plot with their porn.