Product Description

She is Princess Meredith and she is heir to a throne - if she can stay alive long enough to claim it. Unlike most of her kind, Merry is part human and all too mortal, as her cousin and arch rival knows only too well. For a deadly game is being played in the Faerie court and whoever produces an heir first wears the crown. But as she auditions her royal guard - illustrious warriors equally at home with gun and blade or spell - for the role of future king and father of her child, Merry is somewhat distracted from her career as a private investigator. Then, in her adoptive home, in the City of Angels, people start dying in mysterious, frightening ways. What the human police don't realize is that the killer is hunting the Fey as well. It seems chaos awaits, threatening the very existence of the place known as Faerie is in grave danger and Merry finds herself facing an ancient evil that threatens the very fabric of her world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42812 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 449 pages

Bookseller
'Real heart-pumping stuff'

From the Back Cover
Most of you will know me as Merry Gentry, private investigator, but my real name is Princess Meredith NicEssus and I am heir to a throne - if I can stay alive long enough to claim it.

My cousin, Prince Cel, is determined to see that I don't. As long as we both live, we are in a race for the crown: whoever reproduces first gets the throne. The men of my royal guard - frighteningly skilful warriors - have become my lovers, auditioning for the role of future king and father of my child. Of course, they must still protect me - for unlike most of the Fey, I am part human and very mortal.

But now, in the City of Angels, people are dying in mysterious and frightening ways. What the human police don't realise is that the killer is hunting the Fey as well. I sense chaos is close at hand; the very existence of the place known as Faerie is at grave risk. So while I enjoy the greatest of pleasures with my guardians, I know I must soon confront an ancient evil that could destroy the very fabric of reality - yours, and mine. And that's just the day job...

Welcome to the world of Laurell K. Hamilton - a world full of earthly delights and dangerous magic, of grotesque ambitions and thrilling adventure.

About the Author
Laurell K. Hamilton is the New York Times bestselling author of the first Meredith Gentry novel, A Kiss Of Shadows, and ten acclaimed Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels. She lives in a suburb of St Louis with her family.

Customer Reviews

Terrific Entertainment!!
Princess Meredith Nic-Essus is a member of the High Court of Faerie. When she lives in Los Angles, however, as she has for the past three years, Meredith assumes the name and identity of Merry Gentry. Merry works as a P.I. for Jeremy Grey, owner of the Grey Detective Agency, which specializes in "Supernatural Problems, Magical Solutions." She left the faerie world, the mounds at Cahokia, in Illinois, to go into hiding in California when her cousin Cel, the evil heir to the throne, attempted to have her assassinated once too often.

Meredith's Aunt Andais is Queen of Air and Darkness, and has ruled over the Unseelies, (those not of pure fey blood), for over one thousand years. Those who have pure faerie blood are the Seelies, and her uncle Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, reigns over them. Meredith is mortal, half Seelie Court and half Unseelie, (part of her heritage is Brownie). The Queen sent Doyle, the Captain of her Raven Guard, to the West Coast to bring her niece back to the High Court. Meredith was forced to return because Andais finally realized, what was obvious to many, that her only son and heir did not possess the necessary attributes and character to become King. So the Queen placed Prince Cel and Princess Meredith on equal footing. She stipulated that whoever became a parent first would be her successor. Meredith must bear a child before Cel can father one if she wants to wear the crown. The bit about having a child is paramount, although Andais could have handled the situation more delicately. The sidhe have fertility problems. Thus, childbearing is of the utmost importance if the royal line is to continue.

Meredith is finally allowed to escape the political machinations of court life and return to LA. Accompanying her are some of the Queen's hunkiest Ravens, who are instructed to guard her bodily, and to enjoy it. They are to assist her to become pregnant. Wow!! The lucky father-to-be gets to become King. Excellent motivator! Plus Merry is gorgeous, ruby-red hair, and smart to boot. Oh, a goblin is included in the merry mix of immortal men, due to a pact negotiated with Kurag, Goblin King.

Back in Los Angels, Meredith and her firm are contracted, in utmost secrecy, to assist the glamorous, golden goddess of Hollywood, actress Maeve Reed, who turns out to be a Seelie in exile. Ms. Reed once said "No," to King Taranis - thus the exile. She carries a terrible secret, and the King would kill her immediately if the information became known - which is why she is constantly surrounded by bodyguards. To complicate matters, now that Merry and her men have visited the Reed compound, the King might decide they know too much and order a mass assassination.

Just as things begin to get dangerous, in between bedroom interludes with Merry and the Ravens, "The Nameless" are loosed on humanity. They are the most evil elements of Seelie and Unseelie combined, and much has been sacrificed to keep these beings buried and suppressed forever. So, if anyone says that "A Caress of Twilight" is just about S-E-X, they're only partially correct!

The characters, the settings, the Ravens checking-out 21st century America and LA for the first time, Hamilton's take on Celtic mythology, are just a blast - pure entertainment! Of course, I am a major Laurell Hamilton fan and truly enjoyed her entire Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. Merry is certainly not Anita, but she is fun. As always, Laurell Hamilton writes dark fantasy like no other. Her descriptions really bring one's imagination to life. I'm hooked and looking forward to reading the next novel in the series.
JANA

Much, much better than Kiss of Shadows
If the first book (Kiss of Shadows) put you off this series, rest assured that this one is far better. Hamilton seems far more relaxed around Merry now, and while there is still the sensual element that dominated the first book, here it is toned down, and she concentrates more on developing a plot than describing her heroine's sex life in chapter spanning length. The scene has been set and there is more exploration into the complex world of the Seelie/Unseelie Court, politics and the other Courts of the fey world. Peterson crops up again, and i am sure that he will be another notch on Merry's whittled bedpost before the series is over. The reader learns more of Merry's guards/lovers and the implications there would be for the one who finally fathers a child with her.
The only drawback is that the end of this book feels rushed, especially the scene with the Nameless. Hamilton spent so much time and detail over the scenes with and surrounding Taranis & Niceven, and the last couple of chapters feel a little lacking as a result.
It will be interesting to see what other talents Merry develops in the following books. After a bit of a shaky start, Hamilton is getting down to business now, and if the next four are up to the same standard as Caress of Twilight, this will be an excellent series.

A delicious dose of magic, violence and sex.
Merry Gentry has returned to our lives in another erotically charged adventure. Surrounded by her cadre of handsome and fierce fey guards and seeking to soldify her power base, Meredith must play High Court politics with the skill of a Queen that she hopes to one day become.

'A Caress of Twilight', like it's predecessor 'A Kiss of Shadows', explores a world where magic exists and faeries work for detective agencies. Laurell K. Hamilton likes to mix sex, violence and magic into a complex, believable and extraodinary world .

This novel continues an engaging story that Hamilton began in 'A Kiss of Shadows'. Hamilton has a knack for making faeries and their magical culture utterly real in a world based on our own. As a dedicated fan of Laurell K. Hamilton I would recommend it heartily to others fans.

However, I do find sometimes that Merry Gentry and Anita Blake (from Hamilton's vampire hunter novels) are very similar and Hamilton is not treading very much new ground in these novels that she has not already covered with Anita Blake.

As a fan of both Anita and Merry I am happy to read more of the same in this captivating universe. For the less die-hard fan the similarities could become tiresome.

That said, this novel is a lovely way to lose yourself to a book over a long weekend.