A Kiss of Shadows

In Laurell Hamilton's A Kiss of Shadows, the first installment in the Merry Gentry urban fantasy series, welcome to the world of feys cohabiting with humans in the 21st century. It all started for Merry Gentry, when she came into a most unusual case for the detective agency she worked for.  While she went undercover, she learned about the mystical powers of Brownyn's Tears, a magic potion that had controlling powers to have people worship at your feet and could become lethal. After the spider shower that killed the object of her clients' obsession, things got a bit weird for Merry. That's when she learned that she's requested back home to her aunt, the queen of sidhe fairies in St. Louis. And she could be after something, other than wanting her dead and from being in hiding for three years. For Merry, the sidhe princess, her aunt had given her a hard bargain to later control the throne. Later on, she would have to deal with her cousin's evil antics and do what her aunt wishes for her in her human world to complete the deal.

This was a sexy and a bit erotic urban fantasy debut on the wild side. I did care for Merry Gentry and her half-sidhe world she lived in with the humans. I thought her sidhe guards like Doyle, Galen and Rhys were peculiar and quite charming as well. I despised Cel and became suspicious of her aunt along with her interior motives. I loved the dual locations of St. Louis and Los Angeles with the fey and human worlds for the settings. This showed a bit of eroticism by a tinge, due to the nature of the potion and how sexy Merry was. This would take you on a wild adventure ride with drama, suspense, plenty of romance and lots of non-stop action and intrigue.

Will you be tempted to try the kiss of shadows?