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?

Guilty Pleasures

Step aside, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Make room for Anita Blake, vampire hunter and animator. She made her debut in the Anita Blake series from Laurell Hamilton. In Guilty Pleasures, it wasn't your ordinary nightclub. When she was there for a friend's bachelorette party, things weren't what they seem--vampires strip down. As a fellow animator, she was assigned the task of finding out who killed master vampires. From her point of view, she took you an adventure of goodness and evil, darkness and light, when she battled other vampires, raised zombies, and watched out for ghouls and lycanthropes. Every step she took, she was in the crossfire of the battle of ultimate supremacy, right up to Nicolaos, a child-like vampire queen. We watched her risk life and limb and feel the painful bites of a vampire marking her for life. Anita was a most formidable opponent you'll want on your side.

For starters, I loved the war of the worlds between good and evil and the backdrop for the setting,  too. As for Anita Blake, she was quite an unique and inquisitive female lead character. The vamps here weren't too scary in this paranormal romance. I was hooked with every page-turning delight, when danger followed her every step or misstep as well. I didn't care for much for Nicolaos. But the other characters were quite kooky and amusing too boot. I'm forever be on Team Anita's side for sure.

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