A Caress of Twilight (Meredith Gentry, Book 2)

This book is an excellent tale of the fae in modern america.Laurell K Hamilton, as usual, writes with great imagination and her unique style makes any story a spell binder. We have a modern Fae princess, the fairy court, all the old fairy tale characters come to life. If you like mythology, a bit of sex, and alternate universes you will love this book. Adult content but all lots of fun.

Princess Meredith is now an heir to the Unseelie Court--but will inherit only if she becomes pregnant and bears young. Given that the fair folk have become remarkably infertile lately, this isn't exactly a slam dunk despite Meredith's prodigious and kinky sexual appetites. When she is contacted by an exiled member of the Seelie Court, Meredith learns that there is a reason for the infertility that affects the lands of magic--a reason that the King of the Seelie Court will gladly kill--or worse--to prevent from becoming public. Meredith is under attack both from her cousin and rival Cor in the Unseelie Court and from King Taranis of the Seelie Court. Her alliance with the Goblins is halfway toward its expiration and may expire a lot more quickly if Meredith doesn't take action to preserve it. Worse, the ancient and evil magics that have been suppressed by both Seelie and Unseelie Courts is once again awake and walking in the human world. For Meredith to survive long enough to have a chance at fertility, she must gather her alliances, make her bodyguards truly members of her court rather than rivals for power, and walk the tightrope between weakness and a lust for control. Author Laurell K. Hamilton deepens the character of Meredith (who first appeared in her novel A KISS OF SHADOWS) as well as the complex political struggle between the humans, Seelie, Unseelie, Meredith, and the darker forces of magic. A CARESS OF TWILIGHT delivers plenty of the kinky sex that Hamilton novels are known for, but also reveals interesting and compelling characters. Hamilton fans will be overjoyed at this fine novel. Although the enjoyment of TWILIGHT will be enhanced by reading SHADOWS, the novel stands on its own. Hamilton's writing style continues to mature and TWILIGHT is compelling and hard to put down.

While it stands a perfect bridge between Kiss of Shadows and the next book, A Caress of Twilight is a wonderfully fun, exciting and witty read. While I am rooting for Frost in the contest among the men, the character developments of Doyle, Rhys, Kitto, and Galen are just as interesting. I particularly liked Merry's realization of her need for each of them. My only problem with the book was that even at 448 pages it was too short. I would have liked more on Maeve Read, the Nameless and seen more of Andais and Barinthus, but, hey, being a writer myself, I figure that Hamilton is setting us up for one whiz-dang conclusion! The character of Killing Frost has really developed wonderfully. I went back and read Kiss of Shadows and realized how far he has come. Especially in allowing his vulnerabilty to be revealed to Doyle and Merry. Hamilton uses wit, wonderful imagery and understands how to fully meld her fey dominated world into modern society. While I like the earlier Anita Blake books, I find the Meredith Gentry books far more interesting and compelling. Stick with the series, I think it is going places!

Last year, I happened upon Kiss of Shadows in my library. Ever since reading that book, I have read all of the Anita Blake Series as well. I had to wait for months for Caress of Twilight to come out, and needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. People that have not read KOS first will find this story a bit confusing because there isn't as much background history in COT. COT was written with the assumption that the first in the series was already completed. Ms. Hamilton does not take the time to review every single character (which I am grateful for, nothing is more irritating than having to learn the history of each character over and over again in a new book). COT picks up about three months after KOS ended. Merry and her men are still working for the Grey detective agency, and they are given a case to resolve for someone not only famous in the human world, but infamous in the fey world. For those that have a yearning for romance, there is plenty to be had. For those that are more into the paranormal/violent part, there is also a good amount of that. I found that the sex scenes in this novel are much less disturbing than the ones in the Anita Blake ones (at least in Narcissus in Chains), in fact, the sex scenes are not made to be a deviation from the norm, rather they are a part of the story (although one was a bit weird for me...but it was a height issue for me personally...if you've read the book, you'll understand, I don't want to reveal it because it is a surprise). I even discovered that I no longer have a favorite heroine between the two series. Anita's story is more about trying to keep true to herself, but there's so much torment in her life that it's very hard to do. I feel that Merry is much more secure in who she is and what she needs to do. I think that Ms. Hamilton does a fabulous job of weaving a story of a world that is much like our own, but vastly different as well. I think that my only complaint about this book is that it was much too short. The hardback is only about 350 pages long + or -, not over 400 as posted on this site. I would be willing to pay extra for one of her books if that's what it takes to get a longer story, especially now that we have to wait until next year (2003) for the next installment of either Anita or Merry.

I got this book last evening and read it in one sitting. It's that good. The author's Anita Blake series has become all but unreadable, but this series is fun and sexy and darkly beautiful. The faerie world and the modern human world are so well blended you can almost believe it's real-life, and the detective story in this novel is interesting. But I bought this book for one reason only:to see more of Killing Frost, sidhe warrior and contender for the love of Princess Meredith. All the men, and Merry too, are well drawn characters, with strengths, weaknesses and delightful little quirks(I won't give anything away but Doyle, Rhys and the goblin Kitto have some great scenes in this book). But Frost is the one to watch, as his emotions thaw and his vulnerabilty shows through his formidable sidhe armor. Hamilton does us all a great favor and allows Meredith to recognize fairly early on that Frost is her strength and her true love. I can't wait for the next installment, and I intend to read this book again to fully enjoy the sensual imagery and clever dialogue. And Frost.