In Laurell K. Hamilton's second Merry Gentry novel, Merry and her royal guards have returned to Los Angeles. The fey are dying out and fertility is low among the fey. Queen Andais' of the Unseelie Court has promised to step down from the throne to either her insane son Cel, or to Merry–whichever of them produces a baby first and within the next three years. With Cel being punished (tortured) for the next six months for his guilt (in the case in book one of this series), Merry has a head start, but is also in danger of assassination.

Much of her time is taken up with trying to get pregnant with one of her guards–the cream of the crop gifted to her by the queen–all of whom are gorgeous and desperate for sex. Merry also wastes no time in gathering allies to her side, first by making a bargain with the King of the Goblins, which adds a "nobody" goblin to her retinue of men. No spoilers here, though.

A mass murder case pops up in LA that they become involved with, are cut out of, and then they join again, because giant fey powers are at work. It's another wild ride for Merry and her...merry men. (sorry!)

Anyone who read A Kiss of Shadows (Merry Gentry book one) and was enthralled, or even just enjoyed it.

I especially liked getting to know the men of the queen's guard–now Merry's Guard. They are each of them very different with histories and old wounds. Seeing Merry become stronger and more confident as heir to the throne is fun, and watching her thinking shift as she grows into that role and realizes that what's important as a leader has changed a little bit is intriguing.

There is a lot of sex in this novel as there was in the first of the series, but for me, it somehow took a back seat to the plot and subplots. I definitely enjoyed this story better than the first.

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Created Oct 31, 2023 at 10:05am • Submit your own review...