Awesome read! A faerie princess, unseelie & seelie courts, magical book & cant wait to read rest of series! if you like modern faerie novels and great sex scenes this is a book for you. ( )

This was an okay book. Seeing the set up of the court and the politics was interesting, and there is definitely enough sex. We'll see how the rest of the series plays out. ( )

Perhaps I'm jaded from reading the Anita Blake books first but Merry Gentry is very similar in many ways, especially compared to Anita's later years. And I swear, there are some lines and paragraphs that are directly from the other books. While the story seems to be a bit cliche in some aspects, it's an interesting world of fey politics and I'll keep reading to see how an independent free-thinking half-blood fits into the very regimented courts. ( )

I was nudged by a friend to read this series, and I began this book with my eyes wide open to the fact that it is nothing more than erotic fantasy with a thin veneer of plot; that the series is, in fact, the Anita Blake books without as many hangups, and with no pretence that they're anything other than pretty people getting together to have sex.

With that in mind, this first entry was engaging enough that I found it easy to zip right through. There are obvious issues with Hamilton's writing (most notably her need for a competent editor) and the main character could not be more of a self-insert if she'd named her "Laurell," but this first glimpse of Merry's world is compelling and intriguing enough that I want to read more. I found the plotline reasonably entertaining, and while the mystery was solved ever so easily, it was still engaging enough to hold my attention all the way through. This novel is by no means the pinnacle of literature, and at times the descriptions of sex are awkward and faintly silly, but if you're looking for some mental candyfloss and an excuse to read all about unearthly beautiful men, this story should hit the spot. ( )

Merry Gentry is in hiding, living in Los Angeles as a Private Investigator of supernatural crimes, she is doing pretty well. That is until one case reveals her as Princess Meredeth NicEssus, the lost Princess of the Unseelie, or Faerie court. She is brought back home, to the place where she had been running from for the past three years. The place where attempts on her life had been overlooked by the Queen, and even accepted by some of the nobles. It had been made very clear that she was wanted dead.

Merry knows she will be assassinated when she returns home but Andais, Queen of Air and Darkness--Merry's aunt--has other plans for her.

I wanted to love this book; I really did. The imagination and thought that Laurell K. Hamilton put into this book is amazing. She created a world where humans and Faerie (or Sidhe) live and cooperate together. Her Fae are imaginative, unique, and glorious; my favorite Fae characterizations yet. I love the plot and premise, and Laurell's writing style only adds to the story.

That having been said, I can only give this book three stars. Why? The main reason is that I felt as if the story ended in the middle of the book. There were a couple of things that happened which made it suspenseful, but the book had no real story arc. I felt cheated at the end, as if there should have been more to the story.

I loved the characters in this book, but I feel as if I didn't get to know them well enough. Merry moved from one man to the next, then back again so fast that we only got to see the personalities of a few men. I loved the imaginative way the intimate scenes were described, but the feeling of detachment we often received afterward was offsetting. It was as if those moments meant little to Merry, so they meant little to me. This book had the potential to be one of my favorite paranormal romances, but I don't think it pulled it off.

Though it came short of being a great book, Laurell K. Hamilton's descriptive writing and interesting world are too tempting, and I am still interested in reading the next in the series. ( )