Seduced by moonlight (edition 2004)

Back to the sithen! I love how the magic brings things back to life, though now the cast of guards is a little hard to keep track of. ( )

The third book in the Merry Gentry series carries on the intrigue, sex, exploring of relationships, danger, sex, bloodshed, and sex. Some enemies bite the dust, one may be wishing for death by the time the book is over. Some racist sidhe get their minds gently opened a crack, others not so much. I personally like this series very much, which is why I'm not relying on my local library (too many other Hamilton fans around to be certain the books are available when I crave a rereading).

It's not wise to completely avoid the sex scenes because we get information from them. I skim them, checking for quotation marks so I can catch any useful dialogue. If you were wondering what our heroes and heroine got from the Nameless in the last book, wonder no further.

I appreciate the pronunciation guide for the various names in this series, although I wish it had been continued in the later books. I photocopied it so at least I can tuck it into whichever book I'm rereading. It doesn't help with characters introduced after this book, of course, but most of the names will keep popping up so it's still useful.

I don't care much for the photos on the dustjackets/covers because I prefer backgrounds, faces, and a scene from the book, but I do like the green-blue tint used for this one.

SPOILER ALERT-- the following facts are meant to help my memory, but if they help you, too, great:



Chapter 1:

Merry describes her hair color as if good red garnets had been spun into hair. It's a color known as blood auburn, sidhe scarlet, and ('among the glittering throng'' Unseelie red.) She also says, 'My eyes would be welcome at the Seelie court, but not the hair.' Seelie sidhe have red hair, but not as dark as hers. In chapter eight of Swallowing Darkness she's going to notice that she has her maternal grandfather's hair. Is Uar the Cruel part Unseelie? Prince Essus, Merry's father, was full-blooded Unseelie, and 'that's a crime for which the glittering throng has no forgiveness'. (Keep this in mind when you read chapter 27 of A Lick of Frost.) She says she's not in line for the Seelie throne. Then again, she also says that King Taranis of the Seelie is her uncle. He's her great-uncle.

Chapter 2:

Frost is the moodiest of Merry's guards -- the first to anger, the last to forgive, and he pouts.

Merry says Sholto's mother was Unseelie sidhe.
:
Merry compares being tortured by goblins and being tortured by sidhe for Rhys' benefit.

Merry learns that Rhys was once part of the Seelie Court.

Chapter 3:

We learn what keeps Queen Creeda from being the epitome of Goblin beauty.

If a goblin needs sex, s/he will take it whereever they are or whatever they're doing. Merry tells us that it makes business meetings with them odd.

Merry says that she realized that her mother was jealous of her 'a few months ago'.

Kurag offers to defend Merry's honor.

Kitto likes few things better than being ordered around and given no choices. It makes him feel safe.

In the beginning of [sidhe?] powers, one sometimes needs help drawing them. Doyle says it's like any other weapon. Being new to one's magic is like being new to the sword.

Merry realizes how much she means to Kurag.

Doyle slaughtered all goblin witches and wizards, but it was the Seelie who used a spell to suck the magic from goblins.

Chapter 4:

Goblins don't have the same view of marriage vows (adultery) as sidhe. 'Whatever child results from whatever liaison is raised by the married couple as their own.' (What happens if both biological parents want to keep the child? Does the mother get preference or the father? Or do they fight a duel for custody? Does the non-custodial parent get visiting rights?)

Rhys admits he was a fool to Kurag. Kurag remarks that a sidhe admitting he is a fool is a miracle.

Prositution is a concept unheard of in faerie itself, though a few exiles might turn to it as a way to earn a living.

Goblins do not rape other goblins unless a goblin has broken a law and rape is deemed a fit punishment for the crime. However, trullups (or 'trulls'), the term for a goblin who 'sells his body for safety and shelter,' give up the right to refuse their bodies to anyone. The trullup's protector dictates who touches him and who can't. Kitto's a trullup.

Most of the Goblins' [surviving] half-sidhe were conceived during the last great war. Sidhe-sided goblins didn't last long among them until they were made trullups. Holly and Ash have never been trulls.

Here Merry learns why Kurag gave Kitto to her. Kurag may be crude, lecherous, and sometimes ruled by his temper, but he does watch over all of his people. Half the goblins fear him, but the other half loves him because he keeps them safe.

Holly and Ash have skin a 'delicate gold the Seelie Court calls sun-kissed. It's rare for them, unheard of among us.' The twins were left at the goblin mound by a Seelie woman after the last great war.

Holly hates the Seelie because their mother left them to die. (He hated sidhe in general, but Ash pointed out that they were dealing with Unseelie sidhe who haven't done anything to them.)

Chapter 5:

Siun, the half-goblin, half-sidhe who took Rhy's eye is described here. Merry says, 'I never thought I'd see anything among the fey that I truly thought was nightmarish. I was Unseelie sidhe; we were the stuff of nightmares. But Siun was a nightmare for nightmares.' Siun's mother raped a sidhe during the last war. Siun was Kitto's protector for years.

Kurag avoided a direct lie in talking to Doyle, but implied something. Kurag says perhaps he's learned from the sidhe just how thin the truth can come.

Rhys swore blood-price that he would kill Siun the next time they met after she maimed him. Siun says she wouldn't have taken his eye if he'd glowed under her. Rhys' reply is insulting.

Goblins do not assassinate other goblins. It's considered cowardice. A king who lets others do his killing could be executed.

Kitto's hand of power is his right hand. Doyle explains, 'Some sidhe can travel through mirrors, as most can speak through them. Though I never heard of any who could travel over this many miles.' (So how close was Doyle when he sent spiders through a mirror in chapter 5 of A Kiss of Shadows? Doyle came through a Los Angeles restroom mirror in chapter 15 of that book.)

Rhys displays some of the power he got back in book two. It's a scary power. Kurag addresses him as 'white prince'. His foe's blood on his skin and hair glows and starts to vanish. Sadly, it remains on his bathrobe. Also, his face is bloodstained again two paragraphs later. Did some of the blood on his uplifted sword drip on him?

Doyle addresses Rhys thusly: 'Hail, Cromm Cruach, who slew Tigernmas, Lord of Death, for his pride and his crimes against his people.'

Merry has just finished her period. She and Galen have been lovers for a month. Here she says she's loved Galen since she was 12 or 13.

Galen describes how Maeve Reed's movie studio is treating her because of her pregnancy.

Frost is jealous of Galen.

Chapter 6:

Frost has been forced to be chaste for roughly 800 years.

Maeve and Merry's magic joins and Maeve is fully Conchenn again. During this Merry has a vision of who Frost used to be.

Maeve talks about the goddess Danu.

Merry says the fey aren't supposed to be jealous in the way humans are. Here is the reason she suspects the sidhe have become more human than they realized.

Chapter 7:

Doyle speculates that some of the wild magic spilled from the Nameless needed a goddess-shaped vessel and Merry was the only one available at the time.

Merry and Maeve share a magical kiss.

An apple tree in bloom appears in the hallway.

Chapter 8:

Merry dreams of a hill and standing next to a cloaked woman. She sees Doyle with Gabriel Ratchets, Hell Hounds. She sees her other lovers, too. Merry is given a cup to drink from. The cup is in her bed when she awakens.

Chapter 9:

According to Doyle, the chalice was once a cauldron. King Taranis thought the cauldron had been stolen. It was the cauldron that could feed thousands and never go empty. It vanished before the great potato famine in Ireland (1845-1852). Doyle says if they'd still had it, he'd have swum to Ireland with it. His speaks with a brogue when he says this.

That's where Merry makes her observation about immortals carrying the strong emotions (she names three) for longer than a human lifetime.

There were two lesser cauldrons that were gifts from the gods and more cauldrons that were made by fey.

Merry says that all the little fey seem to have a sweet tooth. In chapter 6 of Divine Misdemeanors, Ms. Hamilton explains why.

What happened after the second weirding is mentioned, as well as what happened to the fey who stayed in Europe. Here is where Doyle states what happens to a people without their culture or beliefs.

Kitto points out that one of the provisions of the treaty allowing fey to come to the USA (don't get humans to worship them) is the same as what the sidhe demanded of the goblins when they made their peace treaty.

Kitto's power is called the hand of reaching. There's more explanation here. Doyle says it hasn't been seen among 'us' since the second weirding.

No one points out to Doyle that he had just been expressing doubts about Danu a few moments before he chides Frost for questioning her gift.

Chapter 10:

Goblins can confront their king in open court if he breaks one of their laws. Sidhe aren't that straightforward.

Chapter 11:

Merry thanks Frost. Luckily, Frost isn't insulted.

Chapter 13:

Sage calls Rhys the gwynfor.

This is the chapter where Nicca gets his wings and Sage becomes sidhe.

Chapter 14:

There's a detailed description of Nicca's wings.

Rhys describes Merry as being like a flesh version of the chalice.

Sage discovers he's lost a power.

Sage says the demi-fey would have called Nicca cursed had he gotten his wings when he was a child.

Chapter 15:

The sidhe lost the ability to bring sidhe to them after the first weirding, about 2,000 years ago.

Most of the great relics that vanished were Seelie. Unseelie relics lessened in power.

Nicca becomes possessed.

Frost tells Merry why he couldn't stay at the Seelie Court.

Chapter 16:

Doyle regains his shape-shifting power, including a shape he's never shifted into before.

Chapter 17:

Frost mentions his old names iwhile arguing with Maeve.

Mistral, Bringer of Storms, had been out of favor with Queen Andais during Merry's lifetime. Learn why here. He got kicked out of the Seelie Court, too.

One of Queen Andais' guards, Whisper, had to spend 7 years in the Hall of Mortality. There's discussion about the different ways the Seelie and Unseelie Courts punish.

Chapter 18:

Rhys tells Merry about the great power of the ring that her aunt gave her in the first book.

Queen Andais had a true love, Owain, who was killed in battle.

The battle of Rhodan was when the Unseelie sidhe realized the ring's powers were fading.

Chapter 19:

The description of the ring mentions the words carved in it.

Doyle says 'Rulers of St. Louis,' for Marry, another indication of his great age.

This is the chapter with the joke about the Frankenstein's monster.

Chapter 20:

Frost and Merry discuss his fur coat.

Merry says the Sidhe can't freeze to death.

Abloec is introduced and described. Why he got kicked out of the Seelie Court is on a later page.

meet Major Walters and read his description

Madeline Phelps is described. She's been in Queen Andais' favor for seven years. Enjoy Merry putting the publicist in her place near the end of the chapter.

Barinthus is 'Captain Barinthus' when Madeline speaks of him to Major Walters.

Queen Andais' secretary is male? Although Merry tells us she couldn't hear what he said when Andais' secretary answered Madeline's phone call, in chapter 5 of the next book, A Stroke of Midnight, that secretary is a human woman named Christene. The two scenes are only a day apart, but from Christene's description, it's not likely that this is her first day on the job. Chapter 21:

We meet Carrow, the guard Prince Essus trusted to teach Merry about the ways of birds and beasts. Yes, there's a physical description.

Amatheon is introduced and described, including why his hair was cut. He's Cel's friend and one of the sidhe who made Merry's childhood unpleasant.

Merry tells us she always had trouble hating people if they showed her something that wasn't hateable inside them. Her father saw that as a strength, her aunt sees it as a weakness, she's not sure which it is.

Amatheon calls Merry a half-human mongrel (she's only one-eighth human), although he knows better.

Onilwyn, another buddy of Cel's, is introduced and described. The two have different reasons for following Prince Cel. Amatheon is a racist.

Usna, the cat-like royal guard, is introduced, described, and his backstory given.

Chapter 23:

The name the media coined for Merry and her lovers is 'Merry and her Merry men'.

The explanation about Barry Jenkins says that courts agreed that he'd infringed on the rights of a minor.

Why Queen Andais declared a death sentence for Griffin is given.

Barinthus' former name is given. He and Merry have a sort of mystical sex.

Chapter 24:

It's harder to distract the queen lately. She had Conri tortured when he'd done nothing wrong since being punished for trying to kill Merry.

Chapter 25:

'You had to be younger than three hundred to be comfortable with modern niceties. Which meant that only Galen and I would have thanked someone for a thank you. Everyone else was too old.'

Barinthus tells Merry that he's being called Queenmaker behind his back now.

Chapter 26:

We meet royal guards Ivi and Hawthorne. Ivi has the more interesting hair. Merry succeeds in frightening Ivi by telling him how she could have him sliced up and still be obeying their queen's orders.

Chapter 27:

Contrary to what she said in chapter 4, Merry says that the skin color 'sun-kissed' is more common among the Seelie than the Unseelie. Adair is another sidhe kicked out of the Seelie court, so I suppose it's unheard of for an Unseelie sidhe to be born with that skin color.

Adair and Briac are introduced and described. Adair's hair has been left about six inches shorter than Amatheon's.

'There were precious few fertility dieties, fallen or otherwise, among the Unseelie; that was a Seelie court power for the most part. My father, Essus, had been an exception, but even he was not a fertility of sex and love but more of sacrifice and crops.

The touch of the ring on Adair's skin moves an alcove that had been floors lower until it's near Merry's aunt's room. More touching brings back its water spring. Merry's touch, with Adair's power, changes an old cracked cup that was in the alcove.

Chapter 28:

Queen Andais' largest whip looks like a 'melanistic anaconda,' according to Merry. Yes, it's black.

It's considered bad form, a breach of contract, to kill a human who has been given a home in faerie.

Andais can use the very air as a weapon. Merry has never seen her use it as she uses it here.

Mistral has finally appeared in the book. He gives Merry a look that tells her he thinks she's just another useless royal.

The Queen is being particularly bloodthirsty in this chapter and the next.

Chapter 29:

The Ravens come from a tradition in which not to take the death blow meant for one's leader is the worst of shames. The Unseelie did not always have heredity rulers -- they got that from humans. It used to be that they were ruled by the best among their sidhe.

Chapter 30:

It's another vision. This time Merry meets the Consort and gets a kiss. Kitto says she has returned from the Summerlands with the kiss of birds inside her. Each man she kisses has a different taste and smell to her.

Merry thanks her aunt for a compliment. Good thing Andais doesn't take offense.

Merry figures out why the Unseelie haven't been able to have children.

Merry and Andais kiss for magical reasons.

Merry thanks her aunt again. Why? She knows better. Again, Andais takes no offense.

Chapter 31:

Sidhe are not allowed to lie outright, but Eamon lies to his queen to help Merry. A lie in a good cause won't get the mound or gods mad?

Mortal Dread's description in this chapter: '...a short sword whose hilt was formed of three ravens with their beaks holding a ruby nearly the size of my fist, and their wings flung outward in silver to form the guard.'
This is not exactly the same description given in chapter 15 of A Kiss of Shadows.

Andais confesses, to Merry, what she did for Cel because she feared for his sanity.

Andais claims that she's never liked Merry nor ever hated her.

Chapter 32:

The roses of the outer room that had drunk of Merry's blood in chapter 30 of A Kiss of Shadows now have green leaves, new canes, and lots of huge, scarlet roses.

Why did Nuline die when decapitated? What else was done to her?

In this chapter, Sholto's mother is said to have been a Seelie sidhe.

Goblins have superior night vision.

We meet Jonty of the Red Caps. He says 'Queen's blood' after licking blood from Merry.

Afagdu, head of one of the Unseelie royal houses, is neither Cel's toady nor Andais' fan.

Merry wonders if Holly's father had been a Red Cap.

Maelgwn, wolf lord, always sounds as if he's mocking someone, usually himself. Almost every single member of his house wears an animal skin somewhere. He can still shape-shift to a wolf.

Nerys lost so much of her magic she gave up her name and uses 'Nerys', which means 'lord' or lady'. There are 16 houses in the Unseelie Court and hers is close to neutral.

Doyle has Merry hold Black Magic, Snick, and Snack for safekeeping. Frost gets to hold his gun.

We meet Miniver. She's also exiled from the Seelie Court.

Miniver calls Merry a half-breed mortal. Well, Merry is half Unseelie sidhe and mortal.

6 of the 16 houses are against having Merry ever on the Unseelie throne.

'There are three ways to be head of a house. You can inherit it, you can be elected into it, or you can challenge one after the other of a house until you either destroy them all or they concede that you are the better fighter, and they will not stand in your way.'

Miniver had been one of the last of the Seelie nobles to ask admittance to the Unseelie Court.

Someone with only the first part of the hand of blood couldn't bleed Miniver to death from three tiny wounds before Miniver slays him or her. Merry has the full hand of blood.

Chapter 33:

There are no seconds in a Seelie duel. Unseelie, too, I guess. There are more rules of dueling in this chapter.

Interesting -- Miniver lied about why she left the court when the entertainments were too bloody. How'd she get away with that?

As with Merry, Miniver has two hands of power.

Interesting outcome of the duel with Miniver. Does it mean a change in Merry?

'Goblins handle base metal [such as cold iron] better than the sidhe, probably because it interferes with magic more than the strength of arm.'

Shoto is under 400 years old.

Chapter 34:

Merry coined the term orgy-sized for her aunt's bed, but never said it to her face.

Merry sent Rhys to ask about the guards who are supposed to be hers now but who aren't in the bedroom already. When some of the 8 and Rhys join her in the bed with the 5 already there (Frost and Galen are keeping watch), that's more people than Merry has ever shared a bed with before.

Merry tells Onilwyn he has free will. ( )

Seduced by Moonlight begins shortly after the events of A Caress of Twilight. Kurag, Goblin King, is insisting upon proof that Kitto has become sidhe following sex with Merry. She offers an extra month of their alliance for every goblin hybrid she can bring into sidhe magic. During the discussions, Siun, Kitto's nightmarish, spidery former mistress and Rhys' worst memory of his experience at the Goblin court appears. It is revealed that Rhys swore blood price on her, because it was Siun that took his eye. In his fear, Kitto accidentally and reflexively uses the Hand of Reaching to open a portal through the mirror. Siun falls through and is trapped half-way, after some negotiation, Kurag allows the Ravens to do what they like. Kitto viciously wounds her and Rhys kills her with a word. It is revealed that Meredith is a vessel for the Goddess Danu when she inadvertently brings the pregnant Maeve Reed back into her god-head, and gives Frost new found god status which he is not comfortable with. The cup or cauldron also reappears after Merry has a dream about it, an effect that has significant impact upon the sidhe who believed it lost forever. During sex with Merry many of her lovers experience unexpected side-effects:
Rhys is brought back into his god-head,
Frost is brought into his god-head,
Sage is turned into a full-sized sidhe,
Nicca is possessed by Dian Cecht,
Doyle regains his shape-shifting abilities turning into a dog and a horse, plus ones he never had previously.By the end of the book it is discovered that a spell was used to incite the Queen to murder. The plot was hatched by those amongst the court who feared that a mortal Queen, Merry, would result in the sidhe ceasing to exist. ( )

It took me 3 weeks to read this book. It just didn't catch my attention like the first two did. I have read her Anita Blake Series and I think she writes good starter books. Ones that start a series. And that's about it. after the first few, she rambles. She repeats things over and over. And the sex. Ugh. It get's so annoying. There's no reason for it to happen it just does. Its like she ran out of things to write about so she fills the awkward silence with sex. This book was so boring to me that I would think about other things then have to re-read what I just read to find out that I didn't miss anything. Don't Waste Your Time. ( )

Review posted here: http://offbeatvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-seduced-by-moonlight.htm...

I started this series a while back and haven’t had the time to continue it. Finally started book 3, Seduced by Moonlight, and it was really good. We get to meet more hot fairy men and Merry shows us she truly deserves to be princess.

Seduced by Moonlight takes place a little after A Caress of Twilight, Merry is with her guards/lovers and is trying to stay out of the paparazzi. She is still trying to get a baby from her men and it hasn’t happened yet. They are still trying to protect themselves because Merry is still being targeted and she wants more allies from the Kurag and his allies. While working to stop a war, Merry finds that she is getting powers that make her guards more powerful through sex. Merry doesn’t know how it is happening and doesn’t know she is becoming so powerful that she ends up with a once lost and powerful Fae relic.

I really enjoyed this book. Hamilton is so creative when it comes to creating different worlds. Her take on L.A. is so out of the box. I love it. I love that the world, well America, is okay with the Fae out in the open as long as they don’t break the rules. This is what Merry and the Fae are fighting for because America is the last place that will accept the Fae and a lot of them like living on Earth. But that promise is getting slimmer and slimmer.

Now I did have a couple of issues with this book. The pace was pretty slow for me and the book is quite long. Honestly, half of the book could be cut out and you would still get a good story. I mean, it isn’t a bad thing, just some stuff that didn’t add much to the story. I am not talking about the sex which this book was full of and I really enjoyed. There was a lot more compared to the previous two. But the sex added to the story because the men are getting all their god-like abilities back. Abilities they haven’t had in centuries. Can’t wait to see how they will all work out later on.

Now the plot really kicked off for me about halfway in the book. We find out the Queen Andais is crazy and has somehow become crazier and more homicidal. We find that someone has put a spell on her that has made her even worse. Some of the Fae already want Merry dead because they think she is no better than a human, just a half-breed that doesn’t deserve to be on the throne. But it is worse when they try to go after the queen because it could be her very own son, Cel (who is imprisoned), that might have sent someone to poison his mother. I won’t spoil it, but the finale showdown was surprising and epic.

I am trying my best not to give anything away, but this was pretty good. So far, the second one is a favorite for me. But I love this series. Merry and her men are fantastic together. In this book, we get more Dole who is my favorite of all of her men. Seduced by Moonlight had a bit of extras, but it wasn’t boring by any means. Just the action kicks up when we finally meet up with crazy Aunt Andais who has got to be the most disturbing female character in history. No joke, you would have better luck with the Devil than Queen Andais. ( )