Description:

Amazon.com Review

The third novel in Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series, Seduced by Moonlight continues the story of Merry Gentry, a mortal Faerie princess hiding in L.A. Her aunt, the immortal and insane Queen of Air and Darkness, has ordered her to compete with her cousin, Prince Cel, in making a baby. Whoever produces a child first wins the throne of the Unseelie Court. But Merry still hasn't conceived--and that's not her only problem. Unknown assassins seek her life; her magical powers are becoming potent and uncontrollable; and her sadistic aunt has just commanded her to return to Faerie.

Readers tired of mild modern fairy-tales about nice, polite elves may want to explore the Meredith Gentry series, which remembers that Faerie was originally a dark, dangerous realm of sex and violence. Hamilton's Queen of Air and Darkness is a vicious killer and torturer, and many of her fay drink blood or practice kinky sex (or both). Under royal orders to bed many males, Merry is far from averse; she and several lovers hit the bedroom on page 8 of Seduced by Moonlight and don't emerge until page 175. There's no shortage of sex, but not as much as the page count may indicate; the characters like to talk and sulk even more than they like to fornicate. The large cast and complicated backstory make this book the wrong starting point; newcomers should begin with the first novel, A Kiss of Shadows. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly

Considering all the complications, sexual and otherwise, that Merry Gentry, heir to the faerie throne, endured in A Kiss of Shadows (2000) and A Caress of Shadows (2002), it's no surprise to find the start of Hamilton's third book in her erotic fantasy series weighed down by attempts to conversationally recap earlier convolutions. Even readers of the first two books might have problems sorting out exactly why Merry is messing with the goblin king via magic mirror. Though the author maintains interest through such devices as an imaginative sex scene involving Merry, two of her sidhe studs and a doll-sized, winged, blood-sucking demi-fey, it takes a milieu switch from L.A. to St. Louis and the Unseelie court for the plot to take off and become a page turner. Merry confronts faerie politics that make Machiavelli look like a rookie, while her aunt's sadistic madness leads to what must rank as one of the bloodier scenes of fictional slaughter. Since Merry's previous role as a private eye has almost completely disappeared, nefarious deeds require magic to solve rather than detection. Hamilton's trademark mix of the personal and emotional along with the sexual will as usual delight her fans. Add yet another tour de force ending, a new final total of 16 lustful sidhe male immortals with whom to couple (or triple or...), and a fair future is assured for Merry for at least another few books.
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