A Kiss Of Shadows - Laurell K. Hamilton

Note: This review is for a paranormal romance novel for adults, not YA. If you are uncomfortable with graphic sex, violence, and language, this is not a review or book that you'd be interested in.

A Kiss Of Shadows is the first book in the Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Now this is not a new book. In fact, A Kiss Of Shadows actually came out in 2000, making this book over a decade old. However, thanks to graduation rehearsal, work, and a cleaning fest I've had to undergo in order to host my birthday/graduation party tomorrow, I haven't had time to read one of my BEA books within the last 24 hours. Instead I've decided to review a book from my dirty little secret list of trashy romance novels that I love.

A Kiss Of Shadows is the story of Meredith Gentry. Meredith, or Merry, is a private investigator for a firm that boasts an entirely magical or Fae staff in a world where fairies not only exist, but are accepted and even popular in the current world. Merry has a normal life, with a boyfriend who just happens to have once been able to turn into a seal and a boss who just happens to be a Trow. Well, normal if you ignore the fact that she's the missing fairy princess who vanished three years ago. After a case gone awry, Merry's cover is blown and she is suddenly being hunted down by the queen of the court she ran away from those years ago.

One thing you have to know about Laurell K Hamilton before you decide to read this book is that her series tend to start with really mild to no romance in the first book, then slowly become raunchy, sexual, and kinky-weird at times. The first three books in her other popular series, Anita Blake, were almost completely innocent as far as sexual material, for instance, but that same series a few books down has her with a harem of men and a sex scene every few chapters. So understand that when I say trashy romance, I mean trashy romance. There's an amazing plot, but there's a lot of other stuff too.

The one thing that Laurell K. Haminton excels at the most is her characters, and I've never seen her talent better at work than in the Meredith Gentry series. In A Kiss Of Shadows alone, there's Merry herself, a trow, a Jack-In-Irons, a man known as 'darkness' for the sheer fact that everything about him is pitch black, and dozens of other Fae with unique appearances and powers. There's a man who can bring death with a touch, a girl who can turn anything she touches into an inside out living ball of flesh, and a man who can cause spiders to break from a man's back until it consists of so much meat.

Now, the Meredith Gentry series is not for everyone. It's graphic in a lot of ways, and it's definitely an adult book, not YA or otherwise. If you like paranormal romance, stuff like Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunters or Gena Showalter in general, you'll probably love this series. If you like dark world that don't hide what they are, you might like this book. And if you want to start a new paranormal romance series, and you like the idea of evil Fae, then I'd suggest you pick this book up next time you go to your local bookstore.