Divine Misdemeanors (Meredith Gentry, Bk 8) by Laurell K. Hamilton

I love the Meredith Gentry books. And I love that Meredith seems to finally be getting her "Happily Ever After".

I mean, sure... real life isn't actually happily ever after, but what she's got now is about as close as anyone could come, I think.

She's got her men around her, she's pregnant, and people aren't trying to kill her from every direction imaginable anymore.

I like Merry, and I'm really happy for her.

That's not to say that there will be no more change, because I have a feeling that in future books things are going to get crazy again. But Swallowing Darkness tied up a whole bunch of story arcs, and this one's job was to get more story arcs started, I think. And it was nice to see Merry enjoying herself a bit, getting her bearings in her new life, while that happened.

I'm also really interested in seeing where LKH takes things with the Goddess doing things for humans now, since Faery apparently wasn't all that interested in the fact that she re-appeared. There are so many things that can happen next, and while I admit I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't see some of that in this book, I'm perfectly happy with the things that did happen in this book, and with the plot arcs that I saw starting.

There were a few things I didn't like about the book. A few times I heard Anita talking, not Merry, and it was disconcerting - it jarred me out of the story. Also, Galen and Nathaniel sometimes seem the same to me, and that bugs me... "But this was Galen, and he usually makes my life easier, not harder". That's Nathaniel, please don't turn Galen into Nathaniel. They both have the long hair, they are both a bit shorter than the others, etc.

Okay, with all of that, here's the blurb for Divine Misdemeanors:

You may know me best as Meredith Nic Essus, princess of faerie. Or perhaps as Merry Gentry, Los Angeles private eye. In the fey and mortal realms alike, my life is the stuff of royal intrigue and celebrity drama. Among my own, I have confronted horrendous enemies, endured my noble kin’s treachery and malevolence, and honored my duty to conceive a royal heir—all for the right to claim the throne. But I turned my back on court and crown, choosing exile in the human world—and in the arms of my beloved Frost and Darkness.

While I may have rejected the monarchy, I cannot abandon my people. Someone is killing the fey, which has left the LAPD baffled and my guardsmen and me deeply disturbed. My kind are not easily captured or killed. At least not by mortals. I must get to the bottom of these horrendous murders, even if that means going up against Gilda, the Fairy Godmother, my rival for fey loyalties in Los Angeles.

But even stranger things are happening. Mortals I once healed with magic are suddenly performing miracles, a shocking phenomenon wreaking havoc on human/faerie relations. Though I am innocent, dark suspicions of banned magical activities swirl around me.

I thought I’d left the blood and politics behind in my own turbulent realm. I had dreamed of an idyllic life in sunny L.A. with my beloved ones beside me. But it becomes time to wake up and realize that evil knows no borders, and that nobody lives forever—even if they’re magical.

Honestly, the plot in this book takes a bit of a backseat - mostly we get to see Merry living with her men and trying to get them settled into LA while she figures out how to be pregnant and work while her men are being overprotective of her.

Book Rating, Divine Misdemeanors: 7 of 10
Series Rating, Meredith Gentry: 10 of 10

I'm giving Divine Misdemeanors an 8 of 10, and I'm leaving the series at a 10 of 10.




1. A Kiss of Shadows (2000)
2. A Caress of Twilight (2002)
3. Seduced by Moonlight (2004)
4. A Stroke of Midnight (2005)
5. Mistral's Kiss (2006)
6. A Lick of Frost (2007)
7. Swallowing Darkness (2008)
8. Divine Misdemeanors (2009)

Book Covers: Divine Misdemeanors and Kitty's House of Horrors

I thought I'd go looking for the covers for the books I'm most Anxiously Awaiting.

First comes Divine Misdemeanors (Meredith Gentry, Book 8) by Laurell K. Hamilton. Yes, I know, it's being released today, but it will be later tonight before I can get started on it, so I'm still anxiously awaiting it. I had intended to re-read Swallowing Darkness, but it hasn't worked out for me to do so. I love this series though, so I'm sure I'll be fine without the re-read.

We saw the first chapter of Kitty's House of Horrors in the previous book, Kitty Raises Hell, and there was just enough there to make me want more. The blurb for this one is:

Talk radio host and werewolf Kitty Norville has agreed to appear on TV's first all-supernatural reality show. She's expecting cheesy competitions and manufactured drama starring shapeshifters, vampires, and psychics. But what begins as a publicity stunt will turn into a fight for her life. The cast members, including Kitty, arrive at the remote mountain lodge where the show is set. As soon as filming starts, violence erupts and Kitty suspects that the show is a cover for a nefarious plot. Then the cameras stop rolling, cast members start dying, and Kitty realizes she and her monster housemates are ironically the ultimate prize in a very different game. Stranded with no power, no phones, and no way to know who can be trusted, she must find a way to defeat the evil closing in . . . before it kills them all.

We have less than a month before Kitty's House of Horrors is released. I don't think I will re-read any books before this book's release, but I'll probably do a 20 minute skim of Kitty Raises Hell (Kitty Norville, Book 6)

I plan to do a cover or two (or three) a day for a while. Some covers actually tell us about what is in the book, some just remind us of what is in the series, and some have nothing to do with the book(s). I think these two covers fall into the second category. We are reminded of Merry's men who can feel pain but can't be killed in the first cover, and in the second cover we are reminded that Kitty is a strong and independent woman, who happens to turn into a werewolf occasionally.

Tomorrow I'll do the covers for two books that actually tell us something about what is in the book, and one book's cover that tells us nothing about anything.

Review: Swallowing Darkness (Meredith Gentry, Book 7) by Laurell K. Hamilton

A 10 of 10. Swallowing Darkness is one of those books I will be reading again and again, just for the magical places it can take me.

This book reminds me of why Laurel K. Hamilton is such a great author. Yes, there are some books that aren't as good, no arguments there. But with Swallowing Darkness she took her time and did it right. Better than right. Brilliant. So brilliantly written that I felt the magic.

LKH can make fantasy come alive like no other. In this book we don't just see the Wild Hunt, we take part in it. We learn what it is like to be caught up in the Hunt, to feel the magic, to help shape the magic.

Swallowing Darkness starts shortly after the previous book ends. Merry is in the hospital, a human hospital. They've swabbed her for DNA samples of her rapist and they are now watching her. She is pregnant with twins, after all. The action starts shortly thereafter and doesn't let up. On page 125 I realized there had been no sex yet. And 25 pages later when there was finally the first hint of sex, it didn't get very far before the action started back up. There is finally some sex near the end, but it's not a long drawn out sexcapade. The 363 pages of this book are filled with action and magic and love and... well, faerie.

There is also a lot of closure at the end of this book. If LKH wants to make this the final book in the series she could do so with the way she ended it. I hope this isn't it, but I honestly haven't heard either way whether this is it or not. (Update: LKH has since stated on her blog that there will be more Merry books.)

Meredith doesn't get new powers in this book as much as she better learns to use the powers she already has. Pregnancy doesn't mellow Merry, it turns her into a fierce mama-bear who will not hesitate to kill to protect her babies and her men. Things she would have fought with herself about in the past she does easily in this book, whatever it takes to keep her babies and her men safe. No guilt, no decisions, she just does it. She's already lost her beloved Frost and she will do whatever it takes to keep from losing another of her men. That's not to say she turns into a tyrannical princess, she's still the Merry who will go out of her way to heal people who are fighting on her side for no other reason than they fought for her. But the people who try to kill her and her men? There is no more mercy in her heart for them.

And in this book, she needs this new attitude. She has more plots against herself and her men then ever before. The threats come from everywhere, literally. The book is pretty much nonstop action as she goes from one life threatening situation to another, and in between tries to play the political game.

I finished the book at 3:18 this morning. I could not put it down, and I won't regret being bleary eyed at work today. It was well worth it. 

Swallowing Darkness gets a 10 of 10, as does the Meredith Gentry series.

Book Rating: 10 of 10
Series Rating: 10 of 10



1. A Kiss of Shadows (2000)
2. A Caress of Twilight (2002)
3. Seduced by Moonlight (2004)
4. A Stroke of Midnight (2005)
5. Mistral's Kiss (2006)
6. A Lick of Frost (2007)
7. Swallowing Darkness (Nov 2008)