A Kiss of Shadows (2002) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

• Meredith "Merry" Gentry: AKA Meredith NicEssus. She is part Seelie sidhe, Unseelie sidhe, Brownie and human; but considers herself Unseelie Sidhe. She is the first royal sidhe to be born on American soil. She is niece to Queen Andais of the Unseelie Sithen and to King Taranis of the Seelie Sithen. She is coheir to the Unseelie throne and 5th in line to the Seelie throne.
• Doyle: ( DOLE ) AKA Darkness, the Queen's Darkness, He is the Queen's most feared warrior and assassin.Has stood by the Queen's side as her right hand man for 1,000 years. Now by Merry's side as her caption of Guards & most trusted Lover. One of 2 that Merry is in love with the most.
• Frost: AKA Killing Frost. He is Doyle's second in command and is also a fierce warrior. He is a member of the Queen's Ravens.
• Sholto: ( SHOLE-toe ) He is the King of the Slaugh and a member of the Queen's Ravens, Half sidhe and half nightflyer.
• Galen: ( GAY-len ) Half pixie and half Unseelie sidhe. The childhood friend of Merry. Youngest member of the Queen's Ravens. Has a long history of flirting with Merry. Extremely unpolitical, naive and idealistic.
• Rhys: ( REESE ) One of the Queen's Ravens. He is one of the few members of the guard and court to embrace the present time and way of living. A huge film noir fan.
• Kitto: ( KIT-toe) Half snake goblin and half sidhe, Given to Merry by Kurag as part of their alliance.
• Gethin: ( GETH-an ) One of the Sluagh
• Roane Finn: Merry's lover and colleague at the Grey Detective Agency; a Roan. Has Lost his Seal Skin, therefore yearns for the sea, his first love in his heart.
• Jeremy Grey: Owner of the Grey Detective Agency, Trowe. A trusted friend to Merry along with being her boss, a powerful magician.
• Griffin: Merry's ex-fiance. Member of the queen's court.
• Siobhan: ( SHE-oh-vin ) Captain of Prince Cel's Guard. Cel's right hand and personal Killer.
• Kurag: ( CUR-ahg ) King of Goblins, Merry's ally. Was ally of Merry's father prior to his death. Has a conjoined twin that is attached to the side of his head. When formally addressed by Merry, she addresses both Kruag and his twin.
• Alistair Norton: Wants to be fey. Being used by an unknown sidhe.
• Barry Jenkins: Human newspaper reporter. Hates Merry, they have a history together, he's done mean things to her.
• Ringo: Formerly a human gang member, but turned fae after saving fae who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now works for the Grey Detective Agency.
• Uther: A Jack-in-Irons who works for the Grey Detective Agency.
• Naomi Phelps: Lover of Alistair Norton who approaches the Grey Agency for help.
• Gran: Meredith's brownie grandmother.
• Segna the Gold: ( SEG-na ) Nighthag; member of the Sluagh, Sholto's lover
• Barinthus: ( BA-rinth-us ) A sea god and one of the Queen's Ravens, Barinthus is one of the most powerful members of the Courts. He has long been called the "Kingmaker" for his involvement in the selection of court rulers. He supported first Essus and now Merry for the Unseelie throne.
• Maury Klein: Security specialist
• Keelin: ( KEY-lynn ) Merry's childhood friend and is now Cel's lover; half Brownie and half Goblin
• Nerys the Grey: A nighthag and a member of the Sluagh. Sholto's lover
• Fflur: healer in the Unseelie Court
• Black Agnes: Nighthag, Member of the Sluagh and Sholto's lover.
• Eamon: Consort of Andais, the Unseelie Queen
• Detective Alvera: Detective that is investigating death of Alistair Norton
• Frances Norton: Wife of Alistair Norton who approaches the Grey Agency for help with a death spell.
• Teresa: Psychic who works for Grey Detective Agency; can also tell if someone is lying
• Liam: one of the men Naomi Phelps says Alistair Norton brought to her for sex
• Rozenwyn: ( roh-ZEN-win ) One of Cel's guard
• Donald: one of the men Naomi Phelps says Alistair Norton brought to her for sex
• Pasco: ( PASS-co ) One of Cel's guard.
• Eileen Galan: Lawyer
• Cel: ( KEL ) Son to Queen Andais and heir to the throne. Inherited his mother's sadistic and unpredictable nature. Hates Merry.
• Andais: ( ON-dee-ay-us ) Queen of Air and Darkness, Merry's aunt, the sister of Essus, and mother of Cel. Andais is a war goddess, and the sadistic Queen of the Unseelie Court. Her personal guard, called the "Queen's Ravens" is composed exclusively of men. Although she is a sadist and is widely believed to be insane, Andais appears to have the best interests of the Court at heart and has sworn to abdicate her throne in favor of whichever of Cel or Merry can demonstrate themselves capable of producing new sidhe children. Her current consort is Eamon.
• Conri: friend and supporter of Cel
• Detective Lucinda Tate: AKA Lucy, detective who often works with Merry, they are friends, work well together.

Quotes edit see section history

• “"That which is not useful to me is discarded, Meredith."”

  Queen Andais

• “Some choices you make with your heart, some with your head, but when in doubt choose head over heart - it will keep you alive.”

  Meredith Gentry

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• there comes a point when you either embrace who and what you are, or condemn yourself to be miserable all your days. Other people will try to make you miserable; don’t help them by doing the job yourself.

  Highlighted by 84 Kindle customers

• “Not knowing a thing is not ignorance. Feigning knowledge you don’t have, can be,”

  Highlighted by 70 Kindle customers

• Some choices you make with your heart, some with your head, but when in doubt choose head over heart—it will keep you alive.

  Highlighted by 69 Kindle customers

• Men don’t settle down because of the right woman. They settle down because they are finally ready for it. Whatever woman they’re dating when they get ready is the one they settle down with, not necessarily the best one or the prettiest, just the one who happened to be on hand when the time got to be right. Unromantic, but still true.

  Highlighted by 66 Kindle customers

• If you love something hard enough but can never touch it or keep it, the love can curdle into a jealousy more destructive than any hate.

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• If you have a choice between extra makeup or extra weapons, always take the weapons. Just the fact that you’re debating between those two choices proves that you’re going to need the weapons more.

  Highlighted by 48 Kindle customers

• They say not to look back, but if you’re not sure what lies ahead, what else is there but looking back?

  Highlighted by 47 Kindle customers

• The second you stop questioning yourself is the second that you become the monster.

  Highlighted by 45 Kindle customers

• Serial womanizers are like serial killers in one respect. They both believe that next time will be perfect, that the next experience will complete them and stop this unending need. But it never does.

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• Contents Acknowledgments

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Los Angeles, CA: Where Merry lives when she is away from the Sithen.
• Cahokia, IL: Where the entrance to the different Sithen are located. The Sithen technically exists in a place of its own. Like the Black Coach, it has a life of its own and frequently redecorates at its own will.

Organizations edit see section history

• Seelie Court: (Pronounced SEE-lee) Also called "the Bringers of Beauty and Wishes" whose power descends from their King or Queen. The Seelie Court is ruled by King Taranis. It is the court of light.
• Unseelie Court: (Pronounce UN-see-lee) Also known as the lesser court or the dark court ruled by Andais, Queen of Air and Darkness. They take in all those turned away from the Seelie court.
• Brownie: The worker faeries said to clean your house while you sleep.
• Demi-Fey: Small, often winged fey ruled by Queen Niceven. It is said that where the demi-fae travel, faerie follows. The demi-fey seem to have many secrets, one of which is that a few are able to grow larger to become human-size. They are masters of glamour and often appear as birds, butterflies, or other winged insects.
• Goblins: Goblins are considered the foot soldiers of the Unseelie Court since they do most of the fighting during war. Described as intimidating horrific creatures (from a human perspective) the Goblins consider moles and extra limbs and eyes marks of beauty. Goblin society is violent and taking blood and flesh during sex is expected among them. Kingship among the Goblins comes not through inheritance but battle challenge. Kurag is the goblin king. They consider anything that comes out of the body more valuable than jewels or weapons. It was also an insult if the men did not leer at your women. It implied that she was ugly and infertile. An alliance can be formed with the goblins if the rights of both blood and flesh are invoked. Sex should always be negotiated before starting when dealing with goblins.
• Nightflyer: A winged creature under the command of Sholto. Few creatures in Faerie were stronger than Sidhe, nightflyers were one of them. Most of their body parts are able to regenerate and contain a nest if tentacles resting in their abdomen.
• Slaugh: (Pronounced SLEW-ah) Nightmarish creatures, the Sluagh are feared even among the Unseelie where inhumanity is common. Among the Sluagh are the nightflyers and nighthags. The Slaugh were the original Unseelie Court. They are the creatures of the Wild Hunt.

First Sentence edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Fey: (Pronounced FAY) A general term for all inhabitants of faery, the sidhe are the highest ranking and most powerful members of the fae and considered the nobility. There are lesser non-sidhe fey, some of whom have interbred with humans.
• Sidhe: (Pronounced SHE) The royalty of the fae, the Sidhe are divided into the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Usually marked with triple irises and bright glowing skin.
• Elf-Struck: If a sidhe has sex with a human and doesn't try to tone down the magic, they turn a human into an addict. Those that are elf-struck can actually wither and die from want of the touch of sidhe flesh.
• Glamour: Magic that can change a fey's appearance for the eyes of humans. Only few sidhe can work glamour on other sidhe. This is considered an insult to do so without permission.
• Beathalachd: A ring that gives the bearer vitality. It literally steals the very life and skill of your opponent.
• Black Coach: The Black Coach is one of the objects among the fey that has energy, a life, of its own. It was not created by any fey or ancient god that we knew of. It has simply existed for as long as anyone can remember. Six thousand years and counting. Of course, then it had been a black chariot pulled by four horses. The horses were not sidhe horses. They didn't seem to exist at all until after dark. Then they were things of blackness with empty eye sockets that filled with leprous flame when they were hooked to the chariot… Then one night not even twenty years ago the Black Coach had vanished and the limo had appeared. The horses never returned, but I've see what passes for an engine under the hood of this thing. I swear that it burns with the same sickly fire that filled those horses eyes.
• Mortal Dread: The Queen's sword. The hilt had on it a trio of crows, their breasts meeting, wings entwined, and beaks open bearing jewels for the pommel. The sword had mortal blood ties to its forging, which meant that a death wound from it was truly a death wound for any fey.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by A Caress of Twilight.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Laurell K. Hamilton (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• P.E.A.R.L. (2000)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3558.A443357 K57 2000
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Not appropriate for young adults due to S&M references and group sex references

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Urban
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Fairies & Elves
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Series
• Books › Romance
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Erotica › Adult Fiction
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Authors, A-Z › ( H ) › Hamilton, Laurell K.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Laurell K. Hamilton: Author's Website

More Books Like This edit see section history