Seduced by Moonlight (Meredith Gentry, Book 3) [Paperback]

Laurell K Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

To some I am Meredith Gentry, P.I. To others I am Princess Merry, heir to the throne of Faerie. And there are those who whisper that I am both of these and more. My aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, no long distracted by her sadistic pastimes, is now focussing unwaveringly on me. I spend each night with my immortal guards, but still no child has come of our decadent pleasures. But something IS happening to me. I appear to have awakened something that's lain dormant for thousands of years and the thing is, I haven't the damndest idea how or why...It all began with the chalice. I dreamed of it, and it was there - cool and hard - when I awoke. My guards know this ancient relic well - its disappearance so many ages ago stripped them of their vital powers. And here it is with us now. My touch resonates with its force. A strange, dazzling magic now courses through my half-mortal half-Sidhe body. But while my guards cherish me for this unexpected gift, there are those who loathe me for it - those who would see the Unseelie court suffer rather than have it ruled over by me, a mongrel queen. My enemies grow in number every day. If only they knew what I am capable of. Come to that, if only I did too...Welcome back to the world of Meredith Gentry, a twilight world of gods, shapeshifters and immortal souls, a world full of sensuality, wild magic, treacherous deceits and the delicious anticipation of latent powers unleashed...

Editorial Reviews

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 409 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553816322
• ISBN-13: 978-0553816327
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 1.3 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (235 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,144,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laurell K. Hamilton is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two series that mix mystery, fantasy, magic, horror and romance. Her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels from Berkley Books began with GUILTY PLEASURES (now a hugely successful graphic novel from Marvel - the first sexy paranormal comic ever!) and continues with the SKIN TRADE, number seventeen in the series, in which Anita's complex personal and professional relationships with a master vampire and an alpha werewolf continue to evolve. There are now more than 6 million copies of Anita in print worldwide, in 16 languages. Hamilton's Ballantine series features Fey princess and private investigator, Merry Gentry and there are now six novels exceeding one million copies in print. Divine Misdemeanors, the eighth in the series will debut Octobe 29, 2009. She lives in St. Louis County Missouri with her husband Jonathon Green, daughter, one pug dog and one boxer/pug dog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

96 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM, HOPEFULLY, March 30, 2004

By 

Phillip B. Spotts "cintibookworm" (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seduced by Moonlight (Meredith Gentry, Book 3) (Hardcover)

Well just how many men (elves, goblins, demi-fey....) will Princess Meredith actually take to bed in her quest to get pregnant? How many 'true' and 'final' loves does she have? Guess the number of jellybeans in the jar and win the kewpie doll! There's the five or six she has regularly, then the two new goblins, then another four or five, maybe six, new guards the queen sends her, then there is the queen herself... Heck I can't keep track, and to be honest after the fifth or sixth time it happens I kind of lost interest. It seems the only criteria the ring uses to select her bedmates is the ability to move, and even that's not a forgone conclusion.

Everything in SEDUCED happens in the span of two days and if you read it and look back over the entire story you realize although you've gone through a lot of pages you really haven't accomplished much.

Hopefully SEDUCED is being used as a setup for a grand finale because it really isn't all that interesting in and of itself. For those of you, like me, who have followed this story from A KISS OF SHADOWS thru A CARESS OF TWLIGHT you will probably want to continue, but be warned, you just might give up on the series after this. I'm going to bite the bullet and RECOMMEND it, but I'm hoping the next one makes it worth the time.

43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars oh sigh :-(, February 6, 2004

By 

Neker (Duson, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Seduced by Moonlight (Meredith Gentry, Book 3) (Hardcover)

I devour everything Hamilton puts out. Her books are a great distraction as well as mind-candy. I even put in an order for this book before it was even published, then eagerly awaited its arrival. All that anticipation ended like a balloon with a hole.

The story of Merry picks up with her harem (um, I mean guards). The boys are back, trying their best to impregnant their (hopefully) future queen. This is where everything gets difficult. You see, I want to explain the plot, but there is no plot to explain. Scenes of the book move from one sexual romp to another, even going as far as girl on girl. Perhaps I'm just too innocent, but that was a new one for me. About half way through the book, the reader finally gets excited, because it sounds like something is actually going to happen. Merry and her men have an agenda. They are to visit the Seelie Court, then King Kurag (who want her to attempt procreation with a few of his creepy dudes), then on to the Unseelie Court. Yeah! Possible conflict, possible suspense, possible action! Then just more sex.

Oh, well. It won't stop me from reading her books, since I truly do love the Anita series and did love the Merry series. I hope Hamilton does read these reviews and perhaps she will take a little more time in building up the elements of plot in her future books so that instead of a feeling of dispointment, we can all lay back in the afterglow. (No pun intended!)

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good dirty fun, December 20, 2004

By 

Robert I. Katz (Port Jefferson, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seduced by Moonlight (Meredith Gentry, Book 3) (Hardcover)

Laurell K. Hamilton first gained fame as the author of the Anita Blake, Vampire-Hunter series, the first few of which were tightly plotted fantasy/mysteries, seething with repressed sexuality, highly charged and erotic. Her last few books in the Anita Blake series, and all three in the Merry Gentry series, are pornography. This is an observation, not a criticism. I have nothing against pornography. I do wonder, however, if all this was deliberate. Did Laurell Hamilton consciously decide to build an audience before she could be pigeonholed as merely a purveyor of erotica? Is she only now writing what she had wanted to write all along?

No matter, a purveyor of erotica she is, and a good one, too. Seduced by Moonlight is the third book in the adventures of Merry Gentry, the only native born Elven American Princess. The heroine has fled the home of faerie, which lies somewhere in the vicinity of St. Louis, Missouri, in order to escape an unending series of assassination attempts by the followers of Merry's very unloving cousin, Prince Cel, who is the only child of the Queen of Air and Darkness.

Faerie is dying. The Sidhe have few children, and their magic has faded over the years. Through a combination of luck and pluck, Merry has rubbed her Aunt's face in the facts of her son's iniquity. Queen Andais has decreed that whoever first begets a child, Merry or Prince Cel, will inherit the throne of the Unseelie Court. Since Prince Cel is in prison, Merry would seem to have the inside track, but despite constant and imaginative sex with a horde of guardian lovers, she is not yet pregnant.

As Seduced by Moonlight opens, Merry and her men are temporarily living on the estate of Maeve Reed, a Sidhe exiled from faerie because of her dangerous knowledge regarding Merry's uncle, Taranis, the King of the Seelie Court. Merry has a dream of power, and when she awakens, an ancient chalice that had been thought lost from faerie is lying next to her in bed. Merry proceeds to have sex with a number of people, one of them Maeve Reed, all of whom regain godlike powers they had lost many ages before, or gain godlike powers that they had never had. Merry, as if we had ever doubted it, is special.

The action of Seduced by Moonlight takes place over a very few days, and the overall arc of the series advances little. Merry has been invited, first to a feast in her honor at the Unseelie Court, and then to a similar event at the Seelie Court. The current books ends at the Unseelie Court, with many volumes, presumably, to follow.

Seduced by Moonlight certainly has its weak points. For one thing, the Sidhe, both the Seelie and Unseelie, are depicted as beautiful, powerful, racist, violent and untrustworthy. Their problems are, to a large extent, of their own making, and it is difficult to feel much sympathy for their society as a whole. Europe had exiled the Sidhe generations before, tired of the internecine warfare that they had caused, and President Thomas Jefferson had offered them sanctuary in America. One cannot help but feel that Jefferson made a mistake.

Merry, alone among the Sidhe, is "mortal." At one point, a Sidhe noble protests against Merry's possible ascension to the throne, since a mortal Sidhe would, presumably, hasten the demise of their magic. It is stated that all the Sidhe with whom Merry has "shared blood" have become mortal. Doubt is cast upon this point, but it is not refuted. Merry and her accuser fight a duel, in the course of which they share blood. The accuser does not become mortal, and Queen Andais offers this, not as proof that Merry's mortality will not contaminate the Sidhe's powers, but rather as proof that Merry is now immortal. Merry wonders if this is so. How does it feel to be immortal? Would she know? Well, I certainly don't. How did she know she was mortal in the first place, if she can't tell the difference now?

Do not think from the above that I do not like Seduced by Moonlight. I like it just fine. Laurell K. Hamilton's books move along at a breakneck pace, even when they don't go very far. It's one thing after another and the reader is taken for a wild ride. Merry is an attractive, sympathetic and very sexy heroine. The dialogue is hip and snappy, the characterizations, well done. The overall dilemma is compelling. Laurell Hamilton has gotten into a nasty habit of having her heroines escape from (and usually kill) the bad guys by suddenly developing a brand new power, just in the nick of time. This book, thankfully, does not succumb to such an obvious device. Seduced by Moonlight is a creampuff. It's light and delicious and mostly air. It's certainly not "high art," but it's never boring and the reader looking for escapist fiction of the more outrageous variety, and who chooses to overlook its obvious flaws, will find it, I think, quite filling enough.