A Shiver of Light

A Shiver of Light is the latest Merry Gentry novel by Laurell K. Hamilton.

Merry Gentry, ex-private detective, now full-time princess, knew she was descended for fertility goddesses, but when she learned she was about to have triplets, she began to understand what that might mean.  Infertility has plagued the high ranks of faerie for centuries.  Now nobles of both courts of faerie are coming to court Merry and her men, at their home in exile in the Western Lands of Los Angeles because they will do anything to have babies of their own.

Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, is a more dangerous problem. He tried to seduce Merry and, failing that, raped her.  He's using the human to sue for visitation rights, claiming that one of the babies is his.  And though Merry knows she was already pregnant when he took her, she can't prove it.

To save herself and her babies from Taranis she will use the most dangerous powers in all of faerie: a god of death, a warrior known as the Darkness, the Killing Frost, and a king of nightmares.  They are her lovers, and her dearest loves, and they will face down the might of the high courts of faerie- while trying to keep the war from spreading to innocent humans in Los Angeles, who are in danger of becoming collateral damage.

The Breakdown:
1. I wanted great things from this book, especially since I had to wait for so long for it to come out.  Unfortunately, it was a disappointment.  Hamilton really drags out the plot, and I felt some many of the conversations during the book where the same thing over and over again.

2. I have always thought that Merry was a strong, capable woman, but this book had me liking her a little less.  It seemed like every other chapter she was crying again.  It was written off as postpartum hormones, but the crying got old real quick.

3. I was disappointed to see how little time some of my favorite's of Merry's men got in the book.  It just seems like the fathers of her children should have played a bigger role at times.

4.  The ending left me feeling a little unsatisfied.  I am still unsure if this the last of the Merry Gentry books or if there will be more because the ending was that ambiguous.

To Read or Not to Read:
Skip, especially if you haven't been a fan of this series in the first place.

Currently Reading:
White Hot Kiss
by Jennifer L. Armentrout