|
Mistral's Kiss (Meredith Gentry 5) | 
| Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Publisher: Bantam Books
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy New: £5.49
You Save: £1.50 (21%)
New (28) Used (3) from £3.05
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 24492
Media: Paperback
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.2 x 1
ISBN: 0553818155
EAN: 9780553818154
ASIN: 0553818155
Publication Date: November 19, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Not as bad as everyone else says...! July 17, 2008
Okay so maybe I'm missing the point here. Yes, in MISTRAL'S KISS, Merry does indeed get down and dirty...again and again...but then what's new?? Why is this such a big deal to people? If you didn't like the sex, then you wouldn't read the books. Okay, so a book isn't all about sex, and there was a lot in MK i'll admit, but it was all explained and a lot of the time I felt like Merry didn't really have a choice. So it's not like she's opening her legs for anyone who comes by!
Some reviewers also said that there was no battle scenes and very little action that wasn't sex. I would have to disagree strongly; not only is there a battle scene towards the end of the book where the reader fears for Doyle and Mistral, but at the same time Frost lays dying from a previous attack in the middle of the book.
We also actually see Merry's alliance with the Goblins finally put to good use! (I never was comfortable with the way she was so willing to sell her body and blood for the Goblins help, when they seemed to do nothing but squable about which piece of her they were going to chow down on next)
Yes, there is a lot of sex, and yes, the plot line doesn't move that far forward, but how is that different from the past 2-3 books in this series?? Maybe that's why I still enjoyed this book whereas others havn't. It contains the same flaws of its predesessors, so I found nothing new to disappoint me here.
In fact, I found that most of the sex she was having was because of promises and plot lines that were started in the last two books, and I was pleased that some of them were resolved before new problems arose for Merry. I can see why some readers might think that this made the book boring and a bit of an 'inbetweener', but I enjoyed this so called filler for what it was: it explained previous happenings in more detail, closed some of the (many) open plot lines hanging over the series (ie she finally shagged some of the many, many people that she is lined up to shag) and leads smoothly onto what is going to happen in A Lick of Frost.
Perhaps it is only 3 and a half stars, but I gave it 4**** because I think other reviewers who have given it 1 or 2 are being a wee bit too harsh. Mistral's Kiss treads no new and exciting ground, but it is still an enjoyable read, and if you enjoyed her other books then you will enjoy this too.
 It's a great story... January 29, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This series has a fascinating story line and is a really enjoyable read. I love Merry and all the other characters and can not wait to find out what happens them. Sadly, however, based on this book, I may actually have died of old age by the time they get out of bed.
Without the endless pages of sex I'd guess the last 5 books have to makings of maybe 2 really excellent ones. Hopefully, this explains why I'm only giving this one 3 stars despite thinking this is one of the best stories I've read in years.
Please Laurell let something other than sex happen soon! Clever plot device to make Meredith's survival depend on her getting pregnant but having been through every position in the Kama Sutra at least twice now with what sometimes feels like 3 million different partners I'm really, really, really ready for the story to move on - even just a little bit.
 Poison kiss December 12, 2007
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
Laurell K. Hamilton's books are distinguished by her unique style -- lots of sex, very little plot. Don't expect it to change.
And "Mistral's Kiss" continues the stagnant sexathon that her other books started, with the continuing erotic adventures of Merry Gentry (or as I like to call it, "Merry Does Faerie"). Though there is some plot in this one besides sex, nothing much really advances except a tacked-in plot twist.
In previous books, as we're told here, Merry Gentry has to have a baby before her cousin Cel, or she's dead. She does this via detailed group sex with her guards, and found that having sex with her guards (which she does ALL the time) reawakened their dormant magics. Now Faerie gardens are starting to bloom again. Yay for her.
In the meantime, Merry has more work for the Goddess and artifacts to deal with, as well as a new hunky guard on loan to her, Mistral. Queen Andais is not so happy with everything that is going on, but is powerless to stop it -- especially when Merry gets involved with Sholto of the Sluagh, and Sholto wakens the legendary Wild Hunt...
If you were to remove the hundred-plus pages of nonstop sex, then "Mistral's Kiss" would probably be a very bracing short story. Unfortunately, Hamilton packs the entire story with sex -- which would be just fine, if all other aspects of Hamilton's writing weren't halfhearted at best.
In fact, it feels like a few stray chapters of another book. Plot points are rehashed, threads are dropped as others are raised, and the finale is an anticlimactic sputter, although it promises that something important might happen in the next book... or the one after that. As it is, the plot is simply glacial -- Hamilton moves it forward a little, but not very much.
Why? Sadly the plot has gotten stuck in the stagnating "sex revitalizes the kingdom" storyline. The concept is intriguing and could have been interesting if Hamilton had actually gotten into it. But in here it's just another excuse for lots and lots of overly-detailed, mechanical sex, and a new power-a-day for Merry to acquire. Even Hamilton's writing has lost its bite -- it feels like she's on autopilot.
Merry herself is getting duller with each successive book -- in this book, she seems more like a walking blow-up doll than an ex-detective/faerie princess. Doyle and the newcomer Mistral are actually fairly interesting, but she now has so many paramours that it's hard to tell one feminine, long-haired anime-style fae from another.
"Mistral's Kiss" struggles to spread its thin plot over the relatively short length, but only occasionally moves the plot forward. Not for those who like a little (or a lot) plot with their porn.
Princess Meredith, Broodmare Extraordinaire! August 28, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
"I am Princess Meredith, heir to a throne of faerie. Once upon a time I had a day job. And a personality. Even some self-respect. But, Pfft... Who needs these things in the larger run of life! :D"
I felt like crying. I adore this series- or did so. Yet there comes a point (which as also been reached with the Anita Blake Series) where a reader should just through up their hands, and walk away. Cut your losses, and run. There is no plot-development, just a plot-twist, where it is obvious Laurell has lost interest in the original idea, sent Meredith into Sholto's land 'by accident' and left her there with instructions to shag, and try and escape. Then the story ends. It gave her something to write about for two hundred pages. All the characters we love are slipping into pale shadows, far cries of the strong, individually-unique sidhe they once were. There are so many two-dimensional 'new' men to please Merry, that there was little text devoted to Frost, Doyle or any actual cannons.
As it is, Laurell is milking her readers for the sake of stretching out the plot, so it appears thin and vaguely established, tacked together in between sex scenes that have grown so repetitive and dull, you feel like crying for the loss of such high potential. Its sad truth that however poor her books become they will still be bought- in most readers' hope that they return to their former standard of wit, characterization, GOOD erotica and actual plot. This is not so, and "Mistral's Kiss" is the hard, cold evidence of this. The series started brilliantly... packed with vivid imagination, humor and paced action, all of which has been bastardized and lost. It brings me great displeasure to write such a negative comment, but you'll feel cheated if you read this. Skip it, as it hopefully set up something somewhat decent for the next installation, if our 'author' can carry it through. Yet it in itself is not a novel. Not close. You'll reach the end with the feeling you've skim read maybe one, or two chapters. It's incomplete. It is bad quality, both in its grammar (Laurell has hired a Goldfish for an editing staff) and its plot (which has been ingested by some member of the Slaugh).
Merry's still not pregnant and it doesn't look like she's going to be any time soon. If the baby is ever born, all you'll need to do if match it up against a Dulex strip, and see which colour closely resembled which crayon-style father. There are so many new ones you'll be hard pressed to find such a subtle match between shades.
Rent it from a Library, or just read a summary of the 'plot.' You won't miss anything; I can guarantee you on that! Don't ruin for yourself what was originally an enchanting, steamy fairytale by reading this- just pray that 'A Lick of Frost' lives up to the real standard that should be set by any so-called Bestselling author, and skip to that next one.
Not Ever Shipped August 16, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I waited over a month for this book to be shipped and for some reason Amazon couldn't get hold of it. Still don't know whether to try to order it again in case it again, after a month of waiting, tells me that the order will be cancelled and not charged out to me.
|
|
|
| |
