I got this book last night after work and read the entire thing in about 3 uninterrupted hours. It was a fabulous book that read more in keeping with the first 2 in the series. There was only 1.5 sex scenes in the book, most of the book dealt with political intrigue, the Goddess, and some great fighting scenes. (Apparently now that Merry is pregnant we won't have to deal with the non-stop sex.)

Merry really starts to get a handle on her powers and accepted the dreaded Hands of Flesh and Blood, especially since she has lost her beloved Frost and has the children to protect. With every attack she faces, Merry becomes more focused, more ruthless and more aware of how her actions affect those who look to her for leadership. She also learns the full power of her powers and how they can be used together to both heal and kill.

Several storylines are tied up, including the one about who killed her father. The story ends with a summary of events that leads us to believe that the next book will start several weeks or months in the future. LKH has stated in her blog that she is under contract for at least 2 more Merry books, I can only hope that the next 2 books are equally as good or better than this one!

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Fantastic. Hamilton seems to have listened to the outcry of her readers and really brought the storyline back into this book. Some stuff was corny and some just drawn out (filler) but for the most part the incredible imagination that went into this story is what keeps her readers coming back.

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At the end of Lick of Frost - we find out that Merry is pregnant, who the fathers are, and what lengths Taranis will go to secure his throne at the Seelie court. This book starts out with Merry in the hospital because of what happened in the last book. The action and drama took a hold at the first page and did not let go. The fighting, political intrigue and the hard decisions that Merry faced in this book were tougher and just kept coming. We see less sex in this book and more fighting...we see the emergence of the Wild Hunt, more Goddess presence, more treachery from Cel, more human interaction with the faerie world and the lengths Merry will go for love and vengeance.

The Merry Gentry series is great and I highly recommend this book!

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Overall I felt that Swallowing Darkness (despite the title!) was a refreshing adjustment in direction for this series. The sex scenes that seemed to dominate the last few books were mostly absent, and those that were in this book lacked the exhaustingly florid detail of previous Merry Gentry books. Several long-standing plots were resolved and Merry seemed to actually grow as a character.

Unfortunately the writing is a bit sloppy and keeps the story from 'flowing' smoothly, and the cast of characters is still so large that most seem to be dealt with in only the most cursory way. On the one hand that's bad -- the characters seem very one-dimensional and shallow. On the other however, it could be good -- it leaves me hoping that we'll find out more about those characters as they're fleshed out in future books.

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This book was a great read. It still follows the same outline as the others, but for me it was a better read. I could skip over all of the sex scenes which seem to be pushed down your throat, sometimes too much. Yes--I understand she was trying to get pregnant. But a good writer can elude to those events without giving you detail after detail of the actual act.

I will definitely keep reading this series.

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This book was a strong addition to the Meredith Gentry series. As always, Hamilton dishes out an emotional but lusty story of a woman and what she is willing to do to save the ones she loves.

This book had the feeling of being the final book in the series by tying up loose ends and doing a kind of summary of the major players at the end, but I have to say that the final chapter of the book felt rushed and almost as though it was written as an afterthought.

I definitely recommend this to any fan of Hamilton's later, more erotic works.

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Loved this book! Several nail-biting situations and just a great overall plot. I was glad that it had an ending that didn't leave the reader hanging on nerves as much as others, too. :)

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Hmmm.... So, is it brilliance or madness that allows Ms Hamilton to see these things in her imagination. The first half had me worrying that she was going to lose my interest again. (I loved her 'Anita Blake' series thru the first 8/9 books, then the bizarre sex took over, I would skip thru the menage a trois scenes (most of the book by then) and by the time I got to "Harlequin" and 'Blood Noir," I traded them without reading them.) I thought, "Ok, this is it. I am done with her books." By the time I finished it, I knew I would indeed buy the next one. :)

This book actually has LESS of the sex that has become typical of Ms Hamilton (actually, it is almost non-existent, which was kind of refreshing), but more imagery and development of the relationships between the characters. In this book, Meredith is pregnant with twins, conceived by multiple fathers yet her uncle who raped her in the last book, is trying to lay claim that they are his. (Yes, I wrote that and yes, that is what the book is about?!?!) The first half of the book is in Sholto's, King of the Sluagh's, home... it is beyond bizarre, and I found myself skipping through parts of it to get to the story; after finishing the book, I realized how important the beginning will be in future novels. The second half, Meredith and her guards are trying to leave faerie and get back to Los Angeles. The second half is exciting and I couldn't put it down.

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My favorite paranormal romance novel writer.

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This is the seventh book in the Merry Gentry series by Laurell Hamilton. It is the only Laurell Hamilton book for a long time that I really actually liked. This book was on par with some of the earlier novels in the series. The plot really progressed and the book overall could have wrapped up the series for good. Although I know "Divine Misdemeanors" is out later this year; I am not sure what to expect from that book since this book wraps up most of the big issues remaining in the series.

This book starts right where "A Lick of Frost" left off. Merry is in the hospital recovering from being raped by her uncle. Gran comes to visit her but something is wrong with Gran and Gran tries to take out Merry's men. All of this leads to Merry and Sholto summoning the Wild Hunt and going off on the ride of their lives. Miracles abound and great battles are fought; Merry shows her tough side even as she tries to protect the twin babies she carries.

This book spends a lot of time with Sholto and the slaugh; which I loved because the slaugh are probably the most interesting group in faerie. This book covered a lot of ground. Lots of really neat fairy magic happens and great relics of fairy are returned to Merry and her guards. There was a lot more action and fighting in this book than in any of the previous books and a lot less sex. I personally thought it made for a wonderful book.

Merry really toughens up and you start to see her strength. She starts to really exercise her special abilities and use her hands of power. The book proceeds at breakneck speed and you are thrown from battle to battle and from miracle to miracle as the Goddess makes her presence strongly known.

My biggest complaints about the book would be that Merry calls on the Goddess a lot; it almost seems like Merry can't solve anything without the Goddess's help. Also at multiple points in the book, despite her new-found toughness, Merry spends the majority of a fight laying underneath a guard while the guard takes the majority of the physcial battle damage and Merry can't see what is going on. Other than that this book was way better than any of the recent ones.

I also mentioned that this book basically ties up all the loose ends of the series. It would be a great place to end the series. Now that I know another book is coming out I am really confused about what more is going to happen, and a little worried that the series will, yet again, take a turn for the worse.

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O.k. so the last book "A lick of Frost" was by far and away my favorite of the Meredith series so admittedly this book had some serious competion to stand up to. I did enjoy the book, although as with most of LKH's stuff it was a bit long on the descriptive adjectives (and other fluff,filler,and redundency) there were points when I couldn't put it down and points when I had to walk away. I mean really how dumb are a people who see a person crowned by faerie itself at every court as Queen, recieve every possible blessing from the Goddess, and preform miracles reguarly and still can't accept her as Queen or stop tring to cause her harm and death at every turn. I loved the time she spent with the Slaugh. I really enjoyed the action and battle scenes. I was also thrilled that the White Stag reappeared and the finale to that (without giving away too much). I was shocked by finding out who was responsible for her father's death and loved the way she took care of that! I will say the ending to this book was great! I loved the way it was tied up, I always feel that is one of LKH's strong suits, the tying up of loose ends and the letting dangle of some that you can live with while still long for in the next story. Although the way it ended I felt would have been the perfect ending for the series. I could have lived with her living as happy-ever-after as possible with her Frost and her Darkness at her side as well as the other four fathers (I love Rhys and Galen). Raising her little family in L.A. and thumbing her nose at those nutty-nuts who won't accept her in Faerie!

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I gave this book 5 stars. It is by far my favorite of the series. Merry seems to be much stronger-willed in this book in comparison to other books. It's not only her will that gets stronger, but so are her powers - or her familiarity with them. This book makes me fall more in love with Doyle and Rhys as well. Believe me when I say that if you've read the previous books in the series, this is a must-read. I couldn't put the book down...both times I read it. Yes, I read the series twice, but there was a couple month gap in between this reading and the first, and I'll probably read it again a couple months from now.

This book offers some real closure to the series and you could stop reading the series here and be satisfied although Divine Misdemeanors follows this book.

If you haven't started reading the series, start with the first book and you'll be anxiously awaiting to see if your next book arrived from PBS or you might just go out to the bookstore and buy it if you're impatient (like me).

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The Merry Gentry Series is great,highly entertaining.

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The last two of the series have been much better. From the ending, it would appear this is the last book. I cannot say that I am sorry.

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This series just keeps getting better and better. In this story Meredith is pregnant and has lost one of her babies father's (Frost). It's heart breaking and makes her determined not to lose another. After another attempt on her life she decides that in order to keep her unborn children safe she must become ruthless. She declares any and all who come against her will die.

King Taranis continues to believe that she carries his unborn children and Cel continues to try and kill her. It's in this book that several things come to pass. You finally find out who killed Meredith's father, someone else dies and she is crowned by two courts with two different men by faerie. So much happens that I found it hard to put this book down. This book has so much action, mystery, love, heartbreak, fighting, political maneuvering, and passion that I wanted to continue reading it well into the night, just so I could find out who lived and who died.

Another fantastic book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I expected nothing less....

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This book doesn't come out for about another month and a half. But on her website www.laurellkhamilton.org you can read chapter 1 which she has posted. It's looking very good.

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