A Caress of Twilight

Meredith Gentry, Book 2

By: Laurell K. Hamilton

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

“I am Princess Meredith, heir to a throne - if I can stay alive long enough to claim it.”

After eluding relentless assassination attempts by Prince Cel, her cousin and rival for the Faerie crown, Meredith Gentry, Los Angeles private eye, has a whole new set of problems. To become queen, she must bear a child before Cel can father one of his own. But havoc lies on the horizon: people are dying in mysterious, frightening ways, and suddenly the very existence of the place known as Faerie is at grave risk. So now, while she enjoys the greatest pleasures of her life attempting to conceive a baby with the warriors of her royal guard, she must fend off an ancient evil that could destroy the very fabric of reality. And that’s just her day job....

Fairie tales: listen to another Meredith Gentry fantasy.

©2002 Laurell K. Hamilton (P)2002 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"Hamilton weaves the modern and magical seamlessly in a compelling tale of the effects of three kinds of power - magical, sexual, and the most dangerous, political." ( Booklist)

it's entertaining

but it could be better. the read wasn't bad but I wish there was another person reading the name lines.

Awesome

Wonderfully written & keeps your attention the entire time. However, I wasn't a great fan of the narrator.

The Adult Fantastical Story Unfolds

Princess Meredith gets to return to LA with her entourage under the condition that she continue to try to conceive. Merry strategically forms/maintains critical alliances whilst delicately trying to knead the personalities of her vastly dissimilar ravens (guards). They encounter some opposing forces and challenging situations as Merry grows into the power she's destined to wield. Mind you, she must balance her responsibilities with those demanded by her Aunt, the Queen.

Interwoven into the plot are careful reflections & explanations of circumstances & characters from A Kiss of Shadows, Book 1. So much that may not have been understood from the 1st installment becomes apparent as "Caress..." unfolds. Again, Hamilton's technique for illustration and articulation are exceptional. Sometimes I find myself impatient with her propensity to abuse her prose. Thank God for the narration speed feature... LOL, yes, I simply advance the speed to propel forward through it. I enjoyed Caress..., Book 2 so much more than Kiss..., Book 1.

The sexual pleasures she and her men exploit in an effort to conceive are no doubt liberating. Some readers may find their morality compromised as she embraces lust, enjoys her multiple sexual partners, and falls in love. I adore a woman who isn't afraid to explore and have fun with her sexuality. Go Merry!

As others have already noted, the narrator, though the same one employed in all installments, seems to have failed her homework. Laural Merlington's enunciation of central characters (Frost & Doyle) are inconsistent not to mention the pronunciation of character names like Dole instead of Doyle. Such continues in Book 3 especially with relationship to Doyle's character. Nevertheless, the awkwardness and annoyance in audio interpretation isn't worthy of abandoning the series!

really a good continuation to the 1st book

end was to abrupt would have liked a little more to revealing her new power and the use of the others powers not just the normal summary given in each story

Narrator mispronouncing names throws me off

I love this entire series of books. I got the audio books to share it with my partner.

I like the narrator, I find her voice pleasant and her cadence enjoyable. I'm not a huge fan of some of her male voices, but that is to a decent degree, because they are so different than how I've always envisioned the characters and their voices (Doyle and Rhys, especially).

My problem comes when I started the second book and noticed that Siobhan's name pronunciation went from 'shee-obahn' to 'cy-o-ban' (the correct pronunciation is shivon') '. I'd always thought the second was correct, until talking to an Irish friend years ago, so hearing this 1. Change in name pronunciation and 2. Something so wrong... It was jarring to me. The only upside was that Siobhan is only mentioned once.

great book

the writing and the story ia awesome ita a muxh read for sure thanks again

a must read

you cant stop listening! a great read, and just have. Laurell k. Hamilton has done it again.

loved it

this book was better than the first one can't wait to start the next one

Book 2

Entertaining story with interesting characters and intriguing storyline and plot. I found the action scenes attention grabbing. The narrator did a great job.

it was an amazing story... narrated perfectly

I loved the sound of her voice, it was so good a book I didn't want to finish it.