'Mistral's Kiss' by Laurell K Hamilton, 8/5/10

The story of Meredith Gentry gets more twisted as the stories proceed. She is no longer working as a detective because she is too public, too much of a target. She is still in the Unseelie Court sithen, no more than a day has passed. But it's difficult to keep track of time because there is no way to tell days in the sithen. The sun does not rise and set in the court because it's basically under a hill.

In this book Meredith has sex with 3 or 4 men. With each union more power comes back to the court, more life. In one scene they are have sex in the Dead Gardens, which were once lush with life, and it begins to rain. It hasn't done that in the gardens for years. It's obvious that Meredith is bringing life, or is chosen by the gods and goddesses as a vessel to bring back life. This angers the queen, Meredith is able to do something for the courts she can't.

Meredith also has sex with the king of the sluagh, which are sort of a nightmarish creatures. By doing this she brings the king back into his powers. The king chooses to use those powers to bring back the full darkness of the sluagh and therefore releases a wild hunt upon the land that hunts seelie. At this point the king is too much seelie and he becomes hunted as well. Meredith is the only one who can kill this thing.

I am slightly annoyed with the story though. By the end of the story she has 16 men she is rotating in her bed. She still needs to be protected because she is still mortal enough to die. I can't decide if I like that or not. It does bother me that she seems to be a receptacle for all these men, but perhaps that is the point. The fey see sex differently than humans do, and I am just a human. She is still not pregnant.

Due to other issues in the story, by the end of the book her cousin has been prematurely released from his incarceration and is gunning directly for her death with no other thoughts. That should make things even more interesting that before. There are still 3 books left in the series so we will see what happens.