Princess Meredith, Broodmare Extraordinaire! - Rated 
"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 - Rated
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.
Poison kiss - Rated
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.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the book.... - Rated 
..... but I can't help but comment on how short it was. I felt very short-changed by the length. It was lovely to read - to finally get Sholto and Merry together; to catch up with the guards and to learn more of the politics - I just wish the story had been longer!
As normal, the sex was steamy - very sexy - and I fall more and more in love with Darkness each story I read. Just make it longer and not so long a time before the next one please!!
A rushed ending to the series - Rated 
Ever since my partner bought the original book, I've been hooked on this series..more for the sweeping Celtic connections than for the (admittedly graphic) sex. When I received this from Amazon, and saw the thickness of the book (about a third of the length of the previous books) I feared the worst.
I wasn't wrong. Taking place immediately (and I do mean right after) the events of the previous book, it then goes through some formulaic scenes (mostly the sex..again) and, more or less abruptly, ends.
Needless to say, I'm not impressed. Having read through all of the series from what seemed a brilliant premise, I expected a bigger pay-off at the end and have been left bitterly disappointed.
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