The tags Sex, Faerie and Politics almost say it all. Merry has escaped her uncle, who now claims fatherhood of her twins (even though Merry KNOWS who is the father). Merry now has to try to stay alive in a complicated game of politics and magic. This time thought the politics get her grandmother involved so the family that dislikes each other start to wage war.

With some literal Deus ex Machina moments (I felt like asking her if she really wanted that much attention from the gods?) this is a little overpowered and the character may have been in peril but it never really felt all the perilous.

This series has drawn me in, almost unwillingly, I do want to know what's going to happen but I do wonder that the author hasn't written herself into a bit of a bind. This series is trying very hard to be both a magic returning series and a murderous political thriller while not quite hitting the mark with either. ( )

Book 7 in the series of Meredith Gentry, a Princess of the Unseelie Court in faerie, who works as a private detective in LA ...when she's not fighting off attempts on her life by her evil and mad cousin, Cel, staying out of range of her uncle Taranis, King of the Seelie Court, or not doing anything to anger her vindictive aunt Andais, Queen of the Unseelie Court.

Meredith is pregnant with twins, and the fathers of those twins will be her Kings if she ascends the throne that the Queen will vacate once she has her children. However, it is because she's with child that the attempts on her life from those loyal to Cel, increase, to ensure she does not take the throne from him.

Perhaps it is because she is a half-breed, part human, part faerie, that she manages to call the old power, communicates with the Goddess, and appears to be the instrument by which faerie starts to return to its previous glories. Protected and surrounded by her bodyguards, all of whom are male, some having left the painful services of the Queen, some goblins, the King of the underworld and an old friend, she finds her strength tested as she tries to race against time and magic to vindicate the death of her brownie grandmother, and save her loved ones from death.

You do need to have read the other 6 in the series in order to understand the continuing saga in this one. ( )

Recuperating from her uncle's rape, Merry, pregnant with twins by 6 different men (yes, we're all aware that's impossible, but there's magic involved, so suspend disbelief, okay!) can't even languish comfortably for a few hours in the hospital. Powerful forces are, as always, at work against her, and neither the Seelie nor the Unseelie court is safe.

Will Merry be able to claim the Unseelie crown from her Aunt Andais as promised? Or will she find herself doomed along with her men?

After 6 lengthy volumes full of sex - and sometimes little else in the way of forward motion - it was almost a shock to come to the conclusion (of course, it's not, really) of both the book and, possibly, the series. Since I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, I'll simply say that Hamilton isn't out of surprises yet. ( )

For once a Merry Gentry book with very little sex, although I am not sure the gratuitous - and boring - violence that has replaced it is an improvement.
The amount of exposition required to bring new readers up to speed in this universe grows with each new book in the series. Fortunately it seems as if critical mass was reached in book 3, making this particular annoyance less outstanding. The overblown prose, however, takes up as much space as ever, and is as repetitive and inconsistent as in all the Merry Gentry stories.
The 7'th Merry Gentry book is high om plot by their own standard, although the actual action takes up a great deal less space than Merrys subsequent editorializing about them. Her portentous declarations throughout the book are excessive and overwrought. ( )

 the Meredith Gentry series is wonderful. Hamilton has a fertile imagination. every book of hers is a sensual adventure that keeps you waiting with bated breath til the next book! This Gentry novel also happens to be based on Doyle, who is 1 of my faves! ( )

The writing has gotten much better as the series has gone on, with this installment being the best in my opinion. She wrapped up many lose ends, and left me feeling happy and satisfied. I believe that the series could easily be ended here, but I would keep reading if Hamilton gives us another installment. ( )

In the last book, Merry was kidnapped and raped by her uncle Taranis. She's already pregnant with twins, but he hopes to claim they are his heirs. And one of Merry's body-guard-harem, Killer Frost, had chosen to sacrifice himself (being turned into a stag) in order to save her. Now she has been saved from Taranis and is back in human hands, in the hospital where the doctors and police are super-protective of her. That doesn't keep enemies from continuing their attacks upon her and her men, however. Much of the book is concerned with saving people--her men and others--from death and destruction, bouncing from the Seelie Court to the dwelling of the Slough and back to the US.

Lots of breathless action with odd breaks for dialogue and exposition... and sex, of course, which is as usual. The story arc was more complete than in the last book. This could almost have been the end of the series, only there are certainly more to come in this series. I'm not a huge fan of LKH's books, but occasionally I'll pick one up from the library just to see what all the fuss is about. This one was readable, and the characters weren't unsympathetic (although I'm not a fan of blatant Mary Sues), but that's about all that can be said about it. If you're a hard-core fan, it's worth picking up, of course. Not so much if you're not. ( )

After the ridiculousness of Blood Noir, the latest Anita story, I was pleasantly surprised by Swallowing Darkness, at least it had a plot! Things are moving along magically, the Goddess is ever more present and Merry's band of loyal men keeps expanding. It's still all about the magic of sex, and how fair Meredith is and how she shares nicely but also loves Doyle and Killing Frost best. Because I really can't tell the men apart, I don't love Killing Frost at all and kind of like Doyle, but not more than anyone else, so the love story part is actually the weakest for me.
Certain plot lines come to an end with an engaging battle at the end. I'm curious to see what happens with the babies. One of the things I liked best about the book was how becoming pregnant did not make Merry all weak and maternal, it made her understand that her enemies see kindness as weak and she became a lioness, and actually killed people and ordered their death, using her fearsome hand of power (not quite sure how you could really turn someone 'inside out' and still alive, but she can) to protect her unborn children. Glad to see her get some backbone!
Will keep reading this series... ( )

Laurell K. Hamilton slips in again with another great and enchanting novel. The magic of faerie proves itself to be both wild and exotic as well as deadly and fascinating. From start to end Hamilton has you transfixed; causing you to need to continue to read just to find out if Princess Meredeth wielder of the Hands of Blood and Flesh will survive the loss of her Killing Frost, and the plots against her and those that she cares for. Will she succeed? Will she loose another? What does the Goddess have in store for her? So many questions yet you have to read on to find out. I look forward to the next tantalizing book in the series; I eagerly await to see what happens next. ( )

This is not the last Merry book! I have read every book in this series at least once and this one is my favorite. This book is fast paced, full of action and is beautifully written. Swallowing Darkness ties up a lot of the plot strings that have been ongoing throughout the first 6 books. Someone close to Merry dies, someone Merry loves returns, and the faerie ruler of the Unseelie Court is decided. I recommend at least reading A Lick of Frost first, but even as a stand alone this book is amazing! ( )

It seems that th is is the last Maredith Gentry novel. It ended perfectly with a lot of bloodshed and faerie quarrels in the middle. Merry finally is pregnant (with twins!). Most of her protectors are the fathers - which won't make a hoot of sense unless you read volumes 1-6 - and all seems well. Until..... ( )

A sadly tedious book. LKH writes as if she assumes the reader hasn't looked at any other book in the series, and is now only skim-reading on a plane - the narrator thinks about something, then within a page one of the characters asks another about that very thing and has it explained in more detail. Aaaaaah!

On the plus side, it has more plot than sex, and the basic writing style let me skim read the more tedious bits. On the negative, there's no resolution in sight, only endlessly more powerups for the characters. ( )

Finally we are moving forward! I love Merry Gentry and while I was getting frustrated with the pace of the story I was delighted to see we are finally moving forward again. ( )

FINALLY, some resolution! This entry in the Merry Gentry series plods along a bit at first, as the characters in this series tend to overanalyze and thoroughly discuss everything, but the major battle between Meredith and her enemies is Laurell Hamilton at her finest. If you read these for the sex, you'll be a bit disappointed with this one. But, if you're reading for the story, you'll be happy to see some conclusions here. This series is far from her best and I think that with some serious editing it would have made a much better trilogy than a seven-book series, but if you are as hooked on Hamilton as I am you will read it regardless of quality. ( )

For some reason my co-worker thought I was reading this series. Ummm. No. And now that I understand how the titles come about, I sure won't be reading any more! EEwwww. ( )

Great read. Loved the battle and furthering of the emergence of faerie. ( )

I'm not really sure where to begin with this book. I tried to take my time reading it so that I could absorb all the details but I needed to know what happens to Merry and her men so I flew right through.

This book picks up right where A Lick of Frost left off - dealing with the after-effects of being raped by Taranis and with her pregnancy - and really throws the reader straight into it. This is one of the things I really like about this series - the way Laurell K. Hamilton hasn't skipped too much time between events. There were longer gaps between the early books but now we just get step after step of the action and it's great.

Other things that I loved about this book...Merry's grief over Frost, the way her feelings about being pregnant and having to deal with all this other stuff is portrayed, the different ways the men react to her pregnancy...The list would go on and on. And I don't want to say too much about the plot at this point, since the book hasn't been out too long, but I will say that I was very happy with how the book ended.

For those who think it's the end of the series, it's not, from the blog of Hamilton herself. This makes me happy because the book had a lot of plot and character development. This renewed focus on the storyline is wonderful although Hamilton, unlike some other authors, uses the sex-as-plot-advancement device quite well.

Originally published at http://ireadgood.wordpress.com ( )

Wow, actual plot, TWICE in a row. How awesome is that? I've missed LKH. I hope she's back. Now let's see how Anita fares...

(not as well, I fear) ( )

As previously contracted, this would've been the last book in the Meredith Gentry series but LKH has stated on her blog that there will be more. This latest effort was better than the middle books because with only two short sex scenes, she devotes more to the plot. The world and the characters are more engaging and I am glad to see that she is moving beyond the sexual mire of the previous books. It's obvious from the way this one ended that she had to change or rather delay the direction the plot was headed. Not necessarily a bad thing, as I think that will allow some of the interesting secondary characters to assume more prominent roles.

I should confess that I have a sort of love-hate relationship with LKH. I loved the first book in this series, as well as several of the early Anita Blake novels. [I am one of the many that felt she lost her way (whether due to a fixation or pure stubbornness, I don't know) by putting so much sex (which hit a plateau very early on then was just annoyingly bad thereafter) and completely disregarding the plot. I also should point out that while she has a wonderful imagination and good character development, her writing has never been particularly good. She talks about the never ending quest to find the right words but ends up using the same ones over and over again.] Nonetheless, I plan to read the next book to see where she takes the world of the Sidhe, but I can't promise beyond that. ( )

Looking for a kickass heroine? "Swallowing Darkness" by Laurell K. Hamilton gives us a pregnant heroine with awesome powers and raging hormones! How can I not love it?

Seriously, in this 7th book of the 'Meredith Gentry' series Meredith is finally pregnant...with twins no less. But instead of becoming softer Merry has had it with her enemies. No more bargaining or backing down. She will do whatever she needs to protect her mates and her unborn children. All I can say is...about time.

In previous books in this series Merry has been reactive, now she's going proactive and I loved the whole book. If you haven't read any of this series, don't start with this book as you'll just end up confused.

Merry is half fae and if she can survive to give birth, she's the new ruler of the seelie court. Her aunt, the current insane ruler, set a challenge between her own son and Merry. The first to get pregnant and begat an heir will win the crown. Of course, her aunt is a totally insane, bloodthirsty, sexually sadistic monarch whose whim is law. And her son is an apple who didn't fall far from the tree. So Merry is caught between these two with pretty much no choice but win or die.

That's the basic premise of these books, but there is so much more. I should certainly warn you that I consider these books erotica as there's a LOT of sex and most of it isn't exactly tame or vanilla! But this series is also a really engrossing fantasy tale...for adults. My only gripe is now I have to wait another year for the next chapter in Merry's life. ( )

The most recent installment of Laurel K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series, “Swallowing Darkness,” answered some lingering questions…and then asked a whole bunch more…

When we meet up with our heroine in this installment, she is newly pregnant with twins. (Fathered by not one but FIVE of her royal guards. Oh, and Sholto the King of the Slaugh. Lucky girl.) Her pregnancy is both a blessing and a curse as it secures her position as heir to the Unseelie throne but also increases the pressure on her enemies to end her life before she can become queen. After her beloved grandmother dies in her arms, she makes the decision to return to self-imposed exile in California to protect her life and the lives of her babies.

But nothing in Faery is that easy, and Merry’s treacherous cousin (and rival for the throne) Cel has a final trick up his sleeve. He refuses to be graceful in his defeat. And despite his cruelty, many among the Unseelie Sidhe would prefer his leadership to that of a mixed-blood mortal.

So the insanity ensues. There is a singularly bloody battle that reminds all of us of Laurel K. Hamilton’s vampire executioner roots. Magic and mind-bending glamour abound. Traitors are exposed, and familiar faces return. I can’t say much more about the climax because I don’t want to spoil the carefully woven surprises that make this book so satisfying. Needless to say, it is a close victory for Merry and crew (come on, there’s another book coming out in October. You already knew her team won.)

I have to say, this ended up being one of my favorite books in this series. It really did tie up some big loose ends that have been hanging around since the beginning. Most importantly, it kept her from having to choose a single member of her royal guard as her King. She is clearly in love with several, and in serious like with a couple more. The development of her twins having multiple fathers (three each) really saved her ass. Here’s to hoping the next book in the series, “Divine Misdemeanors” allows some of her good fortune to continue.

On my scientifically proven rating scale, I give “Swallowing Darkness” a very respectable 4 ½ stars. ( )