With Hearts of Flame (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Dark Academia Romantasy Novel of Vampires and Dragons Featuring Stenciled Edges and Illustrated Endpapers (Bloodwing Academy, 4)
Briar Boleyn
A Kiss of Shadows
by Laurell K. Hamilton
About this book
Living in hiding as a Los Angeles private investigator, Meredith Gentry has spent years suppressing her true identity to escape the lethal politics of the Unseelie Court. As a princess of the high faerie, her life is forfeit if her dreaded aunt, the Queen, ever catches her. When the royal assassin finally tracks her down, Merry is forced back into a world of ancient, dangerous magic where earthly pleasures are as deadly as the steel blades waiting in the shadows.
This dark, high-stakes urban fantasy introduces a world where the lines between god and monster blur. To claim her birthright and survive the Queen’s treacherous games, Merry must navigate an impossible challenge: she is tasked with seducing the most beautiful and powerful immortal men in the realm. It is a game of survival where the prize is the crown and the penalty for a single misstep is a brutal death.
Perfect for fans of paranormal romance, this series blends intense shifter-like primal energy with intricate royal intrigue. While the slow-burn beginning sets the stage, the narrative quickly ignites into a steamy, gripping exploration of power, desire, and survival. Prepare to be seduced by a world where every kiss could be your last.
- Publication Date
- May 25, 2026
- ASIN
- B0DLHBQ1WD
Reader Reviews
May 16, 2026
Great first book to the series. The first 30% is boring. But after that it's great. Love the guys. But very dark. )
January 30, 2012
My first exposure to Laurell Hamilton's writing was the Anita Blake series. That series was mildly entertaining but, at the end of the day, I just wasn't connected enough to that series to continue reading it. When I expressed my disappointment with Anita to a coworker, she suggested that I try Meredith Gentry and I'm sooooooooooo glad I took that advice!!! Hamilton's writing is as dazzling and exciting as it is intense. She does such a wonderful job building her character's that I can't decide...
May 18, 2014
Reviewed by: Rabid Reads Laurell K. Hamilton is consistently a woman ahead of her time. It started with her Anita Blake series back in 1993. Yes, that’s right—1993. I was . . . well, I’m not going to tell you how old I was in 1993, but suffice it to say, I was young enough that my mother wouldn’t want me reading an adult UF series, and that was BEFORE the Big Shift from straight-up UF to UF/erotica that took place in 2001 with book 10. So first Hamilton was one of the pioneers in the Urban...
March 24, 2026
Love this book )
July 9, 2023
This is an interesting take on faeries. I love Merry, she is a very realistic character that faces many challenges over the course of the series. She is a fairy princess in hiding working as a magical detective. This series was written long before trigger warnings were a thing. In this first book there is discussion and threat of torture as well as , and I hate to phrase it this way, but a quickly interrupted nonviolent rape, as much of an oxymoron as that sounds. There is a kind of magical...
