Divine Misdemeanors: A Novel (A Merry Gentry Novel Book 8)

Some of the negative things written by others about this book seem a bit over the top to me. Yes, there is magical sex, but if you object to that, why are you reading this series in the first place? And all the sex is caring, not anonymous and cynical. Yes, the detective/mystery part of the book is not particularly compelling, but it's not terrible either. There are indeed some repetitious bits where plot devices are explained in terms of the back story, the magical rules of the Merryverse, and the quirks and history of the various kinds of fey and magically talented humans. A new and very ancient and powerful fey species is introduced early in the book, but then this subject is utterly dropped without further development. Personally, I didn't like the way Barinthus (one of my favorites) acted so childishly out of character with anyone who could have been a close friend of Merry's wise and far-seeing father, and I also don't like the way Merry always rips up the backs of the men she sleeps with ("I painted him with my orgasm" - puleeeze). At least the copy editing was a bit better this time, though more mistakes than seems reasonable did get into the final version - the plural of "thief" is not "thiefs," for example.Overall, this book seems to be transitional. (SPOILER ALERT) Rhys's new sithen, which was created without much fanfare and described only briefly and minimally, appears to be intended as a new home base, though none of the characters appear to make that obvious connection to the fact that the 100-odd Merry entourage needs a spacious new place to house them. Terrible things are apparently happening in the Unseelie court, but we see nothing of it. Also, we hear and see absolutely nothing about the Seelie court. These are odd silences, considering how prominent these two courts have always been in the action. I'm optimistically assuming this is the silence before the storm. The process of consolidation of Merry's group continues, as does that of her human followers.Overall, I'd say that if you have enjoyed the series so far, you'll enjoy this book too. It's a bit dissatisfying in that not all that much happens, but I do think it's transitional and that much more should happen in the next book. If not, then I'll start considering that the series has fizzled, but not until that point. So, 4 stars: I liked it, though with some reservations and with the assumption that the next book will be more exciting and better organized. This installment was generally slower, less exciting, and duller than some others in the series, but I enjoyed visiting the characters of the Merryverse again and am willing to give the series another chance. I hope that the author takes some time to think the next one through and give it the time it needs to fully develop, and I hope the publisher comes to realize that this is a wise thing to work into the schedule.

Merry Gentry and her band of merry men are back. This time with as much style and pizzazz as the first three books in the series. Divine Madness brought the series back from the edge of "but she started out so well" territory. The characters show much more depth. There is mystery galore between the covers. Also, amazing sensuality.Merry is a fairy princess, pregnant with twins. Her men are the royal body guards that once belonged to the evil Queen, Merry's aunt Andais. Each one of the male characters are rich in depth and detail. Each one swoon worthy. And totally committed to keeping Merry and the babies safe from her relatives, who moistly just want her dead or under their thumb.Merry is focused on the lesser fey, magical races, and humans surrounding the princess and her magical court. She tries to balance a career as a private detective with her fame and escaping assassination attempts. All the while getting surprise visits from the Goddess herself. She's a busy woman.The writing is, as always, pretty good. It's fast paced, action packed, sexy as can be, a really fun reading experience. I definitely will be suggestive this one, along with the rest of the series, to my friends and acquaintances.

It's not the best in the series, but I quite enjoyed it. It was a different kind of story for this series because it wasn't the same theme, exactly. It was more of a story set apart from all the main characters having the story be only about them. I appreciate the fact that this book has chapter demarcations. Chapter demarcations make it so much easier to see how close you are to the end of a chapter or to find a stopping place when you need to do so. I won't bore you with a plot summary as I know other reviewers are fond of doing that. My only real problem with this book is that it didn't have a table of contents for some reason. I can't wait for the next one to be released. I'm lucky that I didn't read this series before now because I haven't had to wait so long between this book and the next as others. Have at it because I don't think you'll be disappointed. Just don't expect it to be exactly the same as all the previous books.

*Potential Spoilers, intermingled*Buy/Read this book if you want to know a little more about the men in Merry's life, if you want to see some of them gain power and others of them being jealous, if you want to see Merry involved in crime while pregnant and see some of the trials and tribulations that they are going through. If you liked any of the previous books, buy/read this one.I LOVE the Anita Blake Series and simply like Merry. This book was worth what I paid for it and provided me with a good amount of entertainment (its purpose). There were new characters introduced and potential new enemies that I feel like did not get enough explanation, so I expect to see some good nightmares in Merry's future.I see this book as one that's helped develop Merry's future and maybe provided a foreshadowing to her becoming goddess-like if not a goddess [not The Goddess but a small goddess like Doyle, Rhys, Baranthis, etc. were gods] especially considering the "dream" she had with the men she saved and the fact that those she saved are doing things in her name.This book was good; not great but definitely good. Maybe others don't see it this way (I think they're wrong) but to each his/her own. I think, if you're reading this and are considering whether to buy/read it and have bought/read all of the other books then you should buy/read this! If nothing you'll be slightly entertained (I was definitively more than slightly entertained!)

Perfect condition great book

I am still a huge fan but I feel like you gave in to criticism in this book and lost yourself. It's almost as if you thought 'if this is what people think they're getting then why try for more.' There is something about this series that keeps me wanting more but I had some huge problems with this book.1. There were times where comments were so similar that if I hadn't read certain bits again I would have thought Merry had repeated herself and the information was taken as new (as I believe one reviewer already commented on). When in actual fact it was almost the same comment with a little bit of new information tacked on.2. Merry really didn't need another man in her bed and yet Royal (a character I've never liked) was thrown in there just to make another part of the plot work. Which incidentally was not needed.3. What happened to Barinthus? I can't work out if he has had a drastic change of character and then suddenly changed back again or if his behaviour is leading somewhere else. I think I'm missing something.4. I was expecting some nice detective work and then before Merry had a chance to figure it out along came her prime suspect and gave her all the answers. How disappointing.I'm sure I will eventually purchase the next book but it won't be until the price has dropped. Sorry Laurell.

After a long time i returned to reading with this..I liked the growing of Merry...I liked the twist of who is the vilain...I did not like the whole "sex with everyone" it seems like to grow the relationship all it takes is sex ..

Plot is sacrificed too willingly for smut. Smut is fun but a fulfilling read it does not make. Just like the Anita Blake series I recommend sticking to the first few books and departing once it becomes little more than an unnecessary lecture on the virtues of having umpteen lovers. It’s not as controversial as the author obviously believes it to be and maybe it’s a sign of the times and this readers jaded views but it’ll take more than a boat load of fraught emotional sex with a harem of increasingly needy lovers to keep the pages turning. Find the balance again Laurel please! It was so good before!

Bought as a second hand hardback. Great condition.Really love this series. It’s been slow to release, I read the first books 20 years ago, so missed these. Am happy to have caught up.

I only began buying Meredith Gentry because I had run out of Anita Blake: I was not disappointed!