Mistral’s kiss. Laurell K. Hamilton. 2006.

I am Princess Meredith Gentry, heir to a throne of faerie. Once upon a time I had a day job. I was a private detective, but being a princess seems to have become a full-time occupation……..

My aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, will have it no other way. I am virtually a prisoner here, incarcerated with some of our world’s most beautiful men to serve as my bodyguards…..and my lovers. For I have a duty to perform: I must produce an heir. They say practice makes perfect; well, that may be. The pleasures have been many but there is still no sign of a child, and no heir means no throne. But that’s the least of it. If I fail, my life is forfeit - death awaits at the vengeful hands of my cousin Cel and his followers.

Now Mistral, captain of the queen’s guard, has come to my bed. In doing so, he defies her and risks her terrible wrath. But our joining together has reawakened old magic, a mystical power so ancient that none can stand against it and survive. Not my strongest and most favoured consorts, my Darkness and my Killing Frost. Not even my Storm Lord, Mistral himself. And yet because he helped bring this magic forth, he may live another day.

If I can reclaim control of the key power that once was, there is hope. I may still defeat those who would see me fail. Though shadows of obsession, cunning and conspiracy gather, I may survive.