Meridio's Daughter

by L.J. Maas

Tessa (Nikki) Nikolaidis is cold and ruthless, the perfect person to be Karê, the right-hand, to Greek magnate Andreas Meridio. Cassandra (Casey) Meridio has come home after a six-year absence to find that her father's new Kare is a very desirable, but highly dangerous woman. Set in modern day Greece on the beautiful island of Mýkonos, this novel weaves a tale of emotional intrigue as two women from different worlds struggle with forbidden desires. As the two come closer to the point of no return, Casey begins to wonder if she can really trust the beautiful Karê. Does Nikki's dark past, hide secrets that will eventually bring down the brutal Meridio Empire, or are her actions simply those of a vindictive woman? Will she stop at nothing for vengeance... even seduction?

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, Crime, Lesbian Fiction, LGBT, Lesbian Romance, Fiction

276 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

LJ Maas was a full time author and artist. She also found time in her busy schedule to teach computer graphics and writing classes at a local college. She is the author of six published novels Tumbleweed Fever, None So Blind, Meridio's Daughter, Prairie Fire, Rebecca's Cove, Journey's End (the first book in the Conqueror Series) and several very popular fan fiction stories. LJ Maas is the Royal Academy of Bards 2005 Hall of Fame Author.

LJ Maas passed away October 29, 2005, leaving behind a legion of fans and friends who were devastated by her untimely loss. Not only a gifted storyteller and author, LJ Maas was a gentle soul who left an indelible mark on everyone who knew her.

Reviews

[Corporate Slave · Rating 5 out of 5]

2 lesbians in Mykonos and a mafia setup! What more do we need? :)
I loved it!

[MaxDisaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,25 stars
Ok, this was very very good.
To be fair, I don't know much about present day Greece nor about the Greek mafia, so if there were inconsistencies, I couldn't find them. But still I had a lot of fun reading this, even though it was melodramatic af and generally a bit far from my usual cup of tea.

[Fae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my best recent read of this year.
The thinking dialogues and the third person point of view keep switching back and forth, or the scenes keep changing so fast; it kinda get annoying at time as it destroys Tessa's portrayal of being a mysterious being.
Still, this is a very good read. I finished it within 2 days despite my busy schedules.
What still bugged me about this story is the fate of Meridio at the end. Is he in prison? Is he dead? Is he escaped? How does he feels? What is his plan for Casey if all of this mess ain't happening?What about the Turk and Tessa? Ahhh, I want a sequel.

[KT · Rating 2 out of 5]

mid :(

[Whitney]

DNF. There was an "I love you" after two weeks and I wasn't even close to halfway through the book. I really just lost interest. Put it down and never picked it back up. I'll try again later.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is like a hackneyed mafia movie meets lesbian romance. It's an uber-xena book, which started out mildly interesting but quickly devolved once the characters hit the sheets. Then there's the plot with the father and his "evil" business that the daughter never thinks to question, nor how weirdly lucrative her father is despite allegedly being an olive farmer, nor the fact that everyone in his home town seems terrified of him. I'm supposed to be rooting for someone this incredibly dense? Not my fav story, obviously, but perhaps worst of all...the book title is repeated over and over again throughout the book. What can I say? It's a distracting pet peeve of mine.

[Princessccamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing plot, twists and turns. At times soapy, but I guess my cold heart needed a dose of love illusion. I’m so glad I could escape from this nowadays world and nowadays stories. I’m sick of the too much politically correctness that has been overwhelming fiction lately, limiting creativity, can or cannot, writing around eggs and glasses trying not to offend, pleasing everyone. This one has just the right amount of the politically correctness stuff, enough to neither make it brutal, nor lame.

[Cailin1111 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think for this particular genre, pragmatic and sensible plots are not a reasonable expectation. The characters are well drawn and interesting, the descriptions of Greece are really lovely and the story credible enough so that the thin spots are not too intrusive.

[Maia Zade · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, LJ Maas is a cult classic in the world of non-mainstream lesbian romance novels, and it was by my coworker's suggestion that I ventured further into Maas' works (after loving None So Blind, both ironically and unironically). I'm sorry to say I didn't like this one. The "tall, dark-haired woman with cerulean eyes and the petite blonde with sea green eyes" is, I now realize, an overused LJ trope. Also, the insta-love factor was off-putting (I know, I know, U-hauling, but the foundational Maas book in my eyes was built on a decade-plus of angst and build up. WHERE'S THE BUILDUP?). Also, the writing was very telling and repetitive. And the epithets - yet another LJ original trope. The dark-haired woman, the taller woman, the smaller woman, the younger woman, the older woman, the blonde, the Kare, etc. The mafia stuff was kinda exciting, I guess, but also I was here for the WLW romance and it didn't get enough screen time for me. I just found it very hard to get through this one. But yes, I will still be reading Tumbleweed Fever after this, and I hope it's every bit as "lesbian Brokeback Mountain" as my coworker had dreamed.

[~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Voz · Rating 3 out of 5]

not my tea

[Nka300 · Rating 3 out of 5]

something in the summary peaked my interest, but upon a second and third read i can't find out what it was that peaked it. The description is too bare which doesn't give enough hints or expectations. I'll give the book the benefit of doubt since my interest started to wane after my tendency to procrastinate.......

It was a bit predictable but still enjoyable. It could've been better. Some things developed too fast and other things too slow. Need to find a balance.

for example:

it took a bit too long for the characters to get to know each other, but when the relationship started it was like flipping a switch. At the start of the book Meridio's daughter (Casey) had a mischievous sexy and 'worldly' character/portrayal. But later on these character traits kinda dissappeared. So the characteristics of the characters needed to be a bit more consistent with what we were introduced with in the beginning.

[Julieta Steyr · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite forever. LJ is LJ, she writes with all her heart.
At times it can be a little heavy reading, but compensates with tender scenes, humor, action ... lots of action at the end. A complicated plot by the position in which she placed her characters, the knife edge.
I love it.

[Lynnabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story by LJ, this one a little darker than None So Blind, but a great read.

[KT · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first lesbian books I read.
I loved it then and I love it now having read it about a dozen times now.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very compelling story and a wonderful ending.

[Ahi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Dide · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was entertaining like watching The Untouchables. For a lesbian theme book the implied brutality needed some adjustment but I guess I have to start getting use to the idea that.just because it is lesbian doesn't mean it can't be hardcore action. My second book by Maas and I am glad I came across her work.