Laurell K. Hamilton knock-off for teens?
I received a galley recently from HarperTeen that seems to take a page from Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series.
Hamilton is probably St. Louis’ best-selling author. Her sexy vampire hunter Anita Blake is probably her most popular series. But her Merry Gentry series - which features a gal who’s part human and part faerie and pops in bed with lots of paranormal creatures - is also humming along. Both series are very erotic.
A book that pubs in late April, “Ink Exchange” by Melissa Marr, is the second in a series that apparently also features faeries who live among mortals. A 17-year-old gets a tattoo apparently and then learns about the different Faery Courts. According to publicity material, the girl is unable to resist its allures in this ‘ravishing story’ of temptation. 
Here’s the only online picture of the cover that I could find.
Of course the cliche is that ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ but where does flattery end and copyright infringement begin? The book’s jacket even looks like the photos on Hamilton’s books.
Another issue: A lot of parents might not think this series should be marketed to 12-year-olds, as it apparently will be. There’s a lot of difference between a 17-year-old girl and a 12-year-old girl.
On the other hand, most of the popular series being marketed to teen girls seem to involve beauty, sex and lots of designer purses. Maybe fantasy tattoos and paranormal love interests are no worse. I’m not suggesting that books lead girls down the path to teen pregnancy. But with the sexualization of girls starting so young in all facets of culture, should parents speak up about what they see? Thoughts?
(67 votes, average: 1.19 out of 5)
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“No one has offered a single book and jacket that has the same mortal/faerie heroine having encounters with faeries in modern world with a book cover that is monotone picture of young woman/girl from backside with bare skin and a tattoo!”
First, let’s ignore the fact that again, you are literally judging books by their covers. Then let’s ignore the fact that there are MANY adult books featuring urban fantasy heroines posed from behind with tattoos on their bare skin. I sent you several links of YA books showing young women posed from behind, some with tattoos, some without, some sexier, some less. Note: I only spent five minutes looking up those covers. Sadly, I’m too busy to devote hours to find an exact match. See those cover links in your “comments awaiting moderation” box.
Also, if you’d READ THE BOOK IN ITS ENTIRETY, as I have, you’d know Leslie is NOT a faery, as Merry Gentry is. I’d say more, but I don’t want to venture into spoilage territory. The tattoo in INK EXCHANGE is the center of the entire plot. I don’t think there’s a single Merry Gentry book that features a tattoo as the focal plot point. Furthermore, INK EXCHANGE is a stand-alone book. What does that mean? It means there are no more books told through the point of view of the heroine from INK EXCHANGE. Merry Gentry is the recurring heroine in all the - duh - Merry Gentry books. Leslie is only the heroine in this one book. See? Very, very different.