Opposites attract

I finally got around to reading Eoin Colfer's latest Artemis Fowl book, Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox. It was just as solidly entertaining as the previous books in the series, but it ventures into some eyebrow-raising new territory...

Spoiler Warning!

Yes, dear readers, little Artemis is all grown up, and Colfer went ahead and tossed all those Holly/Artemis 'shippers a bone: there's kissing in this book! Frankly, I can't believe he went there--I mean, what about their differences? (Of age, height, species... and the list goes on.) Was the pressure to hook up his male/female leads just too great for Colfer to withstand? I can hardly wait for the next book to come out so I can find out.

P.S. And what happened to Artemis's fellow underage genius, Minerva Paradizo? Did they mention her and I missed it?