Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: Six days ago, I purchased a copy of this book - today, I just completed the last book in the series and I can't wait for the next!
Rating: 
Summary: Vampire slayer
Review: Anita Blake is our heroine in this first book in a series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Anita lives in a society where vampires interact with humans, and they have equal rights. Anita is an animator, she can raise the dead. She does not believe that vampires should have equal rights, she believes that they are a menace to society, and she hunts them. In "Guilty Pleasures" she is hired, against her will, to find out who is murdering some of the city's prominent vampires, and this challenge takes her places she has never been before, and she is going to see things she never dreamed of. It is a very easy read, and very entertaining. The set up of the book; vampires/humans with equal rights, is very clever, and I am looking forward to read the other books in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic escapist trash
Review: This book is from the literary equivalent of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer genre. Think humourous and light-hearted and you won't go far wrong. I expect this will appeal to lots of teens and twenty-somethings and anyone else who doesn't want to be bogged down by any book that takes itself too seriously. This series is a perfect read for those times when you don't have the stamina required for a Booker prize nominee.
Rating: 
Summary: What a great disappointment.
Review: If you were to buy this book based on all the praise it gets in its opening pages (as I did) you are in for a horrible surprise. This is one of the most poorly writtne thrillers I have had the displeasure of reading. Bad noir-esque narritive, bad dialogue, not at all erotic, not at all interesting overall, a fairly uninteresting effort by "the next Anne Rice." A waste of $$ and precious time.
Try something else.
Anything else.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun Read
Review: I had been looking for a good semi-traditional vampire romance series when the Anita Blake novels were recommended to me. Overall I like Guilty Pleasures but it does have flaws.The pacing of this book is off. (This improves in her more recent books) Hamilton can go into great detail describing a scene but forgets to tell you that the character got up and moved to the door. It's a little thing, but when in one sentence Anita is sitting in a chair intently listening and in the very next sentence she is walking out of the building and there being no logical segway between the two, I find myself flipping back through the pages trying to figure out where I missed parts. She also has a bad habit of overusing phrases. This becomes increasingly apparent as the series progresses. This didn't bother me overly much, but could frustrate some readers. I love the world Hamilton has created in these books, though. She blends the every day world and the fantasy world in an intriguing way that makes me come back for more. Overall, Hamilton leans heavily on character development and physical descriptions of the characters to the detriment of the overall plot. But if you are like me and prefer good character conversations and some steamy (not necessarily sexual) scenes, then this series shouldn't disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: Splendid page turner!
Review: If you like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, You love reading this book. Guilty Pleasures is the first installment of Anita Blake's Series and I recommend you to start with this book if you wish to to get into the series itself. Please be warn, if you decide to start reading this series, you won't be able to stop and you're hook for more. Anita Blake is an animator and a vampire slayer on the side, much more known as an Executioner by the Vampires themselves. Somebody or something is killing the vampires in LA and Anita Blake has been hired by a vampire master to find out who or what it is that has been doing it. But of course working for vampire master is conditional, Anita Blake has to find the monster before the time given to her run out, or she be dinner.
Rating:
Summary: "Character" flaw
Review: This is an entertaining series of books, but Hamilton's weakness is character development. I read the first 10 books one after another, and was annoyed to see exactly the same descriptions used multiple times. She relies too heavily on "outfits" and eye color to let you know how a character is feeling. Despite that, the stories are very enjoyable and aren't marred by "Scooby Doo" endings.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting beginning...
Review: With Guilty Pleasures, Laurell K. Hamilton has created an alternate reality where vampires, humans, and various were-creatures coexist. Anita Blake, full time animator of the dead and part time vampire slayer, has been hired by the thousand year old Master of the city to find a serial killer who's been knocking off the undead. It's a fast-paced, exciting read, with plenty of gore; this book is definitely not for the squeamish. Anita is a likeable heroine, and there are quite a few intriguing characters
surrounding her, particularly Edward, a fellow slayer, and Jean Claude, a vampire. It will be interesting to see how these relationships play out over the course of the series. I only gave the book 3 stars because after finishing a book I like to feel that I "know" the characters. But, at the end of this one, I still felt like I knew very little about them. It's
still a very enjoyable read, but it's definitely a "warm-up" for the series. If you are looking for a solid beginning to a vampire series, then you've come to the right place.
Rating:
Summary: She ain't Buffy!
Review: Well, this series was recommended to me because I liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I hate that Buffy seems to be the definitive model for everything dealing with vampire slayers. That's not the point here though. I'm also a long time lover of vampire lore, and that was another reason--if not the main reason--for me to pick up this book. I enjoy reading vampire novels, and enjoy the vampires (of this story) I did. This story introduces us to Anita Blake -- full time animator, part time slayer. Basically, she's been "tricked" into helping the city's head vampires find a killer that's been offing their kind. Anita doesn't like vampires, and they surely don't like her, but she has no choice. I enjoyed reading this. I thought it was a promising start to the series. I think Anita is a symbol of "girl power", but that the same time, she could come off as annoying to some (I start to like her better as the series progresses). Some of the lesser character such as "Edward" (the violent as I like to call him) are more interesting than the main character herself. I, also, liked the premise for Anita's world such as vampires being recognized as citizens, etc. It's a very colorful world full of life and diversity. This book also has underlying themes that can be applied to our own world. Such as, there seems to be this underlying theme of acceptance and tolerance. You have these creatures who are recognized as citizens, but there's still this hatred toward them because of who they are -- very much like things happening in our own world (minus the supernatural aspect). The only major grip I have with the book is this: There's nothing about the character that we don't know, and there's that habit of going into explicit detail about every little dislike and like she has. I know with the first person perspective the writing is going to be more indepth than usual, but it's like everything is spelled out by the main character. Why do I care what her checkout boy looks like? I don't. Therefore, her breath shouldn't be wasted on telling me he was 5'5 with russet eyes and blond hair that fell to his shoulders in waves (I made this up, but you will find a lot of that in this book). All in all, good beginning novel. I enjoyed the series as a whole, and I hope to get around to reviewing other books in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Hooked On Anita Blake!!!
Review: I am not a fan of vampire novels and so when a friend recommended this series to me, it was awhile before I ordered the first book in the Anita Blake series. All I can say now is...WOW! I AM A FAN FOR LIFE!!! *laugh I just ordered books 2 - 4 in the series and will order the rest once those arrive. This book has everything: horror, romance, laughs...it's all here! I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for the others to arrive. If you're not a fan of vampire reads, trust me - after this one, you will be. And if you are a fan of vampire reads - this one will be a welcome addition to your library.
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