Rating: 
Summary: The Most Unoriginal Sin
Review: The first in a seemingly inexhaustible supply of Anita Blake novels, GUILTY PLEASURES is a publishing oddity. Reading much like a first or rough second draft, the novel suffers from nearly every amateur writing mistake and still manages to win adherents despite its second-rate execution. Less a novel than a mish-mash of vampiric, Anne Rice cliches and faux-noir pose, GUILTY PLEASURES dashes madly from sequence to sequence, some barely related to others, until it comes to an abrupt, and merciful, halt.Ostensibly a mystery, the book serves more as a vehicle for Hamilton's neophyte self-indulgence, making GUILTY PLEASURES a showcase for a lovingly-created world that the author is absolutely certain you'll adore as much as she does. As a result, truckloads of characters and locations are introduced, most of them utterly meaningless, apparently for the sole purpose of simply having them in the book. Most of Hamilton's locations are painfully unoriginal, such as the vampire strip club -- an overused staple of erotic vampire fiction if there ever was one, for certain -- and the characters almost uniformly fall into common stereotype. The anemic plotline serves little purpose other than to legitimize the novel's existence, despite Hamilton's effort to infuse in her setting and cast (through stale, tough-gal, hard-boiled prose) a real sense of gravity. As shoddy and derivative as a Fred Olen Ray film production, GUILTY PLEASURES can only be described as a trashy waste of time, which would be perfectly acceptable if there weren't better books on the shelves worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: A guilty pleasure for sure!
Review: Okay, so it has a lame plot, and Anita Blake wakes up every day knowing she might die, and goes through the same ole mental anguish, but this is fun stuff to read. How often do we have a female heroine who gets to kill the bad guys and like it? This is my first Anita Blake book, but it won't be the last. I'd just like to add that Edward is my favorite character. He was mysterious, true, and likely to end up in the following books as the guy to watch. If you like Buffy, vampires, and humor, try Anita.
Rating:
Summary: Prepare to be hooked
Review: If you haven't yet made the acquaintance of Anita Blake, I almost envy you. I discovered the series accidentally a couple of years ago and have been addicted ever since. Guilty Pleasures really sets the tone by showing us how tough Anita is and how humorous her encounters with her antagonists (ranging from her boss to the master vampire of the city) can be. Each book in the series keeps things fresh by adding new characters. Laurell Hamilton is one of the greats.
Rating: 
Summary: Spooky
Review: Do you like horror? Then get this book! I promise that you have not read anything like it before. Anita Blake kicks a lot of ass in this book as she deals with everything from vampires to ghouls. The story is fast paced and you will have trouble putting the book down. I had to read it in a day...
Rating:
Summary: Anita Blake Series covers the genre gambit
Review: Guilty Pleasures is the first of an open-ended series. So far there are nine titles, the last being Obsidian Butterfly, which I unknowingly started with. The whole series varies in levels of gore, horror, mystery, and sex/romance. Sometimes its Mack Bolan in a skirt, sometimes its Mike Hammer, and others its Vincent Price. There are lots of charachters which makes it great, cause some books you see a lot of some and none of the others and than vice versa. If you're into getting seriously involved with a charachter, Anita's for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Confused and Dissapointed
Review: I bought this book based on the back cover description which promised a mystery. The author spends the first two hundred pages introducing everyone and trying to scare us with some vampire rituals, then casualy says "oh, yeah, the killer is....", and then goes back to the rituals. I was hoping that the idea of solving a crime where vampires were the victim would be an interesting idea, and I still do. I hope that one day someone writes that book.
Rating:
Summary: A couple hundred pages' worth of entertainment
Review: When I was first introduced to this book, I groaned, "Another vampire novel?" Well--yes. But it's nothing to groan about. Try to look past the title and cover (that is, try actually opening it up and reading). Hamilton's take on vampires is not extraordinarily original, but her style of writing *is* extraordinarily entertaining. It is the droll humor of the protagonist, Anita Blake, that keeps you turning the pages. The plot is a standard mystery and not too difficult to unravel on your own, but you'll want to finish anyway, just to get as much of the clever dialogue as possible. It won't be hard; this is very easy reading, fairly light despite the gothic theme.
Rating:
Summary: new to Anita Blake books - and loving them!
Review: I, too, have recently read Laurell Hamilton's first 3 books in this series. I must say, if you read Guilty Pleasures, you will be hooked! (Even if you normally pull for the vampires, like I do, not the vampire hunters.) Superb characterization, especially Anita & Jean-Claude. These books have become my guilty reading pleasure. Enjoy! (beware of some gruesomeness in later books)
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: In a single word, WOW! I couldn't put it down. I found myself wanting to find out what was going to happen next to Anita Blake. She is the TRUE SLAYER. I like Buffy, but Anita rocks. She is a well written, well thought out, complete character. Laurell K. Hamilton's vision of a world where Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, etc...exist along side humans is incredible. It is realistic and not too far out there to be believed. I really enjoyed this book. The rest of the series is also worth looking into.
Rating:
Summary: Anita Blake gives Buffy a run for her money
Review: Ever watch Buffy? Sick of wading through re-runs? Give Laurell K. Hamilton a try. Her Anita Blake is as sassy and quick with the quips as Buffy, and what she lacks in superhuman slayer strength, she make up for in pure determination. Ignore the awful cover art and dive into this smart and funny exploration of the trials of a female animator/vampire slayer.
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