Rating: 
Summary: Still Undecided
Review: This was my first Laurell Hamilton book and my first in the Anita Blake, vampire hunter series. While there was much I did enjoy about the book, there were some things that make me unsure if I will or will not add it to my list of favorites. I very much enjoyed the adventure, the danger and the strength of the female heroine. In general, the book was a bit dark and kinky for my taste. However, be that as it may, there was enough about this book that I found enjoyable that I have ordered other books in the series. I have the feeling that this series cannot be judged by just one book and I am more than willing to give it a fair shot.
Rating: 
Summary: I didn't know this was a lady's room
Review: I didn't know this was a lady's room. As a male reader, I just couldn't relate to any character in the book, particularly the heroin, Anita Blake. She is always so tense, so angry, I failed to see any depth in this character. As for other characters, well they are nothing but stereo typical B-movie characters. This is the first of the Anita Blake books and characters may develop as the seriese develops, but I am not attracted enough to try find that out.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark chocolate and winter fires.
Review: The perfect book to settle in for the night with. Anita Blake runs like that evil voice in your head that we give in to less often than we should. Bad attitude at its best and sexy vampires thrown in for good measure. Guilty Pleasures is aptly named and the best of the series. Even LKHs harshest critics appear to love this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Beginning Of A Wonderful Addiction...
Review: Not having really been interested in the horror genre before this year (with the exception of Anne Rice's vampire and witch series), I bought this book because I had read reviews and comments on various sites all raving about Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. I have to say, they were right! This is a great series, and this book sets the tone for the rest of the books in the series.
The character of Anita Blake is written with such a strong voice that she becomes totally believable. Her humor is dry and self-deprecating, and is a lynchpin of the story. She is the sort of person you might like hanging around with, even though you know it might get you seriously maimed. The tale is told totally from her point of view - the reader knows what she knows, and other characters' behavior is interpreted through her thought processes. This is one of the interesting challenges of the series, which has given rise to countless message boards - determining character motivations. She is a kick-ass heroine working (mostly) within the confines of the law, doing her licensed job using her unusual gifts while trying to retain her humanity and morality. Ms. Hamilton provides us with such a realistic alternative USA that Anita's powers and the beings that inhabit her world seem believable. Why are the vampires above ground, so to speak? Because of a Supreme Court decision that ruled that they are living beings deserving of legal protections, of course. There should be enough gore here for most horror fans, and for romance fans, there is romance but it is very subtle - more setting the stage for what develops in the subsequent books (but once you read those stories, you remember this book and go "a-ha!"). Some people compare Anita Blake to Buffy, but that's an apples-oranges comparison. Anita is for adults - there is no teenage angst or experimentation, no violence without physical consequence. Anita is dedicated and professional; she is physically weary by the end of her day and constantly wrestles with her fear that she herself is evil because of what she is capable of doing. The vampires are complex and frightening - not cartoonishly evil characters that go "poof" when staked. Start with this book, and read the series in order. Each book, while capable of standing on its own, builds on the previous one in terms of the characters' development and relationships, really adding a whole new dimension to the storyline. These books are like an addiction - once you start, you'll find you crave the rest.
Rating:
Summary: Nice, if you like characters who get beat up.
Review: OK, I know that Anita has background as a vampire hunter, but frankly a lot of the time she seems to be getting her butt kicked. None of the vampies seem very impressed by her and her timing, when it comes to wise-cracks, could be better. When you're down DON'T PISS PEOPLE OFF. I also got the feeling that I was reading a book in the MIDDLE of a series, when in fact I am just getting a lot of background. Lots and lots. I don't mind it too much, but there seemed to be a new character every chapter that I had to absorb. I was also left feeling kind of cheated, as I wanted to know more about a world where vampires not only have rights, but even a church!
Rating:
Summary: Anita Blake=AWESOME
Review: I'm a hard sell on a new series, or line of books by an author, but the second I picked up Guilty Pleasures, I felt a click that told me I had found my soul books. Not a paragraph in to this awesome first novel of the Anita Blake series, and I was convinced that that click was right. Tough walking and talking Anita Blake, won my heart and my future support and money for this series. Wererats, vamps, and a totally hot vamp that has a thing for the good girl, or is she?, this has all the elements that a reader could ask for... I won't give away any of the plot by going through each and every wonderful detail, but this is a definite must buy for anyone who loves such wonders as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Anne Rice novels!
Rating: 
Summary: A good series while you wait for the next Harry Dresden.
Review: I have just finished the only three books in the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher. Imagine a tough detective like Matt Scudder [by Lawrence Block], but as played by a grown up Harry Potter. I am also up to date on the excellent recent novels (#3 on) of the series of paperbacks based on ANGEL, tv's vampire detective. Thus, I tried this first book in the famous Anita Blake series. It was a bit more for female readers, with some
of its irresistible looking male characters, but as time goes by, I bet I like it as much, or almost as much, as Jim Butcher's books; though I cannot imagine ANYTHING surpassing Butcher's "Fool Moon."
Rating:
Summary: I love Jean-Claude
Review: "Guilty Pleasures" is a detective story and a "gothic" romance. All of it bound together by the character of Anita Blake. Blake has an incisive, biting voice with all of the authority of a drill sergeant. She's intelligent and therefore rocks. For that, she is one of my favorite female heroines in modern fiction. Jean-Claude, by the same token, is one of my favorite villains. The man oozes sex, there is no other way to put it. He is charm and enigma and sin all rolled into one achingly attractive, vampiric body. The story is interesting of its own accord as well; it gets Brownie points for sheer inventiveness. Everything is believable and the book lives up to its title. However, you absolutely must read the rest of the series!
Rating:
Summary: Vampire Slayer? Not quite. Interesting? Maybe.
Review: After reading all the reviews here, I decided to take a chance and read the first book in the series. I figured out the "who done it" part as soon as the character appeared in the book, which was a let down since I really didn't want to be able to figure it out. Then I kept waiting for the "horror" part of the book, never came. Then I kept waiting for the "erotic" part of the book, never came. Then I just let myself enjoy the book for what it is, a quick, easy read.
However don't be fooled, the first book shows a lot of imagination. I plan on reading the second one and hopefully things will develop, hopefully she will live up to the hype. If not, they are a good escape from reality and a easy reading book on the Loo.
Rating:
Summary: First in a series -
Review: I came to "Guilty Pleasures" because of a lady in line in front of me in a bookstore - she had read one of the Anita Blake series previously, and was standing in front of me buying all the rest of them at once to complete her collection. I had heard of the books before, always love a good vampire story, and since when reading a series I always like to start with the first one, I gave "Guilty Pleasures" a try. I am glad I did; the book is gritty, dark, horrific, sometimes funny, even touching in a couple of spots. The world of the vampires is quite well-drawn and pretty much believable. When Anita's friend's life is threatened unless she agrees to undertake the case of solving the hideous vampire murders plaguing St. Louis, I was totally into the book and waiting to find out what horrible thing was able to actually rip the heart from a creature as strong as a vampire. . . But as a mystery, I don't find the book works quite as well as I would have liked. The solution was a letdown, to some degree, as far as the mystery end of the plot -- although the ending of the book itself was fast and bloody and pretty satisfying. What I noticed most, though, was the writing style; being a writer, I could tell from the first few chapters that this was Hamilton's first book; that she was feeling her way along in spots, and still getting to know her characters. That made, for me, for awkward reading, and it actually took me longer to get through this book than most that I read. But get through it I did, and overall it was worth it. Anita's life as both Animator and The Executioner make for such interesting potential you want to know more. Jean-Claude is one annoying character, and I wish she had developed the character of Valentine more, but it's still a good book, and I do plan on reading a few more in the series (in order), as stylistically I am sure each one just gets better and better. Ms. Hamilton has created a pretty fascinating vampire/zombie/werecreatures world, one I would love to visit again. WARNING: The "GQ" (Gore Quotient) in this book is high, and from what I understand only gets worse in subsequent sequels, so buyer beware, these are definitely ADULT novels not for the faint of heart - or squeamish of stomach.
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