Hit List, Laurell K. Hamilton

Weretigers are being murdered all over the country. Anita and Edward are on the case. We join them in Tacoma, Washington. They know who, the bad Harlequin. The know why, to get rid of all the gold tigers and trap Anita for Mommie Dearest, the mother of all vampires. This is the longest Anita's been away from her family (her men and the rest of their people - shifters and vamps). She's even gone days without feeding the ardeur.

My favorite thing, and I acknowledge it's a small thing, is that they finally call her polyamorous! I've been saying it since The Killing Dance!! Edward brings it to Anita's attention, and of course she's still a little prude and reacts as such. :) Love it.

Bullet, Laurell K. Hamilton

This was a setup book. You know the books that have a lot happen, but nothing major? They're just kind of there to put the characters where the need to be, or have the skills they need, or meet the people they need to. I feel like it's more prominent in the fantasy genre. Fantasy series are almost one long story that's just chopped up into little bite sized portions. Sure, the bites have their own flavor, so to speak, but they're still just part of the overall meal.

OK, that analogy is terrible, but the point is valid. All that makes this review a bit long…

Skin Trade, Laurell K. Hamilton

Remember those vampires in Incubus Dreams killing the strippers? Remember how they got away? Not this time, beotch!

Anita is back on the case and headed (no pun intended – wait for it…) to Las Vegas. She heads (keep waiting…) to Vegas after receiving a severed head in the mail (NOW you get it) postmarked Vegas. She calls the cops there and it turns out the head belongs to a cop that was killed by the vamps during the attempt to execute them. A few cops died, but more have gone into a mysterious sleep. Not a coma, they're asleep and can't be woken. I'll give you three guesses as to how they're supposed to be woken up........Did you guess? That's right, sleeping beauty, Love's Kiss. No. Really. It doesn't have to be romantic love, just love. One victim doesn't have any family, so his dog does the trick. Adorable, right?

Blood Noir, Laurell K. Hamilton

I loved this book! Ok, so we're still leaning toward the more relationship oriented story lines, but this book is what I will forever consider Jason's Book. It's still from Anita's point of view, but it's all about Jason and his family.

Jason gets dumped, which he's not too sad about, the same day as he finds out his father, who he's estranged from, is dying of cancer and only has weeks left. Anita gets talked into coming home with him as his girlfriend to prove to his father that he's not gay. Hamilton treats this fairly carefully, I think. She makes clear, through Jason, that it's not his family thinking he's gay that bothers him, but that they don't believe him. His dad was abusive in many ways and always treated Jason like he wasn't a good enough son.

Jason is Anita's friend with benefits. They use the term fuck buddies, but I think friends with benefits is more accurate. It's the only friends with benefits relationship that has ever actually worked. So, of course it's fictional. :) They are best friends, and Jason and Nathaniel are best friends. Jason is Jean-Claude's pomme de sang, his daily blood donor. He lives with JC and the vampires. He's mischievous and adorable. He's one of my favorite characters but he's always been a fairly minor one. He longs for love. He and Anita have a platonic love, though they have sex, but he wants what Anita and Nathaniel have. And he's so likable, you want it for him.