I’m a huge fan of Laurell K. Hamilton and when her first Anita Blake novel was picked up by Marvel to be a new graphic novel (aka comic), I was excited. Guilty Pleasures is going to have 12 graphic novels come out with the last one to be published in June. After reading the first 10 issues, I have to say that I am deeply impressed with the artwork and the storyline. Obviously, they weren’t able to translate the entire book into art, but they managed to get all of the important elements without losing any of the story. There was a bit in issue #8 (or #9) that seemed a bit broken, but it was still excellent. I can’t wait to see the conclusion to Guilty Pleasures and the beginning …

I just finished my first audio book. Since Laurell K. Hamilton’s new novel Blood Noir will be out in June, I decided to listen to the Harlequin. I’ve already given a review on the novel, so this one will be on the audio book only.

The novel was read by Cynthia Holloway and she did a good job. I do have to say, having the same person do all the voices for the characters is weird. You get a certain image of each character in your head, and it didn’t seem the voices matched with my own image. I imagine that’s true of any audio book though. I will say, if you haven’t actually read the novel before getting an audio book, then read it first. …

I can stop pacing the apartment now!  I finally got my hands on the latest Anita Blake book – the Harlequin – and I have to say, it was well worth the wait. The succubus/incubus relationship that has been predominate in the last couple of books takes a back seat and we return to the original storytelling that drew us in the first place. We delve deeper into a lot of Anita’s relationships, some new characters show up to cause more mayhem (obviously to be seen in later books), Anita’s role with the police squad and her association with the vamps and shapeshifters is questioned, and we finally get some answers on the whole metaphysical stuff. While there isn’t as much sex in this book, there is still a lot of the soap opera that is …

I’m a big fan of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita and Merry series; which could be the reason I had such a hard time getting into this book. Death of a Darklord by Hamilton is nothing like Anita or Merry. So if you start to read this book thinking like that, you won’t enjoy it.

Once I got over that it was nothing compared to Anita or Merry, I started to really get into it. The book centers around a group of people who are mage-finders. The theory is that all magic is evil and should be destroyed, at least, according to the leader of the group. However, their world gets turned upside down when it becomes apparent that one of them is an untrained mage. Elaine wasn’t trying to be a mage, but …

Narcissus in Chains, Cerulean Sins and Incubus Dreams share one common thread….sex. While sex has always been a prevailing theme throughout the series (who is Anita sleeping with now?), it becomes a part of the plot device when Jean-Claude’s incubus origins are transferred to Anita through their marks.

While I could go into the plot, and give a summary of what the bad guys want and what the action entails, I won’t because the plot only touches on the underlying theme of sex that Hamilton begins to include in her books. Plus, you should read it. If I give you the main plot devices and tell you what goes on, where will you get the motivation to read it?

Sex becomes a central focus in the series when Anita inherits Jean-Claude’s incubus in Narcissus in …