** spoiler alert ** 
 So I am re reading the Anita Blake novels and no matter what anyone says Guilty Pleasures is just that for me. I enjoyed this almost as much as I did when I org. read it. 
 Things I loved about these first few books is the zombie raising, Bert, animators inc and all the fun stuff that went along with that, like pissing off her boss with inappropriate coffee mugs and grave yard mold in her ointment and the zombie drama. 
 I enjoyed this series more when she was bitching about going to a friend's weddings and parties, and mooning over her penguin collection. The first six books in this series are much more light hearted and funnier. 
 However with that said things I noticed that I hated: 
 1)	Anita being all tough tomb boy shooter girl... Does it EVER tell us where she learned to fight and be such an awesome bitch with guns and other weaponry? I don't think so. 
 2)	Anita being squeamish, this is reoccurring, in this book she freaks about needles and almost gets my beloved Edward killed because she wont stab some nasty vamp with needle, this drama causes her to drop her shot gun and Edward almost being killed. 
 3)	Jean Claude- lovelovelovelove... However if Anita hated him and vampires and really didn't want vampire marks she should have shot him in the face with her sawed off instead of just thinking about it. When it comes to dick Anita has no brains. 
 4)	LKH and the getting rid of human girl friends. As Anita talks about Catherine and Ronnie all I can do at this point is decide Anita or LKH hates women, because both of Anita's BFF's wind up on the character chopping block about five books into this series. If Anita can't be head bitch no one can and everyone wants Anita, right? 
 5)	Her self loathing image. This first time I read this I was 18 years old and I thought, "Wow she has body images, she's not perky super skinny and blonde, I TOTALLY relate!" However now as a mature adult I just want to slap her and tell her to SHUT THE FUCK UP. Why is she complaining? Pale skin, dark hair, probably fits into a size 12 or less, in good physical shape and eventually all the boys want her. This character is an unrelatable as it gets. Now I just find it a pathetic way to get the reader's sympathies. 
 6)	The clothes, I know this book was middle 90's but c'mon, in the later books Kiss the Dead her clothing style does not get much better. She and Sookie Snatchhouse should have a reject clothing pity party. 
 Things I loved: 
 1) Edward- frankly I want a series all about him.... 
 2) I love that Jean Claude can eat through Anita, that is a clever Human Servant trick. 
 3) The characters, LKH pre sex fest barftasticness could write damn good and interesting, unique characters. 
 4) NO SEX 
 5) Guilty Pleasures and Circus of the Damned- these are great business names and even better ideas. 
 So, three stars..... Mainly because Anita bothers me, not as much as Sookie and Bella but she still bugs me in a trying to be a feminist not quite making it way.