Next on my list of favorite reads & authors:
#12
Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series
Moving on to the next awesome series on my list, the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. Where to begin....Anita Blake is a serious badass vampire hunter and zombie reanimator. She gets involved in some seriously grizzly cases that tend to never turn out exactly how you think they will...which I love! I am a fan of most of the characters in these books, they all have a story that you learn throughout the series. I tend to be more fond of Edward, Micah, Jason & Damain. Yes, I like Jean Claude too :-) I think the books changed a bit after the ardeur made an appearance, but I think Hamilton is bringing back the side I loved the most....the crime drama and action. Definitely LOTS of supernaturals to choose from in this series. For my urban fantasy/paranormal genre lovers that like the erotic side with a mix of crime/drama, this is one series you should check-out. The reading order is as follows:
Book One - Guilty Pleasures
Ever since the Supreme Court granted the undead equal rights, most people think vampires are just ordinary folks with fangs. I know better. I’ve seen their victims. I carry the scars… But now a serial killer is murdering vampires—and the most powerful bloodsucker in town wants me to find the killer… “ “In a world where vampires, zombies and werewolves have been declared legal citizens of the United States, Anita Blake is an “animator” – a profession that involves raising the dead for mourning relatives. But Anita is also known as a fearsome hunter of criminal vampires, and she’s often employed to investigate cases that are far too much for conventional police. But as Anita gains the attention of the vampire masters of her hometown of St Louis, she also risks revealing an intriguing secret about herself – the source of her unusual strength and power.”
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B0030MTPU6
Book Two - The Laughing Corpse
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter for Animators, Inc., is offered a cool mil to raise a 283-year-old corpse. But she knows that “the older the zombie, the bigger the death needed to raise it”. Only a human sacrifice is “big” enough to raise this old soul–and Anita’s no murderer. Now, a creature from beyond the grave is tearing a swath of murder through St. Louis. And Anita will learn that there are some secrets better left buried—and some people better off dead… “After a few centuries, the only death ‘big enough’ is a human sacrifice. I know, because I’m an animator. My name is Anita Blake. Working for Animators, Inc. is just a job – like selling insurance. But all the money in the world wasn’t enough for me to take on the particular job Harold Gaynor was offering. Somebody else did, though – a rogue animator. Now he’s not just raising the dead … he’s raising Hell. And it’s up to me to stop it … “
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B000OCXIN0
Book Three - Circus of the Damned
“I’m Anita Blake, expert on creatures of the night. I’ve dined with shapeshifters, danced with werewolves, and been wooed – but not won – by Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of the City. And now a darkly dangerous vampire named Alejandro has hit town. He too wants me for his human servant. A war of the undead has begun. Over me. I would be flattered. If my life weren’t at stake…” “A rogue master vampire hits town, and Anita gets caught in the middle of an undead turf war. Jean-Claude, the Master Vamp of the city, wants her for his own – but his enemies have other plans. And to make matters worse, Anita takes a hit to the heart when she meets a stunningly handsome junior high science teacher named Richard Zeeman. They’re two humans caught in the crossfire-or so Anita thinks.” “When a dangerous vampire named Alejandro hits town and claims Anita Blake, an expert on creatures of the night, for his human servant, a war of the undead breaks out and puts Blake’s life in jeopardy. “
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B000OCXIMQ
Book Four - The Lunatic Cafe
Vampire hunter and zombie animator Anita Blake is an expert at sniffing out the bad from the good. But in The Lunatic Cafe-now in trade paperback for the first time-she's about to learn that nothing is ever as it seems, especially in matters of the not-so-human heart.
Dating a werewolf with self-esteem issues is stressing Anita out. Especially when something-or someone-starts taking out the city's shapeshifters.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B000Y8EPTA
Book Five - Bloody Bones
When Branson, Missouri, is hit with a death wave-four unsolved murders-it doesn't take an expert to realize that all is not well. But luckily for the locals, Anita is an expert-in just the kinds of preternatural goings-on that have everyone spooked. And she's got an "in" with just the kind of creature who can make sense of the slayings: a sexy master vampire known as Jean Claude.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B002YKOX8E
Book Six - The Killing Dance
Anita Blake, vampire hunter, is now herself a hunted woman. Who put the $500,000 price on her head--a man or a monster? It's not just her own skin she needs to save; the rivalry between her werewolf boyfriend, Richard, and Marcus, the other alpha werewolf in his pack, has come to full boil. And there's always Jean-Claude, the vampire who's been waiting for just the right moment to slip inside Anita's head and heart. Don't assume anything, though--Hamilton's probably got a few more surprises in store.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B000OIZVCA
Book Seven - Burnt Offerings
"You can't trust anyone who sleeps with the monsters."
That's what I've always said. That's what I've always believed. But now I'm the one sharing a bed with the Master Vampire of the City. Me, Anita Blake. The woman the vampires call the Executioner. From part of the solution, I've become part of the problem. So it hits close to home when an arsonist begins to target vampire-owned businesses all over town -- an arsonist who seems to want to destroy more than just property. It's the monsters who are in danger now. And it's up the the Executioner to save them from the inferno...
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B002YKOX84
Book Eight - Blue Moon
"Richard was an alpha werewolf. It was his only serious flaw. We'd broken up after I'd seen him eat somebody." Still, you never forget your ex-fiancé. And when Richard calls Anita Blake at three in the morning, she knows it won't be good news. It seems Richard had gotten himself thrown in jail on a rape charge. But Anita knows that though he is a monster, Richard's no rapist. And it's up to her to prove his innocence--before the blue moon creates even bigger problems for Richard...
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B000OIZVCK
Book Nine - Obsidian Butterfly
I was covered in blood, but it wasn't mine, so it was okay.'
Edward is a hit man. He specializes in monsters. Vampires, shape-shifters, anything and everything. There are people like me, Anita Blake, who do it legally, but Edward doesn't sweat the legalities or, hell, the ethics. He is an equal opportunity killer.
I may be one of the few friends that Edward has, but it's like being friends with a tame leopard. It may curl on the foot of your bed and let you pet its head, but it can still eat your throat out...
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B0030MTPMO
Book Ten - Narcissus in Chains
Hamilton's vampire-hunting Anita Blake faces a plethora of foes in her tenth outing. Just returned to St. Louis after six months away, Anita is still no closer to choosing between her lovers--Jean-Claude, a vampire, and Richard, a werewolf. But she has to rely on both for help after two of the wereleopards that she has been watching are abducted at a seedy club called Narcissus in Chains. Anita and her boyfriends rescue the wereleopards from the sinister people holding them, but Anita is wounded in the fight and put at risk of becoming a wereleopard herself. Richard angrily captures the wereleopard he believes is responsible and threatens to execute him. Anita must now rescue that wereleopard from Richard and the werewolves he leads, even as she mourns the apparent end of her relationship with him. Then she realizes that those who kidnapped the first two wereleopards are targeting other lycanthropes. Maybe she will be next. With plenty of steamy sex and graphic violence, this is engaging reading for vampire cultists.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B000OIZVDO
Book Eleven - Cerulean Sins
Anita Blake is trying to get her life back to “normal” after a break-up with her werewolf lover. She has settled into a pattern of domesticity, which means that the new man in her life, the leopard shapeshifter Micah, has no problem sharing her with Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City. Things are as peaceful as they ever get for someone who raises the dead, when Jean-Claude receives an unexpected and unwelcome visitor: Musette, the very beautiful, very twisted representative of the European Council of Vampires. Anita soon finds herself caught up in a dangerous game of vampire power politics.
To add to her troubles, she is asked to consult on a series of brutal killings, which seem to be the work of something un-human. The investigation leads her to Cerulean Sins, a vampire-run establishment that deals in erotic videos, videos that cater to very specific tastes. Anita knows one creature of the night who has such interests — Jean-Claude’s visitor. But if Anita brings Musette down, the repercussions could cost her everything she holds dear.
Once a sworn enemy of all monsters, Anita is now the human consort of both Master Vampire Jean Claude and leopard shapeshifter Micah. When a centuries-old vampire hits St. Louis, Anita finds herself needing all the dark forces her passion can muster to save the ones she loves.
Anita Blake returns to find hell hath no fury like a vampire scorned.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B002YKOXDY
Book Twelve - Incubus Dreams
'The bride was a witch who solved preternatural crimes. The groom raised the dead and slew vampires for a living. It sounded like a Halloween joke, but it wasn't.'
When I'm not up my elbows in sacrificial gore, I've got serious preternatural issues to deal with. Psychotic shape-shifters, duplicitous vampires and sexually deviant were-leopards. And that's just my friends. I'm Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter and Federal Marshall.
My life is more complicated than ever, caught up between obligations to the living and to the undead. Now there is a vampire serial killer preying on strippers. And I've been called in to help the police.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B000OCXIO4
Book Thirteen - Micah
"RAISING THE DEAD IS EASY. LOVE IS HARD..."
There are lots of reasons to raise the dead-some private, some public. In this case, the feds have a witness who died before he could speak on the record. They want him raised so his testimony can be taken. So here I am, on a plane to Philadelphia, flying off to do my job.
But I'm not alone. Micah is with me. Micah, head of the St. Louis wereleopard pard. King to my Queen. The only one of my lovers who can stir my blood with just a glance from his chartreuse cat's eyes. I was happy to have him at my side.
Until he mentioned that this will be our first time alone together. No Master Vampire. No Alpha Werewolf. Just me and Micah. And all my fears and doubts...
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B0030MTPTW
Book Fourteen - Danse Macabre
These days, Anita Blake is less interested in vampire politics than in an ancient, ordinary dread she shares with women down the ages: she may be pregnant. And, if she is, whether the father is a vampire, a werewolf, or someone else entirely, he knows perfectly well that being a Federal Marshal known for raising the dead and being a vampire executioner, is no way to bring up a baby.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B000PDYVZ2
Book Fifteen - The Harlequin
Anita Blake is about to face the challenge of her life. Into her world-a world already overflowing with power-have come creatures so feared that powerful, centuries-old vampires refuse to mention their names. It is forbidden to speak of The Harlequin unless you've been contacted. And to be contacted by The Harlequin is to be under sentence of death.
Long-time rivals for Anita's affections, Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City, and Richard, alpha-werewolf, will need to become allies. Shapeshifters Nathaniel and Micah will have to step up their support. And then there's Edward. In this situation, Anita knows that she needs to call the one man who has always been there for her...
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B000X16Q4U
Book Sixteen - Blood Noir
When Anita Blake takes a trip with Jason, a young werewolf who is her friend and sometimes lover, there are consequences both in Jason's small hometown and in Anita's life with Jean-Claude. As master vampire of the city, Jean-Claude has appearances to maintain, and if his lover has gone off with someone else, the other vampires are led to certain conclusions: maybe Jean-Claude is getting soft. And if Jean-Claude is vulnerable, maybe Anita - who seems to amplify the powers of any man she stays with - might be stolen away from him, by force if necessary.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B0010SKTFC
Book Seventeen - Skin Trade
Once you tell someone certain things, like, say, you got mailed a human head in a box, they tend to think you're crazy.
Anita Blake's reputation has taken some hits. Not on the work front, where she has the highest kill count of all the legal vampire executioners in the country, but on the personal front. No one seems to trust a woman who sleeps with the monsters. Still, when a vampire serial killer sends her a head from Las Vegas, Anita has to warn Sin City's local authorities what they're dealing with. Only it's worse than she thought. Several officers and one executioner have been slain - paranormal style...
Anita heads to Las Vegas, where she's joined by three other federal marshals, including the ruthless Edward hiding behind his mild-mannered persona. It's a good thing Edward always has her back, because, when she gets close to the bodies, Anita senses "tiger" too strongly to ignore it. The were-tigers are very powerful in Las Vegas, which means the odds of her rubbing someone important the wrong way just got a lot higher...
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B0026NBZD0
Book Eighteen - Flirt
When Anita Blake meets with prospective client Tony Bennington, who is desperate to have her reanimate his recently deceased wife, she is full of sympathy for his loss. Anita knows something about love, and she knows everything there is to know about loss.
But what she also knows, though Tony Bennington seems unwilling to be convinced, is that the thing she can do as a necromancer isn't the miracle he thinks he needs. The creature that Anita could coerce to step out of the late Mrs. Bennington's grave would not be the lovely Mrs. Bennington.
Not really. And not for long.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B0030AOBRA
Book Nineteen - Bullet
The music came back up and the next group of little girls, slightly older, came out. There was a lot of that in the next hour and change. I liked dance, and it was no reflection on the kids, but my will to live began to seep away on about the fifth group of sequined children...
Anita Blake is back in St. Louis and trying to live a normal life-as normal as possible for someone who is a legal vampire executioner and a U. S. Marshal. There are lovers, friends and their children, school programs to attend. In the midst of all the ordinary happiness a vampire from Anita's past reaches out. She was supposed to be dead, killed in an explosion, but the Mother of All Darkness is the first vampire, their dark creator. It's hard to kill a god. This dark goddess has reached out to her here-in St. Louis, home of everyone Anita loves most. The Mother of All Darkness has decided she has to act now or never, to control Anita, and all the vampires in America.
The Mother of All Darkness believes that the triumvirate created by master vampire Jean-Claude with Anita and the werewolf Richard Zeeman has enough power for her to regain a body and to immigrate to the New World. But the body she wants to possess is already taken. Anita is about to learn a whole new meaning to sharing her body, one that has nothing to do with the bedroom. And if the Mother of All Darkness can't succeed in taking over Anita's body for herself, she means to see that no one else has the use of it, ever again. Even Belle Morte, not always a friend to Anita, has sent word: "Run if you can..."
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B003NX7BP8
Book Twenty - Hit List
A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect “monsters” are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, U.S. Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer.
But some monsters are very real—and even to speak their name can earn you a death sentence. The bogeymen of the vampire world, The Harlequin, are here in America hunting weretigers and human police. But Edward thinks the serial killings are just a trap—to lure Anita ever closer to the most dangerous vampire they’ve ever hunted…
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B004VCTFPE
Book Twenty-One - Kiss The Dead
When a fifteen-year-old girl is abducted by vampires, it’s up to U.S. Marshal Anita Blake to find her. And when she does, she’s faced with something she’s never seen before: a terrifyingly ordinary group of people—kids, grandparents, soccer moms—all recently turned and willing to die to avoid serving a master. And where there’s one martyr, there will be more…
But even vampires have monsters that they’re afraid of. And Anita is one of them…
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B0072O00VQ
Book Twenty-Two - Affliction
Micah’s estranged father lies dying, rotting away inside from some strange ailment that has his doctors whispering about “zombie disease.”
Anita Blake makes her living off of zombies—but these aren’t the kind she knows so well. These creatures hunt in daylight, and are as fast and strong as vampires. If they bite you, you become just like them. And round and round it goes…Where will it stop? Even Anita Blake doesn’t know.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B009NY3HSG
Book Twenty-Three - Jason
"Enjoying pain with your pleasure is something you either get, or you don't. If you get it, then you don't really need it explained, because you know how good it feels, and if you don't get it then no amount of talking is going to convince you it makes sense."
But sometimes you have to explain the unexplainable, especially if the love of your life needs to understand, or she'll leave you. Jason Schuyler is one of Anita Blake's best friends and favorite werewolves, with benefits. J.J. is his lady love, an old flame from childhood who dances at one of the top ballet companies in New York. She's accomplished, beautiful, and she's crazy about him, too. Neither of them wants to be monogamous, so what could go wrong?
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B00N27KX8M
Book Twenty-Four - Dead Ice
Anita Blake has the highest kill count of any vampire executioner in the country. She’s a U.S. Marshal who can raise zombies with the best of them. But ever since she and master vampire Jean-Claude went public with their engagement, all she is to anyone and everyone is Jean-Claude’s fiancée.
It’s wreaking havoc with her reputation as a hard ass—to some extent. Luckily, in professional circles, she’s still the go-to expert for zombie issues. And right now, the FBI is having one hell of a zombie issue.
Someone is producing zombie porn. Anita has seen her share of freaky undead fetishes, so this shouldn’t bother her. But the women being victimized aren’t just mindless, rotting corpses. Their souls are trapped behind their eyes, signaling voodoo of the blackest kind.
It’s the sort of case that can leave a mark on a person. And Anita’s own soul may not survive unscathed.
Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B00OQS4DJG
Book Twenty-Five - Crimson Death
I am sooooooo excited about this book!! Edward and Damain....nothing could make me happier! I am a HUGE Edward fan.
-Z Girl
When Damian—Anita’s sometimes lover, servant, and friend—is kidnapped, Anita heads to Ireland. There she must face off against the vampire who created him. M'Lady, Moroven, Nemhain...under every name she brings terror and destruction. But Anita brings her own weapon to the party: Edward, the man known as Death itself...
Amazon Pre-Order Link: http://amzn.com/B018FM3E3O
A Few Awesome Quotes:
“Love sucks. Sometimes it feels good. Sometimes it's just another way to bleed.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Blue Moon
“Never trust people who smile constantly. They're either selling something or not very bright.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Burnt Offerings
Before I knew you, I thought brave was not being afraid. You've taught me that bravery is being terrified and doing it anyway.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Blood Noir
“Neither love nor evil conquers all, but evil cheats more.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Cerulean Sins
“Maybe they know what I know, that the true way to a man's heart is six inches of metal between his ribs. Sometimes four inches will do the job, but to be really sure, I like to have six.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Narcissus in Chains
“Can the sarcasm,' he said. 'Please, I always use fresh sarcasm, never canned.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Circus of the Damned
“You can't save everybody. In fact, there are days when I think you can't save anyone. Each person has to save himself first, then you can move in and help. I have found this philosophy does not work during a gun battle, or a knife fight either. Outside of that it works just fine.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Guilty Pleasures
“People are supposed to fear the unknown, but ignorance is bliss when knowledge is so damn frightening.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
The Laughing Corpse
“Accidental sex. He made it sound like I fell down, and there just happened to be an erection in the way.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Incubus Dreams
“Sometimes it's not the optimist you need, but another pessimist to walk beside you and know, absolutely know, that the sound in the dark is a monster, and it really is as bad as you think.
Did that sound hopeless? It didn't feel hopeless. It felt reassuring. It felt - real.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Blood Noir
“One thing I've learned about vampires--they keep pulling new rabbits out of their cloaks. Big, fanged, carnivorous bunnies that'll eat your eyeballs if you're not paying attention.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Bloody Bones
“The truth may not set you free, but used carefully, it can confuse the hell out of your enemies.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Micah
“I didn't know what to say to that, so i kept my mouth shut. When in doubt,shut the fuck up.”
―
Laurell K. Hamilton,
Skin Trade
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Thank you for stopping by my Supe Friends! Be sure to swing by again soon, I will be posting #13 on my list of awesome book/series reads. Until then....Happy Reading!!
-Z Girl ❤️
A gambit of emotions
