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I'm almost afraid to put this here.

Laurell K. Hamilton.

One of my coworkers decided to gift me with several of her books, which turned out to be from the "Anita Blake" series. I made the mistake of reading Narcissus in Chains first. In my mind, a scratching-record sound means something is going suddenly, obviously, and sometimes humorously wrong. That book is a symphony of record-scratches. Seriously, WERE-SWANS??? My friend D (an English grad student) got seven pages into it and has refused to look at anything else Hamilton's written, on the grounds that it reads like bad fanfiction. I wouldn't go that far, but I had to chuckle upon seeing Narcissus described by another friend as the book in which "she goes from Anita Blake, Badass to Anita Blake, Wanton Slut".

Which brings me to the "Meredith Gentry" series. Sex among the faeries, whee! Actually, these are slightly more palatable for me, but only because the majority of the male characters seem to be.. well, pretty. I've always had a thing for bish. It's a vice, I tell you. I'm torn, though, because these books tread a very fine line between legitimate fiction and fanciful romance novel. When you get right down to it, I think Merry gets up to more kinky bedroom hijinks than anything I ever encountered in a V.C. Andrews paperback.

If nothing else, they're a fun way to waste an eight-hour shift at work and if you like your men pretty, they can give you sketch ideas.

Thoughts from others who may have read a few of these?

The beginning of the Anita Blake series was good. There were Vampires, Were-Rats, Were-Wolves, and then she gradually added more Weres as it progressed. There was some kind of supernatural crime to be solved in each book at the beginning of the series. Anita was a no nonsense bad a**, who could take on the bad guys even if she was petite. Now she's a well armed slut who feeds off sex. Narcissus in Chains was where the downward spiral really got going. Sex, sex, sex. It seems like the books hardly leave the bedroom now, and when they do Anita ends up having sex in some random location (i.e. car, office). There's barely a plot line, and the practically nonexistant plot lines implemented suck.

By both series' current standards, I think Merry Gentry is fairing better than Anita Blake. I think I may be behind a book or two in the Merry Gentry series though.

I kind of wish Laurell K. Hamilton would start writing erotica on the side to get the worst of it out of her system so her series would have a chance of going back to having plots beyond lots of sex with almost any available male character.

One of my friends once wrote a note and slipped it into the Anita book I was currently reading. It said, "And then she died... After having lots of sex." I'm kind of hoping that's how one of the books ends soon so I don't have to keep reading. I can't stand not knowing what's happened in a series! It's a compulsion.

I'm slowly working my way through the Anita Blake series. I haven't gotten that far, though. I think they're great for an easy read, but there's not a lot of intellect there. I have several friends reading them, as well. They all vary from quite bookish to non-readers, and I just love the fact that it's something we can all discuss and have between us.

I am on Obsidian Butterfly in the series of the Anita Blake and I must admit she used to be a no nonsense character, but now she's just a well armed slut with a lot of sexual tension.

I find the books entertaining. I actually got my boyfriend hooked on them and he finished the series before I did. Men and sex, I swear. Anyway, she has another series out there which deals in sex a lot too. I remember one of the books being named Mistral's Kiss.

I have never read anything by MG, but one author I would suggest is Kim Harrison, she is freaking amazing when it comes to writing and there aren't too many sex scenes. But she adds a lot of sexual tension which is great and the main character in the books are funny. The first one Dead Witch Walking was great.

I haven't read either series but I've been thinking about it. The thing that makes or breaks it for me is whether it's just sex or there's some emotion involved. (I know, it sounds so old-fashioned). If it's just sex all the time, then I think it's porn. If there's emotion involved, it becomes erotic romance. So is there enough actual feeling between the characters that I'd want to read it?