This has really good reviews/gets suggested a lot, but I'm struggling to get through the first book in the series. I don't really like the main character or the vampires in her world. There are a lot of characters to keep up with and I'm not even halfway through the book yet.

Am I alone in not falling in love with the series right away?

I plan to finish the book, but I do not think I'll be continuing this series.

When I started reading Laurell K., a long time ago, I was addicted from book 1.     That lasted until about book #9 or so.    I thin I stopped somewhere around Obsidian Butterfly.   I bought Micah, but never finished it.    Now, I skip Laurell K.  

You have to understand that LKH started this series when there was very little Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance.  So we did not have much choice.  There was Anne Rice, LKH, and Tanya Huff.  This was back in the distant past before Buffy changed the world.  So folks are very passionate about these books.  And by passionate, I mean, they either love them, hate them, or are bloody furious at the shift from UF to erotica. 

Am I alone in not falling in love with the series right away?

well, i fell in love with it right away.  read book 1, and immediately went out and bought all the rest that were out at the time (i think the first 4 or 5), and slammed through them.

if you don't like book 1, then i really don't think you'll enjoy the rest of the series.  the cast of characters just keeps growing.

well I for one am furious about the change in the series, but please don't insult my beloved erotica books. lol LKH is NOT erotica

With a series book, I always feel like I have to at least finish the first book, in case it gets better. This one's not awful... I just can't read more than a few chapters at a time before I get bored, and they are short chapters. Even though I'm not in love with it, I want to know how it ends.

Ashley is correct.  Erotica actually has foreplay.  LKH doesn't.  So change my comment to the switch from UF to bad erotica.

I keep reading LKH.  But I am unsure if I would have started on the series if I was starting today.  Now we have so many choices.  Back in 1993, there wasn't.

lol thanks Emily :D

and I agree, there are so many good books out there, don't waste time with the crappy ones.

I liked the first book, and have gone through the first eight...there is a lot of supernatural variety, but the tone is similar.  If you dont like the first book, I doubt if you'll like the next several. 

I've recently read Skin Trade and she seems to be pulling back from the nonsense that was screwing up the last several books. She actually worked in this one and Edward was back! Yay! I love Edward! I wish she would do a series or write more about Edward.

She needs an editor.   The books would so improve with someone directing her back to the plot line.  Skin Trade seemed to be more edited than the few before it.   Yea. 

Still, she needs someone with a whip who doesn't just say yes to her.

I like LKH -- she is still one of my favs, and I liked the first one from the start as well -- but I had finished  all of Anne Rice's and they were similar, yet different at the same time. 

       They are on my keeper shelf -- even the newer porno ones. 

I used to love them and I read the Guilty Pleasures through Obsidian Butterfly several times, but after that the series lost it's luster and it sort of became a big ol' mess. If you're not in love with the first book then you probably won't like the rest of the series.

heather, your siggy pics made me do a big double take lol I love it, I want more, and I now know what I will be dreaming about tonight hehe

It's Anita Blake, by the way, not Baker :-).  Count me in with the group that liked the first several books, and got PO'd when it turned icky.  I think I was doing ok through Obsidian Butterfly.  I read Narcissus in Chains and haven't read any more since.  I don't plan to try reading any more.  At this point my TBR is way too big to try to read books that I've lost interest in,  ya know?  I will say that, IIRC, I liked the books after Guilty Pleasures better, however I still enjoyed GP.  So if you don't like it, don't pressure yourself to read more.  Everybody's tastes differ. 

Wasn't Anita Baker the lady with all the shoes???? I know t was something Baker. Anyhoo, LKH's new Anita book is titled FLIRT. I hope this isn't going to get lost in porn again. I rather enjoyed that Skin Trade had a story...and Edward.

heather, your siggy pics made me do a big double take lol I love it, I want more, and I now know what I will be dreaming about tonight hehe

Ash- I'm secretly obsessed with Wincest fanfic. Yum.

I dunno if I could read anything, they are brothers in my head and the squick factor might be too much for me lol ( I would't mind jumping into your 5th pic though :P )

I dunno if I could read anything, they are brothers in my head and the squick factor might be too much for me lol ( I would't mind jumping into your 5th pic though :P )

I know, normally ick, but I can't seem to help myself. I dunno what it is about those two boys. As for the 5th pic, *sigh* I could daydream about that all day.