I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Incubus Dreams
by
Laurell K. Hamilton
It is part of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #12 series and is a erotic romance, urban fantasy in Paperback edition that was published by Jove on September 27, 2005 and has 722 pages.
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Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Hit List, Bloody Bones, Killing Dance, Burnt Offerings, Narcissus in Chains, Obsidian Butterfly, Bite, Micah, Danse Macabre, The Harlequin, Blood Noir, Skin Trade, Flirt, Bullet, Never After, Kiss the Dead, The First Death, Affliction, Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned, "Shutdown", A Kiss of Shadows, Lunatic Café, A Caress of Twilight, Seduced by Moonlight, A Stroke of Midnight, Mistral’s Kiss, A Lick of Frost, Blue Moon, Dead Ice, Jason, Crimson Death, Serpentine, "Wounded", Fantastic Hope, Cerulean Sins, A Terrible Fall of Angels, Slay, Swallowing Darkness
Twelfth in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter erotic urban fantasy series revolving around Anita Blake, necromancer, vampire executioner, and middle-class American with middle-class values thrust into a “partnership” with a vampire descended from a long line of vampires using lust as their primary tool.
My Take
This story is about acceptance: Tammy and Lawrence’s Halloween marriage; Anita and Nathaniel; the Wicked Truth; Richard realizing that he’s a hindrance; Anita’s preferences in bed; and Damian’s being accepted as a person with rights.
The key points are Anita’s forming her second triumvarate [sic] with Damian and Nathaniel which encourages Richard to acquiesce in merging their primary triumvarate. [We know this won’t last!] The three of them also begin to analyze just what characteristics each has gotten from the other two…a useful exercise brought about by Anita’s second triumvarate.
I do enjoy this series. Anita is such a kick-ass little thing. I especially enjoy when she forces acceptance on the big bruisers simply by being herself. The girl lives a full life with her harem, her job at Animators, Inc. and her encounters with Bert, the policework with which she’s involved, her relationship with Ronnie, and the insights she uncovers about herself. Yeah, she and Richard both frustrate the heck out of me as well. It just keeps ya wonderin’.
The Story
Anita is appalled that she welcomes a request to come to a murder scene when she’s supposed to be at Tammy and Lawrence’s wedding reception. A reception where she only makes more trouble for herself with Detective Jessica Arnet who is confused about the crossed signals flashing from Anita and Nathaniel. Hers is not the only confusion as Louis has asked Ronnie to marry him.
The major tragedy is a killing spree as an old master vamp kills his way across St. Louis.
The Characters
Anita Blake is a 26-year-old necromancer with a high kill-count in taking out vampires and other monsters as well as a Federal Marshal. A petite little thing, Anita is currently dating, officially, Jean-Claude while living with Micah and Nathaniel. Although Nathaniel is only “food” as are Jason, Requiem, Byron, and lord knows who else due to the ardeur which Anita has inherited.
Jean-Claude is a 300+-year-old vampire who is the Master of the City of St. Louis. He is very much in love with Anita — and with power. Power to protect himself and his vampires from stronger vampires including his maker, Belle Morte.
The Thronnos Rokke clan are…
…werewolves with Richard Zeeman as their Ulfric. And he hates what he is. Richard wants the white picket fence with 2.5 children. Instead, he’s a werewolf with the power of life and death over his wolves. Jason, one of his wolves, is Jean-Claude’s pomme de sang and a stripper at Guilty Pleasures.
Micah is the Nimir Raj to Anita’s Nimir Ra; leopard king to leopard queen. Nathaniel is a stripper at Guilty Pleasures, one of Jean-Claude’s clubs. Micah is also the leader of the Furry Coalition, an organization which promotes cross-shifter support and acceptance as well as liaises with government organizations such as the police and hospitals.
the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team (RPIT)…
…is a division within the St. Louis PD and is headed up by Lieutenant Rudolph Storr with Sergeant Zerbrowski his second-in-command — and the main go-to guy on the vampire serial killings. Although there is a sheriff who throws his weight around until Anita shoves it right back at him. Then there’s the Mobile Reserve, a SWAT team, that must enter the trap baited by a live hostage.
The Church of Eternal Life is…
…led by Malcolm, a vampire indulging in some very risky behavior with its eternal members.
The Cover and Title
The cover is so very golden with the Anita propping herself up while blindfolded and wearing a very sexy teddy with partial lace cups. I suspect the red blindfold is simply to suggest the new depths to which Anita must accustom herself as she tries to understand her pard. The title, Incubus Dreams refers to the strip club on the other side of the river where yet another victim of the serial vampire killers is found.
