Flirt, Book 18, Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series by Laurell K. Hamilton

Publisher:  Berkley / Penguin Group Publishing
Pages:  192

From the Cover:

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. 

For Anita, it's just another day at the office.  Re-Animators, Inc. specializes in raising the deceased, and Anita is strong in her necromancy powers.  She's had a few odd requests before, most just want her to bring back their loved one for one last long goodbye.  All that she can handle.  But, when Tony Bennington walks into her office asking that she raise his wife and that he can take her home and keep her, well, she has to draw the line.  Zombies don't keep well for very long, they are after all the dead, not the undead, not a preternatural, not the living, no matter how much they look like it.  When Anita refuses, Mr. Bennington takes it hard, but reluctantly leaves and that's the end of it, or so Anita thought.

Flirt by Laurell K. Hamilton is probably one of the best of Anita Blake's story I've read in a while.  It was a fast, fun read that I finished in one sitting.  Anita isn't the vampire human servant solely in this book and her role in this book isn't just about the wereanimals.  She's the necromancer, raising the dead for a living.  Jean-Claude is present in this book, but not as a driving force.  Micah, Nathaniel, and Jason enter as supporting characters, but Anita is the main focus of this book.  And it all starts out so innocently with just a little flirting.  When Anita refuses Bennington proposal of raising his dead, she heads to lunch with her bevy of men.  While at lunch, they flirt shamelessly with their waiter.  When Anita returns to the restaurant without her men, the waiter assumes she come back for him, but what Anita doesn't know, is something bigger and badder than flirting and an anxious waiter for waiting for her around the corner, so to speak.  Kidnapped and with the life of her lovers threatened, Anita has hard choices to make.

Flirt started out just as the name implies, an exercise is flirting, becoming comfortable in your own skin and with your sexuality.  It's sweet and fun.  Everyone enjoys a good flirting session, the flirtee and flirter.  But, things are never that simple for Anita Blake and soon the tables are turned.  What starts out as fun and flirty, turns into a deadly need to survive, and what you'll do to survive.  Usually with Anita Blake books, I would recommend reading them in order.  But with Flirt, it's just not necessary.  This is the perfect book to pick up if you just want to try one of Laurell K. Hamilton's books out.  See if they're something you'd like to read, no strings attached.  There enough background information given to provide the flavor of the books, but this is really Anita's story.  Don't let the fact that it's the 18th book in the series deter you or the fact that a lot of LKH's story have lots of sexuality and multiple partners, the sex is very much toned down in this book.  This book can easily stand alone as well as be part of a series.  Maybe that's why Ms. Hamilton wrote it.  She explains in the back to the book where her ideas comes from, why she writes.  She does it so well, I just hope it continues.  There's also a cute comic strip mini story at the end of the book, very enjoyable all about flirting.  I highly recommend Flirt to all lovers of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and fantasy readers.  It was fun to see Anita in action and employing those necromancy skills she uses so well.  It was also a little scary when at the end, she wonders if she can put it all away again.  I hoped I've tempted you into giving Flirt a try.

I picked up Flirt for my own enjoyment.  All opinions expressed are my own.