Jason by Laurell K. Hamilton

Title:  Jason

Series:  Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Book #23

Author:  Laurell K. Hamilton

Genre:  Romance/Paranormal

Blurb:  “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?
J.J. is enthusiastically bisexual, with an emphasis on the female side of things. She plans to keep sleeping with women, because Jason can’t meet that need, just like she can’t meet Jason’s need for rough sex and bondage. J.J. doesn’t understand why Jason isn’t content to go elsewhere for a need she can’t fulfil, so Jason asks Anita to help him explain.
Anita is having her own relationship growing pains with her only female lover ever, Jade. Jason suggests that J.J. might be able to help Anita with her girl problem, while she helps him with his kinky explanations. With some encouragement from a few other lovers in Anita’s life she reluctantly agrees, and J. J. makes plans to fly into town for an experience that none of them will ever forget.

Thoughts:  Hard to believe we are on book number twenty-three in this series!  The Anita Blake series is my absolute favorite series – No matter what I am reading or how many books are on my TBR list, they all get cast aside (temporarily at least) for an Anita Blake book!  It’s sad the amount of time I wait for these books to come out – and then I devour them in a matter of hours.  If I had to pick one series that I literally cannot put down this is it!  But enough raving – onto the review!

While Jason is considered full-length (it is 304 pages) and not a short story or a novella, I have to tell you it still has that vibe and “feels” more like what you would expect to read in a much shorter novel.  That is not to say that it is not good – but if you are expecting to see Anita Blake, Federal Marshall working a case and being the kick@*! heroine that she is, you won’t see that in this book.  Jason focuses more on the intricacies of relationships – particularly Anita and Jade & Jason and J.J.  They all manage to reach some conclusions by the end, and manage to discover some new things about themselves as well.

I liked Jason – it wouldn’t be one of my favorites in the series, but proves to be an important one on a more intimate level.  Not only did I like the fact that Anita finally makes some decisions regarding Jade, but I enjoyed getting to know J.J’s character a little better.  Not to mention an amazing excerpt from the next book – which sounds awesome!  I will be waiting on pins and needles for the next book to come out!

Rate:  B+/A-