Good, great, and the best in series reading
I just finished Susan Sizemore's "Primal Heat", the fifth book in her "Primes" series.
I read this really fast, and I was enjoying it while I was in the middle of the story, but I think it's ultimately one of those forgettable books.
With the best series, each book is near crystal clear. You walk away with the characters still inhabiting your head, and the plot pretty clear.
With great series, the characters always stick with you, but you may mix up the plots of individual books.
Then there are series where you remember liking the books, and remembering the basic world building, but there is nothing extraordinary that you take away. For good or bad, this series falls into the third category. (To be honest, I'm not sure if I ever picked up book four in the series.)
It's the literary equivalent of "Law and Order". You can always fall into the books, and enjoy reading them, but it's never appointment reading. It's never the book you have pre-ordered for months. It isn't the book you are tempted to skip work to read the moment it's available.
For me, the best in the urban fantasy/ paranormal romance genre is still Laurell K. Hamilton. And, no, not early Anita Blake, all of her work. I still say she's the grand dam of the genre.