I love the books. However, I first read them as an impressionable teen with relatively bad taste (Biggest Mercedes Lackey fan evah) and it definitely lends some rose tint to them. And, like I said, they're a very different creature. I actually used to have a Bonnie/Damon fic set after the original four books that I liked better than the books. (Said fic had the serial numbers filed off and is now a proper book so I can't link to it.)