Oo is Season 2 on? What channel?
I have read the books but they're quite different - a bit... hmm... not sure how to phrase it. A bit quirkier maybe? A bit less dark and sexy? The books are slightly more humorous, slightly more chicklit and slightly less Six Feet Under. One other fairly big difference is that there are virtually no black characters in the books. Tara is white and Layfayette is a minor character who is fairly instantly killed off.
They're good though. Just a bit different in feeling. And yes, Eric does feature more and more