What do you think?
Rate this book
H&W Investigations #2
Enlevée
Il fut un temps où le principal problème de Shiarra Waynest, détective privée, était de maintenir son agence à flot. Elle doit désormais négocier avec deux dangereux et séduisants vampires, ennemis depuis des siècles, dont elle a éveillé les convoitises. Alors que les tensions s’intensifient, les White Hats, chasseurs de vampires, pressent Shiarra de les rejoindre. Elle va alors découvrir que les apparences sont trompeuses, ce qui affectera toutes ses convictions... ainsi que ses désirs.
408 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 15, 2010
37 people are currently reading
1097 people want to read
About the author
Jess Haines
20 books525 followersI'm a USA Today and international bestselling author. I consider myself a displaced New Yorker with a penchant for the silly, the obscure, and the fantastical. These days, you can find me in the Tampa area. I'm currently working on the H&W Investigations urban fantasy series and the Blackhollow Academy young adult/new adult contemporary fantasy series. Find out more about my books, drop me a line, or join my mailing list at www.jesshaines.com!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
December 14, 2010
ARC Book will be released January 4, 2011
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Thoughts:
After reading Hunted by the Others, the first book in the H&W investigations series, I had lumped it as stereotypical comfort food for UF fans. Sure Haines had a very unique world where the Others are governed by law and can't just change people willy nilly. There was still something missing for me and with book number two I figured I'd get another 3/5 book. Haines definitely blew me out of the water.
The plot picks up and swings nicely into the world of the Others, taking on a much more satisfying turn. The last book our leading lady is basically pulled up into the events by mere petty chance. This time Shiarra needs to except that she's in this for the long haul, because once you've opened your door to the monsters there's no shutting them out. Especially when one of New York's most revered vampires has taken an interested in you.
My favorite part about this second installment is that events allow the reader to enter the realm of the White Hats. Considering they're Other haters and have taken some pretty nasty actions against others and humans a like, I still found myself time and again cheering for our pin toting bigots. Not everyone wearing the pin of the White Hats want to eradicate the filth at all costs. By the end of the book it brings into light that the White Hats and Others may have some of the same goals.
With this vast improvement of plot and pacing this book moves along beautifully. The reader can truly sink in. While I feel that the side characters from before (mainly the Hunters Belt *ahem*) where forgotten, you don't miss them long. New White Hat characters come up and they are a hoot! Shiarra is faced with her biggest fears, being held against her will and her blood drained. Then her biggest nightmare happens, becoming a mindless slave to her "master." My grip on the book was so intense that I actually left indents because I was so absorbed by the nightmare Shiarra was living.
The love interests did not get enough page time in all the action to develop. Chaz is basically a pouting wolf at the end, being irrationally upset that Shiarra was throwing herself at Royce even though she could not control it. If I was Chaz I would be upset too, but not to a point that there couldn't be some healing. At the end of the book it felt like Haines thought she had given the reader enough development between Royce and Shairra to make the reader switch teams. Personally, at the end of this book, Shiarra needs to run, run away from him. I just can not buy Royce being in love with her, it's too unrealistic for what we are given.
In the end the only thing that truly stopped this from being a 5/5 book was Shiarra's stupidity. I'm not going to tiptoe around it. Shiarra's lack of smarts in the first book was a sore point for me, but I figured that it was the first time she was running for her life so she could make stupid decisions. Shiarra forgot key points about the Hunters Belt, and still didn't know when to hide or take the evil villains threat seriously. It was like flashbacks to the first book. Shiarra's struggle with the dark side of the belt was definitely a saving point for her character development. Still I can't believe a vampire like Royce would want Shiarra. She's not naive, she's stupid.
Bottom Line: Haines has proven with this latest installment that she is an up and coming contender in the sea of books populating the UF genre. Be prepared to find a living nightmare, explore the White Hats, and see the true evil of the the Others. This book is an Adrenalin rush and you'll want to have all day and night to read this one!!
Sexual Content:
Nothing overly graphic. Some kissing, sex talk, and Shiarra has to deal with the sexual desire that a vampires bite can create.
4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Thoughts:
After reading Hunted by the Others, the first book in the H&W investigations series, I had lumped it as stereotypical comfort food for UF fans. Sure Haines had a very unique world where the Others are governed by law and can't just change people willy nilly. There was still something missing for me and with book number two I figured I'd get another 3/5 book. Haines definitely blew me out of the water.
The plot picks up and swings nicely into the world of the Others, taking on a much more satisfying turn. The last book our leading lady is basically pulled up into the events by mere petty chance. This time Shiarra needs to except that she's in this for the long haul, because once you've opened your door to the monsters there's no shutting them out. Especially when one of New York's most revered vampires has taken an interested in you.
My favorite part about this second installment is that events allow the reader to enter the realm of the White Hats. Considering they're Other haters and have taken some pretty nasty actions against others and humans a like, I still found myself time and again cheering for our pin toting bigots. Not everyone wearing the pin of the White Hats want to eradicate the filth at all costs. By the end of the book it brings into light that the White Hats and Others may have some of the same goals.
With this vast improvement of plot and pacing this book moves along beautifully. The reader can truly sink in. While I feel that the side characters from before (mainly the Hunters Belt *ahem*) where forgotten, you don't miss them long. New White Hat characters come up and they are a hoot! Shiarra is faced with her biggest fears, being held against her will and her blood drained. Then her biggest nightmare happens, becoming a mindless slave to her "master." My grip on the book was so intense that I actually left indents because I was so absorbed by the nightmare Shiarra was living.
The love interests did not get enough page time in all the action to develop. Chaz is basically a pouting wolf at the end, being irrationally upset that Shiarra was throwing herself at Royce even though she could not control it. If I was Chaz I would be upset too, but not to a point that there couldn't be some healing. At the end of the book it felt like Haines thought she had given the reader enough development between Royce and Shairra to make the reader switch teams. Personally, at the end of this book, Shiarra needs to run, run away from him. I just can not buy Royce being in love with her, it's too unrealistic for what we are given.
In the end the only thing that truly stopped this from being a 5/5 book was Shiarra's stupidity. I'm not going to tiptoe around it. Shiarra's lack of smarts in the first book was a sore point for me, but I figured that it was the first time she was running for her life so she could make stupid decisions. Shiarra forgot key points about the Hunters Belt, and still didn't know when to hide or take the evil villains threat seriously. It was like flashbacks to the first book. Shiarra's struggle with the dark side of the belt was definitely a saving point for her character development. Still I can't believe a vampire like Royce would want Shiarra. She's not naive, she's stupid.
Bottom Line: Haines has proven with this latest installment that she is an up and coming contender in the sea of books populating the UF genre. Be prepared to find a living nightmare, explore the White Hats, and see the true evil of the the Others. This book is an Adrenalin rush and you'll want to have all day and night to read this one!!
Sexual Content:
Nothing overly graphic. Some kissing, sex talk, and Shiarra has to deal with the sexual desire that a vampires bite can create.
4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.
September 3, 2011
*Rating* 3.0
*Genre*
*Review*
Jess Haines’ Taken by The Others is the second installment in the H&W Investigations series featuring Shiarra (Shia) Waynest as a private investigator who works and lives in New York City. She is one hundred percent human like her business partner Sara and was once fully entrenched in the Anti-Others feelings like her parents. Things have since changed since Hunted by The Others, the first book in the series.
Shia is still contractually obligated and bound by contract to Alec Royce, the elder vampire who owns half of New York and was one of the first vampires to come clean about the existence of vampires after 9/11. (See Hunted by The Others for more details)
Shia is also back with her werewolf boyfriend Chaz who Shia had previously managed to run away from after learning the truth about his inner wolf. The only thing that is keeping them from going horizontal is Shia’s refusal to be changed from being a human into an Other with the exchange of bodily fluids. Can’t say that I blame Shia for her stand on not wanting to be bound and changed since most writer’s take the view that it’s better to change the protagonist, than to allow her to remain human.
Taken by The Others picks up approximately 6 months after Shia was beat down, put in the hospital, and nearly killed after helping take down a vampire named Anastasia and her mage lover. Now, Max Carlyle the dead vampires sire, has come calling for retribution against those he feels were responsible for her death and Shia is right at the top of that list along with Alec Royce who he has a very, very long history with.
Jack, the leader of the White Hats, once again shows up un-expectantly and tells Shiarra that he wants her to join their organization as a hunter and to stay away from the Others. He truly believes that she is a necessary part of their plans to defeat the Others. Ever since Shia got her haunted Hunters belt from the Council of Mages, she has become a White Hat target for recruitment. It is Jack who tells Shia about the arrival of Max to New York and his intent on talking to her about what happened the night that Anastasia was killed.
This series is unique in the way that it deals with relationships between vampires, werewolves, mages, humans, and other supernaturals. Humans and Others are required by law to sign a contract called the Notice of Mutual Consent to Human/Other Citizen Relationship and Contractual Binding Agreement in order for a sexual relationship or a blood transference can occur. It’s supposed to be a protection for both parties, but it tends to favor the Other’s rights over humans who choose to get involved with them.
In Shia’s case, she was lucky enough to have Sara on her side and was able to twist and modify the agreement so that it is mutually beneficial to her as well as Alec which allowed her to escape not being turned into a vampire. Once again in Taken by The Others, Shia makes some glaring errors in judgment and her bad mistakes nearly cost her in terms of her own life, her will, and her eternal soul.
There are plot twists and surprising characters (Mouse and Dawn Hartley) that show up and steal the show away from Shia and the others. I hope that Haines continues their story into the next installment in this series and not just puts them on the back burner where we will never see them again.
I’m not 100 percent convinced that Shia makes a kick-ass protagonist as of yet. When she has her belt on, she still questions the reason behind the things she does. She hesitates when vampires nearly kill her, and only by the belt taking total control is she even remotely able to survive. I still want to see her not think so much, and act the fool when it comes to saving not only her own life, but those of her friends as well.
Jess Haines
H & W Investigations
1. Hunted by The Others (2010)
2. Taken By The Others (January 1, 2011)
3. Deceived By The Others (July 1, 2011) * Being acquired by the library *
*Genre*
*Review*
Jess Haines’ Taken by The Others is the second installment in the H&W Investigations series featuring Shiarra (Shia) Waynest as a private investigator who works and lives in New York City. She is one hundred percent human like her business partner Sara and was once fully entrenched in the Anti-Others feelings like her parents. Things have since changed since Hunted by The Others, the first book in the series.
Shia is still contractually obligated and bound by contract to Alec Royce, the elder vampire who owns half of New York and was one of the first vampires to come clean about the existence of vampires after 9/11. (See Hunted by The Others for more details)
Shia is also back with her werewolf boyfriend Chaz who Shia had previously managed to run away from after learning the truth about his inner wolf. The only thing that is keeping them from going horizontal is Shia’s refusal to be changed from being a human into an Other with the exchange of bodily fluids. Can’t say that I blame Shia for her stand on not wanting to be bound and changed since most writer’s take the view that it’s better to change the protagonist, than to allow her to remain human.
Taken by The Others picks up approximately 6 months after Shia was beat down, put in the hospital, and nearly killed after helping take down a vampire named Anastasia and her mage lover. Now, Max Carlyle the dead vampires sire, has come calling for retribution against those he feels were responsible for her death and Shia is right at the top of that list along with Alec Royce who he has a very, very long history with.
Jack, the leader of the White Hats, once again shows up un-expectantly and tells Shiarra that he wants her to join their organization as a hunter and to stay away from the Others. He truly believes that she is a necessary part of their plans to defeat the Others. Ever since Shia got her haunted Hunters belt from the Council of Mages, she has become a White Hat target for recruitment. It is Jack who tells Shia about the arrival of Max to New York and his intent on talking to her about what happened the night that Anastasia was killed.
This series is unique in the way that it deals with relationships between vampires, werewolves, mages, humans, and other supernaturals. Humans and Others are required by law to sign a contract called the Notice of Mutual Consent to Human/Other Citizen Relationship and Contractual Binding Agreement in order for a sexual relationship or a blood transference can occur. It’s supposed to be a protection for both parties, but it tends to favor the Other’s rights over humans who choose to get involved with them.
In Shia’s case, she was lucky enough to have Sara on her side and was able to twist and modify the agreement so that it is mutually beneficial to her as well as Alec which allowed her to escape not being turned into a vampire. Once again in Taken by The Others, Shia makes some glaring errors in judgment and her bad mistakes nearly cost her in terms of her own life, her will, and her eternal soul.
There are plot twists and surprising characters (Mouse and Dawn Hartley) that show up and steal the show away from Shia and the others. I hope that Haines continues their story into the next installment in this series and not just puts them on the back burner where we will never see them again.
I’m not 100 percent convinced that Shia makes a kick-ass protagonist as of yet. When she has her belt on, she still questions the reason behind the things she does. She hesitates when vampires nearly kill her, and only by the belt taking total control is she even remotely able to survive. I still want to see her not think so much, and act the fool when it comes to saving not only her own life, but those of her friends as well.
Jess Haines
H & W Investigations
1. Hunted by The Others (2010)
2. Taken By The Others (January 1, 2011)
3. Deceived By The Others (July 1, 2011) * Being acquired by the library *
October 13, 2014
Reviewed by: Rabid Reads.
TAKEN BY THE OTHERS proves that even ancient vampires aren't above acting stupid over a woman. And, not only that, but these two elders are too self-involved to realize that the heroine doesn't actually want either of them, because she's already dating a hunky werewolf named Chaz. MEN! Granted, their motivations are slightly different, however at the end of the day it all comes down to jealousy. Six months have gone by since the previous installment, and Waynest was still under the misguided impression that she could walk away from the Others' universe, well this book certainly cleared that up, and then some! I love me a good super villain, and we get that in spades with Max Carlyle—epic battles, betrayals, and sacrifices ensued as a result. That first kill is always the toughest, but consider Shiarra officially initiated into the elite club of vampire hunters. BOOYAH!
Becoming a kickass protagonist is never easy, and Waynest was most certainly put through her paces in this latest novel. She gets kidnapped on several occasions, experiences her first (and second) fanged kisses, and beats one of her assailants to a pulp. She also gets bound to not one, but two vamps, and overcomes the symptoms of blood withdrawal in all of their glory. However, when the dust finally settled, she was still standing, and in Urban Fantasy that's the only thing that counts. I have enjoyed following Shia's journey from human P.I. to don't-mess-with-me slayer; I liked how Haines explained her insta-skills in HUNTED BY THE OTHERS, and then made her hit rock bottom in book 2. So many authors brush over the harsh learning curve that comes with their lead character's heroine status, but not Jess, she let readers witness Waynest's transformation in all of its gruesome magnificence.
The plot's rather self-explanatory, just read the blurb and you'll pretty much get the gist of it. I thought that the story tied in well with the previous novel while also adding to the H&W INVESTIGATIONS world nicely, and ensuring that this series will continue to gain speed in future installments. Another supe gets added to Haines' already teeming paranormal cocktail in the form of Dawn, the elf supermodel, and the White Hats show their true colours. I can't say that I was overly shocked by the latter, but at least Devon and Tiny demonstrated that not all members of their order are bigots. I also enjoyed learning more about this universe's vampires including more details about the Others' contracts, blood bonds, and their internal politics. The final powwow was an action lover's wet dream, and meeting Mouse was a real delight—I hope that this won't be the last we see of her.
I'm not completely sold on the direction of this series' romance; I like Chaz, but I just don't know. He gets mad props for sticking with Shia throughout her recent ordeals, and bonus points for staying the course without a contract, because no paperwork = no sex. They've officially been on-again for six+ months now, and surviving that long without knocking boots is a huge challenge for your average Joe, but for a werewolf it's nigh impossible IMO. It's either true love, or the man is a complete sucker. I personally like Royce as a match even though his true motivations remain unclear. I know, I know—me choosing fangs over fur that has to be a first! It's just that Chaz hasn't really shown any alpha tendencies, and I didn't particularly care for his reaction to Waynest's blood bond woes, although I did sympathize with his reasons.
I broke-up with the vampire hunter story line long ago, but TAKEN BY THE OTHERS is proof that Jess Haines is doing great things for this genre, and as a result, it might soon be making a comeback on this reader's shelves.
TAKEN BY THE OTHERS proves that even ancient vampires aren't above acting stupid over a woman. And, not only that, but these two elders are too self-involved to realize that the heroine doesn't actually want either of them, because she's already dating a hunky werewolf named Chaz. MEN! Granted, their motivations are slightly different, however at the end of the day it all comes down to jealousy. Six months have gone by since the previous installment, and Waynest was still under the misguided impression that she could walk away from the Others' universe, well this book certainly cleared that up, and then some! I love me a good super villain, and we get that in spades with Max Carlyle—epic battles, betrayals, and sacrifices ensued as a result. That first kill is always the toughest, but consider Shiarra officially initiated into the elite club of vampire hunters. BOOYAH!
Becoming a kickass protagonist is never easy, and Waynest was most certainly put through her paces in this latest novel. She gets kidnapped on several occasions, experiences her first (and second) fanged kisses, and beats one of her assailants to a pulp. She also gets bound to not one, but two vamps, and overcomes the symptoms of blood withdrawal in all of their glory. However, when the dust finally settled, she was still standing, and in Urban Fantasy that's the only thing that counts. I have enjoyed following Shia's journey from human P.I. to don't-mess-with-me slayer; I liked how Haines explained her insta-skills in HUNTED BY THE OTHERS, and then made her hit rock bottom in book 2. So many authors brush over the harsh learning curve that comes with their lead character's heroine status, but not Jess, she let readers witness Waynest's transformation in all of its gruesome magnificence.
The plot's rather self-explanatory, just read the blurb and you'll pretty much get the gist of it. I thought that the story tied in well with the previous novel while also adding to the H&W INVESTIGATIONS world nicely, and ensuring that this series will continue to gain speed in future installments. Another supe gets added to Haines' already teeming paranormal cocktail in the form of Dawn, the elf supermodel, and the White Hats show their true colours. I can't say that I was overly shocked by the latter, but at least Devon and Tiny demonstrated that not all members of their order are bigots. I also enjoyed learning more about this universe's vampires including more details about the Others' contracts, blood bonds, and their internal politics. The final powwow was an action lover's wet dream, and meeting Mouse was a real delight—I hope that this won't be the last we see of her.
I'm not completely sold on the direction of this series' romance; I like Chaz, but I just don't know. He gets mad props for sticking with Shia throughout her recent ordeals, and bonus points for staying the course without a contract, because no paperwork = no sex. They've officially been on-again for six+ months now, and surviving that long without knocking boots is a huge challenge for your average Joe, but for a werewolf it's nigh impossible IMO. It's either true love, or the man is a complete sucker. I personally like Royce as a match even though his true motivations remain unclear. I know, I know—me choosing fangs over fur that has to be a first! It's just that Chaz hasn't really shown any alpha tendencies, and I didn't particularly care for his reaction to Waynest's blood bond woes, although I did sympathize with his reasons.
I broke-up with the vampire hunter story line long ago, but TAKEN BY THE OTHERS is proof that Jess Haines is doing great things for this genre, and as a result, it might soon be making a comeback on this reader's shelves.
August 17, 2011
Posted at http://yummymenandkickasschicks.com/?...
Taken by the Others is the second book in Jess Haines’ H&W Investigations series. No I did not read book one. I know, I know, so not like me! Well, there was a slight mix up and I got book two. But you know what? It turned out okay.
The book opens with Shiarra, our heroine, having to talk someone down who just happens to have a gun pointed to her head. Yeah. I have to tell you, with an opening like that, you know you are in for a fast paced read.
I liked Shiarra even though I found that her fear of vampires and being bitten was a little bit much at times. Then again, that is her phobia and therefore she is allowed to be scared senseless I suppose. I found myself giggling at what she was saying and thinking through the book, and I always love when a character can make me giggle. She and the other characters in this book certainly kept me well entertained. I enjoyed seeing some of the White Hats (Other being hunters) learn that their perception of the Others was not quite accurate. I enjoyed reading Devon (he would make a great novella hero). And I really enjoyed Royce.
Alec Royce is a vampire. An old and powerful one. She is suave and charming, in his own way, and he (we think) has eyes for Shiarra. You can tell that he isn’t used to being told no or to being told to hold off, but he does his best for Shia. But man can you ever tell that it’s taking every ounce of restraint he owns! Shia wants nothing to do with Royce, not only because he is what she is most afraid of, but also because she has a pretty serious boyfriend in Chaz.
I didn’t get much of a feel for Chaz (and leader of one of the Werewolf packs in town). He isn’t in the book much and what we see of him well…let’s just say there isn’t much talking. And no I don’t mean because they are too busy doing the nasty – I mean because he’s a wolf and can’t talk.
The story itself was pretty good. A vampire wants an eye for an eye after what happened in book one and he seems to feel that Shiarra is that eye. So he tries to kidnap her. Sometimes he succeeds and sometimes he does not. But it does make for quite the ride.
Even though the end felt a tad rushed to me (bam your fighting, bam you’re gone, bam your lover is hurt, bam you run off), I enjoyed the pace of the rest of the book and the overall feel of it too. Interesting characters set in an interesting world. I really like the idea that vampires are restricted by law and that you have to have a legally bound contract before being turned or bled. Pretty neat.
I did not feel lost or confused at all while reading this book – seeing that I did not read book one. That said there were a few details that I was very curious about their origins. The belt for example. And how Shiarra met Royce. And how long has Shiarra been in a relationship with Chaz. And why is Shiarra so darned afraid of vampires?! These are all things I would assume are explained in the first book. And although I didn’t feel lost of confused, I did find myself wanting to learn more.
Am I planning on reading the next book? Eventually for sure, yes. I am very curious to see where things go with Shiarra and Chaz. And let’s not forget Royce. No, let’s not forget Royce.
3.5 stars
Taken by the Others is the second book in Jess Haines’ H&W Investigations series. No I did not read book one. I know, I know, so not like me! Well, there was a slight mix up and I got book two. But you know what? It turned out okay.
The book opens with Shiarra, our heroine, having to talk someone down who just happens to have a gun pointed to her head. Yeah. I have to tell you, with an opening like that, you know you are in for a fast paced read.
I liked Shiarra even though I found that her fear of vampires and being bitten was a little bit much at times. Then again, that is her phobia and therefore she is allowed to be scared senseless I suppose. I found myself giggling at what she was saying and thinking through the book, and I always love when a character can make me giggle. She and the other characters in this book certainly kept me well entertained. I enjoyed seeing some of the White Hats (Other being hunters) learn that their perception of the Others was not quite accurate. I enjoyed reading Devon (he would make a great novella hero). And I really enjoyed Royce.
Alec Royce is a vampire. An old and powerful one. She is suave and charming, in his own way, and he (we think) has eyes for Shiarra. You can tell that he isn’t used to being told no or to being told to hold off, but he does his best for Shia. But man can you ever tell that it’s taking every ounce of restraint he owns! Shia wants nothing to do with Royce, not only because he is what she is most afraid of, but also because she has a pretty serious boyfriend in Chaz.
I didn’t get much of a feel for Chaz (and leader of one of the Werewolf packs in town). He isn’t in the book much and what we see of him well…let’s just say there isn’t much talking. And no I don’t mean because they are too busy doing the nasty – I mean because he’s a wolf and can’t talk.
The story itself was pretty good. A vampire wants an eye for an eye after what happened in book one and he seems to feel that Shiarra is that eye. So he tries to kidnap her. Sometimes he succeeds and sometimes he does not. But it does make for quite the ride.
Even though the end felt a tad rushed to me (bam your fighting, bam you’re gone, bam your lover is hurt, bam you run off), I enjoyed the pace of the rest of the book and the overall feel of it too. Interesting characters set in an interesting world. I really like the idea that vampires are restricted by law and that you have to have a legally bound contract before being turned or bled. Pretty neat.
I did not feel lost or confused at all while reading this book – seeing that I did not read book one. That said there were a few details that I was very curious about their origins. The belt for example. And how Shiarra met Royce. And how long has Shiarra been in a relationship with Chaz. And why is Shiarra so darned afraid of vampires?! These are all things I would assume are explained in the first book. And although I didn’t feel lost of confused, I did find myself wanting to learn more.
Am I planning on reading the next book? Eventually for sure, yes. I am very curious to see where things go with Shiarra and Chaz. And let’s not forget Royce. No, let’s not forget Royce.
3.5 stars
September 6, 2011
New York P.I. Shiarra Waynest has quite the problem in the second instalment of the H&W Investigations series by Jess Haines. TAKEN BY THE OTHERS starts off with a little trouble in paradise between Shia and her werewolf boyfriend, Chaz. When Chaz misses their date, Shia strikes out by calling in Alec Royce, the most powerful and lethally gorgeous vampire in New York for some business. But when her doorbell rings, Shia faces someone much worse than Alec Royce...
Max Carlyle is coming to town and he has his sights on Shia for killing his progeny, Anatasia. When Shia faces Max’s goons, she soon realizes that Max wants a lot more from her than she first thought. While it seems that Royce has some plans of his own involving Shia, they don’t seem to involve her death like Max's does. As the personal battle between Max and Alec escalate, Shia gets sucked in more and more.
While TAKEN BY THE OTHERS starts off a little slow, it does pick up in its pace closer towards the middle and all through the end. I enjoy Ms. Haines’s writing style. She pays a great amount of attention to detail and I can definitely appreciate that. However, it can drag on a bit and slow down the pace. For me, this only happened in the first part of the book while in the latter half, she seems to tighten things up a bit more.
One of the great things about this series is the world that Haines has created. With the White Hats, the vampires and werewolves, it’s jam-packed with the supernatural. But what’s more interesting is the fact that Shia, the heroine remains a human in all this and can still keep up (with the help of her belt). While I did like Shia in this book, I hoped to see more of a growth in her character in future books. I felt like she was exactly the same from book 1. But one thing I hope that never changes about Shia is the fact that she still has vulnerabilities. I love that in a heroine. It makes them much more relatable.
The men in this series are great! Alec Royce is still sexy and Chaz still gets on my nerves sometimes. I do enjoy his possessiveness, but as is natural for weres, he has a temper. I hope to see more of Shia and her relationships with Royce and Chaz because I think it’s one of the many driving forces of this series.
If you’re thinking about starting this series, then I suggest reading book one first. HUNTED BY THE OTHERS contains a lot of events that will make more sense when you read this one.
*review copy provided by author
Max Carlyle is coming to town and he has his sights on Shia for killing his progeny, Anatasia. When Shia faces Max’s goons, she soon realizes that Max wants a lot more from her than she first thought. While it seems that Royce has some plans of his own involving Shia, they don’t seem to involve her death like Max's does. As the personal battle between Max and Alec escalate, Shia gets sucked in more and more.
While TAKEN BY THE OTHERS starts off a little slow, it does pick up in its pace closer towards the middle and all through the end. I enjoy Ms. Haines’s writing style. She pays a great amount of attention to detail and I can definitely appreciate that. However, it can drag on a bit and slow down the pace. For me, this only happened in the first part of the book while in the latter half, she seems to tighten things up a bit more.
One of the great things about this series is the world that Haines has created. With the White Hats, the vampires and werewolves, it’s jam-packed with the supernatural. But what’s more interesting is the fact that Shia, the heroine remains a human in all this and can still keep up (with the help of her belt). While I did like Shia in this book, I hoped to see more of a growth in her character in future books. I felt like she was exactly the same from book 1. But one thing I hope that never changes about Shia is the fact that she still has vulnerabilities. I love that in a heroine. It makes them much more relatable.
The men in this series are great! Alec Royce is still sexy and Chaz still gets on my nerves sometimes. I do enjoy his possessiveness, but as is natural for weres, he has a temper. I hope to see more of Shia and her relationships with Royce and Chaz because I think it’s one of the many driving forces of this series.
If you’re thinking about starting this series, then I suggest reading book one first. HUNTED BY THE OTHERS contains a lot of events that will make more sense when you read this one.
*review copy provided by author
June 29, 2014
If you read my review of the first book of this series, "Hunted By The Others," you'd know that I'm not really a fan of main heroine Shiarra (Shia) Waynest and the world she lives in. However, I purchased a collection of the first 4 books of The Others' series by Jess Haines so I figured I'd muscle through.
SO! Without further ado, here's a spoiler free review of book two.
Shiarra (I'll just call her Shia as the author does from here on out) falls into the writer's trap of telling the reader she is very special and important to people without ever making it seem believable. In the first book, after working a PI case that involved Werewolves (the one and only case she ever worked in her life involved supernaturals), she is contacted by a ranking member of a society of sorcerers. Upon completely f'ing up what she agreed to do with them, she is essentially cornered by an ancient, elder vampire named Alec Royce into becoming contracted to him. From this point forward - despite really never EVER explaining to you why she of all people is so important to all of these races - Shia is treated as practically "the chosen one" that witches, vampires, werewolves, and other humans, all come to rely on. She does absolutely nothing to explain or show through action why she deserves these accolades and instead, usually is once again getting others to help her everywhere she goes.
She is a hypocritical asshole to boot. She is constantly telling us vampires are terrifying and horrible and the most dangerous of the supernaturals, but with the exception of the clearly psychotic bad guy of the 2nd book, Max, we see no reason that vampires are so un-restrained and predatory. Meanwhile, the first book showed that Shia is basically terrified of supernaturals who have revealed themselves to current-day humanity about 10 years ago. She even kicks her boyfriend out of the house SIMPLY BECAUSE he happened to be a Were and she found out about it when he reveals himself to her, thinking she'd accept him. She didn't but they got back together.
Turns out - at the very start of this book - the author makes it very clear that she and her Were boyfriend Chaz no longer have sex. They won't have sex until she signs an agreement of acknowledgment that exists in this world to protect humans from potential "incidents" with powerful supernaturals. Again - we are seeing this boyfriend who she treated like shit simply because of who and what he is - playing the celebicy card because he just loves her THAT much. This guy is an Alpha of his pack, but he's going to be bitch smacked by apparently the only beautiful woman in NYC? Give me a break.
On top of this, the human radicals (basically the KKK instead of White Hoods, the author so creatively calls the "White Hats") are also contacting Shia constantly telling her they "need her for something and she has to pick a side." Again - why the hell do they need her? That question is quite literally NEVER ANSWERED in this book. This question started one book ago, and it's STILL not answered.
Lastly, to top off this menagerie of WTF'ry, the most powerful vampire on the east coast, if not one of the most powerful vampires in the world, Alec Royce, is still so infatuated with Shia - this dime a dozen human of which he's seen no less than 2 billion of in his 2,000+year life time - that she lands up being bait in a rivalry between him and his arch nemesis Max Carlyle. Because vampires.
This all leads to a story in which lots of over the top action happens that would have made a hell of alot more sense if I understood what in the ever living pop tarts Shia was doing there in the first place! Of every supernatural that shows up (and even some of the White Hat members) Shia is the least important person there. She only serves to be a first person narrator of events and bitch and moan about everything, when she's not acting like a 16 year old girl. The number of times this woman giggles in the face of very dangerous events does not make her endearing or believable, it makes her a cliche out of a CW show who probably wakes up in the morning with perfect eyeshadow and eyeliner.
I'd like to focus though, without any spoilers, that Shia continues to be a racist/speciest (whatever) dipshit who despite having had MONTHS to have learned about the things she tangoed with (And almost died as a result) in the first book - is still entirely uninformed about how vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers work. The author is lazy in places she needs to give detail and instead gives detail about things noone cares about. When Shia is trying to guess what's going on there are numerous instances where she makes observations that go along the lines of "I didn't know they could even drink something that wasn't blood. Whatever." WHATEVER. This author actually brushes off details about an entire species with WHATEVER - SO MANY TIMES. If I was taking shots every time I read the word "whatever," let's just say I might not even be able to SAY "whatever" by the time this book was through. Instead we get lots of details that make no sense - like Shia getting kidnapped off the streets of NYC by a huge group of armed men who (I'm not making this up) FIRE A DESERT EAGLE INTO THE AIR AS A WARNING SHOT. She goes out of her way to mention it's a Desert Eagle hand gun. On top of all the shamefully poor gun lingo in this series, this just made me laugh out loud. In short -if you were to shoot a home invader with a Desert Eagle, you'd shoot them, your wall, probably the wall behind them, and it would look like Cookie Monster had just punched holes through your living structure. One does not just FIRE such a powerful live round into the air and hope it just turns into sparkles.
I digress.
Was there good about this book? Yea. Once again, Haines actually CAN WRITE when she feels like it. The fight scene at the end of the book was the best part of the book and kudos to her for being able to write a pretty decent fight scene that I could keep up with. MANY books I read feeling like "wait weren't they just over there? how the hell did they get upstairs??" Not so in this case. The action scenes were well paced, made sense, and didn't get so wordy that you lost the pacing.
I really liked that I got to see more about Alec Royce (the good vampire) and his past, even though his past is completely ridiculous. Haines clearly is writing this character with zero plan. I wish she'd just have given him no backstory instead of writing herself into a corner by giving him 2,000 years of history and a sire named "Athena." Also, I wish Haines would decide ahead of time which races she feels like making part of her story lines and introducing them in a capable manner. This book introduces a singular elven character. She has a very small role in the overall plot, but she is just thrown in like it's no big deal using terms like "Fae magic" and "the fair folk" like I'm supposed to know what that means. I know what it means in mythology as a WHOLE but the point of urban fantasy is that you tailor existing mythology to fit your own world. I have yet to see how Haines plans on doing that without a plan.
Shiarra also constantly is stating shes "not" things - not species-ist, not racist, not homophobic. As we all know, when people repeatedly say these things, its usually because they are. In the first book she got annoyed when two different people mistook her for a lesbian. There was absolutely no reason for her to be annoyed in the first place, but she treats it like its some pervy accusation. In this book, she notices on vampires followers are mostly men. She wonders briefly if he is bisexual and follows that up with "I DEFINITELY didn't feel like thinking about that." That was such a bizarre sentence for me, as the reader, that I actually did a double take. Lastly, in this book, there's a moment here a male vampire is cradling one of his servants in a loving manner because they've been injured. She feels it necessary to say it made her "stare" because she wasn't used to seeing men react that way - not because she's homophobic. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THERE ARE ANCIENT UNDEAD VAMPIRES FIGHTING IN YOUR BASEMENT AND YOURE WONDERING IF THESE VAMPIRES ARE GAY?! Further more you live in NYC of all places. She also makes several comments that her parents aren't outwardly racist but theyre "very Catholic" and think anything supernatural is an affront to God. Shia claims she doesn't agree but also doesn't tell them her boyfriend is a Were either. It reeks of being in a mixed race relationship and being afraid to tell mom. Grow up Shia.
Anyway....I want my money's worth so after taking a small break I guess I'll read the next two - if only because writing these reviews is almost as much fun as the ridiculousness that I'm reading.
SO! Without further ado, here's a spoiler free review of book two.
Shiarra (I'll just call her Shia as the author does from here on out) falls into the writer's trap of telling the reader she is very special and important to people without ever making it seem believable. In the first book, after working a PI case that involved Werewolves (the one and only case she ever worked in her life involved supernaturals), she is contacted by a ranking member of a society of sorcerers. Upon completely f'ing up what she agreed to do with them, she is essentially cornered by an ancient, elder vampire named Alec Royce into becoming contracted to him. From this point forward - despite really never EVER explaining to you why she of all people is so important to all of these races - Shia is treated as practically "the chosen one" that witches, vampires, werewolves, and other humans, all come to rely on. She does absolutely nothing to explain or show through action why she deserves these accolades and instead, usually is once again getting others to help her everywhere she goes.
She is a hypocritical asshole to boot. She is constantly telling us vampires are terrifying and horrible and the most dangerous of the supernaturals, but with the exception of the clearly psychotic bad guy of the 2nd book, Max, we see no reason that vampires are so un-restrained and predatory. Meanwhile, the first book showed that Shia is basically terrified of supernaturals who have revealed themselves to current-day humanity about 10 years ago. She even kicks her boyfriend out of the house SIMPLY BECAUSE he happened to be a Were and she found out about it when he reveals himself to her, thinking she'd accept him. She didn't but they got back together.
Turns out - at the very start of this book - the author makes it very clear that she and her Were boyfriend Chaz no longer have sex. They won't have sex until she signs an agreement of acknowledgment that exists in this world to protect humans from potential "incidents" with powerful supernaturals. Again - we are seeing this boyfriend who she treated like shit simply because of who and what he is - playing the celebicy card because he just loves her THAT much. This guy is an Alpha of his pack, but he's going to be bitch smacked by apparently the only beautiful woman in NYC? Give me a break.
On top of this, the human radicals (basically the KKK instead of White Hoods, the author so creatively calls the "White Hats") are also contacting Shia constantly telling her they "need her for something and she has to pick a side." Again - why the hell do they need her? That question is quite literally NEVER ANSWERED in this book. This question started one book ago, and it's STILL not answered.
Lastly, to top off this menagerie of WTF'ry, the most powerful vampire on the east coast, if not one of the most powerful vampires in the world, Alec Royce, is still so infatuated with Shia - this dime a dozen human of which he's seen no less than 2 billion of in his 2,000+year life time - that she lands up being bait in a rivalry between him and his arch nemesis Max Carlyle. Because vampires.
This all leads to a story in which lots of over the top action happens that would have made a hell of alot more sense if I understood what in the ever living pop tarts Shia was doing there in the first place! Of every supernatural that shows up (and even some of the White Hat members) Shia is the least important person there. She only serves to be a first person narrator of events and bitch and moan about everything, when she's not acting like a 16 year old girl. The number of times this woman giggles in the face of very dangerous events does not make her endearing or believable, it makes her a cliche out of a CW show who probably wakes up in the morning with perfect eyeshadow and eyeliner.
I'd like to focus though, without any spoilers, that Shia continues to be a racist/speciest (whatever) dipshit who despite having had MONTHS to have learned about the things she tangoed with (And almost died as a result) in the first book - is still entirely uninformed about how vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers work. The author is lazy in places she needs to give detail and instead gives detail about things noone cares about. When Shia is trying to guess what's going on there are numerous instances where she makes observations that go along the lines of "I didn't know they could even drink something that wasn't blood. Whatever." WHATEVER. This author actually brushes off details about an entire species with WHATEVER - SO MANY TIMES. If I was taking shots every time I read the word "whatever," let's just say I might not even be able to SAY "whatever" by the time this book was through. Instead we get lots of details that make no sense - like Shia getting kidnapped off the streets of NYC by a huge group of armed men who (I'm not making this up) FIRE A DESERT EAGLE INTO THE AIR AS A WARNING SHOT. She goes out of her way to mention it's a Desert Eagle hand gun. On top of all the shamefully poor gun lingo in this series, this just made me laugh out loud. In short -if you were to shoot a home invader with a Desert Eagle, you'd shoot them, your wall, probably the wall behind them, and it would look like Cookie Monster had just punched holes through your living structure. One does not just FIRE such a powerful live round into the air and hope it just turns into sparkles.
I digress.
Was there good about this book? Yea. Once again, Haines actually CAN WRITE when she feels like it. The fight scene at the end of the book was the best part of the book and kudos to her for being able to write a pretty decent fight scene that I could keep up with. MANY books I read feeling like "wait weren't they just over there? how the hell did they get upstairs??" Not so in this case. The action scenes were well paced, made sense, and didn't get so wordy that you lost the pacing.
I really liked that I got to see more about Alec Royce (the good vampire) and his past, even though his past is completely ridiculous. Haines clearly is writing this character with zero plan. I wish she'd just have given him no backstory instead of writing herself into a corner by giving him 2,000 years of history and a sire named "Athena." Also, I wish Haines would decide ahead of time which races she feels like making part of her story lines and introducing them in a capable manner. This book introduces a singular elven character. She has a very small role in the overall plot, but she is just thrown in like it's no big deal using terms like "Fae magic" and "the fair folk" like I'm supposed to know what that means. I know what it means in mythology as a WHOLE but the point of urban fantasy is that you tailor existing mythology to fit your own world. I have yet to see how Haines plans on doing that without a plan.
Shiarra also constantly is stating shes "not" things - not species-ist, not racist, not homophobic. As we all know, when people repeatedly say these things, its usually because they are. In the first book she got annoyed when two different people mistook her for a lesbian. There was absolutely no reason for her to be annoyed in the first place, but she treats it like its some pervy accusation. In this book, she notices on vampires followers are mostly men. She wonders briefly if he is bisexual and follows that up with "I DEFINITELY didn't feel like thinking about that." That was such a bizarre sentence for me, as the reader, that I actually did a double take. Lastly, in this book, there's a moment here a male vampire is cradling one of his servants in a loving manner because they've been injured. She feels it necessary to say it made her "stare" because she wasn't used to seeing men react that way - not because she's homophobic. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THERE ARE ANCIENT UNDEAD VAMPIRES FIGHTING IN YOUR BASEMENT AND YOURE WONDERING IF THESE VAMPIRES ARE GAY?! Further more you live in NYC of all places. She also makes several comments that her parents aren't outwardly racist but theyre "very Catholic" and think anything supernatural is an affront to God. Shia claims she doesn't agree but also doesn't tell them her boyfriend is a Were either. It reeks of being in a mixed race relationship and being afraid to tell mom. Grow up Shia.
Anyway....I want my money's worth so after taking a small break I guess I'll read the next two - if only because writing these reviews is almost as much fun as the ridiculousness that I'm reading.
October 12, 2012
Spoilers
The storyline was so boring. Shia gets kidnapped by Max - a vampire who hates Royce, and then she just frets and moans about everything and has to be saved by a bunch of other people.
-Shia was pushed around and manipulated by everyone — she was so powerless. I hate reading about heroines that have no control of their own lives and that have to rely on their love interests to save them. I would have preferred if Shia had been able to fight without having to beg help from a ton of other people.
-I was baffled as to why Shia was taken by Max - it made no sense whatsoever that Max kidnapped her because he wanted to hurt Royce. Sure Royce wants Shia, but he's like that with loads of other girls — there was nothing at all to suggest that he was in love with Shia or that she was different to him. If Max really wanted revenge, then he should have kidnapped Dawn, the woman Royce dated for months and the woman Royce seemed to have a genuine feelings for. It was just bullshit that Shia was kidnapped.
-Shia's love interests, Chaz and Royce were just awful. It's obvious that everyone's meant to like Royce more, but he's rubbish. Just because he's slightly better than Chaz doesn't magically make him a decent love interest. Royce was just a super slimy and manipulative douche. He was vile — all he did was act like a creepy freak around Shia. It's obvious that Royce doesn't love Shia, he's just hot for her because she doesn't want him and he sees her as a challenge. He was so fucking dumb — he repeatedly intimidated, controlled and scared Shia and then he wondered why she wasn't interested.
I don't know why so many readers were moaning about Shia not being grateful to Royce. Why would any girl be grateful to the guy that blackmailed her, put her in danger and ruined her life?? Shia didn't owe Royce anything — if it wasn't for him she wouldn't have needed rescuing in the first place.
Chaz was a whole other level of crap — he was hardly ever there for Shia, he could barely protect her and he was such a whiny bitch. I don't know why Chaz was being a dick to Shia at the end when she literally couldn't help feeling the way she did for Royce. He had no right to make her feel guilty and she was stupid blaming herself since her blood bond with Royce wasn't her fault.
Chaz and Royce were the worst things about the book.
-The world building wasn't believable, like the law that allows Others to have the power to kill or hurt any human that signs a contract with them. It was just bullshit that human law/government would be fine and dandy with Others being able to get away with murder just because some human agreed to date them or work with them.
A disappointing read overall — the main character was weak and useless, the plot was nonsensical, the side characters were flat, the romance was shit and the love interests made me sick.
The storyline was so boring. Shia gets kidnapped by Max - a vampire who hates Royce, and then she just frets and moans about everything and has to be saved by a bunch of other people.
-Shia was pushed around and manipulated by everyone — she was so powerless. I hate reading about heroines that have no control of their own lives and that have to rely on their love interests to save them. I would have preferred if Shia had been able to fight without having to beg help from a ton of other people.
-I was baffled as to why Shia was taken by Max - it made no sense whatsoever that Max kidnapped her because he wanted to hurt Royce. Sure Royce wants Shia, but he's like that with loads of other girls — there was nothing at all to suggest that he was in love with Shia or that she was different to him. If Max really wanted revenge, then he should have kidnapped Dawn, the woman Royce dated for months and the woman Royce seemed to have a genuine feelings for. It was just bullshit that Shia was kidnapped.
-Shia's love interests, Chaz and Royce were just awful. It's obvious that everyone's meant to like Royce more, but he's rubbish. Just because he's slightly better than Chaz doesn't magically make him a decent love interest. Royce was just a super slimy and manipulative douche. He was vile — all he did was act like a creepy freak around Shia. It's obvious that Royce doesn't love Shia, he's just hot for her because she doesn't want him and he sees her as a challenge. He was so fucking dumb — he repeatedly intimidated, controlled and scared Shia and then he wondered why she wasn't interested.
I don't know why so many readers were moaning about Shia not being grateful to Royce. Why would any girl be grateful to the guy that blackmailed her, put her in danger and ruined her life?? Shia didn't owe Royce anything — if it wasn't for him she wouldn't have needed rescuing in the first place.
Chaz was a whole other level of crap — he was hardly ever there for Shia, he could barely protect her and he was such a whiny bitch. I don't know why Chaz was being a dick to Shia at the end when she literally couldn't help feeling the way she did for Royce. He had no right to make her feel guilty and she was stupid blaming herself since her blood bond with Royce wasn't her fault.
Chaz and Royce were the worst things about the book.
-The world building wasn't believable, like the law that allows Others to have the power to kill or hurt any human that signs a contract with them. It was just bullshit that human law/government would be fine and dandy with Others being able to get away with murder just because some human agreed to date them or work with them.
A disappointing read overall — the main character was weak and useless, the plot was nonsensical, the side characters were flat, the romance was shit and the love interests made me sick.
January 22, 2023
Enjoying this series. Moving on the book 3.
June 28, 2013
There’s a new vampire in town and he is not happy with Shiarra – blaming her for killing his progeny. Of course, it’s only a deeper excuse to make a move against Royce over a deep seated grudge that goes back centuries. And Shiarra is a perfect tool to advance that revenge.
But who can protect her from the revenge of a vampire that ancient? Royce, perhaps – but would that mean putting herself even more under his control and how sure can she be that she can trust him?
But are the authorities sufficient to hold off a being this ancient? To be safe, Shiarra needs to go on the offensive.
This story takes the excellent world that began in Hunted by the Others and starts to play in it nicely. The world doesn’t expand but it’s more us getting used to the world that is presented – because it is so huge it’s good to have a book that lets us get used to it, let’s us explore what has already been revealed rather than pushing the boundaries back. The world is coloured in, more details added, we get an idea of the politics and the way the different groups work together and the challenges of this supernaturally integrated world. I like that a lot – not just because I like the world but because so many urban fantasy novels feel a desperate need to add something new with every book – some new revelation, some new shiny creature (usually Wendigos) every book and never really develop what they have.
Shiarra herself has also grown somewhat. She’s still scared of the Others (and tells us so, at length), but is capable of thinking beyond it and is less inclined to collapse into a puddle of goo whenever challenged. She has a level of confidence that makes her fit the role a bit more, though she has room for further growth.
I do like the story itself – the duelling vampire masters using Shiarra as a tool to further their own vengeance. It flows well and has some interesting twists, though I think it has some convoluted moments (like Royce being able to convince the police that he wasn’t responsible for a slaughter) and the premise always shakes me – yes the woman the enemy loved is dead. 2,000 years ago. Time to get over it and move on, get some therapy, go eat a vat of ice cream, whatever you gotta do, but time to move on. But other than those elements (and the White hats, which I’ll get to), it worked – Shiarra is trying to find a way out of her situation, she doesn’t trust hardly any of her allies and the ones she does trust don’t really have a reason to stick their neck out for this battle. She tries to find a way through and while not all her decisions are sensible, she makes them in her own right and seeks her own path. She learns a lot more about Royce and their relationship gets both closer and a lot more complicated in a very organic way. The story works. I never felt the need to put it down and I never felt the need to avoid it. I enjoyed reading it, I resented interruption and I was interested to find out what would come next.
There are 2 things that jar me from the story – one is that the writing has a habit of being long winded. I get that Shiarra is afraid of the Others, there’s no need to repeat it constantly. The second thing is that she makes some bemusing decisions. Like she decides to call her friends who are due home tomorrow – and then assure them they don’t need to come home. Why call them? Why leave them with that worry? Or she decides to make the call about hate groups and monsters in the middle of doing her grocery shopping with everyone in the super market staring at her. She feels pity for the man who kidnapped her – within hours, possibly minutes, of being kidnapped and oddly decides to believe everything he says. She continually does these things that are… bemusing to say the least
I really don’t like how the White Hats are portrayed in this book, especially in the beginning and after the first book. As I said in my review then, I hate how the Others are portrayed as a marginalised group and that discrimination and prejudice against them is views in the same way as bigotry against POC or the disabled or GBLT people.
But if we’re going to have that element then it needs to be consistent. And if we’re going to present the Others as a persecuted group, then the White Hats, a group that burns down their businesses, murders them on the street et al is one of the most violent and horrific hate groups out there. Even aside from that, the White Hats appear on Shiarra’s doorstep with a gun pointed at her. They’ve made it pretty clear the full nature of their organisation
Read More
But who can protect her from the revenge of a vampire that ancient? Royce, perhaps – but would that mean putting herself even more under his control and how sure can she be that she can trust him?
But are the authorities sufficient to hold off a being this ancient? To be safe, Shiarra needs to go on the offensive.
This story takes the excellent world that began in Hunted by the Others and starts to play in it nicely. The world doesn’t expand but it’s more us getting used to the world that is presented – because it is so huge it’s good to have a book that lets us get used to it, let’s us explore what has already been revealed rather than pushing the boundaries back. The world is coloured in, more details added, we get an idea of the politics and the way the different groups work together and the challenges of this supernaturally integrated world. I like that a lot – not just because I like the world but because so many urban fantasy novels feel a desperate need to add something new with every book – some new revelation, some new shiny creature (usually Wendigos) every book and never really develop what they have.
Shiarra herself has also grown somewhat. She’s still scared of the Others (and tells us so, at length), but is capable of thinking beyond it and is less inclined to collapse into a puddle of goo whenever challenged. She has a level of confidence that makes her fit the role a bit more, though she has room for further growth.
I do like the story itself – the duelling vampire masters using Shiarra as a tool to further their own vengeance. It flows well and has some interesting twists, though I think it has some convoluted moments (like Royce being able to convince the police that he wasn’t responsible for a slaughter) and the premise always shakes me – yes the woman the enemy loved is dead. 2,000 years ago. Time to get over it and move on, get some therapy, go eat a vat of ice cream, whatever you gotta do, but time to move on. But other than those elements (and the White hats, which I’ll get to), it worked – Shiarra is trying to find a way out of her situation, she doesn’t trust hardly any of her allies and the ones she does trust don’t really have a reason to stick their neck out for this battle. She tries to find a way through and while not all her decisions are sensible, she makes them in her own right and seeks her own path. She learns a lot more about Royce and their relationship gets both closer and a lot more complicated in a very organic way. The story works. I never felt the need to put it down and I never felt the need to avoid it. I enjoyed reading it, I resented interruption and I was interested to find out what would come next.
There are 2 things that jar me from the story – one is that the writing has a habit of being long winded. I get that Shiarra is afraid of the Others, there’s no need to repeat it constantly. The second thing is that she makes some bemusing decisions. Like she decides to call her friends who are due home tomorrow – and then assure them they don’t need to come home. Why call them? Why leave them with that worry? Or she decides to make the call about hate groups and monsters in the middle of doing her grocery shopping with everyone in the super market staring at her. She feels pity for the man who kidnapped her – within hours, possibly minutes, of being kidnapped and oddly decides to believe everything he says. She continually does these things that are… bemusing to say the least
I really don’t like how the White Hats are portrayed in this book, especially in the beginning and after the first book. As I said in my review then, I hate how the Others are portrayed as a marginalised group and that discrimination and prejudice against them is views in the same way as bigotry against POC or the disabled or GBLT people.
But if we’re going to have that element then it needs to be consistent. And if we’re going to present the Others as a persecuted group, then the White Hats, a group that burns down their businesses, murders them on the street et al is one of the most violent and horrific hate groups out there. Even aside from that, the White Hats appear on Shiarra’s doorstep with a gun pointed at her. They’ve made it pretty clear the full nature of their organisation
Read More
December 25, 2010
Phew, so some time has passed since I finished reading TBTO and I must say that, while my fangirl squealing over the epic fight in this book has somewhat lessened, my adoration for this book has not.
While I'm going to avoid going into details regarding what happens in this book, I will say this: the plot started out somewhat slow. Naive little me thought blasphemous thoughts at the start, such as: "oh no, what if I don't like TBTO as much as HBTO?!" Rest assured all, the beginning may be slow, but it's only to lull you into a false sense of security so that, when you least expect it, the plot can reach out of the book and slap you in the face with it's pure awesome-ness.
Okay so maybe not literally, but TBTO is the type of book that needs to build up some steam in order to truly get interesting. Once it does, one practically forgets just how slow the start might have been. I felt like I was standing right beside Shia once all shit went to hell. I swear I think my pulse was pounding at one point. I definitely groaned at some points when I wanted to squeal my frustrations. Suffice to say, once things picked up, I was 110% invested with what happened.
And okay, I know that Royce is a smarmy bastard. I knew not to grow fond of him... especially because he was a vampire and totally manipulative. Plus I was a pure Chaz shipper at the start of this series, but now that I've been introduced to Royce's character in a more "intimate" fashion... I'm torn. This is one love triangle that I don't know who to side with, and I LOVE IT!
But I shake my fist at you Jess for making me sad panda about Chaz.
So we've got two hunky men representing the werewolves and the vampires in a love triangle that will probably make me start foaming at the mouth by the end of this series, we've got one of the best fight scenes I've read in ages, and then we have Mouse.
Who the hell is Mouse? Brace yourselves folks.
Mouse is a vampire and she is so freakin' amazing I'm just awestruck by her awesomeness. She is my favorite character in this series. She's tiny, she's tough, and she can use a sword like it's nobody's business. I loved how sweet she was despite the fact that she was a vampire. I want to read more of her in future releases. Words cannot give her justice... you just have to read about her yourself in order to fully appreciate her character.
I think my only complaint about this book was Shia, and it's not much of a complaint because the fight totally blew my mind (how many times can I turn this all back to the fight in one review?). Too much thinking on Shia's part contributed to a somewhat slower start, though I did appreciate the attention to detail in the thought processes. Thankfully, Shia's fear for vampires, while still prominent in TBTO, is not so in-your-face like in HBTO. I could at least understand her fear this time around, even if I wished she was tougher.... but she's human, so I'll let it slide.
I think that's all I can cover in a review without getting spoiler-y, so I'll end it by saying that Max is a psycho bastard.
And I love him for it. That is all.
Okay but really, while the cover for TBTO might not be as stellar as the HUNTED BY THE OTHERS cover, the writing and the storyline more than make up for the hooker Shia cover. If you love urban fantasy, if you love awesome, fully developed characters, if you love love triangles done right, you will love TAKEN BY THE OTHERS. I cannot stress how much readers should start investing in this series ASAP. Trust me on this one, folks.
While I'm going to avoid going into details regarding what happens in this book, I will say this: the plot started out somewhat slow. Naive little me thought blasphemous thoughts at the start, such as: "oh no, what if I don't like TBTO as much as HBTO?!" Rest assured all, the beginning may be slow, but it's only to lull you into a false sense of security so that, when you least expect it, the plot can reach out of the book and slap you in the face with it's pure awesome-ness.
Okay so maybe not literally, but TBTO is the type of book that needs to build up some steam in order to truly get interesting. Once it does, one practically forgets just how slow the start might have been. I felt like I was standing right beside Shia once all shit went to hell. I swear I think my pulse was pounding at one point. I definitely groaned at some points when I wanted to squeal my frustrations. Suffice to say, once things picked up, I was 110% invested with what happened.
And okay, I know that Royce is a smarmy bastard. I knew not to grow fond of him... especially because he was a vampire and totally manipulative. Plus I was a pure Chaz shipper at the start of this series, but now that I've been introduced to Royce's character in a more "intimate" fashion... I'm torn. This is one love triangle that I don't know who to side with, and I LOVE IT!
But I shake my fist at you Jess for making me sad panda about Chaz.
So we've got two hunky men representing the werewolves and the vampires in a love triangle that will probably make me start foaming at the mouth by the end of this series, we've got one of the best fight scenes I've read in ages, and then we have Mouse.
Who the hell is Mouse? Brace yourselves folks.
Mouse is a vampire and she is so freakin' amazing I'm just awestruck by her awesomeness. She is my favorite character in this series. She's tiny, she's tough, and she can use a sword like it's nobody's business. I loved how sweet she was despite the fact that she was a vampire. I want to read more of her in future releases. Words cannot give her justice... you just have to read about her yourself in order to fully appreciate her character.
I think my only complaint about this book was Shia, and it's not much of a complaint because the fight totally blew my mind (how many times can I turn this all back to the fight in one review?). Too much thinking on Shia's part contributed to a somewhat slower start, though I did appreciate the attention to detail in the thought processes. Thankfully, Shia's fear for vampires, while still prominent in TBTO, is not so in-your-face like in HBTO. I could at least understand her fear this time around, even if I wished she was tougher.... but she's human, so I'll let it slide.
I think that's all I can cover in a review without getting spoiler-y, so I'll end it by saying that Max is a psycho bastard.
And I love him for it. That is all.
Okay but really, while the cover for TBTO might not be as stellar as the HUNTED BY THE OTHERS cover, the writing and the storyline more than make up for the hooker Shia cover. If you love urban fantasy, if you love awesome, fully developed characters, if you love love triangles done right, you will love TAKEN BY THE OTHERS. I cannot stress how much readers should start investing in this series ASAP. Trust me on this one, folks.
August 1, 2011
In this New York there are Others, and humans. The Others are vamps, weres, mages and some other strange critters like elves. The vamps, weres and mages have made the mortal world aware of their existence. This springs up anti-other groups like the White Hats. I do recommend reading the first book. The second book continues to build on Shiarra’s relationships.
Last time we left Shiarra she had just saved Weres and a super old vamp from a powerful charm. This time she is contacted by the White Hats. They really want her to join them, and be a hunter. Shiarra doesn’t want anything to do with the Others, other than her boyfriend Chaz. The leader of the White Hats tells Shiarra a vamp named Max is in town. Shiarra ends up calling the eldest, sexy, in-charge-of-a-lot-of-New York, vampire Royce. She has been trying to avoid him, but if there is a vamp after her, he will know what to do.
Royce is in a lot of this book. I think he is a little misunderstood by Shiarra who is terrified of vampires. I don’t blame her. They are kind of creepy in this world, even if Royce is pretty hot. We see Royce from Shiarra’s eyes, and she describes him as cunning. Everything he does is a play to get her under his thumb, but I stopped believing this somewhere in the story. Instead I came to the belief he cared about her.
Max, the super evil elder vampire is also a major character. He does evil very well. In fact his reasons for it were believable. He kidnaps Shiarra, and tells her that he is going to kill her in front of Royce. To him it is the perfect revenge. Instead of Royce, or even her were boyfriend, the White Hats storm in to save her.
Is it strange that whenever they are in big groups I see them all wearing white cowboy hats and scarves over their faces? No? It could just be the name I guess.
So now it is time for a show down with Royce and Max. This introduces two new characters, the elf, and Mouse. I wasn’t that impressed with the elf. She is pretty, and was at one time Royce’s girlfriend. We don’t know much more about her, and I wasn’t all that interested. It was Mouse I want to know more about. Mouse is a short, mute vampire, who stays with Royce’s people. She was actually the only female vampire there. I was left with a lot of questions about her, and I really hope the books after this have more Mouse. A few more What Hats are introduced, but I was less interested in them.
I had a few complaints. I sometimes have an issue with Shiarra’s point of view. She repeats her ideas about everyone else. I also stopped believing in some of the things she tells us. I was frustrated with the huge battle. She has a bad habit of stopping what she is doing to look around. This threw me out once or twice. In battle there would be too much chaos. Paying attention to what everyone else is doing would get you killed.
This installment was fast paced. Better than the last one. I hope the next one can top it. It came with a large amount of back story about Royce. The story, and over all adventure was a lot of fun. I still think the battles could be fixed, and a lot of Shiarra’s point of view could be worked on. Max’s revenge plot was a great classic bad guy scheme. I really feel like this series is still building, and look forward to see what comes next.
-Beth (Guest Reviewer)
Last time we left Shiarra she had just saved Weres and a super old vamp from a powerful charm. This time she is contacted by the White Hats. They really want her to join them, and be a hunter. Shiarra doesn’t want anything to do with the Others, other than her boyfriend Chaz. The leader of the White Hats tells Shiarra a vamp named Max is in town. Shiarra ends up calling the eldest, sexy, in-charge-of-a-lot-of-New York, vampire Royce. She has been trying to avoid him, but if there is a vamp after her, he will know what to do.
Royce is in a lot of this book. I think he is a little misunderstood by Shiarra who is terrified of vampires. I don’t blame her. They are kind of creepy in this world, even if Royce is pretty hot. We see Royce from Shiarra’s eyes, and she describes him as cunning. Everything he does is a play to get her under his thumb, but I stopped believing this somewhere in the story. Instead I came to the belief he cared about her.
Max, the super evil elder vampire is also a major character. He does evil very well. In fact his reasons for it were believable. He kidnaps Shiarra, and tells her that he is going to kill her in front of Royce. To him it is the perfect revenge. Instead of Royce, or even her were boyfriend, the White Hats storm in to save her.
Is it strange that whenever they are in big groups I see them all wearing white cowboy hats and scarves over their faces? No? It could just be the name I guess.
So now it is time for a show down with Royce and Max. This introduces two new characters, the elf, and Mouse. I wasn’t that impressed with the elf. She is pretty, and was at one time Royce’s girlfriend. We don’t know much more about her, and I wasn’t all that interested. It was Mouse I want to know more about. Mouse is a short, mute vampire, who stays with Royce’s people. She was actually the only female vampire there. I was left with a lot of questions about her, and I really hope the books after this have more Mouse. A few more What Hats are introduced, but I was less interested in them.
I had a few complaints. I sometimes have an issue with Shiarra’s point of view. She repeats her ideas about everyone else. I also stopped believing in some of the things she tells us. I was frustrated with the huge battle. She has a bad habit of stopping what she is doing to look around. This threw me out once or twice. In battle there would be too much chaos. Paying attention to what everyone else is doing would get you killed.
This installment was fast paced. Better than the last one. I hope the next one can top it. It came with a large amount of back story about Royce. The story, and over all adventure was a lot of fun. I still think the battles could be fixed, and a lot of Shiarra’s point of view could be worked on. Max’s revenge plot was a great classic bad guy scheme. I really feel like this series is still building, and look forward to see what comes next.
-Beth (Guest Reviewer)
January 3, 2011
Private Investigator Shiarra Waynest can’t catch a break. Although she only wants to investigate humans, she has found herself tangled up with The Others. Out to the public since 9/11, The Others – vampires, werewolves etc..have used their money to spin a positive light on themselves but Shiarra knows just how dangerous they can be. Although she is dating Chazz, a were and trusts him, by a turn of events in the previous book, she is now contracted to head vampire Alec Royce – which means it is legal for him to drink her blood, make her a vampire or even kill her. However, Alec and her worked together to defeat the baddies in book one, so they are on a very fragile alliance at the moment.
Which is a good thing because Shia is going to need his help. The vampire Max Carlisle wants revenge for his lover who was murdered and he knows Shia was involved in the event. Max is extremely dangerous and violent. Shia will soon have to call upon (very grudgingly) Max for his help. And along the way she also finds herself working with the White Hats, a group that hunts The Others. Everywhere she looks, Shia is not sure if the people helping her are trustworthy or out for their own agenda.
Taken by the Others is book two in Jess Haines' H&W Investigation series. I think this book reads much more smoothly than book one. Jess Haines has definitely hit her stride. The overall pacing kept me intrigued and entertained for the entire book. Shia really gets thrown a lot of curveballs in this book. She doesn’t want to trust anyone, seriously stubborn is her middle name, but with her life in such extreme danger, she is forced to work both with the uber sexy, yet scary Alec Royce and The White Hats who hunt all the supernaturals. I enjoyed how all the different groups play off each other with Shia caught up in the middle.
At times Shia comes across as very brash. I think there is a fine line for a strong willed, sarcastic heroine to walk. Shia crosses it sometimes and just comes up as bratty and immature. For example, Alec attempts to rescue her when she is in some trouble. Although she doesn’t trust him, she never even says - hey thanks for risking your life for mine. I think her mistrust of Alec and some of The Others is just too much in this book. So while I really enjoyed reading this book, a few of Shia’s remarks and actions definitely irked me.
The next book is going to be important in examining this “relationship” Shia has with Alec. The book does not go deep into her true feelings with Chazz, which is fine if she is eventually heading to Alec. I want there to be a difficult road for the two of them because wow they have some issues between them, but I’m ready for a little give on Shia’s side. I need that little spark of attraction to come to light in book three. I’m very interested to see what happens.
Overall, I really enjoyed Taken by the Others and very much look forward to Deceived by the Others out this summer.
Rating: B
Which is a good thing because Shia is going to need his help. The vampire Max Carlisle wants revenge for his lover who was murdered and he knows Shia was involved in the event. Max is extremely dangerous and violent. Shia will soon have to call upon (very grudgingly) Max for his help. And along the way she also finds herself working with the White Hats, a group that hunts The Others. Everywhere she looks, Shia is not sure if the people helping her are trustworthy or out for their own agenda.
Taken by the Others is book two in Jess Haines' H&W Investigation series. I think this book reads much more smoothly than book one. Jess Haines has definitely hit her stride. The overall pacing kept me intrigued and entertained for the entire book. Shia really gets thrown a lot of curveballs in this book. She doesn’t want to trust anyone, seriously stubborn is her middle name, but with her life in such extreme danger, she is forced to work both with the uber sexy, yet scary Alec Royce and The White Hats who hunt all the supernaturals. I enjoyed how all the different groups play off each other with Shia caught up in the middle.
At times Shia comes across as very brash. I think there is a fine line for a strong willed, sarcastic heroine to walk. Shia crosses it sometimes and just comes up as bratty and immature. For example, Alec attempts to rescue her when she is in some trouble. Although she doesn’t trust him, she never even says - hey thanks for risking your life for mine. I think her mistrust of Alec and some of The Others is just too much in this book. So while I really enjoyed reading this book, a few of Shia’s remarks and actions definitely irked me.
The next book is going to be important in examining this “relationship” Shia has with Alec. The book does not go deep into her true feelings with Chazz, which is fine if she is eventually heading to Alec. I want there to be a difficult road for the two of them because wow they have some issues between them, but I’m ready for a little give on Shia’s side. I need that little spark of attraction to come to light in book three. I’m very interested to see what happens.
Overall, I really enjoyed Taken by the Others and very much look forward to Deceived by the Others out this summer.
Rating: B
June 28, 2017
Review to come.
Shia isn't too likable.
Shia isn't a kick ass heroine, but she does have a sort of backbone even if she does fumble through investigations and has to be rescued.
In this book it's been quite a while from the last book I can't tell if it's been over a year or we are in the same year just more than 6 months past. This is because at one point Shia mentions about last using the belt a year ago, and then a few pages later mentions that earlier in the year Sarah was kidnapped. Those events are basically the same so the time line is a bit hard to grasp.
In this book some old vamp named Max is planning to come and attack Shia since she had something to do with his progeny's death. And she's Royce's. Max and Royce hate each other, and were in negotiations for reparations due to Max for the psycho chick (from last book)'s death. Max didn't want to negotiate and thus Shia is once again in danger.
Oh and now Chaz and Shia are back to dating. I kind of don't like him. I feel a subtle vibe from him that he is being shady. I get having to put the pack first, but he's constantly blowing Shia off.
So after not having talk to Royce since the events of last book she calls upon him to find out more about Max since some vamp was trying to kidnap her.
There's lots of preparations going into targeting Max and I don't feel like a lot happens. There are lots of betrayals within Royce's personal coven as some have aligned with Max. This causes Shia to once again get kidnapped.
Honestly, I don't really like these books. But there must be something about them because after I finish one, I continue to think about it and think about all that has happened. So there must be something or some reason I want to continue.
I think it has to do with the fact that I keep expecting Shia and Royce to get together. I haven't really felt any emotional component to these books yet. Sure Shia tells us her feelings but *I* don't feel them. I don't understand at all why Shia is with Chaz, a were, but has issues with vamps. I don't get it. Even though in this world it appears Others aren't quite...romantic or warm fuzzy. They are the bad people who do bad things to humans and could care less.
I still don't know why I completely bail on this series. I will say I did enjoy this book more than I did book 1 and that it explained things slightly better as well.
Onto the next one. Also, don't read spoilers for that one, I did and it's coloring my opinion on things right now. Things I'm not sure I'd feel had I not read them. It's making my tolerance for Shia's head in the sand method, waver.
Shia isn't too likable.
Shia isn't a kick ass heroine, but she does have a sort of backbone even if she does fumble through investigations and has to be rescued.
In this book it's been quite a while from the last book I can't tell if it's been over a year or we are in the same year just more than 6 months past. This is because at one point Shia mentions about last using the belt a year ago, and then a few pages later mentions that earlier in the year Sarah was kidnapped. Those events are basically the same so the time line is a bit hard to grasp.
In this book some old vamp named Max is planning to come and attack Shia since she had something to do with his progeny's death. And she's Royce's. Max and Royce hate each other, and were in negotiations for reparations due to Max for the psycho chick (from last book)'s death. Max didn't want to negotiate and thus Shia is once again in danger.
Oh and now Chaz and Shia are back to dating. I kind of don't like him. I feel a subtle vibe from him that he is being shady. I get having to put the pack first, but he's constantly blowing Shia off.
So after not having talk to Royce since the events of last book she calls upon him to find out more about Max since some vamp was trying to kidnap her.
There's lots of preparations going into targeting Max and I don't feel like a lot happens. There are lots of betrayals within Royce's personal coven as some have aligned with Max. This causes Shia to once again get kidnapped.
Honestly, I don't really like these books. But there must be something about them because after I finish one, I continue to think about it and think about all that has happened. So there must be something or some reason I want to continue.
I think it has to do with the fact that I keep expecting Shia and Royce to get together. I haven't really felt any emotional component to these books yet. Sure Shia tells us her feelings but *I* don't feel them. I don't understand at all why Shia is with Chaz, a were, but has issues with vamps. I don't get it. Even though in this world it appears Others aren't quite...romantic or warm fuzzy. They are the bad people who do bad things to humans and could care less.
I still don't know why I completely bail on this series. I will say I did enjoy this book more than I did book 1 and that it explained things slightly better as well.
Onto the next one. Also, don't read spoilers for that one, I did and it's coloring my opinion on things right now. Things I'm not sure I'd feel had I not read them. It's making my tolerance for Shia's head in the sand method, waver.
February 2, 2011
ARC Review:
I was a bit nervous going into reading Taken by the Others, because it was my first review copy, but it was an absolutely thrilling read and I cannot wait to get my hands on the first book in the series to see how it all started.
One of the things that fascinated me the most about the story was how the Others presence were known by everyone and knowledge of them wasn’t just limited to those who either hunted them or had a run in with them at some point. Plus it was interesting to see them given rights and protected by the law, it definitely made things more complicated and opened up the story a bit.
Another thing I really enjoyed about Taken by the Others is how the suspense slowly built up throughout the book. Let’s just say that by time I hit the middle of the book I was so averse to putting it down because I wanted to know how it was going to end and whether or not they were all going to make it out in one piece.
Definitely one of the best points in the book was getting a glimpse into Shiarra’s head during the fights and hearing her thoughts on what she’d just done. It was also interesting how she wasn’t this fearless let’s run right into danger unprepared kind of character, yet she wasn’t going to back down and let someone else fight her battles for her.
I really liked the main character Shiarra; she had just the right amount of stubborn, pigheadedness, but my favorite thing about her was her sarcasm and the witty banter that went on between her and Royce and Devon.
The one thing that I really liked about Taken by the Others was that there was absolutely no questionable content in the book at all, which I found to be quite refreshing to not have to skip pages due to content I’m uncomfortable reading.
The only thing I didn’t like about the book was all the swearing. I felt that the characters just threw the f-word around too much, but other than that I don’t have any complaints about this amazing book.
Taken by the Others was a truly thrilling experience and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the H&W Investigations series.
Taken by the Others earns 4 out of 5 pineaaples.
I was a bit nervous going into reading Taken by the Others, because it was my first review copy, but it was an absolutely thrilling read and I cannot wait to get my hands on the first book in the series to see how it all started.
One of the things that fascinated me the most about the story was how the Others presence were known by everyone and knowledge of them wasn’t just limited to those who either hunted them or had a run in with them at some point. Plus it was interesting to see them given rights and protected by the law, it definitely made things more complicated and opened up the story a bit.
Another thing I really enjoyed about Taken by the Others is how the suspense slowly built up throughout the book. Let’s just say that by time I hit the middle of the book I was so averse to putting it down because I wanted to know how it was going to end and whether or not they were all going to make it out in one piece.
Definitely one of the best points in the book was getting a glimpse into Shiarra’s head during the fights and hearing her thoughts on what she’d just done. It was also interesting how she wasn’t this fearless let’s run right into danger unprepared kind of character, yet she wasn’t going to back down and let someone else fight her battles for her.
I really liked the main character Shiarra; she had just the right amount of stubborn, pigheadedness, but my favorite thing about her was her sarcasm and the witty banter that went on between her and Royce and Devon.
The one thing that I really liked about Taken by the Others was that there was absolutely no questionable content in the book at all, which I found to be quite refreshing to not have to skip pages due to content I’m uncomfortable reading.
The only thing I didn’t like about the book was all the swearing. I felt that the characters just threw the f-word around too much, but other than that I don’t have any complaints about this amazing book.
Taken by the Others was a truly thrilling experience and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the H&W Investigations series.
Taken by the Others earns 4 out of 5 pineaaples.
June 23, 2011
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy
Pure fun. That’s what Jess gave us with HUNTED BY THE OTHERS and that’s what she delivers in the follow up, TAKEN BY THE OTHERS. Well, that and nonstop action, some of the best romantic tension in urban fantasy, and a heroine who just gets better with every book.
Royce and Shia have a pitch perfect urban fantasy relationship. He wants her for semi nefarious purposes (and he just plain wants her). She is rightly terrified of him half of the time and terrified of herself the other half. Whenever these two get near each other (not often enough for Royce’s taste & way too often for Shia’s), sparks fly and it’s anyone’s guess if Royce is plotting to bite Shia or bed her. Can you say romantic tension?
Shia & Co are my favorite character ensemble in urban fantasy right now. The dialogue always crackles with wit and biting sarcasm, dry humor, or sly innuendo with near perfect timing depending on the character. And Shia doesn’t just play the straight character who everyone else gets to be funny around, she holds her own cut-the-crap attitude and can’t help but mouth off when she’s really scared.
The only thing keeping me from giving this another 5/5 bat review is that I thought there was a little too much driving around while planning/revising the next move. But that’s pretty minor. Overall, it doesn’t get much better for pure urban fantasy than Jess Haines. DECIEVED BY THE OTHERS with be published on July 5, 2011. Take my advice and pre-order it now. If you’re still on the fence, check out this pee-your-pants-laughing comic strip of how Shia met Royce.
Sexual Content: Kissing. References to sex.
Pure fun. That’s what Jess gave us with HUNTED BY THE OTHERS and that’s what she delivers in the follow up, TAKEN BY THE OTHERS. Well, that and nonstop action, some of the best romantic tension in urban fantasy, and a heroine who just gets better with every book.
Royce and Shia have a pitch perfect urban fantasy relationship. He wants her for semi nefarious purposes (and he just plain wants her). She is rightly terrified of him half of the time and terrified of herself the other half. Whenever these two get near each other (not often enough for Royce’s taste & way too often for Shia’s), sparks fly and it’s anyone’s guess if Royce is plotting to bite Shia or bed her. Can you say romantic tension?
Shia & Co are my favorite character ensemble in urban fantasy right now. The dialogue always crackles with wit and biting sarcasm, dry humor, or sly innuendo with near perfect timing depending on the character. And Shia doesn’t just play the straight character who everyone else gets to be funny around, she holds her own cut-the-crap attitude and can’t help but mouth off when she’s really scared.
The only thing keeping me from giving this another 5/5 bat review is that I thought there was a little too much driving around while planning/revising the next move. But that’s pretty minor. Overall, it doesn’t get much better for pure urban fantasy than Jess Haines. DECIEVED BY THE OTHERS with be published on July 5, 2011. Take my advice and pre-order it now. If you’re still on the fence, check out this pee-your-pants-laughing comic strip of how Shia met Royce.
Sexual Content: Kissing. References to sex.
June 6, 2011
Previously Published on my blog: Welcome to Larissa's Bookish Life
*SPOILER FREE
After the events in Hunted by The Others changed Shiarra’s life so completely, it was hard for me to imagine where Jess Haines would be able to take these adventures.
Taken by the Others is all about the Vamps and once again Shiarra finds herself right in the thick of things, even when she doesn’t really mean to.
Well, being tempted to join the anti-paranormal group The White Hats, dating a were, being contracted to a Vamp and hanging out with a Mage that happens to be your best friend’s boyfriend, definitely aren’t inducing to a non-violent and laid back lifestyle, are they?
Once again Jess Haines brings on the goods and delivers a compelling and entertaining adventure that I did not want to stop reading for a second!
I love how Jess is not afraid of putting her leading lady through the ringer and treating her like a human being, a very pro-active one at that, but still a human being that has her faults and is not afraid of recognizing.
The H & W Investigations series is fast becoming one of my faves and it is definitely one series for which I will be eagerly awaiting for, whenever a new installment is expected.
If you are an avid Urban Fantasy reader like me, I totally recommend this series to you, You won’t regret it! If you have read Hunted by The Others, you will definitely want to read Taken by the Others.
*SPOILER FREE
After the events in Hunted by The Others changed Shiarra’s life so completely, it was hard for me to imagine where Jess Haines would be able to take these adventures.
Taken by the Others is all about the Vamps and once again Shiarra finds herself right in the thick of things, even when she doesn’t really mean to.
Well, being tempted to join the anti-paranormal group The White Hats, dating a were, being contracted to a Vamp and hanging out with a Mage that happens to be your best friend’s boyfriend, definitely aren’t inducing to a non-violent and laid back lifestyle, are they?
Once again Jess Haines brings on the goods and delivers a compelling and entertaining adventure that I did not want to stop reading for a second!
I love how Jess is not afraid of putting her leading lady through the ringer and treating her like a human being, a very pro-active one at that, but still a human being that has her faults and is not afraid of recognizing.
The H & W Investigations series is fast becoming one of my faves and it is definitely one series for which I will be eagerly awaiting for, whenever a new installment is expected.
If you are an avid Urban Fantasy reader like me, I totally recommend this series to you, You won’t regret it! If you have read Hunted by The Others, you will definitely want to read Taken by the Others.
January 5, 2011
This is the second book in the Shiarra Waynest series (aka H&W Investigations series) and it definitely fulfilled my expectations. I'm so glad this book ended up being just as good as the first and wasn't a flop. Shiarra Waynest is the main character in this series and she is a P.I. who is human. Shiarra is still getting over her last encounter with the Others (supernatural beings) and has vowed to stay away from the more dangerous beings, like Royce. Little does she know, trouble is heading her way in the form of a vampire set on having her as his pet. Shiarra is forced to seek help from those she has sworn to never be around, and just like in the first book all hell breaks loose and large scale battles ensue.
I think Max was a great character, he was the perfect villain. No empathy, no concern for anyone but himself, a desire to hurt people and pure craziness. It doesn't get much more evil than that, so it was fun to watch him do battle with Shiarra. Shiarra was really put to the test in this book, physically and emotionally and it was great to see her evolve as this story went on. Royce was also really captivating. It's hard to figure out what you get with Royce. He's very manipulative and set on having what he wants but he doesn't seem to be a bad guy overall. Or at least, he could be a lot worse as we see through Max. I think I may have figured Royce out, so I'll see in the next book if my ideas turn out to be correct.
Can't wait to read the next one!
I think Max was a great character, he was the perfect villain. No empathy, no concern for anyone but himself, a desire to hurt people and pure craziness. It doesn't get much more evil than that, so it was fun to watch him do battle with Shiarra. Shiarra was really put to the test in this book, physically and emotionally and it was great to see her evolve as this story went on. Royce was also really captivating. It's hard to figure out what you get with Royce. He's very manipulative and set on having what he wants but he doesn't seem to be a bad guy overall. Or at least, he could be a lot worse as we see through Max. I think I may have figured Royce out, so I'll see in the next book if my ideas turn out to be correct.
Can't wait to read the next one!
June 18, 2011
Taken by the Others is an interesting read. There is so much going on within the novel that sometimes I felt slightly overwhelmed. I do like how Ms. Haines has the paranormal world out in the open, allowing for more interesting plotlines. The tension between Alec, Shia, and Chaz adds to the scenery, giving the characters more hurdles to jump over and adding depth to this novel. It will be interesting to see where the series is headed from here.
Danielle
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More
Full Review: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/Book...
Danielle
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More
Full Review: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/Book...
December 9, 2013
Shiarra has been taken. Now that can mean a lot, and it does in this continuation of our paranormal detective. Feuding Elder Vamps, Were's with things on their mind, a partner in a new relationship and some surprising new characters pop in along the way. This story will keep you flipping the pages (sliding the pages?) along and make your eyes widen at some of the antics Shiarra falls into, becomes a part of and just plain, causes.
February 16, 2011
Non stop action and revelations, this go round. And a bit more hardcore and angsty than I expected, but never the less damn good. We got to experience a lot more Royce in this one too.
February 13, 2011
I like Shia. What was missing was some more Royce and Shia. She is too scared of her feelings for him. She rather feel safe with her boyfriend who is a werewolf, whom she is not able to be intimate with.
July 18, 2019
She is TSTL. I can't
June 25, 2019
(3.5 Stars)
"Taken by the Others" is a great follow up to book one of H&W Investigations book 1. This time, there is a new bad guy on the prowl. His name is Max Carlyle and he is an ancient vampire like Royce. Unfortunaltely, Max is on a quest for vengeance and Shia is his prime target. It seems that he wants to one up Alec Royce by using Shia as a weapon. Additionally, he hold her responsible for killing one of his own people.
Meanwhile, Jack and the White Hats are still actively trying to recruit Shia to their cause. They plan to use the Max Carlyle situation as a bartering chip. However, Jack has no idea that some of his people might be influence by Shia's refusal to endorse anyone's side in the world of the others and humans. Of course the friendly and magical talking belt is back in all of its glory but it just might not be enough to save Shia from what is coming.
Shia is kidnapped by Carlyle and his people and let's just say that his hospitality is not very hospitable! She is torture in a way that she has always feard and she vows to never let this happen again. In coming to terms with what has happened and trying to protect herself in the future, Shia will align herself with a unique group of people who under normal circumstances would be at each others throats.
Okay, so here is the deal. I felt as though the author was avoiding the very things that make a paranormal romance great and that is intimacy. We are to believe that a grown woman is in a relationship with a man without sex and they find it satifying? I don't think so. It was like the author was afraid to tackle sex in the read. Additionally, I was extremely disappointed with the resolution or lack there of with Max Carlyle. I wanted his butt handed on a silver platter to Shia and her crew. While I enjoyed the action in the read, I was left feeling rather unsatisfied and I hope that future installments will truly resolve some of these issues otherwise I am not sure that this series will continue to hold my attention.
"Taken by the Others" is a great follow up to book one of H&W Investigations book 1. This time, there is a new bad guy on the prowl. His name is Max Carlyle and he is an ancient vampire like Royce. Unfortunaltely, Max is on a quest for vengeance and Shia is his prime target. It seems that he wants to one up Alec Royce by using Shia as a weapon. Additionally, he hold her responsible for killing one of his own people.
Meanwhile, Jack and the White Hats are still actively trying to recruit Shia to their cause. They plan to use the Max Carlyle situation as a bartering chip. However, Jack has no idea that some of his people might be influence by Shia's refusal to endorse anyone's side in the world of the others and humans. Of course the friendly and magical talking belt is back in all of its glory but it just might not be enough to save Shia from what is coming.
Shia is kidnapped by Carlyle and his people and let's just say that his hospitality is not very hospitable! She is torture in a way that she has always feard and she vows to never let this happen again. In coming to terms with what has happened and trying to protect herself in the future, Shia will align herself with a unique group of people who under normal circumstances would be at each others throats.
Okay, so here is the deal. I felt as though the author was avoiding the very things that make a paranormal romance great and that is intimacy. We are to believe that a grown woman is in a relationship with a man without sex and they find it satifying? I don't think so. It was like the author was afraid to tackle sex in the read. Additionally, I was extremely disappointed with the resolution or lack there of with Max Carlyle. I wanted his butt handed on a silver platter to Shia and her crew. While I enjoyed the action in the read, I was left feeling rather unsatisfied and I hope that future installments will truly resolve some of these issues otherwise I am not sure that this series will continue to hold my attention.
June 26, 2012
Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: A human PI drawn into a struggle of “vampiric” proportions. Tensions within the story revolve around the fear of being too enamored into another’s life, at the loss of one’s own personality.
Opening Sentence: I don’t usually have people pointing guns in my face.
The Review:
The second installment of H & W Investigations series, Taken by the Others, sheds light on Shiarra Waynest’s thoughts and fears relating to the Others, or supernaturals like Vampires, Weres, and Magi. Her world has accepted the Others and incorporated them into their society, but can Shiarra? Though she is far more enlightened than she was in the last book, circumstances arise that test her new, more relaxed and understanding, self. There is a new player in town, and whether she wants to or not, she is about to be involved in a struggle for dominance between two very powerful vampires, Max Carlyle and Alec Royce.
Shiarra has accepted the idea that the Others she has viewed as monsters for so long, may not all be that bad. After all, her boyfriend, Chaz, is a werewolf and she loves him. There are also magi, or magic users, that she considers as friends. So, why does she still avoid vampires like the plague? Mostly because Alec Royce, one of the nation’s oldest and most publicly known vampires, confuses her. She has feared him since their contract was signed, but he has never given her real reason to. When she is kidnapped for the sole purpose to cause Royce pain and anguish, all of Shiarra’s worst fears are realized. Her fear even leads her to accept the help of the White Hats: a group of anti-Other militants that have declared war against anything, or anyone, relating to those that are non-human.
Shiarra does a few new things in this book. She finds a way to include all the factions and besieges them to work together toward a common enemy. This is a much more mature character than we read about in the first book. She exhibits the ability to see past the prejudice, and judge a “person” as an individual instead of grouped into a stereo-type. It’s unfortunate that her fears of the monsters, both human and Other, turns out to be well founded. When she is shown the worse that the vampires can do, she can no longer stay rational about them as a whole. Even though Royce’s actions reflect his best intentions for keeping her safe, Shiarra cannot bring herself to acknowledge his efforts. All she is able to see when looking at him is her own trauma staring back at her. Can she ever find it in her heart to give Royce the opportunity she has allotted for everyone else in her life?
Even though her relationship with Chaz seems to be getting better, they still have their own problems to deal with. For instance, Chaz seems to have a hard time balancing his time and attention between his pack and Shiarra. No woman wants to think that her man is more involved with anything other than herself, pack alpha or not. They also must still deal with Royce and his romantic overtures toward Shiarra. Will Chaz’s insecurities with the vampire be the cause of pushing his girlfriend away? Will Shiarra decide that she would be better off with someone else, Royce or not? Can they work through both of their insecurities before it’s too late?
Shiarra’s involvement in the White Hats organization is brief. Though they continually look to recruit her to their ranks, they also refuse to let her join the “other” side. Though they helped her get away from Max’s clutches the first time, she doesn’t support their cause. When the time comes and she asks for their help in banding with weres and vampires to take down a larger foe, they refuse on the grounds that they will never work alongside the “monsters,” only kill them. But as long as Shiarra continues to be involved with Others, she will have to deal with the White Hats and their prejudices.
There is nothing too special about the bad guy in this book. Max Carlyle is an elder vampire that has been holding a grudge against Royce for centuries. Angry over the loss of the woman they both loved, Max has found the perfect revenge in Shiarra. His plans to “take” her away from Royce drive his every move. Even though he is a little clichéd, Max is an honest and consistent villain. There is never a moment when you believe that he will turn over a new leaf and join the good guys. There is no doubt that Shiarra is not his focus in this game. He uses her for his own ends and discards her when he no longer needs her.
I get the hint that Shiarra is done with the vampires for a while. I hope that, in some future book, she and Royce either battle it out or get together. Either way, I think that Chaz is dumb and I hope something happens that breaks them up. Between the two, I much prefer Royce because he has never denied his nature for the sake of Shiarra’s “delicate sensibilities”. Shiarra is a strong character, with or without the talking belt, and I hope to see more of that in the future.
Notable Scene:
I faltered, not wanting to talk about being bitten. The thought still frightened me, even with the haze of adoration I had for him.
“Come to me.”
As soon as John and the other vampire released me, I flung myself into Max’s open arms. He’d keep me safe. He’d make the others stay away and leave me alone. Tears of joy sprang to my eyes when he wrapped his arms around me. He wasn’t so mad at me after all. One hand lightly brushed through my hair, the other cradled me to his chest as he whispered so soft and endearing into my ear.
“You’re mine now.”
FTC Advisory: Kensington provided me with a copy of Taken by the Others. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: A human PI drawn into a struggle of “vampiric” proportions. Tensions within the story revolve around the fear of being too enamored into another’s life, at the loss of one’s own personality.
Opening Sentence: I don’t usually have people pointing guns in my face.
The Review:
The second installment of H & W Investigations series, Taken by the Others, sheds light on Shiarra Waynest’s thoughts and fears relating to the Others, or supernaturals like Vampires, Weres, and Magi. Her world has accepted the Others and incorporated them into their society, but can Shiarra? Though she is far more enlightened than she was in the last book, circumstances arise that test her new, more relaxed and understanding, self. There is a new player in town, and whether she wants to or not, she is about to be involved in a struggle for dominance between two very powerful vampires, Max Carlyle and Alec Royce.
Shiarra has accepted the idea that the Others she has viewed as monsters for so long, may not all be that bad. After all, her boyfriend, Chaz, is a werewolf and she loves him. There are also magi, or magic users, that she considers as friends. So, why does she still avoid vampires like the plague? Mostly because Alec Royce, one of the nation’s oldest and most publicly known vampires, confuses her. She has feared him since their contract was signed, but he has never given her real reason to. When she is kidnapped for the sole purpose to cause Royce pain and anguish, all of Shiarra’s worst fears are realized. Her fear even leads her to accept the help of the White Hats: a group of anti-Other militants that have declared war against anything, or anyone, relating to those that are non-human.
Shiarra does a few new things in this book. She finds a way to include all the factions and besieges them to work together toward a common enemy. This is a much more mature character than we read about in the first book. She exhibits the ability to see past the prejudice, and judge a “person” as an individual instead of grouped into a stereo-type. It’s unfortunate that her fears of the monsters, both human and Other, turns out to be well founded. When she is shown the worse that the vampires can do, she can no longer stay rational about them as a whole. Even though Royce’s actions reflect his best intentions for keeping her safe, Shiarra cannot bring herself to acknowledge his efforts. All she is able to see when looking at him is her own trauma staring back at her. Can she ever find it in her heart to give Royce the opportunity she has allotted for everyone else in her life?
Even though her relationship with Chaz seems to be getting better, they still have their own problems to deal with. For instance, Chaz seems to have a hard time balancing his time and attention between his pack and Shiarra. No woman wants to think that her man is more involved with anything other than herself, pack alpha or not. They also must still deal with Royce and his romantic overtures toward Shiarra. Will Chaz’s insecurities with the vampire be the cause of pushing his girlfriend away? Will Shiarra decide that she would be better off with someone else, Royce or not? Can they work through both of their insecurities before it’s too late?
Shiarra’s involvement in the White Hats organization is brief. Though they continually look to recruit her to their ranks, they also refuse to let her join the “other” side. Though they helped her get away from Max’s clutches the first time, she doesn’t support their cause. When the time comes and she asks for their help in banding with weres and vampires to take down a larger foe, they refuse on the grounds that they will never work alongside the “monsters,” only kill them. But as long as Shiarra continues to be involved with Others, she will have to deal with the White Hats and their prejudices.
There is nothing too special about the bad guy in this book. Max Carlyle is an elder vampire that has been holding a grudge against Royce for centuries. Angry over the loss of the woman they both loved, Max has found the perfect revenge in Shiarra. His plans to “take” her away from Royce drive his every move. Even though he is a little clichéd, Max is an honest and consistent villain. There is never a moment when you believe that he will turn over a new leaf and join the good guys. There is no doubt that Shiarra is not his focus in this game. He uses her for his own ends and discards her when he no longer needs her.
I get the hint that Shiarra is done with the vampires for a while. I hope that, in some future book, she and Royce either battle it out or get together. Either way, I think that Chaz is dumb and I hope something happens that breaks them up. Between the two, I much prefer Royce because he has never denied his nature for the sake of Shiarra’s “delicate sensibilities”. Shiarra is a strong character, with or without the talking belt, and I hope to see more of that in the future.
Notable Scene:
I faltered, not wanting to talk about being bitten. The thought still frightened me, even with the haze of adoration I had for him.
“Come to me.”
As soon as John and the other vampire released me, I flung myself into Max’s open arms. He’d keep me safe. He’d make the others stay away and leave me alone. Tears of joy sprang to my eyes when he wrapped his arms around me. He wasn’t so mad at me after all. One hand lightly brushed through my hair, the other cradled me to his chest as he whispered so soft and endearing into my ear.
“You’re mine now.”
FTC Advisory: Kensington provided me with a copy of Taken by the Others. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
July 15, 2011
Phew *exhales* It ended.. And what action! Book 2 really blew it out of the park and now I can't wait to read Book 3! What a ride!! wow :-D
Detailed review: When I picked up Hunted by the Others the first book in the series I had high expectations: some of my favourite bloggers stated it was the beginning of a fantastic new series and gave it 5 stars, so I was impressed and my curiosity was piqued). My impressions of Hunted by the Others were that the narrative flew so naturally, that before I realized it I was already 200 pages in the story! But besides Jess Haines' flowing and engaging writing what I enjoyed the most was what a different kind of heroine she made Shia. Shia is regular, she is just like you and me, an ordinary girl with no tough chick attitude, no superpowers and no kickass boots. Shia is terrified by the Others (that's how the supernatural species (vampires, werewolves, witches, faes, etc.) are called in this universe) and her fear and reaction to danger is so real and logical that after all the tough heroines running head first into a fight she was a fresh breeze.
I just gave you this short introduction because what I loved about the first book was present in book #2 Taken by the Others as well and it even got better!
The novels in the H&W Investigations series feel like short chapters in Shia and co's life. Shia is a wonderful narrator: her voice is fresh, real and entertaining. Her biting sarcasm in her inner monologues is to die of laughter. Believe me it was excruciatingly difficult to only pick a few, because Shia's sarcasm and snark knob is constantly turned on and she has the best one liners. A few examples:
I’d picked them up way back when I thought Royce was trying to kill me. Turned out at the time Royce just wanted to make me his living slave and it was someone else who was out to kill me. Funny how these things turn out.
“You’re the one who decided it was such a great idea to follow in Rohrik Donovan’s footsteps and get people to see the warm, fuzzy-bunny side of vampires after all.”
Jesus H. Christ on a stick, I’ve never come that close to being vamp chow before. It was one thing to face Royce in open battle, knowing we would kill each other if we could. Quite another to have him go from friendly and cordial to I’m-about-to-eat-your-face-pass-the-salt-please.
Since Jack was all too keen to have me join the Psychos R Us...
What does Ms. Manners say you do after drinking a vampire’s blood? Thank him? Curse him? Run screaming from the room?
The whole gang is back: our favourite vampire Alec Royce who is just as irresistible and mysterious as before, Chaz who gets even more irritating than before and poor Arnold and Sara who get even less screen time than before.
I agree with some fellow fans when asked what makes this series so great and they reply: the characters. I would even be more specific and say it's the interaction between these characters. The banters crack with dry sarcasm, innuendo is dripping from the dialogues, the conversations, looks and small gestures between Shia and Royce are enough to make you squirm in your seat and feel your skin prickle with awareness. The tension between these two is phenomenal: Royce is the charming, irresistible vampire who oozes power and danger. He wants Shia for some reasons we can guess and others we have no idea about and Shia is completely freaked out by him in almost every scene they are together. His being a vampire and the depth of his powers terrifies her. Yet, at the same time we feel that there is a spark of interest even if buried deep down under all her fear.
I'm not a fan of Chaz. Which believe me is shocking because I'm a werewolf fan, love those shifter boys, but here Chaz just doesn't do it for me. Maybe it is his baby blue eyes (don't really sound that manly especially when compared to Royce's intense dark gaze), or his vanity, or his not having a real responsible job, but he seems like a boy in the body of a man to me. Despite his lovey-dovey behaviour towards Shia I don't see or feel the chemistry, the heat or simple affection between them.
I love in this series that Shia has her best girl friend at her side. Unfortunately a lot of UF heroines have to be alone, but Sara is a great addition and I am happy for Shia's sake that she has a best friend in whom she can confide and with whom she can stay real.
I really enjoyed the new development in Taken by the Others that Jess Haines introduced and included the White Hats more, and I even got a new favourite character in Devon's person! He is sweet, and brave and so adorable. A great addition to the team and nice to have another human protecting Shia's back.
Taken by the Others is full of non-stop action and thanks to Shia's narrative the reader feels as involved as if we were right in the middle of the action, prepare yourself for a few hours of nail-biting, heart-thumping because Jess Haines won't give you a moment of respite (but aren't we the masochists because we just love it? :-p).
Verdict: In Taken by the Others Jess Haines ups the thrill, the risks and the consequences. She takes Shia further down a road she never would have chosen to travel and I was curious to see how things will resume after everything that has happened in Book #2. A fantastic continuation to the series, I enjoyed Taken by the Others even more than the first book!
Those UF fans who haven't read this series yet, you HAVE too! Disregard the hideous cover, this series is wonderfully entertaining, trust me, you don't want to miss out on it.
Plot: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 9/10
Writing: 10/10
Cover: 2/10 - only because I like the moon and the purple background, but as Tori said this is such an infuriating cover flop!
Detailed review: When I picked up Hunted by the Others the first book in the series I had high expectations: some of my favourite bloggers stated it was the beginning of a fantastic new series and gave it 5 stars, so I was impressed and my curiosity was piqued). My impressions of Hunted by the Others were that the narrative flew so naturally, that before I realized it I was already 200 pages in the story! But besides Jess Haines' flowing and engaging writing what I enjoyed the most was what a different kind of heroine she made Shia. Shia is regular, she is just like you and me, an ordinary girl with no tough chick attitude, no superpowers and no kickass boots. Shia is terrified by the Others (that's how the supernatural species (vampires, werewolves, witches, faes, etc.) are called in this universe) and her fear and reaction to danger is so real and logical that after all the tough heroines running head first into a fight she was a fresh breeze.
I just gave you this short introduction because what I loved about the first book was present in book #2 Taken by the Others as well and it even got better!
The novels in the H&W Investigations series feel like short chapters in Shia and co's life. Shia is a wonderful narrator: her voice is fresh, real and entertaining. Her biting sarcasm in her inner monologues is to die of laughter. Believe me it was excruciatingly difficult to only pick a few, because Shia's sarcasm and snark knob is constantly turned on and she has the best one liners. A few examples:
I’d picked them up way back when I thought Royce was trying to kill me. Turned out at the time Royce just wanted to make me his living slave and it was someone else who was out to kill me. Funny how these things turn out.
“You’re the one who decided it was such a great idea to follow in Rohrik Donovan’s footsteps and get people to see the warm, fuzzy-bunny side of vampires after all.”
Jesus H. Christ on a stick, I’ve never come that close to being vamp chow before. It was one thing to face Royce in open battle, knowing we would kill each other if we could. Quite another to have him go from friendly and cordial to I’m-about-to-eat-your-face-pass-the-salt-please.
Since Jack was all too keen to have me join the Psychos R Us...
What does Ms. Manners say you do after drinking a vampire’s blood? Thank him? Curse him? Run screaming from the room?
The whole gang is back: our favourite vampire Alec Royce who is just as irresistible and mysterious as before, Chaz who gets even more irritating than before and poor Arnold and Sara who get even less screen time than before.
I agree with some fellow fans when asked what makes this series so great and they reply: the characters. I would even be more specific and say it's the interaction between these characters. The banters crack with dry sarcasm, innuendo is dripping from the dialogues, the conversations, looks and small gestures between Shia and Royce are enough to make you squirm in your seat and feel your skin prickle with awareness. The tension between these two is phenomenal: Royce is the charming, irresistible vampire who oozes power and danger. He wants Shia for some reasons we can guess and others we have no idea about and Shia is completely freaked out by him in almost every scene they are together. His being a vampire and the depth of his powers terrifies her. Yet, at the same time we feel that there is a spark of interest even if buried deep down under all her fear.
I'm not a fan of Chaz. Which believe me is shocking because I'm a werewolf fan, love those shifter boys, but here Chaz just doesn't do it for me. Maybe it is his baby blue eyes (don't really sound that manly especially when compared to Royce's intense dark gaze), or his vanity, or his not having a real responsible job, but he seems like a boy in the body of a man to me. Despite his lovey-dovey behaviour towards Shia I don't see or feel the chemistry, the heat or simple affection between them.
I love in this series that Shia has her best girl friend at her side. Unfortunately a lot of UF heroines have to be alone, but Sara is a great addition and I am happy for Shia's sake that she has a best friend in whom she can confide and with whom she can stay real.
I really enjoyed the new development in Taken by the Others that Jess Haines introduced and included the White Hats more, and I even got a new favourite character in Devon's person! He is sweet, and brave and so adorable. A great addition to the team and nice to have another human protecting Shia's back.
Taken by the Others is full of non-stop action and thanks to Shia's narrative the reader feels as involved as if we were right in the middle of the action, prepare yourself for a few hours of nail-biting, heart-thumping because Jess Haines won't give you a moment of respite (but aren't we the masochists because we just love it? :-p).
Verdict: In Taken by the Others Jess Haines ups the thrill, the risks and the consequences. She takes Shia further down a road she never would have chosen to travel and I was curious to see how things will resume after everything that has happened in Book #2. A fantastic continuation to the series, I enjoyed Taken by the Others even more than the first book!
Those UF fans who haven't read this series yet, you HAVE too! Disregard the hideous cover, this series is wonderfully entertaining, trust me, you don't want to miss out on it.
Plot: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 9/10
Writing: 10/10
Cover: 2/10 - only because I like the moon and the purple background, but as Tori said this is such an infuriating cover flop!
April 20, 2025
💜🤗Très agréable à lire.
Shiarra Waynest, détective privée, tient une agence avec son amie Sara dans un monde tout à fait contemporain.
Depuis quelques années, les "Autres" (lycanthropes, vampires, mages et sorciers) ont dévoilé leur existence au grand jour.
Shiarra a un petit ami loup-garou (Chaz), un ami mage (Arnold)...
Des chasseurs de vampires, les "White Hats", essayent de la recruter...
Mais elle se retrouve liée à un vampire, le bel et riche Alec Royce... Et elle se fait enlever...
Elle va découvrir que les apparences sont en fait trompeuses.
Ce tome 2 est un peu plus tonique, le langage aussi (autre traducteur que pour le 1er).
Très divertissant et belle couverture de livre !
Shiarra Waynest, détective privée, tient une agence avec son amie Sara dans un monde tout à fait contemporain.
Depuis quelques années, les "Autres" (lycanthropes, vampires, mages et sorciers) ont dévoilé leur existence au grand jour.
Shiarra a un petit ami loup-garou (Chaz), un ami mage (Arnold)...
Des chasseurs de vampires, les "White Hats", essayent de la recruter...
Mais elle se retrouve liée à un vampire, le bel et riche Alec Royce... Et elle se fait enlever...
Elle va découvrir que les apparences sont en fait trompeuses.
Ce tome 2 est un peu plus tonique, le langage aussi (autre traducteur que pour le 1er).
Très divertissant et belle couverture de livre !
May 20, 2025
humph!
SPOILERZZZ
Why is Chaz still a thing???
And why is the MC so clueless... Chaz bailing on her when she was bonded is not on her it's on HIM. It's not like she could control her actions, and there he goes, leaving her when she needs emotional support.
Yea, he's done a lot of fighting and defending for her, but on the BF side, he sux. Being a no show on dates, not realizing immediately when she was kidnapped,... and don't think I forgot about the call from his phone that hung up when the MC picked up. He's shady and unreliable when it matters. Just let him be a bodyguard and call it. He sucks as anything else.
Side note... the author doesn't make him solid enough for the reader anyway for us to think he's anything serious...smh.
SPOILERZZZ
Why is Chaz still a thing???
And why is the MC so clueless... Chaz bailing on her when she was bonded is not on her it's on HIM. It's not like she could control her actions, and there he goes, leaving her when she needs emotional support.
Yea, he's done a lot of fighting and defending for her, but on the BF side, he sux. Being a no show on dates, not realizing immediately when she was kidnapped,... and don't think I forgot about the call from his phone that hung up when the MC picked up. He's shady and unreliable when it matters. Just let him be a bodyguard and call it. He sucks as anything else.
Side note... the author doesn't make him solid enough for the reader anyway for us to think he's anything serious...smh.
September 10, 2013
Cet avis a d'abord été publié sur mon blog Lecture toute une Aventure
Avis:
Un récit assez bon mais loin de capter mon intérêt sans faillir. J’ai vraiment du mal à m’identifier à l’héroïne et à la comprendre de ce fait je décroche un peu trop vite avec pour résultat que j’ai pris bien plus longtemps pour finir ce tome que je ne l’avais prévu. Oh l’histoire est bonne, complexe et ne manque pas d’actions toutefois le coupable était un peu trop évident pour moi ajouter à cela le fait que je voulais foutre des baffes à Shiarra je ne peux pas honnêtement dire que l’histoire m’aie captivée bien que certains éléments sont très intéressants et j’espère vont faire en sorte que la série n’en devienne que meilleure pour moi.
Mais commençons par le commencement….ce tome pourrait être lu sans que vous ayez au préalable lu le tome 1 je pense car Jess haines prends bien soin de remettre les événements en perspective cependant j’admets que sans avoir lu Traquée avant on pourrait manquer d’information sur certains personnages secondaires.
Je suppose que ce qui m’a vraiment énervée c’était le manque d’évolution dans le comportement et les croyances de Shiarra. Certes, on ne change pas radicalement lorsque l’on a grandit en croyant fermement quelque chose mais quand même j’ai trouvé qu’elle faisait preuve d’une certaine duplicité qui m’a dérangée. Après tout, dans le tome 1 elle a pu voir les loups garous en action, elle s’est battues à leur côtés et même plus…alors maintenant, des mois plus tard, elle les tolère oui mais elle les évite quand même et surtout elle n’a pas chercher à en apprendre d’avantage et cela me semble suspect. Après tout en tant que détective, les recherches c’est son truc et pourtant elle continue à s’en tenir aux croyances populaires et ragots des journaux à sensations, avec moins de crédulité peut-être mais elle ne se renseigne quand même pas. (Ni sur les vampires et leurs pouvoirs ou coutumes d’aillleurs… or même si elle les considère comme des ennuis ce n’est qu’une raison de plus pour rassembler un maximum d’information.)
Pire son attitude vis a vis de Chaz son petit ami m’a vraiment ennuyée. Elle ne semble pas sincère, même lorsqu’elle pense à lui elle le voit comme un protecteur, capable de la protéger, capable de l’aider dans ses enquêtes mais toujours un loups garou donc leur relation reste platonique…elle ne se demande même pas si il en souffre, elle ne regarde que son avantage… oui maintenant elle accepte de le toucher, elle hurle pas quand il est transformer mais il y a à peine une tolérance pas un amour fou même si elle va chercher du réconfort auprès de lui quand elle en a besoin… Si elle l’aime vraiment elle doit l’aimer complètement pas jouer à chat comme cela
Elle fait la morale à d’autres mais son attitude n’est guère meilleure.
Nous découvrons cependant 2 « whites hats » ( pour rappel c’est une sorte de secte terroristes qui est contre tout ce qui n’est pas humain) qui en sont pas 100% extrémistes ou plus exactement on en rencontre un Devon, qui accepte même de travailler avec des Autres, et on en retrouve un Minus ( Shiarra l’avait rencontré dans le tome 1 mais ignorait son nom. Tous deux sont assez amusants et même loyal vis-à-vis de Shiarra et j’ai apprécie que finalement elle prenne ses distances ( j’ai détesté qu’elle songe à les rejoindre !!)
Jess Haines joue les tentatrices dans ce tome, en effet elle nous glisse des éléments mais sans donner de véritables réponses pour le moment. Ainsi on en apprend plus sur le passé du Vampire Royce et on découvre que son créateur, une femme, est encore en vie et loin d’être commode. Mais plus important encore la raison de l’intérêt qu’il porte à Shiarra peut commencer à s’éclairer puisqu’on lui dit qu’elle a de l’énergie fae ( et c’est une elfe qui le dit ^^).. Comment c’est possible ?, à quel niveau exactement ?, comment Royce l’a découvert ? Tout cela reste sans réponse et nous met l’eau à la bouche.. une bonne raison pour continuer de donner le change à cette série sans aucun doute.
Du côté des retrouvailles on entend parler de Sarah et Arnold, le mage, assez souvent mais dans les faits ils n’interviennent presque pas cette fois, cependant leur simple mention est efficace pour faire baisser la tension lorsque cela devient nécessaire.
La romance est un peu trouble comme je l’ai déjà fait remarqué précédemment du moins entre Shiarra et Chaz, entre Sarah et Arnorld tout va pour le mieux. La relation entre Shiarra et Royce est compliquée et on ignore si ses sentiments à lui sont réels, pour elle on découvre que la majeure partie du temps ils sont influencés d’une manière ou d’une autre ( par Royce, Max ou même la ceinture artefact). Je me demande vraiment vers quoi l’auteur souhaite aller.
L’action est très présente et ce tome est un peu plus noire au vu du nombre de décès et d’attaques mais c’est plus latent alors que pour « traquée » tout explosait à un seul moment.
Je vais continuer à suivre cette série en espérant voir une véritable évolution chez Shiarra mais surtout à l’heure actuelle c’est pour en apprendre plus sur Royce, voir Chaz et retrouver La Carpe, une vampire très compétente mais amicale, et espérer revoir Devon et Minus que je n’ai pas envie d’attendre^^.
Avis:
Un récit assez bon mais loin de capter mon intérêt sans faillir. J’ai vraiment du mal à m’identifier à l’héroïne et à la comprendre de ce fait je décroche un peu trop vite avec pour résultat que j’ai pris bien plus longtemps pour finir ce tome que je ne l’avais prévu. Oh l’histoire est bonne, complexe et ne manque pas d’actions toutefois le coupable était un peu trop évident pour moi ajouter à cela le fait que je voulais foutre des baffes à Shiarra je ne peux pas honnêtement dire que l’histoire m’aie captivée bien que certains éléments sont très intéressants et j’espère vont faire en sorte que la série n’en devienne que meilleure pour moi.
Mais commençons par le commencement….ce tome pourrait être lu sans que vous ayez au préalable lu le tome 1 je pense car Jess haines prends bien soin de remettre les événements en perspective cependant j’admets que sans avoir lu Traquée avant on pourrait manquer d’information sur certains personnages secondaires.
Je suppose que ce qui m’a vraiment énervée c’était le manque d’évolution dans le comportement et les croyances de Shiarra. Certes, on ne change pas radicalement lorsque l’on a grandit en croyant fermement quelque chose mais quand même j’ai trouvé qu’elle faisait preuve d’une certaine duplicité qui m’a dérangée. Après tout, dans le tome 1 elle a pu voir les loups garous en action, elle s’est battues à leur côtés et même plus…alors maintenant, des mois plus tard, elle les tolère oui mais elle les évite quand même et surtout elle n’a pas chercher à en apprendre d’avantage et cela me semble suspect. Après tout en tant que détective, les recherches c’est son truc et pourtant elle continue à s’en tenir aux croyances populaires et ragots des journaux à sensations, avec moins de crédulité peut-être mais elle ne se renseigne quand même pas. (Ni sur les vampires et leurs pouvoirs ou coutumes d’aillleurs… or même si elle les considère comme des ennuis ce n’est qu’une raison de plus pour rassembler un maximum d’information.)
Pire son attitude vis a vis de Chaz son petit ami m’a vraiment ennuyée. Elle ne semble pas sincère, même lorsqu’elle pense à lui elle le voit comme un protecteur, capable de la protéger, capable de l’aider dans ses enquêtes mais toujours un loups garou donc leur relation reste platonique…elle ne se demande même pas si il en souffre, elle ne regarde que son avantage… oui maintenant elle accepte de le toucher, elle hurle pas quand il est transformer mais il y a à peine une tolérance pas un amour fou même si elle va chercher du réconfort auprès de lui quand elle en a besoin… Si elle l’aime vraiment elle doit l’aimer complètement pas jouer à chat comme cela
Elle fait la morale à d’autres mais son attitude n’est guère meilleure.
Nous découvrons cependant 2 « whites hats » ( pour rappel c’est une sorte de secte terroristes qui est contre tout ce qui n’est pas humain) qui en sont pas 100% extrémistes ou plus exactement on en rencontre un Devon, qui accepte même de travailler avec des Autres, et on en retrouve un Minus ( Shiarra l’avait rencontré dans le tome 1 mais ignorait son nom. Tous deux sont assez amusants et même loyal vis-à-vis de Shiarra et j’ai apprécie que finalement elle prenne ses distances ( j’ai détesté qu’elle songe à les rejoindre !!)
Jess Haines joue les tentatrices dans ce tome, en effet elle nous glisse des éléments mais sans donner de véritables réponses pour le moment. Ainsi on en apprend plus sur le passé du Vampire Royce et on découvre que son créateur, une femme, est encore en vie et loin d’être commode. Mais plus important encore la raison de l’intérêt qu’il porte à Shiarra peut commencer à s’éclairer puisqu’on lui dit qu’elle a de l’énergie fae ( et c’est une elfe qui le dit ^^).. Comment c’est possible ?, à quel niveau exactement ?, comment Royce l’a découvert ? Tout cela reste sans réponse et nous met l’eau à la bouche.. une bonne raison pour continuer de donner le change à cette série sans aucun doute.
Du côté des retrouvailles on entend parler de Sarah et Arnold, le mage, assez souvent mais dans les faits ils n’interviennent presque pas cette fois, cependant leur simple mention est efficace pour faire baisser la tension lorsque cela devient nécessaire.
La romance est un peu trouble comme je l’ai déjà fait remarqué précédemment du moins entre Shiarra et Chaz, entre Sarah et Arnorld tout va pour le mieux. La relation entre Shiarra et Royce est compliquée et on ignore si ses sentiments à lui sont réels, pour elle on découvre que la majeure partie du temps ils sont influencés d’une manière ou d’une autre ( par Royce, Max ou même la ceinture artefact). Je me demande vraiment vers quoi l’auteur souhaite aller.
L’action est très présente et ce tome est un peu plus noire au vu du nombre de décès et d’attaques mais c’est plus latent alors que pour « traquée » tout explosait à un seul moment.
Je vais continuer à suivre cette série en espérant voir une véritable évolution chez Shiarra mais surtout à l’heure actuelle c’est pour en apprendre plus sur Royce, voir Chaz et retrouver La Carpe, une vampire très compétente mais amicale, et espérer revoir Devon et Minus que je n’ai pas envie d’attendre^^.
Read
September 10, 2013Cet avis été précédemment publié sur mon blog Lecture toute une Aventure
Avis:
Un récit assez bon mais loin de capter mon intérêt sans faillir. J’ai vraiment du mal à m’identifier à l’héroïne et à la comprendre de ce fait je décroche un peu trop vite avec pour résultat que j’ai pris bien plus longtemps pour finir ce tome que je ne l’avais prévu. Oh l’histoire est bonne, complexe et ne manque pas d’actions toutefois le coupable était un peu trop évident pour moi ajouter à cela le fait que je voulais foutre des baffes à Shiarra je ne peux pas honnêtement dire que l’histoire m’aie captivée bien que certains éléments sont très intéressants et j’espère vont faire en sorte que la série n’en devienne que meilleure pour moi.
Mais commençons par le commencement….ce tome pourrait être lu sans que vous ayez au préalable lu le tome 1 je pense car Jess haines prends bien soin de remettre les événements en perspective cependant j’admets que sans avoir lu Traquée avant on pourrait manquer d’information sur certains personnages secondaires.
Je suppose que ce qui m’a vraiment énervée c’était le manque d’évolution dans le comportement et les croyances de Shiarra. Certes, on ne change pas radicalement lorsque l’on a grandit en croyant fermement quelque chose mais quand même j’ai trouvé qu’elle faisait preuve d’une certaine duplicité qui m’a dérangée. Après tout, dans le tome 1 elle a pu voir les loups garous en action, elle s’est battues à leur côtés et même plus…alors maintenant, des mois plus tard, elle les tolère oui mais elle les évite quand même et surtout elle n’a pas chercher à en apprendre d’avantage et cela me semble suspect. Après tout en tant que détective, les recherches c’est son truc et pourtant elle continue à s’en tenir aux croyances populaires et ragots des journaux à sensations, avec moins de crédulité peut-être mais elle ne se renseigne quand même pas. (Ni sur les vampires et leurs pouvoirs ou coutumes d’aillleurs… or même si elle les considère comme des ennuis ce n’est qu’une raison de plus pour rassembler un maximum d’information.)
Pire son attitude vis a vis de Chaz son petit ami m’a vraiment ennuyée. Elle ne semble pas sincère, même lorsqu’elle pense à lui elle le voit comme un protecteur, capable de la protéger, capable de l’aider dans ses enquêtes mais toujours un loups garou donc leur relation reste platonique…elle ne se demande même pas si il en souffre, elle ne regarde que son avantage… oui maintenant elle accepte de le toucher, elle hurle pas quand il est transformer mais il y a à peine une tolérance pas un amour fou même si elle va chercher du réconfort auprès de lui quand elle en a besoin… Si elle l’aime vraiment elle doit l’aimer complètement pas jouer à chat comme cela
Elle fait la morale à d’autres mais son attitude n’est guère meilleure.
Nous découvrons cependant 2 « whites hats » ( pour rappel c’est une sorte de secte terroristes qui est contre tout ce qui n’est pas humain) qui en sont pas 100% extrémistes ou plus exactement on en rencontre un Devon, qui accepte même de travailler avec des Autres, et on en retrouve un Minus ( Shiarra l’avait rencontré dans le tome 1 mais ignorait son nom. Tous deux sont assez amusants et même loyal vis-à-vis de Shiarra et j’ai apprécie que finalement elle prenne ses distances ( j’ai détesté qu’elle songe à les rejoindre !!)
Jess Haines joue les tentatrices dans ce tome, en effet elle nous glisse des éléments mais sans donner de véritables réponses pour le moment. Ainsi on en apprend plus sur le passé du Vampire Royce et on découvre que son créateur, une femme, est encore en vie et loin d’être commode. Mais plus important encore la raison de l’intérêt qu’il porte à Shiarra peut commencer à s’éclairer puisqu’on lui dit qu’elle a de l’énergie fae ( et c’est une elfe qui le dit ^^).. Comment c’est possible ?, à quel niveau exactement ?, comment Royce l’a découvert ? Tout cela reste sans réponse et nous met l’eau à la bouche.. une bonne raison pour continuer de donner le change à cette série sans aucun doute.
Du côté des retrouvailles on entend parler de Sarah et Arnold, le mage, assez souvent mais dans les faits ils n’interviennent presque pas cette fois, cependant leur simple mention est efficace pour faire baisser la tension lorsque cela devient nécessaire.
La romance est un peu trouble comme je l’ai déjà fait remarqué précédemment du moins entre Shiarra et Chaz, entre Sarah et Arnorld tout va pour le mieux. La relation entre Shiarra et Royce est compliquée et on ignore si ses sentiments à lui sont réels, pour elle on découvre que la majeure partie du temps ils sont influencés d’une manière ou d’une autre ( par Royce, Max ou même la ceinture artefact). Je me demande vraiment vers quoi l’auteur souhaite aller.
L’action est très présente et ce tome est un peu plus noire au vu du nombre de décès et d’attaques mais c’est plus latent alors que pour « traquée » tout explosait à un seul moment.
Je vais continuer à suivre cette série en espérant voir une véritable évolution chez Shiarra mais surtout à l’heure actuelle c’est pour en apprendre plus sur Royce, voir Chaz et retrouver La Carpe, une vampire très compétente mais amicale, et espérer revoir Devon et Minus que je n’ai pas envie d’attendre^^.
Avis:
Un récit assez bon mais loin de capter mon intérêt sans faillir. J’ai vraiment du mal à m’identifier à l’héroïne et à la comprendre de ce fait je décroche un peu trop vite avec pour résultat que j’ai pris bien plus longtemps pour finir ce tome que je ne l’avais prévu. Oh l’histoire est bonne, complexe et ne manque pas d’actions toutefois le coupable était un peu trop évident pour moi ajouter à cela le fait que je voulais foutre des baffes à Shiarra je ne peux pas honnêtement dire que l’histoire m’aie captivée bien que certains éléments sont très intéressants et j’espère vont faire en sorte que la série n’en devienne que meilleure pour moi.
Mais commençons par le commencement….ce tome pourrait être lu sans que vous ayez au préalable lu le tome 1 je pense car Jess haines prends bien soin de remettre les événements en perspective cependant j’admets que sans avoir lu Traquée avant on pourrait manquer d’information sur certains personnages secondaires.
Je suppose que ce qui m’a vraiment énervée c’était le manque d’évolution dans le comportement et les croyances de Shiarra. Certes, on ne change pas radicalement lorsque l’on a grandit en croyant fermement quelque chose mais quand même j’ai trouvé qu’elle faisait preuve d’une certaine duplicité qui m’a dérangée. Après tout, dans le tome 1 elle a pu voir les loups garous en action, elle s’est battues à leur côtés et même plus…alors maintenant, des mois plus tard, elle les tolère oui mais elle les évite quand même et surtout elle n’a pas chercher à en apprendre d’avantage et cela me semble suspect. Après tout en tant que détective, les recherches c’est son truc et pourtant elle continue à s’en tenir aux croyances populaires et ragots des journaux à sensations, avec moins de crédulité peut-être mais elle ne se renseigne quand même pas. (Ni sur les vampires et leurs pouvoirs ou coutumes d’aillleurs… or même si elle les considère comme des ennuis ce n’est qu’une raison de plus pour rassembler un maximum d’information.)
Pire son attitude vis a vis de Chaz son petit ami m’a vraiment ennuyée. Elle ne semble pas sincère, même lorsqu’elle pense à lui elle le voit comme un protecteur, capable de la protéger, capable de l’aider dans ses enquêtes mais toujours un loups garou donc leur relation reste platonique…elle ne se demande même pas si il en souffre, elle ne regarde que son avantage… oui maintenant elle accepte de le toucher, elle hurle pas quand il est transformer mais il y a à peine une tolérance pas un amour fou même si elle va chercher du réconfort auprès de lui quand elle en a besoin… Si elle l’aime vraiment elle doit l’aimer complètement pas jouer à chat comme cela
Elle fait la morale à d’autres mais son attitude n’est guère meilleure.
Nous découvrons cependant 2 « whites hats » ( pour rappel c’est une sorte de secte terroristes qui est contre tout ce qui n’est pas humain) qui en sont pas 100% extrémistes ou plus exactement on en rencontre un Devon, qui accepte même de travailler avec des Autres, et on en retrouve un Minus ( Shiarra l’avait rencontré dans le tome 1 mais ignorait son nom. Tous deux sont assez amusants et même loyal vis-à-vis de Shiarra et j’ai apprécie que finalement elle prenne ses distances ( j’ai détesté qu’elle songe à les rejoindre !!)
Jess Haines joue les tentatrices dans ce tome, en effet elle nous glisse des éléments mais sans donner de véritables réponses pour le moment. Ainsi on en apprend plus sur le passé du Vampire Royce et on découvre que son créateur, une femme, est encore en vie et loin d’être commode. Mais plus important encore la raison de l’intérêt qu’il porte à Shiarra peut commencer à s’éclairer puisqu’on lui dit qu’elle a de l’énergie fae ( et c’est une elfe qui le dit ^^).. Comment c’est possible ?, à quel niveau exactement ?, comment Royce l’a découvert ? Tout cela reste sans réponse et nous met l’eau à la bouche.. une bonne raison pour continuer de donner le change à cette série sans aucun doute.
Du côté des retrouvailles on entend parler de Sarah et Arnold, le mage, assez souvent mais dans les faits ils n’interviennent presque pas cette fois, cependant leur simple mention est efficace pour faire baisser la tension lorsque cela devient nécessaire.
La romance est un peu trouble comme je l’ai déjà fait remarqué précédemment du moins entre Shiarra et Chaz, entre Sarah et Arnorld tout va pour le mieux. La relation entre Shiarra et Royce est compliquée et on ignore si ses sentiments à lui sont réels, pour elle on découvre que la majeure partie du temps ils sont influencés d’une manière ou d’une autre ( par Royce, Max ou même la ceinture artefact). Je me demande vraiment vers quoi l’auteur souhaite aller.
L’action est très présente et ce tome est un peu plus noire au vu du nombre de décès et d’attaques mais c’est plus latent alors que pour « traquée » tout explosait à un seul moment.
Je vais continuer à suivre cette série en espérant voir une véritable évolution chez Shiarra mais surtout à l’heure actuelle c’est pour en apprendre plus sur Royce, voir Chaz et retrouver La Carpe, une vampire très compétente mais amicale, et espérer revoir Devon et Minus que je n’ai pas envie d’attendre^^.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews