Jess Haines

I read the last line and went wtf..wtf..wtf!? Evil author alert. I sat up and shook my fist, ok so I did not shake my fist but I stared at bf for a while and trying to comprehend that the book had just ended. Now you all think cliffie, but it was not really a cliffie. All was good, sort of good for now, it was just what was going on and ..I truly want to spill the beans but you have to read for yourself to find out what made me crave book 5 more than chocolate, and I adore chocolate.

But that show more was the last page.*giggles* Oh Haines you evil awesome author.

Now see, I got sidetracked yet again, I shall not think about the end. So the book starts with a pissed off Shia and who can blame her. Possibly infected with the were virus and having found out that her boyfriend cheated on her. That effing bastard. And think I liked him for a while! So the hunt is on and she wants the Sunstrikers to pay. This is really a different Shia in this book. Sure she was always kick-ass but now she is also angry, and you do not want to see her angry.

We meet the white hats again, they are kind of growing on me and we learn, nope, lips sealed again. But we learn something. And then we also meet Royce *happy sigh*. The vampire that made me like vampires again, because he just oozes sex.

Fighting, trouble and one ending that will make you want more. More please  *puppy eyes* Haines does so well with this book, even if I talk about the end a bit too much but trust me, it was just that good! show less

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

I talk to my books. More accurately, I talk to the characters in the books I read. I yell at them when they do stupid things and cheer for them when they do awesome things. Well I practically went hoarse reading DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS. This is one fantastically messed up book! And I mean that in the best way possible.

If you haven’t started reading the H&W Investigations series yet, you’re missing out on one of the best and brightest urban show more fantasy has to offer. You want werewolves? Shia is dating the Alpha of the third largest pack in New York. Prefer vampires? You will love Alec Royce, the most powerful vampire in the city with looks that kill and an agenda that only he knows. Magic more your thing? Wait until you meet The Circle, witches and mages with enchanted objects not to be believed. Navigating this world of Others is Shia, a levelheaded P.I. without a lick of magic but enough guts and street smarts to make up for it. She has ties to every paranormal group in the city—and a few anti-paranormal groups too—whether she wants to or not. Trust me, you’ll never have more fun than with these characters.

The majority of DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS takes place outside of the city on werewolf retreat which unfortunately means that most of the stellar cast from this series is absent for the first couple hundred pages. I completely understand the need for this given some of the HUGE plot developments that take place in this book, but I can’t help but miss some of the interaction between Shia, Sara, Arnold, and most of all Royce. As if anticipating backlash from fans, the last 150 pages reunites everyone and delivers some of the most memorable Shia/Royce scenes ever.

Plenty of urban fantasy authors do dark and disturbing. Jess Haines does urban fantasy that is smart and sexy with characters the span the spectrum from super scary to playfully snarky, and dangerously seductive. And the best thing about the H&W Investigations series is that I’m left with my mouth hanging open in shock by the end of each book, and I may have actually dislocated my jaw at the way DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS ended. Shia is physically and emotionally torn apart in this book. Some characters reveal their true colors in ways that stunned and incensed me while others stepped up in ways I never thought possible. It’s like I’m meeting some of these characters for the first time and I can’t wait to see what they do next in JUSTICE FOR THE OTHERS.

Sexual Content:
A scene of semi graphic sensuality. References to sex. show less

Book #5 of the series picks up right where we left off. Shia wakes up with Royce & an ocean of regret. She hasn't taken his blood so it's not final but she's pretty much "a legally bound & contracted vampire's toy".
But she is back to herself, without the belt, and the ramifications of all she's done in the past month are hitting her hard. At least 4 different groups are gunning for her & her father has basically said don't call us, we'll call you.
At least Royce has brought Sara to the house. show more Then he drops the bomb. He's going to stash them in LA 'til things cool off. They'll be staying with Clyde Seabreeze, a quasi-ally of his, with orders to keep their heads down. Right. Hasn't he noticed that Shia is one of the biggest s**t magnets on the planet?
Off they go to Clyde's & he's suitably slimy. He steals their phones (which they inexplicably don't replace) & there are bugs & cameras in their cottage. He swears to take care of them, especially if they could help out with a pesky little zombie infestation. The PI's are back in business.
Oooh boy...where to begin. This was not the strongest of the bunch for several reasons. Let's start with Royce.
Enjoy the first few pages because that's the last you'll see of him. It feels like the author is testing how long she can tease fans before she allows Shia & Royce to have any happiness. Note to Ms. Haines: enough already. All sturm und drang all the time makes for weary readers. Also, Royce does & says some things that are completely inconsistent with how he's been portrayed so far, making you scratch your head.
Moving the action to the west coast may provide a new setting but there are consequences. Many of the favourite secondary characters have no role in this book except in passing & they are missed.
But the major issue is Shia. We understand she feels enormous guilt for her actions & how they endangered those around her, mostly because we are told so...over & over & over again. But it seems we are the only ones who got it as she proceeds to do the exact same things in LA. Not sure I'd be hanging with her in public as my "friend".
This leads to one of my biggest pet peeves: women who work in a job such as a private investigator that is tough & requires intelligence who then proceed to make one boneheaded decision after another to the point where you wonder how they ever managed to make a living in their chosen profession. Surely there are other ways of advancing a plot or introducing an element of danger than as the result of a "heroine" being dumb & impulsive. Again, did she learn nothing in the last month?
This feels like a filler book. There are holes in the plot, things that make no sense or are inconsistent with the back story & it's as if the whole thing was put together just so Shia could run into an old nemesis in the final few pages. Then it stops.You turn the page, hoping to to see some kind of partial resolution but it's done.
So, unless this series is your reason for living, give this one a pass. After enjoying the last one, for me it was a disappointment. show less

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads.

After the dramatic exit Shia made in DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS, reading the next installment became my #1 priority, I only wish that I could fly through all series the way I’m guzzling H&W INVESTIGATIONS! The heroine turns into a lean, mean, killing machine in this book, and I just loved watching her serve up a can of Others whoopass. The blurb outs Chaz as a douchebag, so I’m psyched that I no longer have to curb my seething hatred in order to avoid spoilers on show more that front, and can now full-out own my Team Royce status, doubly-so after that last scene—whoa Nelly! I’m a little nervous as to what the loss of the hunter’s belt, and the capitulation to Alec’s demands might mean for Waynest, but I have confidence in Jess Haines.

I’d suspected that we hadn’t seen the last of the White Hats, even after the falling out in TAKEN BY THE OTHERS, and although Jack isn’t exactly my favourite character, I still enjoyed getting to know him better. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the one you don’t, so when confronted with the possibly of becoming a werewolf, Shia turns to this anti-Others group for help. Now, I use that term loosely because their idea of neighbourly love involves revenge and assisted suicide. That is until some interesting dets about their fearless leader surface, and the line between good & evil becomes blurred. I was taken aback by this latest newsflash because it was wholly unexpected, and quite the twist at that!

STALKING THE OTHERS was mostly about Waynest evening the score with the Sunstrikers, and I liked that the protagonist got the opportunity to show readers what she’s made of, from her nifty P.I. tricks to her ninja moves thanks to Isaac (the belt). One of my blogger peeps made a surprise cameo appearance as a werewolf, and I couldn’t get enough of Shia’s tooth and nail catfight with Kimberly, the homewrecker! I was happy with the way things went down between our girl and Dillon, but her encounter with Chaz was a bit of a letdown. The reasons behind it made sense in a big picture kind of way, however on the flip side I REALLY wanted Waynes to cut her ex-boyfriend’s nuts off, and shove them down his throat. Just saying.

Royce’s part in this story was minuscule, but the scenes he was in were real game changers. I keep expecting him to vamp out on Shia, yet in reality he’s turning out to be one of the most consistent characters in this series. His experience and insight are invaluable, and ended up pulling the heroine’s butt out of the fire. Again. That last chapter was a long time in coming, and thank goodness that there was a preview for the next installment in the final pages of this novel because I needed it as badly as my next breath after that firebomb. The title of book 5 is making me fidgety though, just when Waynest’s love life is beginning to even out, the author has to go and taunt us with FORSAKEN BY THE OTHERS. I’m scared.

For the most part, STALKING THE OTHERS was a 4-star read, but that ending earned an extra .5 from me. Wowzers! show less