ARC Review--Enslaved by the Others by Jess Haines

Vampires, werewolves, magi and worse-the Others have joined the mortal world, and there's no turning back now...

As a New York P.I. and Other specialist, Shiarra Waynest has been in plenty of trouble before. But waking up in a windowless room the prisoner of a vampire slave trader is a shock for anyone. Shia has her wits, her bravado, and a couple of used staples, so maybe she can take on a mansion full of serious evil.

But although she's desperate to escape, Shia needs some answers too. Her friends are in danger. There are betrayers and spies among them. And even if she can figure out what's going on and somehow get a message out, she's still a captive of the worst kind...

I received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.


Jess Haines's Enslaved by the Others picks up where the explosive ending of Forsaken by the Others left off! And wow! Just wow!

Shiarra's character is beyond my favorite when it comes to character development. In the beginning she was a bit...hateful towards supernaturals, but she has grown so much over the course of six novels. True, she has her setbacks and moments, but that's what always makes her struggles realistic. She's not the same character she was from Hunted by the Others by a long shot!

Shia wakes up in the hands of her enemy, Max. She's his prisoner and she has no idea where she's even at. There are other prisoners with her, but Max has plans for Shia. Ones she really doesn't even want to know about, all in order to get at his enemy, Alec Royce.

For a good chunk of the novel, Shia is at Max's hands and caters to his whim. He tortures and torments her and a few of the other women as well. I was wondering if anyone would ever come to Shia's rescue, because despite having some power on her side, she was in a great need of some assistance. But Shia proves that determination and a will to live and be free are all enough to make an escape and that she does. But the story is far from over, because she will have to go back into the enemy's hands in order to rescue her best friend and all the other prisoners Max keeps locked away.

I struggled to remember what had happened with Shia last time around, but luckily Jess gives us enough lines to spark a decent memory of it all. Because really, Shia's current predicament is vastly important and relevant to whatever happened last time around! But as I said, we get the details that are necessary to recall what's gone down and that works perfectly for me!

I guess what upset me most with this one, as with the last one, is that we don't get enough of Alec. It was like after that surprise ending of Stalking the Others, Shia got shipped off right away in Forsaken by the Others. She and Alec have been apart wayyy too much. I miss their dynamics together! Especially since they were just getting romantic.

And while the two are apart for a good chunk of the novel, they do see each other again in this one. Won't get further into that, other than saying it was just as explosive as it was when they were last together! 

The pacing to this one was pretty good! For the first chunk of the novel I was reading in anticipation, waiting to see if Shia could escape, what would Max do to her next and all those sorts of dangers when you're in the hands of the enemy! The tension truly never let up! And that's a good thing!

The ending here left us a little bit more content with where the characters are. Sure, there are still some unresolved problems, but they seem minimal for the moment. I'm sure they will play much larger roles in the next book or two! So it's all a matter of waiting, yet again, for the next installment in what is one of my favorite Urban Fantasy series!


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars


Enslaved by the Others releases July 1, 2014