ARC Taken by the Others

Taken by the Others ARC (H&W Investigations, book 2) by Jess Haines; Jan. 2011

Once, New York P.I. Shiarra Waynest's most pressing problem was keeping her agency afloat. Now she's dealing with two dangerous, seductive vampires who have been enemies for centuries. The only thing Max Carlyle and Alec Royce agree on is that they both want Shia--for very different reasons.

Max is determined to destroy Shia for killing his progeny, while Royce's interest is a lot more personal. That's not sitting well with Shia's werewolf boyfriend, Chaz. As the feud between Max and Royce gets ever more deadly, a powerful vampire-hunting faction is urging Shia to join their side. Shia has always believed vamps were the bad guys, but she's discovering unexpected shades of grey that are about to redefine her friends, her loyalties--and even her desires. . .

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.