Review: Enslaved by the Others by Jess Haines (H&W Investigations #6)

Enslaved by the Others (H&W Investigations #6)
Jess Haines
Published: July 1, 2014 (Zebra)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for honest review

Reviewed by: Krista

Rating (out of 5): 3 stars

Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it does make references to previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Hunted by the Others.

At the end of Forsaken by Others Shiarra and Sara found themselves double-crossed and in the hands of Shiarra’s worst enemy. Enslaved by Others picks up shortly after with Shiarra waking up to what could possibly be the worst situation ever. She has become a slave and is now owned by Max Carlyle, the vampire who has been trying to own/kill her since she first came to his attention. Now this is a definite set up for some epic emotional and physical torment.

Unfortunately Enslaved by Others only partially lives up to its potential. It’s approximately half way through the book before Shiarra is finally able to escape and that half is boring. Even the character herself admits to being bored. She’s in the hands of a person she considers the baddest of the bad and she is bored. Other than some random minor altercations, Max leaves her pretty much alone. Even her eventual escape is somewhat lackluster.

When Shiarra is finally reunited with Royce, let’s just say there are fireworks. If you thought it was hot before, oh hell no. Shiarra has finally fully committed herself and does not seem to be holding on to the lingering shame she had when they first connected. Their relationship is definitely developing and creating unexpected changes in both of them.

In the end I was disappointed in Enslaved by Others, it really wasn’t what I had come to expect from the series. In the past there has been a lot of forward momentum and action. Instead this book seemed as if it was a necessary book between books. As if the series needed a logical and believable way for characters who had been based in Los Angeles to suddenly move to New York with Shiarra.

Hopefully Enslaved by Others has served its purpose and this series can return to what I loved before. I would still recommend this book because I still want to see where the series is going, even if I didn’t totally enjoy this outing.

Sexual content: sex