Hunted by the Others by Jess Haines

Paperback: 352 pages
Price: $6.99
ISBN: 978-1420111897  
Released: May 1, 2010 
Publisher: Kensington 
Author's Website: Jess Haines
Buy it: Amazon
Obtained: Author
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: H&W Investigations
Book Order:
1. Hunted by the Others
2. Taken by the Others (book review)
3. Deceived by the Others (book review)

They are the Others—the vampires, mages, and werewolves once thought to exist only in our imaginations. Now they’re stepping out of the shadows, and nothing in our world will ever be the same again…

In a Town Like This, Being A P.I. Can Be Murder

Shiarra Waynest’s detective work was dangerous enough when her client base was strictly mortal. But ailing finances have forced her to accept a lucrative case that could save her firm—if it doesn’t kill her first. Shiarra has signed on to work for a high-level mage to recover an ancient artifact owned by one of New York’s most powerful vampires.
 

As soon as Shiarra meets sexy, mesmerizing vamp Alec Royce, she knows her assignment is even more complicated than she thought. With a clandestine anti-Other group trying to recruit her, and magi being eliminated, Shiarra needs back-up and enlists her ex-boyfriend—a werewolf whose non-furry form is disarmingly appealing—and a nerdy mage with surprising talents. But it may not be enough. In a city where the undead roam, magic rules, and even the Others aren’t always what they seem, Shiarra has just become the secret weapon in a battle between good and evil—whether she likes it or not…

My Rating:

My Opinion:
Where should I start?  When I first heard of this series--months, and months, and months ago--I shrugged it off, thinking to myself "oh no... not another cop/investigator story!"  I do not particularly enjoy these sorts of stories.  In fact, if I discover that the heroine in the book is on the police force, I shy away from that text.  (Don't ask me why, investigation stories of that nature simply bore me.)  Then a month or two later, before the book was released, I read a snippet.  Then I started hearing the reviews.  Despite myself, I was intrigued, especially after reading some of the guest posts Jess has written.

Imagine my delight when Jess--the kind and wonderful author (who giggled about whale dorks with me, which kind of just makes her one of the coolest people ever)--approached me with an offer to review Hunted by the Others.  Upon opening the book, I approached it with nothing but excitement.  Having the actual book in my clutches somehow managed to erase my initial trepidation.  Now, imagine my pleasant surprise while reading through the text that I realize how un-police and investigator-like Shia (the main character) actually is.  Here is a modern young woman who has fears, who is overworked, and who simply wants to earn enough money so as not to lose her business.  She has no interest in meddling with immortal affairs.  In fact, she makes it perfectly clear that if her company was not so pressed for money, she probably would have passed on the job offered during the initial stages of the novel.

Alas, money is an actual problem, so Shia finds herself thrown none-too-nicely into the jaws of an extremely sexy and intimidating vampire: Royce.  I guarantee you that most readers will probably fall for Royce.  He is suave, dark, mysterious, and takes an initial interest in Shia... which means you will be reading more of him in this book and in later novels!  But that is not it.  Jess also introduces a geeky yet cute Magi, and an equally sexy alpha werewolf--who happens to be Shia's ex boyfriend--into the mix.  What on earth is a girl supposed to do surrounded by all this testosterone?

An interesting new concept Haines has introduced into her world are contracts.  When an Other manages to convince the humans in their lives to sign off on one of these contracts, said human pretty much sells their entire life to the immortal in question.  Now, one would  imagine this wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if one had a sexy werewolf of vampire for a boyfriend.  Think of it this way: if you were dating said vamp or were, and if they became overly excited and ended up biting half your face and neck off while you two were doing the deed, you could sue them.  However, if you signed off on the contract, stating that you were their property (which is how I pretty much imagined it as), you cannot sue.  You are theirs.  If they decide to turn you, and the transformation leaves you horribly deformed, tough buttons. Doesn't sound so great after all, huh?

For me, this sort of contract, and the legalities behind it, really opened my eyes once again to the animalistic, predator-like qualities most immortals should have in paranormal books.  Vampires aren't cuddly blocks of marble; they will suck you dry if they can.  Werewolves aren't cute, cuddly puppies (though I would not mind cuddling up with Chaz).  Magi will probably not be interested in making you appear eternally beautiful.  The immortals--or rather, Others--in this book live up to my expectations of how they should act in books: cutthroat, self-interested, dark, mysterious, territorial, sneaky, conniving, etc.  Basically, they don't play nice unless there's something to gain by doing so.  Don't get me wrong, they also have redeeming qualities and are not entirely shallow either, but I'm growing fairly tired of books where authors make the immortals cute little play things for the humans in their tales.

One suggestion I would make is to explore Shia's intense fear of vampires a bit more.  This was something that I could not seem to fully grasp, despite the obvious predator-ish qualities vamps like Royce had in this book.  I felt as if her fear was more fear of the unknown as opposed to fearing the actual creature.  This lack of grasping on my part was, in no way, the fault of Jess.  I blame this more on the new "humanized" version of vampires, which has lessened their "badass" persona in my eyes.  Nevertheless, exploration can never really hurt.

My only "complaint" is something extremely minor that most people probably won't even notice.  Towards the beginning of Hunted by the Others, Shia thinks a lot.  Now, thinking is not necessarily a bad thing, I simply felt that at some points, it tended to slow the pace of the story down a tad bit because of her worrying so much.  So, if you read HbtO, and find the pace slowing in the beginning, do not let it deter you.  Simply keep in mind that it does not last.  In fact, if you're anything like me, you'll be glued to the pages once the story picks up speed shortly after.

Hunted by the Others is definitely one of those pleasantly surprising discoveries.  Jess took vampires, werewolves, and magi, then transformed a typical investigation story into something so creatively unique and original, you can't help but beg for more.

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• Paperback - 352 pages
• Price: $6.99
• ISBN-10: 1420111876
• ISBN-13: 978-1420111873
• Released: May 1, 2010
• Jess Haines' Website
• Buy it at Kensingtonbooks.com
• Buy it at Amazon.com

Thirsting for Thursday: The Monthly Book Release Update (4)

Thirsting for Thursday is, as the title implies, a monthly book release update.  On the first Thursday of every month, I will post the new releases I have discovered.  Of course, I do not have all of the book releases that are out there, which is why if there's a title you've noticed is missing, you should leave a comment to let me know!  Also feel free to let me know if a date has changed for any of these books.  While I try to keep up with all the dates, I cannot keep up with every single title.

Update 1: I've changed the (JUNE) links from the author websites/blogs to the book's Goodreads profile.  This way, if you find a title that interests you, you can find more information about the book.  For example, if you see a book that's interesting, you can see whether it's the start of a new series, or the next installment of an already established series.  GR also provides links to buy the book.

Update 2: I've now included back cover summaries with each new title being released this month. I hope this helps you all a bit more! :)


CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Insatiable by Meg Cabot

Sick of vampires? So is Meena Harper.

But her boss is making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.

Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die (not that you’re going to believe her; no one ever does).

But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side . . . a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, he already is dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.

And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future . . .

If she even has one.

Obtained: ARC received courtesy of Meg
Genre: Chick-lit/Paranormal Romance
Series:
1. Insatiable
2. TBA
My Rating:

My Opinion:
Before I begin, I wanted to describe my experience upon receiving a copy of this book.  I walked into my house after a long day in Manhattan with my mother.  I was tired from having to wake up so early to commute to the city for a haircut, I ate way too much chocolate for one day, and I was not expecting to see about five packages stacked on top of each other on our breakfast counter.  Neither was my mom.

The package from Meg Cabot was the first I tore into.  My heart froze upon seeing the beautiful cover staring back at me.  A two minute (literally) screaming-fest ensured, where I was jumping up and down, staring at the ARC, note, and bookmarks I had in my clutches.  I imagined that numerous people had requested a copy to review, and here I was, with an actual copy.  I was so lucky!

My mom was staring at me with the queerest of looks, while my puppy jumped up and down around my feet, barking in excitement while never truly knowing what was going on.  Upon realizing that I was a "mature" 21 year old, I forced myself to calm down.  Then, I explained that Insatiable was going to be a modern sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula.  It was then that I had to fend off my own mother, whose interest was to steal my precious ARC from me in order to read it also.

Suffice to say, the book is still in one piece, and I devoured it in two days.  It would have been one if I didn't have class when I started it.

Moving on, I admit that I have grown somewhat wary of vampires at this point.  Not only has the book market surpassed its saturation point with these fanged creatures, but they have also lost a vital part of their original identity.  I appreciate the vampire-craze that Twilight created, however, I did not appreciate the new, modern version of vampires.  Where was that dark, seductive side?  Where had the predator disappeared to?  Surely, vampires couldn't be this soft now.  Which is why, while I love Meg's writing, I was somewhat wary of this book due to the widely accepted and humanized version of the predator.

I was pleasantly surprised while reading Insatiable.  The first chapters previewed on Meg's website mesmerized me, and this captivation lasted throughout the entire book.  Not only did Meg successfully create a strong heroine that I adored (hated Bella), but she also managed to make me constantly squeal in hysterical laughter.

Meena is the type of woman interested in saving lives.  Meg made a parallel betwixt her character and Joan of Arc, which I completely agree with.  While the young woman had her moments of weakness--considering some of the things she discovered, who wouldn't?--she was not the type of character to cower in a corner.  She did not rely on a man to solve her problems.

Due to this alone, I feel that Meg succeeded in her journey to weave an empowering female remarkably similar to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I was somewhat disappointed by the end of the book, because I'm the type of girl who craves for a happily ever after.  Although Lucien is a vampire, I want him to finally be happy--crave for him to be.  I was almost mad at Meena for what she decided to do. 

Meg also succeeded in redeeming vampires.  Lucien, while the sole exception, had both a vulnerable side, and lived up to his name.  He was ruthless when forced to be.  He was tender and endearing around Meena, while also being a predator in the process.  One knew to fear the Prince of Darkness--especially towards the end of the book with the huge final battle.  I found this addition to Lucien's abilities to be not only strange, but also extremely interesting, unique, and refreshing.  It helped reinforce the idea that you should not piss off a vampire.

The only problem I had with the book was the "attraction" betwixt Meena and Alaric being somewhat unconvincing for me.  It is important to note, however, that Meena is under the impression that Alaric is annoyed when forced to be around her.  I would have enjoyed a bit of exploration in regards to why she felt compelled to show the tiny forms of affection toward the man--especially since she was supposed to be in love already.  Likewise, I would have enjoyed being shown why Lucien always looked so sad, instead of being told that he was.

I can guarantee you that I will be fighting tooth and nail to receive a copy of the second book in this series.  The only way I can describe how I felt after reading the final page was this: "I have to wait a whole YEAR until the next book!?"  To be completely honest, I'm not entirely sure how I'll be able to manage.

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• Hardcover - 464 pages
• Price: $22.99
• ISBN-10: 006173506X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061735066
• Released: June 8, 2010
• Meg Cabot's Website
• Buy it at Harpercollins.com
• Buy it at Amazon.com