Deceived by the Others by Jess Haines (H&W Investigations #3)
Urban Fantasy
July 5, 2011
Paperback
Zebra

In the third book of Jess Haines’ H&W Investigations series, Shia is going on a road trip with her werewolf lover Chaz. Shia and Chaz have had a somewhat on and off again relationship. Shia being a human, Chaz being an “other” it was a little hurdle to get over being with a werewolf – an alpha at that. But Shia is ready to take their relationship to the next level, and has the contract in hand to prove to Chaz she wants a physical relationship. Since the full moon is coming soon, Chaz and his small Sunstrikers clan are off to a mountain resort to spend a few days while they turn furry. Shia sees this as an opportunity to not only bond more with Chaz, but to meet his entire group and get to know them better. But not everyone is happy Shia is there. After a few threatening notes and a ransacked hotel room, Shia realized she might be a target. She becomes very intent on finding the perpetrator. She puts her P.I skills to use – but finds out much more than she bargained for.

This book took a little while for me to get into. Shia and Chaz leave for the resort right off the bat, but it takes awhile once they get up there for real action to get going. The threats they face didn’t seem to be quite as scary as in the previous books. But a little more than half way into the book, some big events take place and I flew through the end very excited by what happens. Of course I can’t tell you because it’s a big spoiler!

I will also admit to being a huge Alec Royce fan. Alec is a very old vampire, one that has entered Shia’s life in a somewhat intimate manor – through a series of events in the two previous books, she ends up contracted to him. So although they have had a very rocky “friendship”, by this book, there is much more trust between them. Unfortunately, Alec doesn’t show up until the end of the book, and I definitely missed his presence. What we do get from him is pretty brief but I have high hopes for the next book. I think I said that same statement in my review of the last book! But I really do believe eventually Alec and Shia will progress to more than just their odd vampire-human thing they have going on right now.

We do get a lot from Chaz, and I’m still not a huge fan of his. To me, he doesn’t come across as really an alpha character, so it is hard for met to reconcile his position in the pack. But – we get some very interesting revelations from him in this book, and I love the direction his character is going.  It is going to make a very fun book four.

Despite the slow start, and my yearning for more Alec, this book is a nice addition to this series. I definitely recommend starting from the beginning of this series, as each book builds upon the next.

Rating: B-

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