Shiarra is in trouble, no strike that. She is effed! She is so much in trouble. Poor Shirra.

Ok do I have your interest? The book starts with her waking up in a cell. The prisoner of a slave trader, who trades in humans and others. This is bad bad news. Where are her friends? And what happened?

Honestly the first 150 pages or so just had me biting my fingernails and turning page after page hoping for something to happen. Like Royce coming down with a swat team or something. But no one knows where she is, and she has no idea where she is. Not to mention that this place is not built for an easy escape.

I miss you Royce! I missed him so much. Hopefully there will be more of him in the next book.

Back to Shirra, oh she can kick ass. Love her.

Tension, suspense, evil vampires and more. That is what this book will give you. It looks dark, but she never gives up. ( )

Enslaved by The Others after a relatively quiet previous book is an intense and gripping read which faces Shiarra's deepest fear - to be controlled and enslaved by a vampire. Okay, peeps, it happened and she dealt with it. And she dealt with it beautifully. Full stop.

I absolutely loved the intensity and grittiness of this book! Shiarra's escape, her determination and drive forcing her to overcome her pain and terror, breaking her Master's control over her was amazing. The escape itself - marvellous. And I actually truly appreciated a book without Royce in it. (He appears at the very end.)

I think our heroine needed to see and feel the difference between him and a forceful mind-control of another vampire to understand at last that she has nothing to fear from him and let go of her paranoia.

This book also gave us a resolution for the heroine's contamination by The Others. She found new allies in face of a Japanese kitsune with a penchant for pink (and I enjoyed that woman so very much) and a strange South American goddess, her fellow captive - both powerful secondary characters.

At last, the end battle was ah-mazing. I was cheering, and revelling in all its gory, glorious details! Overall, a fab, solid urban fantasy read. Recommended. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Shiarra has been captured by the vampire Max and has no idea how she’s going to escape in this slow read that ultimately wasn’t for me.

Opening Sentence: My mind was a fragmented haze, but I found the glue necessary to pull it back together as soon as a voice I hadn’t heard in years–except in my nightmares–rang out.

The Review:

Shiarra couldn’t imagine herself in a worse situation. She’s been captured by Max, an evil vampire who wants nothing more than bend her to his will. She’s trying to resist, but it’s becoming harder by the day. She continues to hold out hope that Royce will somehow find her and rescue her, but it’s becoming more and more difficult to keep hope alive. To add to all this, she’s realizing she’s no longer completely human. Whatever type of Other that infected her is slowly making changes to her body, and Shiarra has no idea what to do. Will she be able to escape Max’s clutches? Will she ever be fully human again?

I’ll preface this review by saying I have not read the previous books in the series. I hate not being up to date on a series that I’m reviewing, but my library didn’t have any of the previous books, so I had to go in blind. That being said, I tried not to let my lack of knowledge of previous events affect how I felt about this book. And to be honest, I really, really did not like this book. I feel like I can say with 98% certainty that my dislike had nothing to do with not having read the previous books, but I still wanted to put it out there before I started in on what I didn’t like.

First off, it felt like not a whole lot happened in the book. The first 40 percent or so revolves around a cycle of Shiarra being terrified of Max, Max leaving her alone for a while – during which time Shiarra attempts to escape – then Max punishes her, leaving Shiarra terrified and wondering if she’ll ever make it out of there. That cycle got old quickly. I’m a fan of heroines who, even if they’re afraid, refuse to show it in any way and continue to act in a tough manner. I couldn’t see any of that in Shiarra, and it frustrated me, especially when she kept hoping Royce would come save the day. Save yourself, woman! By the time she finally did make it out of there and the plot continued, I had pretty much no connection to Shiarra as a character and no interest in wanting to continue the story.

One of the other issues I had concerns the idea of Shiarra becoming an Other. It seems to only pop up when it’s convenient to the story. The rest of the time, it seems to be a total non-issue. Because of that, I had a hard time seeing what the big deal was, and I found myself really not caring much about it.

All in all, it seems this series just isn’t for me, which is sad because it has been on my to-read list for a while. After my experience with this book though, it’s looking like I’ll be taking it off that list.

Notable Scene:

He never strayed toward inappropriate territory, but the constant reminders that I was trapped and helpless was doing plenty to fray my nerves to the breaking point. I figured out before long that he was doing it on purpose to rattle me. A silent reprimand that no doubt would be followed by something worse once he was done dealing with his guests.

Their chatter shifted to talk of politics and investments. I made mental notes of incriminating mentions of their names and businesses on the off-chance I might get out of there someday. Never mind the lack of a retainer fee. Hunting down each and every one of these sick fucks pro bono, as a favor to the rest of humanity, would be my pleasure. Focusing on a future that might never come was better than pondering what Max might be planning to do to me as soon as this meeting was over.

While they discussed their business, one by one, the people were freed from their chains. Half a dozen men entered to usher them back to the rooms in the hall. The newcomers were all dressed in suits much like the ones Max’s men wore the day I was kidnapped off the street, back when I had met him the first time. The rapid, efficient way his people moved gave me the sneaking suspicion that this human trafficking business was something they did often.

Worse, none of the captives spoke a word or did a thing to struggle for their freedom. They moved where they were bid, but slowly, further cementing my suspicions that they were drugged. Please, God, don’t let them be so broken that they couldn’t fight for their freedom anymore.

Don’t let that be me someday.

FTC Advisory: Zebra/Kensington provided me with a copy of Enslaved by the Others. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

Had this preordered for Kindle.
Great story. Maybe 5 stars is a bit too much, but a nice sex-szene at the end and good fighting scenes where worth it.
No long review, but then I do that for books I do not like (3 stars or less), like I have to justify me... ( )

Received from NetGalley and Kensington Books - Zebra in return for an unbiased review.

Shiarra Waynest wakes to a horrible nightmare, shes been taken captive by her nemesis Max, and he has a few surprises to keep her acquiescence. Shia has to figure out who to trust, how to escape and how to save Max's captives. To make matters worse Shia is running on an undisclosed timeline because Max plans on taking over enough territories to become an even more formidable foe, and has quite decided if once Shia is no longer useful he will keep her alive..

If you aren't familiar with the rest of Haines' other books in this series you will have a bit of a learning curve before the story really begins to make sense. The entire book hinges on emotional connections readers have developed earlier on in the series for characters, and puts forth very little effort developing further emotional investment in older characters. Alec is just a voice on the phone, Max a cookie-cutter bad guy, and the smaller details are left out of the mix. So, if you haven't read the other books in the series I strongly suggest you start at book one - otherwise all the time Shia spends under ground becomes boring narrative, and her escape just a means to an end for the real story to begin.

Regardless of my lack of history with this series its interesting to see a heroine who isn't bulletproof, and who also isn't weak. She fears her Otherness while being strong enough to know her enslavement is wrong. Shia is a tough chick, who isn't perfect, but she fights for whats right. Her character is likeable, and her friends are believable. The details in the story aren't overtly inconceivable and the world itself is creative. The story doesn't progress with obscenely implausible or improbable outcomes, and Shia's decisions are realistic from someone with her background.

Enslaved By Others delivers a story that's interesting, believable and action packed. People who enjoy paranormal romances will jive with this series, but I suggest starting from the beginning rather than jumping right into the centre as I did. This world is rich and has a broad history that would enrich the readability of this installment much more than trying to catch up during this segment. ( )