Jess Haines – Deceived by the Others

The third book in the H & W Investigations series, published July 2011.



Shiarra's relationship with sexy werewolf Chaz is somewhat unconventional. Still, after a few bumps, Shia is ready to get serious. That means meeting family - or in this case, bringing Chaz's entire werewolf pack along for a rollicking full-moon weekend in the Catskills. Soon after they arrive, threatening notes appear, warning Chaz to go home. Then, their cabin is ransacked. Shia starts digging to find out whether it's the work of teenaged werewolves or something more sinister. As rumours about her vampire connections arouse the pack's hostility, Shia has to contend with other, potentially fatal dangers.


Shiarra is ready to take the next step in her relationship with her werewolf boyfriend Chaz. They are going away for the full moon weekend to a retreat in the mountains, with Chaz’ whole pack so Shia can get to know them, and what it is to see them shifted. She has even signed a contract binding her to Chaz, but he doesn’t know that yet. With the contract binding them, they can have sex again.

But things are not going as smoothly and fun as Shiarra and Chaz have planned. Chaz has to spend some time with a newly turned werewolf, and a lot of the pack members are not glad to see Shia. And some others threat her as a hero, for destroying the focus that controls Were’s an evil sorcerer had made. Shia likes neither of that. And then there are threatening notes in their cabin, warning them to get back home. Some one has destroyed their first cabin and most of their belongings. Is it just the pranks of some juvenile werewolves, or are there more people hating Chaz?

When Shia finds out, Chaz is cheating on her, she is furious. She doesn’t buy his excuses. Back in her cabin, she gets scratched by one of the wolves who hates her. She is scared to death, because there is a very big chance she is infected with lycantrophe now. One thing she will not do, and that is become a member of Chaz’ pack. Luckily, there are other options for her, she can join the Moonwalkers, or she can let Alec Royce turn her into a vampire…


The third book in the series. I still have the Anita Blake vibes here. She has to interact with Richard’s pack as well, and fight for her place. Richard also sleeps around on her with the females in his pack. She also flew back into Jean-Claude’s arms after the worst happened, as Shia is doing with Alec Royce.
But there are some mayor differences as well, and I really hope they will continue in the storyline.

I spend a lot of the last part of the book crying along with Shia, as she is furious about what happened, and wants revenge, and how her world is crumbling around her again. She still has her best friend supporting her and her decisions, and Alec Royce managed to surprise me by not taking advantage of her position. Shia won’t know if she is infected for the next few weeks. But just when the book got good, Shia taking matters in her own hands, the book was finished. What the …? I need to know what happens next! And now, not next year!

Have I mentioned before I hate books with cliffhangers? I usually don’t start reading until I have the whole series, so the cliffhangers are no issue, I can just grab the next book and continue. But I was not warned this time, or haven’t paid attention enough to the reviews I have read.

I did like the book, the pacing is good and fast, some really surprising and fun moments. At least Shia is no longer so afraid of everything, and that is a good thing in my mind. I was suspecting Chaz in the previous book, but I could not have foreseen the other bad stuff he is up to. There are also some other species of Were’s introduced in this book, which I like.
I like the writing style of Jess Haines a lot, I just hope she stops reading Anita Blake books, and write her own story. Okay, the whole metaphysics storyline and the huge amount of sex and boyfriends with Anita is missing here, but what happens to both heroines in those books is just too similar for my tastes.

8 stars.