Under Wraps (Underworld Detection Agency, #1) by Hannah Jayne

Oct 08, 2011 Fiendishly Bookish added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, urbanfantasy, psychic-power, listed-bk-on-ebookfling-booklending

3.5 Stars.

Hannah Jayne’s light-hearted debut Underworld Detection Agency Chronicles Under Wraps centers on breather Sophie Lawson a seer (who has yet to come into her powers) and who works in the rather unusual UDA, 37 floors below the San Francisco Police Department. Beneath the hilly streets of above, the UDA handles the immigration, immersion, law and enforcement, inter-species disputes, and general hub of the Underworld population. Think MIB but for the Underworld or the civil servant offic

...more 3.5 Stars.

Hannah Jayne’s light-hearted debut Underworld Detection Agency Chronicles Under Wraps centers on breather Sophie Lawson a seer (who has yet to come into her powers) and who works in the rather unusual UDA, 37 floors below the San Francisco Police Department. Beneath the hilly streets of above, the UDA handles the immigration, immersion, law and enforcement, inter-species disputes, and general hub of the Underworld population. Think MIB but for the Underworld or the civil servant office in Beetlejuice.

When the Underworld becomes plagued with a series of ritualistic murders, and Sophie’s boss, UDA Chief Pete Sampson goes missing, Sophie is asked to liaise with SFPD detective Parker Hayes (aka Alex Grace) on tracking down the killer or killers. Sparks fly with Parker and Sophie throughout its frothy pages and the mystery behind who and what Parker is a great draw. As is the slowly evolving sub-plot behind Sophie’s heritage that Jayne cannily sprinkles breadcrumbs about throughout the book.

Under Wraps is backed by a cast of quirky characters that kept me laughing, (my favorite being Steve the Troll), Vlad…the wannabe Impaler (who belongs to The Vampire Empowerment and Restoration Movement aka VERM), and a plethora of “fanpires” that will make readers smile, and smile often. And characterization might be the high point here compared to the plot(s) which is slow to develop.

So what makes Under Wraps different from other urban fantasies? Jayne’s strength is her quirky style, witticisms, and plentiful characterizations which remind me of Jayne Ann Krentz in the early days, and Dakota Cassidy’s immensely funny characters. Also, Jayne capitalizes on the innocent with her heroine and her attraction to Parker which is strictly PG-13. Sophie Lawson is not a femme fatale…but is shy, modest, and doesn’t have a problem clinging to big, strong Parker when they are fighting off the denizens of San Francisco’s Underworld. Parker and Sophie’s romance is like melting chocolate…pure, sweet, velvety and a nice change from the over-loaded passionate encounters that readers might be used to.

Jayne’s second offering to the series is out in November with Under Ground…which takes off from the cliffhanger that she thrusts readers at the end of Under Wraps…a rather titillating loose end…the revelation of Sophie’s heritage, and perhaps an explanation about how Pete Sampson was involved in it…which brings us back to the major clue that Jayne drops when Pete psychically connects with Sophie…

Under Wraps will appeal highly to fans of Michele Bardsley, Michelle Rowen, Dakota Cassidy and Molly Harper.

A Fiendishly Bookish Review (and one grumpy cat)

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Apr 20, 2011 Ghadeer A rated it 2 of 5 stars

2,5 stars
Well covers can be deceiving ,there was a redheaded chick and there was a sword but that is all she is no Kate Daniels I can tell you.
The story wasn't that bad but the heroine cries ALOT I mean she is 32 going on 12 it is like she's in a constant case of PMS really .it was annoying .And since the story was told from her POV it was rather confusing to get what she really feels about some people and she did somethings that did not make sense at all.( like the scene in the club with the 2...more

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Aug 12, 2011 Jenn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

So far I'm halfway through this book with its deceptive cover. This isn't an urban fantasy to me. it's a romantic comedy with paranormal elements. This cover is all wrong...I feel so led astray. The cover made me think of kick ass urban fantasies like Patricia Briggs, Devon Monk, M.L.N Hanover etc... and the story is not kick ass. Not kick ass at all.

I'm at the shooting range scene where Hayes is teaching Sophie to shoot. And all I could think as he whispered against her ear was... "Where's the...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Kirsty Bassett rated it 1 of 5 stars

Just terrible, absolutely terrible.

The main character, was for me so unlikeable. She does stuff that doesnt make sense, and whines way too much. It felt like she was constantly crying or drooling over men, or angsting about her life. When shes says that shes 33 i was shocked. Im 20 and i just felt like she was so immature, most of the time i felt like i was reading a YA book, except the characters in that are actually more mature! Her age just was not convinxing.

And the cliff hanger! Dont even...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Lucy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sophie Lawson is the only human working at the Underworld Detection Agency. The Underworld Detection Agency monitors, regulates and assists demons in the San Francisco area, sort of like the Social Security Office for demons. Sophie’s mother and grandmother were Seers, so Sophie is the only human or “breather” on staff since she is immune to magics and glamours.

This is the first chapter of The Underground Detection Agency Chronicles. We meet Sophie Lawson, the only human at UDA. She is working...more Sophie Lawson is the only human working at the Underworld Detection Agency. The Underworld Detection Agency monitors, regulates and assists demons in the San Francisco area, sort of like the Social Security Office for demons. Sophie’s mother and grandmother were Seers, so Sophie is the only human or “breather” on staff since she is immune to magics and glamours.

This is the first chapter of The Underground Detection Agency Chronicles. We meet Sophie Lawson, the only human at UDA. She is working as the secretary—I mean Administrative Assistant to the gorgeous and sexy Pete Sampson, head of the UDA and werewolf, whom Sophie has a bit of a crush on. Part of her duties for Mr. Sampson is to chain him in his office each night so that he doesn’t go on a rampage through the streets of San Francisco.

SFPD Detective Parker Hayes comes to Mr. Sampson requesting his help on some very disturbing murders in the area, including a victim drained of blood and another who was shredded within minutes. Since Mr. Sampson cannot wander the city loose at night, he offers Sophie’s assistance to the SFPD since she is the most knowledgeable about the various supernatural types.

As they try to nail down the killer, Sophie attempts to introduce Det. Hayes to the world of the underworld supernaturals, including an introduction to Sophie’s best friend and roommate, vampire Nina LaShay. While Sophie is working with SFPD, Nina is supposed to be chaining up Mr. Sampson, but since Nina is a bit flighty, she quickly forgets. Clues start leading in the direction of a werewolf and Det. Parker begins to look toward the missing Pete Sampson, but Sophie can’t be convinced that her Mr. Sampson would ever be a killer, werewolf or not.

The longer she works with Det. Hayes, Sophie can’t decide if she wants to punch him or kiss him, and then questions start to emerge that Det. Hayes is not being 100 percent honest with Sophie.

I treated myself; taking the time to backtrack to this first story in the series. I had so thoroughly enjoyed Under Attack and just finished Under Suspicion, and wanted to see how the series began. Although I didn’t think this story was as humorous as the other two stories, it was just as well written and enjoyable, and I finished it in a day. If you are a fan of Urban Fantasy, I would definitely recommend this series to you. If you haven’t tried it yet, grab a copy of Under Wraps and get started today. You will be happy you did.
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Dec 29, 2012 Joshua Burns rated it 4 of 5 stars

As seen on Rabidreads.ca:

I am tempted to take Under Wraps to town for its bland title, throwaway drama, annoyingly plain narrator, and revolving door of side characters which come off more as caricatures. But that would be to waste gas. Under Wraps excels at shining light on the little guy, specifically a troll by the name of Steve, who refers to himself in the third person, dresses like a porno agent, smells funky as rotten potatoes, cheese, and rotisserie chicken, moves furniture in Sophie's o...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Meg rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: women-supernatural

I was really disappointed by this book. In theory, I should have liked this book. Regular office setting only all of the patrons are vampires, werewolves, and hobgoblins? Sign me up!

But I couldn't get into it, because the characters were awful. I didn't like any of them, except occasionally in passing. The heroine in particular drove me up the wall. She was vapid and annoying. In fact, she felt much like the comic relief in her own story. Parker I equally disliked, but mostly because he was a hu...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Anoolka rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, series, angels-or-nephilim, chick-lit, crime-mystery-thriller, demons, female-protagonist, love-triangle, paranormal, romance, psychics, shapeshifters, vampires, werewolves

At first I was hoping to find another good urban fantasy series to follow. Then my hopes diminished and I just kept on reading for completness's sake. So my expectations for most of this book were not very high. It was, in a way, better than I expected then. The writing style kept me reading, the world building was intruiging enough too. The problem was the plot and the characters. I wavered between liking the heroine and being too annoyed at her. She is not the smartest, which is not necessairl...more

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May 16, 2012 Mattie rated it 1 of 5 stars

To me, a good UF needs several ingredients to really hit the mark: high stakes, boldly drawn characters, and a believable, fleshed-out world.

Under Wraps was lacking in all three areas. First of all, the cover is wildly misleading--I expected a strong, kick-ass heroine and some kind of end of the world disaster looming. What I found was a lightweight, chick-lit character, which is fine in and of itself, but has no place in this genre. I never really felt a connection with the heroine or the side...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Erin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Under Wraps by Hannah Jane-

Finally a female lead that is not good at everything. I mean when she gets her gun from the freezer to attack someone in her bedroom does she shoot it like she was taught that day (mind you she usually hit the ground and the roof.. and finally hit part of the paper) no, she threw her gun at the intruder. I loved that part I laughed. She is definitely on the list of my favourite characters. after all she gets taken out by the food that she is eating, throws the gun (cla...more Under Wraps by Hannah Jane-

Finally a female lead that is not good at everything. I mean when she gets her gun from the freezer to attack someone in her bedroom does she shoot it like she was taught that day (mind you she usually hit the ground and the roof.. and finally hit part of the paper) no, she threw her gun at the intruder. I loved that part I laughed. She is definitely on the list of my favourite characters. after all she gets taken out by the food that she is eating, throws the gun (classic moment), has a goblin stalker... you know what I wont ruin anymore of the fun stuff.

This book takes an interesting twist on all of the sci-fi fantasy books in that it has its moments where it is all serious and then it has the moments where you can't help but smile. I also think that this book has a very important factor going for it, the book has a believable main character. She's not super human and doesn't suddenly become superhuman, she does not know how instantly to do anything and she doesn't suddenly know who did it. For me this was a nice change, I guess lately I have read to many of these books where the female lead can shoot perfectly or has amazing powers and is usually very sure of herself its nice to finally relate to one of the characters!

Okay, Okay on to the actual book. I love the book and I think that if a person is out there that needs a good book that has a great story and a plot that is not really thrown off or buried under another sub plot that appears out of nowhere in the middle of the book then this is the one for you. The writer of this book ties up all the main loose ends of the book while managing to end the book on a cliff hanger by bringing in another part that leads into the sequel of the book. A nice way to get readers interested in the next book and not have the reader freaking out because the main part of the story was left wide open and still have so much more to follow.

All of the characters that you meet in the book have been well written and they all stay true to themselves and they don't come off at two dimensional, the writing has the talent to draw the reader in and to keep them interested in the story without giving to much information away at one time. You don't have to worry about whether or not the book is actually going somewhere because it keeps on a nice track and still gives you the feeling of mystery.

If you see this book and are looking for a nice read then I say give it a chance I think that this book could be what you are looking for.(less)

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Apr 09, 2012 Holly rated it 3 of 5 stars

So after reading some reviews I was really expecting to hate her but I didnt think her behavior towards Parker was childish but actually kind of sensible, and surprising since she obviously had the hots for him. Anyway, Sophie is the only 'breather' working at the underworld detection agency, the dmv of sorts of the underworld. She has a vampire roommate and is the executive assistant to a werewolf she has to chain up every night. When a string of suspicious gruesome murders start occuring the p...more

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Mar 30, 2012 OpenBookSociety.com rated it 2 of 5 stars

Review brought to you by OBS staff member Verushka

On first glance from the cover, this seems to be a relatively run-of-the-mill underworld fantasy, but I have never known a book to have such a misleading cover before. Sophie, our heroine is exactly the opposite of the woman in the cover, in fact. Sophie is the only human who works as an executive assistant to the kindly werewolf head of the Underworld Detection Agency, Mr Sampson. Think of the agency as underworld bureaucracy in one place. Her b...more Review brought to you by OBS staff member Verushka

On first glance from the cover, this seems to be a relatively run-of-the-mill underworld fantasy, but I have never known a book to have such a misleading cover before. Sophie, our heroine is exactly the opposite of the woman in the cover, in fact. Sophie is the only human who works as an executive assistant to the kindly werewolf head of the Underworld Detection Agency, Mr Sampson. Think of the agency as underworld bureaucracy in one place. Her best friend is Nina, a vampire with a fantastic fashion sense, and a visting nephew who favors Dracula novels – I’m just glad he doesn’t rename himself Edward. Sophie comes from a long-line of seers, and is waiting and half hoping her powers, beyond being immune to all sorts of magic, are going to come through some time soon. Said seer-past through her grandmother and bullies at school adds a huge dollop of angst and bullying in her past during her teen years which obviously, and rightly so, still affects her. The main case of this book revolves around a series of gruesome murders, that send the cops, the normal “breathers”, to the UDA for help. Mr Sampson assigns her to work with a human cop, Parker Hayes, and from there the two create a funny, well-written book, with a few nagging flaws that affected my enjoyment of this book, and Sophie in particular.

The writing in his book reminds me of Laura Resnick’s hilariously funny Esther Diamond series. But whereas Resnick has some wonderful comic timing, and knows when to scale back on Esther’s quirks, Jayne does not. Her attempt at humor via Sophie and her oversexed CSI daydreams of toting guns and getting into bed with Hayes is tiring and loses its appeal quick. There’s a sophistication about Resnick’s writing that had me laughing out loud when I read the Esther Diamond novels, and in comparison Jayne’s humor, a substantial part of Sophie’s make-up and the book – suffers for it.

I will say there is some recognizable character progression, or so I assume, as such inane thoughts are eventually toned down as Sophie gains control of herself around Parker. I’m just not certain that in the next book, Sophie won’t go into descend into daydreams of sex, violence, CSI and Parker Hayes in order to re-establish the characters and their relationships in Book 2. And the reason I’m assuming this is likely and hoping not, is that Parker Hayes has an interesting, if clichéd secret of his own that keeps him disappearing and an inconsistent presence in Sophie’s life despite their feelings for each other.

The case Sophie finds herself embroiled in is excellently thought out and engaging from beginning to end. Sophie’s “quirks” are just so trying of my patience – I can appreciate a woman appreciate a gorgeous guy, but Jayne loses the knack of that in her attempts to be funny. Nina and her nephew Vlad/Louis provide good support characters, but the tragedy in this book is that Mr Sampson, Sophie’s boss, who is important for her, and only her, to worry about for the whole book, is disposed offscreen, with barely a mention. It’s frustrating, because the book establishes that Mr Sampson meant something important to Sophie, but we never really know why, other than he’s hot. These are the odds and ends of the story that are frustrating in that they hint at a wonderful untold story, the author didn’t bother with because Sophie and Parker Hayes suddenly took centre stage. The imbalance is striking and does take away from the book as a whole. That said it’s a first novel and was engaging enough for me to keep an eye out for the next one, but I still can’t decide if I’ll be racing to pick it up.

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Nov 23, 2011 Kristina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sophie Lawson is a administrative assistant at UnderWorld Detection Agency. Her boss is a werewolf, her roomie is a vampire, and she has a troll with the hots for her. Among all this-she is immune to any type of magic. The Underworld goes about it's business while the human population up top has no idea. Sophie is the only non-magic human at UDA. She is filing papers minding her own business when in walks a detective from up-top. Turns out there are some weird murders going on and he needs help....more

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Aug 06, 2011 cecilia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: orange-covers

You can call Sophie Lawson the lucky one if you think it working with the vampires, werewolves, and fairies pretty cool. For the most part, working at the Underworld Detection Agency pays her rent – but Sophie sometimes wonders if a dragon breathing down her neck is better than having a normal boss who demands her to make his coffee. Who’s to say… Sophie gets the chance to be “normal” when detective Parker Hayes seeks input on a series of grisly happenings above ground that point at the supernat...more

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Jul 05, 2011 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a great book, many have complained that the cover does not match the story itself. With that said this book was funny and witty. You fall in love with all the characters.

Sophie Lawson is an administrative assitant in the Underworld Detective Agency. Which is a DMV for the undead and magical beings. Most humans do not know the existance of the agency let alone work there. Sophie is a human in which magic has no effect on. When a series of murders take place in San Francisco leading to t...more

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Jun 16, 2011 Marilou Goodwin rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: didnt-finish

First sentence: This is why I didn't do magic.

Moves on to show the dragon in her office is breathing angry fire on a "Gestalt witch and UDA Accounts Payable shark" or possibly Nina the vampire, settled in an overly-dramatic sitcom-style fight. Then: "I looked over the counter and did a sweep of the UDA waiting room. It was crowded, shin to shoulder, with the usual eleven o'clock crowd of minotaurs, gargoyles, Kholog demons, and trolls...."

Where I stopped reading?

Next page, page 5. There's a qui...more

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May 11, 2011 Rochelle rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book was dreadful. The author and the editor should be ashamed to their core for putting this out there.

1. In case you've ignored all the other reviews, the cover is completely and totally wrong.

2. The 'hero' is a complete and utter asshole. Not bad boy asshole, but very racist and crude, drunk, Republican brother in law at Thanksgiving asshole. And the author seems to think that the readers should overlook this and root for him to get laid by the heroine because he is so hot. Seriously.

3....more

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Apr 12, 2011 Ann aka Iftcan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: alternate-earth, angels, demons, dragons, fae, fantasy, humour, magic, pnr, romance, series-book, vampire, were-wolf, urban-fantasy

Ok, the cover on this book is more than a bit misleading. Fortunately, I KNEW that, having read the reviews over on Amazon.com. Its more UF-lite than anything else. The heroine is a "plain Jane, vanilla norm" who works at the Underworld Detection Agency as the administrative assistant to the head of the SF branch. And, despite the Detection part of the name--think more Social Services than Mickey Spillane.

Sophie Lawson joins the legions of other red-haired heroines of UF chronicles, except that...more

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Apr 10, 2011 Grace Fonseca rated it 5 of 5 stars

Don't let the cover fool you. This book was awesome. I loved the characters and the world building. Really like the twists and turns that this book took. I really didn't expect a lot of the turns that this book took.

What I liked about this book was that this book had a mystery in it. I'm a sucker for a good mystery. The mystery starts off like any other mystery would. Detective Parker Hayes comes to the UDA which is short for the Underworld Detective Agency, where our heroine Sophie Lawson work...more Don't let the cover fool you. This book was awesome. I loved the characters and the world building. Really like the twists and turns that this book took. I really didn't expect a lot of the turns that this book took.

What I liked about this book was that this book had a mystery in it. I'm a sucker for a good mystery. The mystery starts off like any other mystery would. Detective Parker Hayes comes to the UDA which is short for the Underworld Detective Agency, where our heroine Sophie Lawson works. Her boss is a werewolf, and her roommate is a vampire, so this is a world where there are a lot of supernatural beings exist which i find kind of cool and that the UDA is a lot like a police force.

Detective Parker Hayes comes to them because he wants to solve the crimes and Sophie offers to help. So begins their steamy chemistry. Sophie is instantly attracted to him, so she knows it's not magic affecting her. Sophie knows this because Magic doesn't affect her. The term for Sophie is magically immune to beings that would use all sorts of magic on her. I like how the author slowly builds their relationship.

Then there was the fact that we had a troll, yes there is a troll in the book named Steve. Then we had Nina's vampire Nephew, Louis who is now calling himself Vlad. Yes Vlad. I found Vlad and Steve to be extremely funny and full of surprises. Steve is trying to protect Sophie and I kind of at times found him to be a little stalkerish, but Steve says he is trying to protect her.

This book rocked in a lot of ways. There are more and more murders and then disappearances happening. People around Sophie and Nina begin to disappear like Sophie's boss, Sampson, (who happens to be a werewolf), The Manager of Dirt, the club that Nina goes to is found murdered.

What shocked me...***Spoiler Alert*** was the killer turned out to be the Police Cheif. I found that a surprising shock. The other thing that surprised me was that Parker Hayes, wasn't really Parker Hayes, but an Angel who was named Alex Grace. Angels, we have Angels, well a fallen one anyway.

I love how Steve at the very end, does kind of come to the rescue. I just enjoyed this book. The fight scenes were awesome. Love the mystery plot and how all the sub-plot's of the book come together.

Plus Louis aka Vlad, have some awesome one-liners in this book.

There was nothing wrong with this book. If in fact anything, this book made me want to read the rest of the series right now. Too bad, I have to wait till November to read the next one, Under Ground.

Grade: 5 Hearts(less)

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Mar 20, 2013 Waverly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, vampires, shifters, magic-users, humor

My friends, do not judge a book by its cover. Several reviewers have cried out in disappointment that the novel isn't about an independent, kick-ass, tough-as-nails heroine. But there are a lot of those out there, and this book is refreshingly quirky. Sophie daydreams about being one of those heroines, but she admits even to herself that she'd rather run, hide, sob, and call for backup.

That doesn't mean Sophie gives up easily, or that she's the usual low-level office worker, either. Her day to...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Cindy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fave

It was really wonderful to read a book that had sexual humor without pages and pages of flat out SEX. I LOVE that this book didn't have to rely on it to sell. Sophie Lawson is the only human that works for the UDA~the Underworld Detection Agency~as Executive Assistant to the President of the organization. Sophie is immune to magic and though she is "slightly off center" as a hunky detective thinks, she is very dedicated to her job and her mysteriously missing boss, who happens to be a werewolf....more

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Mar 12, 2011 Melindeeloo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you are judging Under Wraps by its cover, resplendent in leather and holding a sword, magic immune leading lady Sophie - who works for the Underword Detection Agency - looks like shes ready to kick fanny and take names. This is not the case, instead, the Underworld Detection Agency is really much more like Social Services for the supernatural (Fill that out in triplicate. Next.) And Sophie who is far more likely to be found in twin sets, pencil skirts and sensible shoes is executive assistant...more If you are judging Under Wraps by its cover, resplendent in leather and holding a sword, magic immune leading lady Sophie - who works for the Underword Detection Agency - looks like shes ready to kick fanny and take names. This is not the case, instead, the Underworld Detection Agency is really much more like Social Services for the supernatural (Fill that out in triplicate. Next.) And Sophie who is far more likely to be found in twin sets, pencil skirts and sensible shoes is executive assistant to the director of the agency. Considering her job description, it is really odd that Sophie ends up helping a hunky police detective Parker Hayes with a murder investigation that appears to have a supernatural perpetrator.

Okay, so this was not at all what I expected but Under Wraps doesn't take itself seriously. The tone of the story is light, takes a really long time to get rolling but Sophie's' troll stalker, and Sophie's' unique use of firearms do provide a few humorous moments. The only bit of edginess to be found in Under Wraps is that the murders are suitably yucky (Sophie finds them vomit-worthy.)

Sophie is pleasant enough as the first person heroine, and there are some interesting characters around her - her fashionista vamp roomie and the roomie's 'teen' nephew 'Vlad' are sort of fun. But nobody besides Sophie feels especially fleshed out. And even though Parker is always 'on the make' with Sophie and Sophie has lusty thoughts, the sensuality level is way more mild than wild - way way more.

So, bottom-line? Under Wraps ended up being ok and it is possible that I'd have enjoyed this more if I'd come into the book expecting something a bit closer to what it actually was. The cover art and marketing blurb mean that this book is ending up in the hands of the wrong audience. What was really needed was a cartoony cover like How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf or The Werewolf Upstairs because the audience for this book is someone looking for a clean light paranormal read with a touch of humor. Under Wraps is the first in the Underworld Detection Agency Chronicles with the next book Underground out in November 2011 - although Sophie apparently gets some surprising info about her heritage at the end of the book, I honestly can't say that I have any idea of what's next for Sophie and the Underworld Detection Agency.(less)

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May 18, 2011 Barbara ~*Lindt Ninja*~ rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, series, well-this-has-less-sex-than-i-hoped

Trolls, Vampires, Demons and every other paranormal creature you can imagine (except bogeymen - c'mon, those are just a myth) are required to register at the clearinghouse also known as the Underworld Detection Agency. If they want to head topside, don a disguise and blend with humans, then the UDA will help them out with unemployment insurance and all sorts of other benefits. There's a lot of paperwork to be done and the UDA is a bustling hive of workers, headed by werewolf Pete Sampson. His ex...more Trolls, Vampires, Demons and every other paranormal creature you can imagine (except bogeymen - c'mon, those are just a myth) are required to register at the clearinghouse also known as the Underworld Detection Agency. If they want to head topside, don a disguise and blend with humans, then the UDA will help them out with unemployment insurance and all sorts of other benefits. There's a lot of paperwork to be done and the UDA is a bustling hive of workers, headed by werewolf Pete Sampson. His executive assistant is Sophie Lawson, the daughter of a seer and the only human working there. Sophie's immune to any sort of magic and can see through spells meant to veil things from regular eyes.

Someone's killed a couple of people in San Francisco and while normally that wouldn't rate a visit to the UDA by police, this time is different. It looks like a paranormal is responsible - or someone who wants to make it look like it's a paranormal. Detective Parker Hayes is sent down and somewhere between tripping over her lolling tongue and wanting to impress her boss and the detective, Sophie finds herself as Hayes' rather unwanted new topside partner.

One of Sophie's very important jobs as Sampson's executive assistant is to chain him up at night and while she's going to be working topside her roommate, vamp Nina has been charged with the task. Except Nina's a little...self-centered and ditzy. And she forgets. By the time Sophie races back to the office, the room is destroyed and Sampson is gone. When Parker and Sophie's next case turns out to look a lot like a werewolf mauling, she knows someone's setting up the paranormals. The case is very personal now as she's trying to save her boss, avoid who - or what - is stalking her and decide how much she wants to play with the handsome detective.

If this book were to be graded just on truth in advertising, it'd get a D. I might have given it less, except the blurb actually does follow the storyline for the most part. The cover looks nothing like the story describes Sophie and it absolutely doesn't convey the tone of the book. This isn't urban fantasy, really. It's closer to Stephanie Plum, which isn't a bad thing but if I wanted to read that sort of story I wouldn't go looking for it in a book that had a chick dressed in leathers holding a sword with her hair blowing in the wind glaring at me on the cover.

Sophie is something of a stammering, klutzy nerd. Her physical description of herself is really not that flattering and her wardrobe doesn't contain a bit of leather except perhaps a pair or two of shoes; her handling of weaponry is frighteningly bad. I wish I could say more about her but frustratingly, the writing seems to be around her rather than about her. I want to say that she's funny, but it's the situations that she's in that are funny and her reactions to them that are funny, not necessarily that she is. She's a good straight man, I guess. I wish like mad that more had been done with her anti-magic abilities because that really interested me. I can count on one hand the time she used them and may have fingers left over. It was disappointing because it was just another instance that I thought something was promised in the blurb and not delivered.

I didn't like Parker much. It didn't help that there wasn't much "detecting" going on with the detective (or Sophie) beyond running from crime scene to crime scene looking grim or doing other silly "undercover" things, but he seemed a little seedy to me. He was very cute and charming but also a really big tease and he kept a big secret from Sophie for no reason that I could figure out. He bugged me and the ending just confirmed every single thing I thought about him.

The mystery plot was a bit thin. It really didn't make sense and felt a little tossed together by the time Sophie and Parker figured it out. There were really other things going on in the story that I had more fun reading about so I just didn't care one way or another why the killer was doing what he was, I was just waiting for the big ending.

So why not a DNF, F or D? The highlights of the book were the supporting characters. They were funny - sometimes to the point of silliness - but they were a nice distraction when Parker and Sophie's story started to drive me crazy. Sophie's roommate Nina and her nephew Louis (that's Vlad) were a riot and Sophie had a crazy, stinky lovesick troll named Steve that kept popping up in the weirdest places proclaiming his adoration for her.

It probably goes without saying that this should have a sticker on it saying not to judge this book by its cover. I didn't really see a strong paranormal angle beyond the “race” of the characters and the teaser romantic story didn't work for me at all, mostly because I found Parker to be manipulative, something that his ending confirmed for me. It's undoubtedly damning with faint praise, but this really isn't a bad book. Some of the situations and supporting characters are funny and I think Sophie would work in a different setting. She's just no UF heroine.

My Rating: C-
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Apr 30, 2013 Dawn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-books, urban-fantasy

Sophie Lawson is an administrative assistant in the UDA (Underworld Detection Agency) and her boss Mr. Sampson is a werewolf. Life is full or forms and business as usual until a series of human murders occur and the chief of police thinks supernatural help is needed to solve the crimes. The chief send Parker Hayes to the UDA for information and he ends up with Sophie as a partner. Together they need to figure out if the murders are by a human or a supernatural person.

This is definitely a light...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal

This novel has a completely misleading cover. The cover shows a kick-butt female that is dressed in leather and is glaring at the reader. The main character, Sophie, is not a kick-butt vampire slayer. Instead she is a rather weak character that is rather timid and unsure of herself. However, there are some really really funny scenes and descriptions of things. For example, this paragraph on pg. 3 made me squirt milk from my nose.

"So, not only do I not do magic, magic can't really be done to me....more

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Mar 18, 2012 Melinda VanLone rated it 5 of 5 stars

I hope to post a longer review this week, but for now I'll say I enjoyed the hell out of this book! What a fun read, a fantastic voice! It had so much humor woven into a fantastical mix of our world and underworld. I literally laughed out loud several times. At the same time, there was an intriguing mystery and enough sexual tension to tease. It's not often where you read an urban fantasy in which half the characters have magic or are demons or what not, but the protagonist doesn't. Her main fea...more

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Mar 20, 2011 Chelsea [Vampire Book Club] rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: magic, uf-pnr, vampires, weres

This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.

Under Wraps is urban fantasy lite. There’s a life-or-death element, bad guys, mystery and an intriguing world where few humans know of the vampires, werewolves, etc. living alongside them. The difference here is our main character isn’t your tough chick who is ready to wield weapons to fight the good fight.

She spends her days pushing papers as an administrative assistant. Granted, her boss is a werewolf and the UDA is a regulatory commission...more This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.

Under Wraps is urban fantasy lite. There’s a life-or-death element, bad guys, mystery and an intriguing world where few humans know of the vampires, werewolves, etc. living alongside them. The difference here is our main character isn’t your tough chick who is ready to wield weapons to fight the good fight.

She spends her days pushing papers as an administrative assistant. Granted, her boss is a werewolf and the UDA is a regulatory commission to keep tabs on all supernatural types. Everyone who works there is a supe with the exception of Sophie. She can see through their glamours and is unaffected by their magic, but is otherwise a regular human.

The human police department needs help on a case that looks to have a paranormal twist, Sophie is sent to help Detective Parker by giving him all the background on the underworld denizens. She’s pretty excited about this for a couple reasons. First, Parker is eye candy — and Sophie can appreciate a good view. Second, she imagines it being kind of like CSI and really likes the idea of using her smarts to beat the bad guys. But she’s not a fighter, and when her boss goes missing and the sights are turned on her, Parker works to protect Sophie and help her track down the murderer.

One of the biggest laugh-out-loud moments in the book is when protagonist Sophie is taken to a gun range. After a long day, she is able to improve from shooting the ceiling to something of a forward trajectory. Parker wants to stay at her apartment to protect her, but after the last go-round where he started stripping down in the living room, she promises to keep the weapon with her and call if anything happens. She then stores her new weapon in the freezer.

Don’t let the sword-wielding woman on the cover deter you if you’re typically someone who can’t handle the battle-heavy urban fantasy novels. I’m not sure who the woman on the cover of Under Wraps is, but it isn’t Sophie.

Under Wraps made me laugh and kept me turning through the pages. It’s a fun read and the characters are all endearing. Added bonus: I didn’t see the ending coming. Nice plot groundwork is always a selling point, and I’ll be looking for more from Hannah Jayne. (less)

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Mar 14, 2011 Stacy rated it 3 of 5 stars

reviewed by http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blo...

As others have mentioned this book is not like the cover. The cover is fantastic and one of the big reasons why I picked up the book in the first place, it makes it seem like Sophie is going to be a kick butt fighting chick which isn't the case. The book is light, fun and filled with a fantastic cast of different paranormal creatures. Sophie is the only mortal with the UDA and gets involved in a case with a sexy detective from the mortal world...more

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Jun 27, 2011 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This cover has caused a bit of a stir among readers.

So, without giving too much of the story away. I'll tell you how I feel about this book now that I have finished it.

It was a slow start for me, because as it has been stated by others . . the cover and story don't match 100%. So, that in itself threw me for a loop. However, once I got past the first few chapters . . I was hooked. At one point I was laughing so hard, my 3 yr old told me to quiet down. I myself, never felt like I had the book fig...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Tori smexys_sidekick rated it 3 of 5 stars

Originally posted at http://www.smexybooks.com/2011/03/rev...

Favorite Quote: “Anyone under three feet tall gives me the creeps; including my kids.“

Sophie Lawson is an “executive assistant” for the head of the UAD-Underworld Detection Agency. Considered a “norm” or “breather” in this all supernatural word, Sophie’s claim to fame is that she is a null. Meaning nothing magical works on her or against her. So Sophie spends her days wrangling all that is supernatural into neat productive beings. Rath...more

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Under Wraps (Underworld Detection Agency #1)

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