Series: Secret McQueen #0.5
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published by: Samhain Publishing on July 19, 2011
Format: eBook
Pages: 47
Source: Gift
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Are blind dates supposed to be this bloody?
They say it's impossible to find a man in New York City. Secret McQueen needs to find two in one night. Of course, it ll mean pulling off the impossible find and kill a displaced rogue vampire without disrupting the first promising date she s had in ages. As a werewolf hybrid used to walking a fine line of survival in the vampire world, though, Secret eats impossible for breakfast.
Somewhere between hello and the first round of drinks, Secret makes her move. Her target, Hollywood s biggest star, shouldn t be hard to spot. Just look for swarms of fans. Except every time her vampire liaison, Holden, helps keep her mission on track, her date runs further off the rails.
Either Holden has a hidden agenda, or he knows more than he s letting on about her quarry. One way or another, Secret is determined to get her man, and meet Mr. Right. Or die trying.
A great introduction to kick ass heroine Secret McQueen and her dangerous escapades!
As a bounty hunter for the vampire council, Secret McQueen is pretty much a hired assassin for rogue vampires that need to be eliminated. She vampire-werewolf hybrid with no alliance to either of her kind. Her supernatural status and spending time hunting rogue vampires doesn’t exactly leave time for much of a love life, but her best friend Mercedes is more than happy to help in that department. When she sets up Secret on a blind date with Tyler, Secret is hesitant but agrees to meet the handsome police officer. As luck would have it, her liaison to the council has a new assignment for her on the same night that involves a very famous vampire. Never one to pass on a job, Secret decides to kill two birds with one stone which ends in a memorable night!
“Not really something you can use as an opening line when introducing yourself to guys. Unless of course they have a weird Buffy the Vampire Slayer fetish, but I try to avoid that comparison whenever possible.”
THE SECRET GUIDE TO DATING MONSTERS is a fabulous short story filled with action, suspense and a badass, sarcastic katana wielding heroine! This is my first introduction to Secret McQueen and I absolutely love her character after just a few chapters. A big thanks to Jennifer @ The Book Nympho for gifting me this novella and giving me the extra push to start this awesome series!
I can already tell Secret is going to be one of those feisty leading ladies that I love to read about. She stands out instantly, I haven’t read too many vampire-werewolf hybrids but am really intrigued by her background. She’s not invincible and takes a beating in this story, but she always gets back up! McQueen is well aware of a vampire’s strengths and weaknesses and often uses that knowledge to her advantage when dealing with these fierce predators. Even though she’s a tough chick Secret has a softer side that longs for companionship which makes her relatable in my eyes. I appreciate her confidence, she isn’t all “woe is me” about being a vampire or a werewolf, with the exception of dating, she has no identity issues. What else do I love about her? her snark…she manages to say/think the funniest things in any given situation.
“I blessed each of their callous, cynical New York hearts.”
The humor in THE SECRET GUIDE TO DATING MONSTERS is one of my favorite elements to the story, I really wasn’t expecting it but Sierra Dean knows just where to sprinkle it in. This paranormal world in set in New York and as a native New Yorker I was thrilled to read McQueen’s vivid descriptions of the city I live in and love. Another great surprise to this novella was a little smexy romance teaser, Secret might have been attracted to Tyler but the real chemistry lies with her vampire liaison Holden…I never thought a kissing scene could leave me so hot and bothered, that’s all I’m saying. While this was just a small glimpse into Secret McQueen’s world, it was just enough to get me hooked and continue reading about her adventures!
RtDS Recommendation: Fans of Jennifer Estep and Chloe Neill’s snarky, kick ass heroines will love the Secret McQueen series!
I love this series, so glad you started reading it and are loving it as well. You are in for some great reads! And well, Sierra Dean is a Queen of evil cliffhangers, but don’t worry, you can download the next one at once …
I’m glad most of the books are out already, I hate cliffhangers that take a year to come back to! I’ll be reading the first full length book soon 🙂
SO glad you liked this. I absolutely adore this series. When I first stumbled across them, there were already like 5 books and a couple of novellas, and I blew through ALL of them.
I will be reading them soon, glad I don’t have to wait!
looks like a series I can get behind! thanks for sharing Lori…rocking review 🙂
I think you’ll like Secret Sharonda…thanks! 🙂
From the covers it doesn’t look like it brings a lot of humor, that lady looks so serious! Thanks for featuring it, this is right up my alley, I think I would enjoy this one too!
Braine, I know…I was actually surprised by the humor, I thought it was a dark urban fantasy! Let me know what you think when you read it 🙂
Love this series. Hope you continue to like it.