Review: The Secret Guide To Dating Monsters by Sierra Dean

The Secret Guide To Dating Monsters
Prequel of the Secret McQueen series
Author:  Sierra Dean
Publisher:  Samhain Publishing
Genre:  Urban Fantasy
Format:  ebook
Length:  Novella
Release date:  July 19, 2011
Author's website:  Sierra Dean

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.

In this novella the reader gets to know Secret McQueen a little better.  Sierra Dean does a great job of giving us a little more of Secret's backstory and her history with Holden, her vampire liaison to the Vampire Counsel.

Secret McQueen is very unique because she is the only half vampire half werewolf in existence.  Her mother placed her in her grandmothers care to keep her identity hidden and to keep her safe.  There are only a few people that know what she really is, her grandmother and Holden.  She doesn't really care about being a vamp or were and works for the Vampire Counsel to hunt down rogue vampires. On the night that she accepts to go on a date, her first date in a very long time, she gets a job to hunt down a rogue vampire that just so happens to be a famous movie star.  She tries to balance both the date and work, but that proves to be rather difficult.  She also has to deal with Holden trying to hang around while she is on her date.  This is due to the two of them having an underlining attraction to one another.  I enjoyed the banter between these two characters and thought it was funny that Holden knew he was irritating Secret and did it on purpose.  There is one scene where the 2 of them where I literally held my breath while reading it.  These 2 have an obvious connection and I can't wait to read the future books in this series.

I'm giving The Secret Guide To Dating Monsters a rating of: 

Once I read this novella I had to purchase book 1 in the series, Something Secret This Way Comes, and read it right away!  It was very exciting and you can read that review here.  As you will see I enjoyed it very much and Sierra Dean has definitely become one of my must read authors!