Review: Excellent prequel to the series!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 7, 2012
Please visit Reader's Edyn for the full review including excerpts and dialogue highlights: readersedyn (dot) blogspot (dot) comSo technically speaking this novella is number two in the Secret McQueen series when searching by publication date. However, I have dubbed this novella 0.5. *loud applause and cheers* I know, I know. The brilliance is awesomesauce! *takes a bow*  The reason for such brilliance is that The Secret Guide to Dating Monsters is more of a prequel to book 1, Something Secret This Way Comes.Secret McQueen is a vampire/werewolf hybrid by birth. She is barely tolerated by the Vampire Council and would be rejected by wolves if they knew her true internal makings, so she guards her "secret" carefully. But she is useful to the council as an assassin. Yep, assassin. Not only is she a hybrid, she kills her own kind when told to. Hey, a girl has to do what she must to pay the bills and buy shoes, right? No judgment. As you probably assumed, her love life is pretty much non-existent with such a family tree and profession.This story follows Secret and her warden, Holden both on a job and through Secret's blind date set up by her friend, Mercedes. All familiar players for those of you who have read book 1 already. And while we, who have previously read about Secret, know that she has a tough time creating a life outside of her work, we now see first hand just how difficult things can get for her. How's a girl supposed to get any action when she's constantly fending off attacks and hunting down threats to the vampire community? Well, she gets action alright ... just not the pleasurable kind. *snickers* Terrible play on words, I know, but you loved it anyway.I enjoyed reading about characters that I had been introduced to in book 1. And while I generally insist on reading books in order, I did not feel in any way cheated by reading this book second. Not sure if that makes sense to you all or not. Maybe this says it better. Rather than irritating me by reading out of order, I felt I had a benefit in being introduced to these characters previously. I would go so far as to say that the prior knowledge actually enhanced the novella. So my personal advice is to read the prequel after book 1. But for those of you who share my normal obsession of reading chronologically, go ahead. Ms. Dean provides adequate detail within the story that allows the reader to understand the main issues in Secret's life even in the absence of introductions from the first book. And while novellas tend to let me down, this one did not. Snarky and action-packed from start to finish, Ms. Dean has successfully created another fantabulous addition to the Secret McQueen series.(Digital book won/gifted from blog contest via 24 Hour Books Blog)