Review: Something Secret This Way Comes by Sierra Dean

Posted March 6, 2012 by Carmel in Carmel, Reviews, Urban Fantasy / 16 Comments

Title: Something Secret This Way Comes
Series: Secret McQueen #1
Author: Sierra Dean
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Format: eCopy, 278 pages.
Published: May 10, 2011
My Copy: from author

Some secrets are dangerous. This Secret is deadly.

For Secret McQueen, her life feels like the punch line for a terrible joke. Abandoned at birth by her werewolf mother, hired as a teen by the vampire council of New York City to kill rogues, Secret is a part of both worlds, but belongs to neither. At twenty-two, she has carved out as close to a normal life as a bounty hunter can.

When an enemy from her past returns with her death on his mind, she is forced to call on every ounce of her mixed heritage to save herself—and everyone else in the city she calls home. As if the fate of the world wasn’t enough to deal with, there’s Lucas Rain, King of the East Coast werewolves, who seems to believe he and Secret are fated to be together. Too bad Secret also feels a connection with Desmond, Lucas’s second-in-command.

Warning: This book contains a sarcastic, kick-ass bounty hunter; a metaphysical love triangle with two sexy werewolves; a demanding vampire council; and a spicy seasoning of sex and violence.

This is one of those series that I kept meaning to read but somehow it always managed to get bumped. After being pestered by several of my fellow reviewers and absolutely adoring both of Sierra’s novellas (The Secret Guide to Dating Monsters & Secret Santa) I finally conceded. I don’t know why I was stressing about fitting it into my busy schedule. I sat down to read Something Secret This Way Comes on a Saturday afternoon and was finished before dinner. I consider myself a fairly fast reader but I blew my own record out of the water with this novel. I was so engrossed by the story that I temporarily developed super speed reading skills! Okay, maybe not but you get the idea. I did however immediately buy and download A Bloody Good Secret.

I guess it should come as no surprise to me how crazy I am about the main character, Secret McQueen. She’s a werewolf-vampire hybrid similar to Keri Arthur’s heroine, Riley Jenson, who happens to be one of my all-time favorites in paranormal fiction. I’m not a huge fan of Dean’s name choice but she uses it to her advantage by slipping in cute puns here and there. Even though the origins of her name are explained I can’t help but question whenever the author picked Secret because she already had a bunch of punch lines lined-up. Anyway, my little pet peeve aside, McQueen is bold, sassy and deadly. Plus, she’s a mishmash of my two favorite preternatural breeds. Win, win all around!

The love triangle in Something Secret This Way Comes is messed up! Secret goes from wanting nothing to do with relationships to being bonded to not one but two werewolves. She didn’t have much of a choice in the matter because her wolf half made the decision for her but she accepts it pretty quickly. Apparently her furry side has excellent taste in men. The first being Lucas the werewolf king. I guess her motto is go big or go home! There’s obviously something between them but I’m not 100% convinced that Lucas doesn’t have ulterior motives. On the other hand, the chemistry between Secret and Desmond is insta-hot. McQueen’s relationship with the wolf king comes off as cool and calculated while as with Desmond it felt like raw animal magnetism. They couldn’t be alone in a room together for longer than five minutes without jumping each others’ bones. Raar! Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!

I liked the layout of Sierra’s preternatural society. They have a strong respect for life and manage their own people well. The death warrants are actually handed down by the vampire council itself which was a nice change of pace from your typical bounty hunter storyline. Dean does a great job of using their own justice system and rules to set off a chain reaction that ultimately ends up playing right into Secret’s enemy’s hands. A very clever maneuver!

The ending of a book is usually meant to provoke readers in some way shape or form. In this case only two words came to my mind: “Ooh sh*t”! I literally closed book one and downloaded book 2 in the same breath. Something Secret This Way Comes is an outstanding read that’ll keep you at the edge of your seat for the entire book and then some.

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Carmel

Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!