Sierra Dean – Secret Unleashed

The sixth book in the Secret McQueen series, published October 15, 2013.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: It is the same model every time. I like her, she looks kick ass.



The darkest secrets are the hardest to unearth.

Secret McQueen, Book 6

After her last mission tested the limits of her humanity and took her out of this world, Secret's friends, determined to keep her safe from her old nemesis Alexandre Peyton, keep ushering her from one babysitter to the next.
Couch surfing would be a lot more fun if Alexandre would let up on her long enough to allow her to get in some alone time with her lovers. Including Holden, her self-appointed shadow.
As if living out of coffin isn't bad enough, Secret literally brings down the house while hunting a rogue, causing the council to exile her from New York - for her own safety, of course.
With her list of people to trust getting shorter and shorter, Secret ends up embroiled in a mystery to find a vampire warden gone AWOL and a missing artifact. Things go from bad to worse when she falls into the hands of a man who will prove that humans can be the worst monsters of them all.
Warning: Contains a cross-country journey, an unexpected family reunion, heated lovers' embraces and a hell of a lot of trouble.


It is very hard for me to write a coherent review about this book, without spoiling anything, so be warned, skip this review if you want to be surprised by it.

After the sad events in the previous book, the one vampire who hates Secret McQueen, Vampire Tribunal and Werewolf Queen, the most, has escaped his prison. He has also evaded being taken captive again for weeks now, and for her own safety, Secret is forbidden to return to her own small apartment. Being shuffled from friend to friend, not being allowed to go outside on her own, being escorted by one of her friends/lovers, is stifling. Secret’s dual nature makes her want to hunt, but she is protected from all the “fun”. Until she goes to her friend Shane’s house and meets his new girlfriend there. Shane needs their help in defeating Grendel, a notorious and gigantic vampire rogue. But it is all an elaborate setup, and Secret almost dies when the building blows up.
Sig, the Vampire Tribunal leader, has had enough, and sends her to San Francisco, to Hollywood, to help him out with one of his prodigy who is apparently behaving badly. If the man has gone rogue as the Tribunal over there thinks, Secret will have to deal with him. Secret doesn’t want to go, she does not want to leave her werewolf boyfriend Desmond behind, but she has no choice. She cannot possible arrive there with a werewolf in tow; it would destroy all her credit and the respect due to her rank. And so with only Holden with her, and Sig’s own personal daytime servant Helga (who seems to hate Secret more each day) they take a plane where the vampires will have to ride in the cargo hold. Secret is not pleased or amused by this, she hates small places, but she has no choice at all in the matter. It has been decided for her.

When Secret finds out what Sig has neglected to tell her about the missing vampire, she is livid. He made a fool out of her in front of the other Tribunals, he should have told her. And as the missing vampire is his progeny, where does that leave her? What is their bond? The attraction she is feeling beneath the terror, has suddenly turned very icky.
Secret also finds out that the Tribunal is lying to her, about the artefact they want retrieved, but she wants to find the missing vampire, it has become very personal for her now. And when they follow his trail, and Secret connects with him in his dreams, she does not heed the warning, and will regret that very, very much.

Sutherland has been taken captive by a human monster, who is determined to find out how vampires and werewolves and the likes work. And with Secret, he has a new type of specimen to dissect …


What a great story, action packed and with lots of twists and turns. I really felt for Secret, what happened to her was truly horrible, but she came out of it stronger. She has finally accepted herself for what she is, and that is not human. Secret takes a stand, even against Sig and the other Tribunal, and I admire her for that. But wow, what a lot of surprises in this book. And pain.

As for Secrets’ love interests, I already loathe and hate her werewolf King, Lucas. I hope he dies a horrible and painful death in the next book, as it did not happen in this one. I think Desmond is showing some more potential now, some more backbone, and I like that in him. But Holden truly loves her, he has seen her grown from a young girl in the woman she is today. And I have to admit, after this story, I have given up my preference for Sig. He is still intriguing and dangerous and he cares about Secret, but not in the right way. So, since Holden and Desmond have made some kind of truce, I do hope Secret will be happy for a while. After all, her vampire half wants Holden, and her wolf thinks of Desmond as her mate. But don’t think Secret is some kind of Anita Blake character (whom I love too), she only sleeps with one of her men in this book.

I really can’t wait to find out what will happen to Secret next. Of course her nemesis is still on the run, but with this new human development in the story, everything is possible. I love it.

Sierra Dean is a great author to have the series still so fresh and fun and intriguing after 6 books. I like her main characters, and the secondary characters are well fleshed out too. The evil is not in their looks but in their deeds, and sometimes there are just shades of grey between good and evil. The worldbuilding just got more interesting too, and her sense of humor and sarcasm is just what I like in a book. Heartily recommend to all lovers of this genre.

Although I did miss visiting with Calliope in this book, I really like her.

10 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian