My Need to Read

(Review originally posted at Book Lovers Inc:)My Thoughts:Just in case you’ve read part (or all) of the Secret McQueen series and are wondering…this new series takes place in that same universe. That’s right! If you loved Secret McQueen and her merry band of vampire hunters and paranormal creatures, you’ll be happy to know that this story has the same spark, the same wit, and even some of the same humor. (It’s a brief story, so I’ll try to keep this review brief, too.)Indeed, because this story is relatively short–novella length, about 92 pages according to the publisher–the pacing is quick, with the focus on straightforward cause-and-effect plot progression more than anything else. And it’s a simple: girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl needs boy to deflower her to save her from becoming a ritual sacrifice. (Lucky boy, huh?)The characters featured here, druid Siobhan O’Malley and vamp hunter Shane Hewitt (whom Secret fans should recognize), are painted as larger than life personalities that immediately attract (and antagonize) each other upon their abrupt meeting. Let the chemistry commence! Their smart one-liners and subtle kinship was easy to sink into.Along with the characters and their exciting, sexy attraction is a violent, bloody adventure that comes with a whole heaping of snark…and a healthy dose of sentiment. For so short a book, I was surprised to find that there was a good deal attention paid to the characters’ backgrounds and motivations.I did find the resolution of some of the main dilemma to be a bit perplexing in its abruptness, the lack of much explanation…but then again, this is a short tale. And then, this is clearly meant to be an establishing, baseline story on which future adventures will build and develop. There are some little plotting surprises here and there, keeping the story from being too predictable.If you’re a fan of the Secret mcQueen series, then you’ll absolutely love A Low Down Dirty Shane. For those who may not have read the Secret books, you can definitely start here, but just be warned that you’ll likely get the intense desire to start with the original series as soon as you finish this book. With its clever dialogue and fast, tight pacing, it showcases the high quality of storytelling that this series is known for. But even on its own, it’s going to be a damn good time.