UPDATE! Karina Cooper's DARK MISSION SERIES

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Karina Cooper with a review of the fourth book in her DARK MISSION SERIES: Sacrifice the Wicked.

Click on either the author's name or the book title above to go directly to the updated review.

UPDATE! Kim Harrison: THE HOLLOWS GRAPHIC NOVELS

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Kim Harrison with a review of the the second book in her HOLLOWS GRAPHIC NOVELS SERIES: Blood Crime.   

Click on either the author's name or the book title above to go directly to the updated review.

UPDATE! Christine Feehan's CARPATHIAN/DARK SERIES

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Christine Feehan with a review of the 23rd book in her CARPATHIAN/DARK SERIES:  Dark Storm. 

Click on the author's name or the book title above to go directly to the updated review.

The Walking Dead: "The Road to Woodbury," by Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga

Authors: Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga       

Title:  The Road to Woodbury        

Plot Type:  Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Horror  

Ratings:  V5; S3; H1

Publisher:  Thomas Dunne Books (hardback, e-book, and audiobook, 10/2012) (paperback, 6/2013)

     This novel is the second of four books in this lopsided "trilogy." Click HERE to read my review of the first book: The Rise of the Governor. This novel is the follow-up to Rise of the Governor, which focused on the pre-Woodbury experiences of Philip Blake, the cold-hearted (and deeply disturbed) man who becomes the infamous Governor of Woodbury, Georgia, in the early days of the zombie apocalypse. In The Road to Woodbury, the Governor tries to maintain control of his minions as he struggles with the duality of his personality. Click HERE to read my review of Rise of the Governor.   

     The Road to Woodbury follows the star-crossed adventures of a small group of survivors who start out in a doomed tent city and eventually make their way to Woodbury. If you're a fan of the comics, you will find discrepancies in the back stories of some of the characters in this book, so you may not be happy with the content. If you've skipped the comics but are watching the show, the only character you'll recognized (as of this date) is the Governor.   

     The leading character is Lilly Caul, an insecure, fear-addled young woman who joined the tent city after the death of her father. She has found a protector in Josh Lee Hamilton, a giant of a man who was a well-known chef in pre-zombie times. Josh portrays the stereotypical "magical Negro" character that has become a familiar horror-story trope, and the reader can easily picture him as a twin of John Coffey's character (Duncan) in Stephen King's Green Mile film—the gentle, patient, wise giant who assists the protagonist.(In fact, some of the Woodbury low-lifes actually nickname Josh "Green Mile"—and it's not an affectionate gesture.) Lilly and Josh are forced to leave the camp under unfortunate circumstances, and they hit the road accompanied by Bob, an alcoholic ex-military medic; Lilly's friend, Meghan, a druggie who has begun using her body as a means of income; and Scott, Meghan's stoner boyfriend. We follow their short road trip as they meet up with a few zombies and then have a confrontation with the Governor's thugs.   

     When the group arrives in Woodbury, they meet the Governor, who is in the early stages of his rule over the ragtag population. From their first moments in Woodbury, Lilly and Josh have a feeling that bad things are happening behind the scenes.

     The main plot points made in this book are these: 

 >  The Walkers (or "Biters") are multiplying and are beginning to travel in deadly herds, which are getting bigger and bigger. 

 >  The Governor has allowed the scum of Woodbury to run the day-to-day life without many rules, but as time passes, he begins to crack down (which results in the Gladiator games that we saw this season in the TV show). 

 >  The cause of the zombie plague is still unknown.

 >  Lilly is irrevocably changed by the events that take place in this book.

     As is always the case—whether in the comic, the TV show, or the books—you can be very sure that some of the survivors will die—some that you love and some that you hate. That is definitely true in this book. Let's just say that Lilly's little group winds up much smaller by the end of the story. (That's not a spoiler; that's just the facts of life in the zombie apocalypse.)

     This book doesn't have the punch that Rise of the Governor had. That book was a grim but fascinating study of the development of a major Walking Dead character. This book deals with supporting characters, and it doesn't provide many details about their pasts, so we don't always know what is driving them to do the things they do. Lilly's rebellious actions near the end of the book seem to come out of nowhere. All through the book she's been a relatively passive creature, living most of the time in crippling fear of the herds of feral zombies and the scary hoodlums in Woodbury. Then, all of a sudden, she dreams up a revolutionary plan and talks some relatively tough characters into following along with her. That entire situation comes across as highly improbable.

     I listened to the audiobook as well as reading the print version, and I highly recommend the audio version. Fred Berman does a great job of telling the story—differentiating the voices and emphasizing the suspense, tension, and horror of the frequently graphic situations. The following scene, for example, is much more terrifying to listen to than it is to read. Here, the tent city has been overrun by a horde of Walkers, and Lilly realizes that a little girl is trapped under a collapsed tent surrounded by zombies: "Lilly whirls toward the tent and sees something that stops her heart. Shapes are moving under the fallen circus tent. Lilly drops the shovel. She stares. Her legs and spine seize up into blocks of ice. She can't breathe. She can only stare at the small lump of fabric undulating madly twenty feet away—little Lydia struggling to escape—the sound of the child's scream dampened by the tarp. The worst part—the part that encases Lilly Caul in ice—is the sight of the other lumps tunneling steadily, molelike, toward the little girl. At that moment, the fear pops a fuse in Lilly's brain, the cleansing fire of rage traveling through her tendons and down her marrow." (p. 41) When I read the scene on the page, I pictured it as separate graphic novel cells—colorful but static chronological snapshots. When I listened to Berman's reading, though, I got an entirely different impression. In fact, the whole scene flowed like a movie. It was easy to imagine the screams of the living mixed with the guttural grunts of the zombies, the sight of the sickening zombie lumps under the tent closing in on the little girl, the terror-stricken Lilly, with her heart racing and the look on her face changing from fear to horror to all-out rage. I could picture them all—in a fast-moving stream. This happened in many other instances throughout the book, and I have to say that the audiobook, for me, was a much more satisfying experience.

     There were a few scenes that seemed to be included solely to give the reader a graphic comic impression, particularly the one in which a throng of zombified circus performers still dressed in their now-ragged costumes appear out of nowhere and briefly chase Lilly and Josh through the woods, never to be seen again. That seemed to be a scene devised specifically for its artwork possibilities, and it didn't work as well on the printed page. The book is full of moments like that, and they tend to slow down the story's flow as the reader pauses to imagine what a graphic artist would do with each scene. 

     Fans of Walking Dead will want to read the book just for the experience and for the bits of back story on Lilly, the Governor, and others (even though they frequently contradict the comics). Fans of the TV show won't care so much about those contradictions. They've barely met the Governor, and they don't know Lilly yet, but they'll learn about the origin of the gladiator fights, the fish tanks with the human heads, and the back story of Penny, the Governor's pet zombie. 

     As is always true in Walking Dead stories, this one overflows with seriously gory graphic violence and dark acts of brutality. It's not for the faint of heart, but if you're at all squeamish, you wouldn't be reading Walking Dead books anyhow—right?

Anthology: "The Undead in My Bed"

Title:  The Undead in My Bed   
Authors:  Katie MacAlister, Molly Harper, & Jessica Sims  
Plot Type:  Soul-Mate Romance (SMR)   

Publisher:  Pocket (10/2012)   

               INTRODUCTION               

     This is an anthology of three novellas, each focusing on a sexy male vampire and a cute and spunky woman (two are human; one is a shifter) as they meet, fall in love, and get their HEAs. All three novellas are segments of established series, but each can be read as a stand-alone.

               REVIEWS               

Katie MacAlister:  "Shades of Gray" 

Ratings: Violence—2; Sensuality—2; Humor—4 

     In this episode from MacAlister's DARK ONES series, the spurned Guardian Noelle finally lands her very own Dark One. If you've been reading the series, you know that Noelle was supposed to be the Beloved of Sebastian Mercier, but Sebastian fell in love with Ysabelle Raleigh instead. As this story opens, Noelle is on location in a broken-down Czechoslovakian castle as part of the crew of a ghost-busters reality TV show. Coincidentally, the long-missing owner of the castle—Grayson ("Gray") Soucek, a Dark One—shows up and the two realize that they are meant for one another. Unfortunately for Noell, Gray at first turns away from her because of his difficult personal situation. Due to a messy bit of family intrigue, he has been vitiated (i.e., bound to a Demon Lord for the purpose of corruption). For centuries, Gray has been moving from place to place trying to avoid the Demon Lord's minions, who are trying to track him down. 

     Needless to say, the couple makes it through their eight steps of joining and heads off for their HEA. This is a typical MacAlister story in which the heroine is smart and feisty, the hero is a handsome buffoon, the dialogue is cute, and the starring couple follows the usual progression from meet to heat to HEA. Click HERE to read my review of the DARK ONES series. 

Molly Harper:  "Undead Sublet" 
Ratings: Violence—2; Sensuality—3; Humor—4
     This is the longest and strongest of the three novellas (170 pages), and it is part of Harper's HALF-MOON HOLLOW series, which is a spin-off of the NICE GIRLS/JANE JAMESON series. Click HERE to read my review of the HALF MOON HOLLOW series. Click HERE to read my review of the NICE GIRLS series.

     As the story begins, Tess Maitland in the kitchen of the Chicago restaurant where she is the executive chef when she begins hallucinating that the salad vegetables are singing and dancing. Needless to say, Tess is long overdue for a restorative vacation, and she decides that visiting her mentor in Half Moon Hollow, Kentucky, is just what she needs. When Tess rents a charming house that is being rehabbed before being sold in a divorce settlement, she's relieved to have some peace, until she discovers that she is sharing the house with sexy Sam Clemson, who is a vampire, a carpenter, and the soon-to-be ex-husband of Lindy, the woman who rented the house to Tess (and who failed to mention anything about a blood-sucking roommate).  

     The story follows the antics of Tess and Sam as they play sophomoric pranks in the hopes of driving each other away—like super-gluing car keys, removing door knobs, hot-saucing blood bags, and setting crickets loose in enclosed spaces. Eventually, Tess and Sam agree to co-exist peacefully, and he helps her concoct a recipe for a contest to invent a new vampire food that gives vampires the taste of real food without the unpleasant after effects. As the weeks pass, Sam and Tess fall for one another and Tess begins to believe that she could be really happy in Half Moon Hollow.

     This novella is typical of the series, with its frenetically funny dialogue, quirky characters, light-weight plot line, and (of course) an HEA for the hero and heroine. This is the first story in either of the two Half Moon series to put a positive spin on Jane Jameson's mother, who is usually portrayed as thoughtlessly cruel and totally clueless. Well, she's still pretty clueless in this novella, but she actually does a few nice things for Tess.   

Jessica Sims:  "Out with a Fang"        

Ratings: Violence—4; Sensuality—4; Humor—2
     This is the shortest and weakest of the three novellas (115 pages), and it is part of the MIDNIGHT LIAISONS series. Click HERE to read my review of the MIDNIGHT LIAISONS series. 

     Ruby Sommers is a were-jaguar on her first date booked through the Midnight Liaisons Dating Service, and she is shocked and dismayed to learn that the agency has matched her up with a vampire. Not that Ruby is opposed to vampires in general—it's just that she was looking forward to meeting a nice sexy shifter. Ruby's romantic life pretty much ended four years ago when she fell in love with Michael (a human) and then had to stage a fake tryst with another man (boyfriend of a friend) in order to shock Michael into dumping her, because the Alliance (the ruling council for supernaturals) enforces strict rules against supernaturals dating humans—not to mention the fact that Ruby's father threatened to kill Michael if she didn't stop seeing him. Ruby is still in love with Michael, and she has been drifting through life ever since they broke up.

     Strangely, Valjean, Ruby's vampire date asks her to wear a blindfold, explaining that he is a new vampire who hasn't yet learned to control his fangs and he's afraid he will scare her. Both Ruby and the reader recognize this as a flimsy ploy, and we're not at all surprised to learn that "Valjean" is really Michael, who was turned not long after the debacle of their break-up. 

     The story follows the couple through an improbable story line as they rekindle their romance while on the run from mysterious vampire mob thugs who are trying to kill Michael for an absurd reason. Ruby and Michael wind up rescuing each other as the story line gets more and more ridiculous.

     This is a typical story for this series: a light-weight plot with holes big enough to drive a semi-truck through and shallow, cardboard protagonists with absolutely no chemistry between them. 

UPDATE! Cassie Alexander: EDIE SPENCE SERIES

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Cassie Alexander with a review of the second book in her EDIE SPENCE SERIES: Moonshifted.

Click on either the author's name or the book title above to go directly to the updated review.

UPDATE! Thomas E. Sniegoski's REMY CHANDLER SERIES

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Thomas E. Sniegoski with a review of the fifth book in his REMY CHANDLER SERIES: In the House of the Wicked.

Click on either the author's name or the book title above to go directly to the updated review.

Bec McMaster: LONDON STEAMPUNK SERIES (OF SILK AND STEAM)

Author:  Bec McMaster    
Series:  LONDON STEAMPUNK (OF SILK AND STEAM)
Plot Type:  Soul Mate Romance (SMR), Steampunk fantasy  
Ratings:  Violence—4; Sensuality—4; Humor—2   
Publisher and Titles:  Sourcebooks   
          Kiss of Steel (9/2012)
          "Tarnished Knight" (e-novella, 4/2103)
          Heart of Iron (5/2013)

          My Lady Quicksilver (10/2013)   
          "The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace" (free e-novella, 8/2014) 
          Forged by Desire (9/2014)  

          Of Silk and Steam (3/2015) (FINAL) 

This post was revised and updated on 4/3/2015 to include a review of Of Silk and Steam, the fifth and FINAL novel in the series. That review appears first, followed by an overview of the world-building and reviews of all of the previous books.      

               NOVEL 5:  Of Silk and Steam               
   The final novel tells the love story of Leo Barrons and Lady Aramina (Mina), Duchess of Casavian. Echelon society believes that Leo is the son of the Duke of Caine, but in reality, his biological parents were Caine's wife, Marguerite, and Sir Artemus Todd, a gentleman scientist to whom Caine had given patronage. Todd's other children (by his wife) are Honoria, Lena, and Charlie, so Leo is their half-brother, a fact that they have all kept hidden from public knowledge. 

     For the past eight years, Leo has been infatuated with Lady Aramina. Although Aramina is physically attracted to Leo, she hates him because she believes that his "father" (Caine) was involved in her own father's assassination. As in all of the romances in this series, their love story stumbles down a passionate, angst-filled road to an eventual HEA.

     Because this is the final novel, McMaster ties up all of the loose ends from previous books, weaving them together into a suspense-filled plot that follows Leo and his allies as they move into the final stages of their attempt to take down the psychotic prince consort. I will not go into much detail on the plot, but I will say that many secrets are unveiled, some scores are settled, and several people learn shocking new information about past events in their lives. All of the main characters from the previous books make appearances, some in major roles (e.g., Blade and Honoria) and some in lesser roles (e.g., Lena and Will). The final showdown is lengthy and violent, but most—not all—of the good guys make it through. One more thing: As the story begins, Honoria is hugely pregnant, so you know from the beginning that her labor is going to come at a particularly exciting and dangerous point in the plot (as do most of the hot love scenes between Leo and Aramina). One interesting element of this series is that it's the first one I've read in which an organization called Humans First is an ally of the good guys. Usually, those types of groups are the enemies of the heroes and heroines.

     Leo has been a character in this series from the beginning so we know many details about his life. We don't know that much about Aramina, though, so it is interesting to learn about her secrets and her fears. As the two begin to trust and rely on one another during some minor crises, they have to figure out how far that mutual trust will go. As it turns out, Leo and Aramina have much in common, but they have kept their deep and dangerous secrets so well hidden that neither one is aware of the other's clandestine political activities. As they fall more and more in lust, their attempts to trust one another are sometimes blocked by political intrigue, betrayal, and inaccurate information about past events. Both Leo and Aramina are intelligent, mature people who generally think things through and don't stumble into the plethora of TSTL moments that hampered some of the earlier heroines. (I'm talking about you, Lena and Honoria.)

     This is a fine ending to a terrific series that combines elements of romance, urban fantasy, and steampunk technology to introduce us to a group of well-developed, sympathetic characters who are at the center of an engrossing series story arc. I recommend that you read this book in the context of the series because of its frequent references to past events. If you haven't read the previous books, you won't have a clue as to the relevance or importance of many of this book's revelations. Click HERE to read an excerpt from Of Silk and Steam.

               WORLD-BUILDING               

     In this world, vampirism—called the craving virus (aka CV)—first manifested itself in the Far East, where the Imperial family of China viewed the virus as a divine gift. When an English traveler became infected, he wrote a book about his adventures and sold his blood to the aristocracy (aka bluebloods) as he traveled, spreading the virus across Europe, primarily to France and England. The French blue bloods were wiped out during the French Revolution, frightening the English blue bloods into building their own security force called the Guild of Hunters, which uses both mechanical and human soldiers. The robotic soldiers include metal jackets, which shoot fire, and earth shakers, which can tunnel underground. 

     Two law enforcement groups handle crime in London, and both are made up of armies of rogues—bluebloods who have been accidentally infected with the craving virus. These men and women are given a choice as to which group they join: The Coldrush Guards serve as direct protectors of the Queen and the Prince Consort, while the Nighthawks Guild handles general law enforcement in London. The two groups are bitter rivals, each believing itself to be the strongest and most important.

     Aristocratic society in London is called the Echelon, and it is ruled by the blue bloods. Echelon males usually undergo a blooding ritual when they are 15 years old during which they are infected with the craving virus through an injection of infected blood. This gives them increased strength and stamina, better vision, longevity, and freedom from disease, but it means that they must sustain themselves on human blood. It also sentences them to a horrible end-of-life cycle during which they will inevitably "fade"—transitioning from blue blood to vampire, a mindlessly violent condition from which there is no recovery. Once a blue blood becomes a vampire, he is executed. 

     The powerful blue bloods of the Great Houses rule society with an iron fist. They are mostly arrogant egotists who abuse their powers and don't worry too much about anyone but themselves. The females in Echelon society generally spend their lives as thralls—blood sources for the blue bloods. Although the law purportedly prohibits a blue blood from infecting others—especially the unwilling, the arrogant blue bloods do what they want, and they sometimes infect a person just for the novelty of it. Not everyone makes it through the change process; some become vampires instead of blue bloods and must be killed immediately.

     England is ruled by the Prince Consort, a blue blood whose human Queen is frequently drugged and is seemingly just a puppet under his power. The citizens of London are forced to pay blood taxes to the blue bloods, and many of them also sell their blood to the drainers (wholesale blood dealers) in order to survive in this poverty-stricken world. 

     Werewolves (aka verwulfen) also exist in this mythology, but there are not many in England because the blue bloods killed most of them off, believing them to be dangerous enemies. The Scandinavian countries are now ruled by the verwulfen, and in Germany they are used in the military. 

     This series has many similarities to Kate Locke's IMMORTAL EMPIRE SERIES, which is also London steampunk with an aristocratic vampire class. Click HERE to read my review of that series.

               NOVEL 1:  Kiss of Steel               

     The heroine of book 1 is Honoria ("Honor") Todd, a young woman who has been forced to move herself and her siblings to Whitechapel after the murder of her father, an inventor and a scientist involved in attempts to create a serum that will cure the craving virus. Whitechapel—an East End London neighborhood that is also known as the Rookery—is under the control of Blade, a rogue blue blood with the nickname "Devil of Whitechapel." Honor is making her living teaching young women how to fit into high society so that they can become successful thralls. Her sister, Lena, works in a clock factory, and their brother, Charley, is quite ill, actually in the beginning stages of the craving virus. After their father's murder, the three had to make a quick escape from the Duke of Vickers, a powerful blue blood who had been making violent sexual threats against Honor. Honor has hidden her family deep in the Rookery, hoping to keep out of Vickers' sight.

     One day, Honor is commanded to appear before Blade, who has heard that Vickers has put a price on her head and is wondering just what is going on. He requires payment from Honoria for the safety of her and her family, and she fears that her safe haven in the Rookery is in danger and that Blade is a villain just like Vickers. What she doesn't know is that Vickers was the one who infected Blade with the craving virus when he was just a boy and then engineered his out-of-control blood lust into madness that caused him to kill his own beloved sister. Blade's goal has always been to kill Vickers for what he has done. Blade is nearing the fade—the point at which his dark side will take over and he will lose all control.

     The plot follows the budding romance between Honor and Blade as both keep deep secrets from one another until well into the story. The love story plays out nicely—without the ubiquitous instantaneous love/lust/sex found in many series. Instead, the two proceed cautiously; they are attracted to one another but slow to act on that attraction. That builds the sexual tension and allows the romance to simmer to its inevitable boil. The action part of the story is built around Blade's search for a vicious vampire who is killing people in the Rookery and who seems to be fixated on the Todd siblings. Of course, Vickers is a part of the action as well, and the reader knows from the beginning that he will get his comeuppance eventually.

     This has the makings of a good solid series. The steampunk isn't overwhelming; there's just enough to flavor the story (e.g., steam carriages, robotic soldiers). The characters are well drawn, and the hero and heroine are particularly well developed. We get their full back-stories and understand the reasons both are afraid to trust and to love. Honor has one or two TSTL moments, but on the whole, she is a courageous and intelligent heroine. Blade is the typical tortured alpha hero who has trouble communicating and has always believed that he will never find true love. The author tells a good story, and she threads the angst through the story lines in a skillful and graceful manner, for both the main and supporting characters. Click HERE to read an excerpt from Kiss of Steel.

     Book two will tell the love story of Lena Todd, Honor's sister, and Will Carver, Blade's verwulfen sidekick. That book will deal with the Humans First Party, a nascent humanist movement that is forming in opposition to London's vicious blue bloods. 

     Just one last word about the cover art: Neither of the characters pictured on the cover appears in this book. Honoria is a buttoned-up, proper lady who would never show her legs in public, not to mention the fact that she is malnourished and exhausted through most of the book. Blade has white-blond hair and extremely pale skin because he is so close to the fade. I'm guessing that the publisher is marketing this as an urban fantasy and chose a cover design that is stereotypical for that genre.

               NOVELLA 1.5:  "Tarnished Knight"               

    This e-book comprises three separate parts: 

    >  "Tarnished Knight": a novella that tells the love story of Rip and Lena 

    >  "Lena's Decision": a sneak peek at the events leading up to the second novel, Heart of Iron. 

    >  an excerpt from Heart of Iron

     The second part—the sneak peek—is about one third the length of the novella. I'm not sure why it wasn't included as a prologue—or even as the first chapter—of Heart of Iron because it summarizes all of the early events in the relationship between Will and Lena that lead up to the beginning of that book. Consequently, if you don't read the novella first, you won't have all of the pertinent details. Not knowing about this "sneak preview," I read Heart of Iron before I read the e-novella, and I was still able to understood the star-crossed lovers' situation quite well. Some of the events were covered in Kiss of Steel, just not in this much detail. In any case, their relationship is so much like all of the others in this series, that it doesn't take a rocket scientist—or a "sneak peek"—to put it all together.

     The eponymous tarnished knight of the novella is John (Rip) Doolan, Blade's chief enforcer. Rip is a giant of a man who has a mechanized right hand. His kind are called mechs: humans who have been forced to replace one of their limbs or organs with a mechanical part. Viewed as less than human, mechs are feared and despised by most people. 

     In Kiss of Steel, Rip was highly attracted to Esme, Blade's former blood thrall and now the housekeeper and cook for Blade's warren. But when Rip was fatally injured during events in that book, Blade was forced to infect him with the Craving Virus, and now Rip fears that if he comes in physical contact with Esme, he will harm her (i.e., drain all of her blood). They spend the entire story pining for one another, misunderstanding one another, hurting each other's feelings, and keeping secrets from one another—which appears to be McMaster's formula for this entire series.

     The action part of the story involves the Slashers, a gang of hoodlums who kidnap people and drain their blood, selling it either to the Echelon's draining factories or on the black market. As proof of gang loyalty, Slashers are required to maim themselves in some way, so they generally have at least one mech limb. When Rip discovers that a new gang of Slashers has taken up residence in the tunnels under Whitechapel and has begun kidnapping women and killing their families, he and Blade investigate the situation and try to track down the killers. The leader of this particular Slasher gang is determined to take down Blade and replace him as the boss of Whitechapel, so you can guess early on that he will try to grab someone from Blade's household. Hmmm, I wonder who that will be.

     This novella plays out exactly as the two novels in the series. For the first three quarters of the story, the lovers exchange meaningful looks and have a few simmering scenes of heavy petting, but then they break up for whatever reason—then they repeat the whole sequence. In the final quarter of the book, they finally consummate their relationship, but the heroine is put in grave danger from which the hero must rescue her. The author includes a helpful glossary of terms at the end of the sneak peek—too bad it's not included in the novels because it helps clarify some elements of the world-building. Esme is a much more mature heroine than the Todd sisters, so (thankfully) she doesn't have any TSTL moments. Click HERE to read an excerpt from "Tarnished Knight."

               NOVEL 2:  Heart of Iron               

     This novel tells the love story of two people closely connected to Honoria and Blade, the romantic leads of book 1. The hero is Will Carver, a verwulfen (aka werewolf) who is Blade's second in command, and the heroine is Helena (Lena) Todd, Honoria's younger sister. Will is currently the only free verwulfen in England, but he spent much of his earlier life in a cage, tortured by humans and bluebloods. In book 1, Rip and Lena had a flirtatious encounter, but Will turned away from Lena and moved out of Blade's warren when he overheard Blade and Honoria discussing the fact that he is a danger to Lena. Since that time, Will has lived alone in a tiny room, while Lena has moved in with her half-brother, Leo (a blueblood who is an important political figure in the Echelon). Her goal is to become a thrall to a blueblood, which will ensure her a prominent place in Echelon society.

     The story mostly follows the slowly developing romance between Will and Lena—and I do mean SLOW. They spend most of their time at odds with one another as Lena continues to try to force Will into romantic games that he views as too dangerous to play. He is deathly afraid that if he has physical contact with her, he risks infecting her with the verwulfen virus, which has a high rate of fatality. Lena, though, is a spoiled society brat who thinks it is fun to push Will as hard as she can, knowing that he'll never push back. Unfortunately, Lena is not much of a heroine. She has any number of TSTL moments as she continually wanders off by herself even though she is being stalked by a dangerous blueblood. Then she spies on the Echelon for the rebellious humanists without ever questioning their motives or their actions. Will spends most of the book pining for Lena and rescuing her from the various dilemmas she gets herself into. Just like her sister, Lena keeps lots of secrets from everyone—from Will, from Honoria, and from Leo, all of whom could have been valuable allies if she had just opened up to them. Unfortunately (again, like her sister), she takes quite a few dangerous actions without much thought and without enough information, and then she is horrified at the consequences. I hope that this isn't a trend for all of McMaster heroines in this series because I like my heroines to be a lot smarter than Lena and Honoria.

     As in the previous novel and novella, the romance goes unconsummated for the first three quarters of the book. When the couple finally stumbles their way to the final chapters, though, they make up for lost time. Both Will and Lena are virgins, but each must have read a very good sex manual or gotten instruction from someone in the know because there are no awkward moments (or motions) as each lover initiates several moves that seem a bit sophisticated for first timers. 

     The action part of the story revolves around treaty talks with the Scandinavian verwulfen government. The London bluebloods want to increase their power base, so they are willing to ally with the verwulfen of Sweden and Norway, and they want Will's help in pushing the treaty through. There is also a subplot involving some humanists who plan to disrupt the treaty talks. I'm guessing that the Norwegian verwulfen leaders and the humanist leaders will become romantic leads in future books. In fact, Rosalind, one of those humanists, will be the heroine of the next book, with Sir Jasper Lynch (founder and current leader of the Guild of Nighthawks) as her hero.

     This is just an O.K. book, primarily because of its air-headed, spoiled-brat heroine. Also, we learn a lot about Lena, but not much about Will. The basics of his horrible childhood life are dashed off in a couple of paragraphs, but we never get a chance to see any further into his soul. All of his interior monologues are centered on Lena—never on himself. To sum it up: too much Lena; not enough Will. This is a lengthy book (420 pages) and could have been edited down a bit to take out a few of the lovers' repetitive squabbles (particularly some of the MANY instances in which Lena shakes her finger at Will and shrieks "Don't you dare..."). Lots of new characters are introduced, with not much information given about them. I guess that will have to wait until they get their own books. Click HERE to read an excerpt from Heart of Iron. 

               NOVEL 3:  My Lady Quicksilver               

     The hero of this hefty novel (a bit too long at 431 pages) is Jasper Lynch (aka the Nighthawk). Lynch is the founder and current Guild Master of the Nighthawks, an army that handles London's law enforcement. His job is the center of his life, and his honor is all important to him. He never lies, never breaks his word, and always tries to do what is right—all qualities that are challenged by his inconvenient lustful attraction for his nemesis, Mercury, the infamous leader of the humanists who set off the bomb that climaxed the previous novel. 

     Mercury (aka Rosalind "Rosa" Marberry) is determined to continue her crusade against the Echelon and to find her missing brother, Jeremy, who got mixed up with the real villains of the bombing incident—mechs who broke away from Rosa's group and went off on their own violent crusade. Jeremy has been missing for several months now, and Rosa will go to any lengths to find him. As the story opens, she learns that Lynch is looking for a new secretary, so she applies for the job in the hope that she can rifle through his Nighthawk records and find some trace of Jeremy. What she doesn't count on is falling in love with Lynch.

     Early in the book, Lynch catches up with Mercury one night, and they share a passionate kiss and some suggestive taunts before she escapes from him. He tells her that he found her scent on a scrap of her cape that she left behind at the bombing scene and that he has been searching for her ever since, so when she goes to work for him, she has to disguise both her appearance and her scent. This, then is the book's biggest problem. Lynch is a very smart blueblood with super senses, so how are we to believe that he doesn't immediately recognize that Rosa and Mercury are the same person? He and Mercury have shared a grope, a kiss, and a conversation, so even though she was wearing a half-mask at the time, he still heard the intonations of her voice and learned the curves of her body and the taste of her kiss. As Lynch and Rosa work together, they begin to flirt and eventually get into a few clinches, but even then he doesn't have a clue. Remember, Lynch is not only a super-sensitive blueblood, he is also a very observant detective who never misses a detail at a crime scene. So…how can this man possibly be fooled so easily and for so long? The answer is…he can't; so this story line (for me anyway) was doomed before it even began. 

     (Pop-culture connection: I feel compelled to point out that deep in their flirtation, Lynch and Rosa play a game of "strip chess," which has, incredibly, been discussed by the hilarious man-boy nerds on The Big Bang Theory. Howard mentions the possibility on series 2, episode 18, "The Work Song Nanocluster": "Hey, you know what'd be a great idea? We get some girls over here and play Laser Obstacle Strip Chess." Click HERE to read the transcript.)

     Lynch's conflict all through the story is that he can't stop having passionate thoughts about Mercury, but is still highly attracted to Rosa. Rosa's conflict is that she is lying constantly to Lynch at the same time that she is falling in love with him. At one silly point, Rosa actually gets jealous of Lynch's attraction to "Mercury." On the serious side, both Lynch and Rosa have tragedies in their pasts that complicate their romance even further.

     The action part of the plot centers on Lynch's investigation of a series of bluebloods who seemingly go berserk and kill everyone in their houses, from servants to children to consorts. Also on Lynch's plate is an order (and a threat) from the Prince Consort that he must bring Mercury to court within three weeks or receive the penalty that Mercury would receive: execution. Another implausibility arises here: Even though the Prince Consort and his spymaster have had troops scouring London for months in search of information about Mercury, no one (except Lynch and Rosa's friends) know that she is a woman, which turns out to be the key to the plot resolution.

     If it weren't for the dual-identity plot device, this would be an O.K. story, but that identity element was so impossible to believe that it spoiled the entire book for me. If you can overlook the identity issue, you might enjoy the story, even though McMaster occasionally slips into 21st century slang. For example, at one point, Lynch tells Rosa, "You look amazing." (p. 320) One major positive point is that for the first time we have a resourceful, intelligent heroine who is much smarter and definitely a lot tougher than the ones in the previous books. Click HERE to read an excerpt from My Lady Quicksilver. 

     The next novel will tell the love story of Lynch's second in command, Captain Garrett Reed, and his partner, Perry, both of whom play supporting roles in My Lady Quicksilver.

             NOVELLA 3.5:  "The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace"           

     The author calls this a "pre-romance novella," set three years before Forged by Desire. Detective Garrett Reed and his partner Perry Lowell are called in on a murder case that has blood spatter and a missing person, but no body. The presumed victim is an actress named Nelly Tate, who has gone missing from her blood-stained dressing room. As Garrett and Perry begin their investigation, emotional agitation and sexual tension flare up between them for the first time in their six years as partners. Perry is having trouble concealing her attraction for Garrett, and even though the womanizing Garrett shamelessly flirts with Nelly's attractive understudy (and many other women), he senses that something has changed in their relationship. That doesn't stop him from saying some very hurtful things to her, like "As far as I'm concerned, I don't think of you as female," and "It's not as though I think of you as a woman, Perry." Those thoughtlessly cruel comments wound Perry so badly that she verbally strikes back just as viciously. During the entire story, the two are at emotional and professional odds.

     The murder case is intricately plotted, with lots of mysterious secrets and plenty of red herrings. It's a great whodunit mystery, and McMaster keeps us guessing all the way to the end as to the identity and motivations of the villain(s). Every time I thought I knew the answer, new clues surfaced and new suspects emerged, throwing a whole new light on the situation. You'll notice that I haven't discussed the titular "Clockwork Menace." That's because the "Menace" is deeply imbedded in the plot, and I don't want to give away any spoilers.

     There are one or two inconsistencies in the story line, the most important one being the conflicting statements given by the understudy, Miss Radcliffe. During her first interview, when Garrett asks her whether Nelly had any admirers, Miss Radcliffe answers, "I couldn't say….Some of the girls have…well, admirers, but not Nelly." Then, about half-way through the book, Miss Radcliffe volunteers that Nelly "had a beau, I think, who sent her peonies. I caught a glimpse of the card once." This appears to be an authorial slip-up rather than a planned piece of the conflict because Garrett and Perry just accept the second bit of information without questioning Miss Radcliffe about her earlier "no-beau" statement, which directly contradicts her second statement. It's as if McMaster needed to plant a clue somewhere about a possible suitor, so she randomly dropped the peony dialogue into the story without rereading to check the continuity.  

     Even though the action is set three years ago—well before the first three novels—this substantial novella is a perfect introduction to Forged by Desire (FbD) because it allows us to view the genesis of the simmering sexual tension in the relationship between Garrett and Perry (which comes to a boil when they share a passionate kiss at the opera in My Lady Quicksilver). It also explains why Garrett puts a tracking device on Perry—something that becomes a critical plot element in FbD. Especially important is the fact that we get the beginnings of Perry's back story, which will be fully disclosed in FbD. Reading this novella is a no-brainer for all of you who are keeping up with this series because as of the date of this post, "The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace" is absolutely free at both Barnes & Noble and amazon.com. So why not do yourself a favor and read it before you read FbD.

     Click HERE to go to the amazon.com page for this novella and click on the cover art to read an excerpt from "The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace."

               NOVEL 4:  Forged by Desire               

     Captain Garrett Reed is now the acting Guild Master of the Nighthawk guards, and he is dealing with the pressure of establishing his authority in his new position. Garrett's former friend and mentor, Lynch, is still furious with him for putting his wife in jeopardy in the scene that climaxed My Lady Quicksilver, so Garrett has no one in which to confide a serious physical problem: his rapidly rising craving virus (CV) percentage. His CV level is now 68, and if it reaches 70, he will face execution because this is a condition for which there is currently no cure. "Soon his skin would start paling, the color bleaching out of his hair and eyes as he evolved—or devolved—into something inhuman, something utterly vampiric. A blood-thirsty monster incapable of rational thought, driven only by its hungers." (p. 14)

     Another personal problem for Garrett is his newly awakening love for his former partner, Perry Lowell. In the previous book, they shared a passionate kiss while on a mission, and now he doesn't know quite how to handle their relationship. Neither does Perry. She has been in love with Garrett for years, but believes that he is just infatuated with her and will soon tire of her. Once again, McMaster gives us a troubled romantic relationship filled with secrets, misunderstandings, and plenty of angst. Both Garrett and Perry have appeared in earlier books, but this is the first time we have had a chance to learn their back stories.

     While all these emotions are roiling in the background, Garrett and Perry are faced with tracking down a mad serial killer. When the bodies of two Echelon debutantes are found in a burned-out blood-draining factory, Perry suspects that she knows the identity of the killer—particularly when she sees that the women's hearts have been cut out and that they have been infected with the blue-blood virus. Ever since Perry joined the Nighthawks, she has been keeping her tragic background a secret. As the story moves along, we get more and more information about the horrible things that happened to Perry before she ran away from her position as a thrall to a wealthy duke and a pawn of his sadistic doctor. Unfortunately for Perry, both of her nemeses turn up in London, threatening her freedom and her life. At that point, Perry is forced to make some difficult decisions about whom she will protect and how she will protect them. Garrett, meanwhile, is dealing with increased periods of out-of-control rage (due to his high CV levels), his love for Perry, and the realization that she is keeping dangerous secrets from him.

     Many of the lead characters from earlier books appear at various points during the story, with all of them gathering together at the end to decide what they will do about their continuing problems with the Council of Dukes and with the prince consort. Their final decision signals some major excitement in the next book, which, I believe, will be the last in the series.

     This is another solid addition to a terrific series. Perry and Garrett are perfect as the tortured lovers, and the two villains are chillingly evil (but, unfortunately, one-dimensional). McMaster does a good job of making Perry a strong, take-charge heroine while still showing her debilitating fear of the two monsters who hurt her so badly in the past. Garrett is a great hero—dealing with a terminal condition but still smart enough and tough enough to rescue his lady love—only to find that she can rescue herself! Click HERE to read an excerpt from Forged by Desire.