Christine Warren: GARGOYLES SERIES

Author:  Christine Warren

Series:  GARGOYLES   

Plot Type:  Paranormal Soul-Mate Romance (SMR)     

Ratings:  Violence—3; Sensuality—4; Humor—2-3   

Publisher and Titles:  St. Martin's

      1   Heart of Stone (12/2013)

      2   Stone Cold Lover (8/2014)
      3   Hard As a Rock (3/2015)
      4   Rocked by Love (3/2016)
      5   Hard to Handle (2/2017)

This on-going post was revised and updated on 3/5/17 to include a review of Hard to Handle, the fifth novel in the series. That review will appear first, followed by an overview of the world-building and reviews of the previous four novels. 

                         NOVEL 5:  Hard to Handle                         
PUBLISHER'S BLURB: 

     From New York Times bestselling author Christine Warren comes Hard to Handle, the fifth book in her Gargoyles series about a tale that is as old as time…and a love as strong as stone.

     The only male among four sisters, Michael Drummond is no stranger to women’s strength and formidable will. But when a fierce woman warrior from another realm bursts into his life, bringing with her a battle between good and evil, Michael is overcome by an explosive dose of desire that only this stunningly beautiful woman can inspire.

     The first and only of her kind, Ash is a lone female gargoyle, a creature destined to protect mankind from Demons determined to unleash their darkest forces.

     But her bone-deep instinct to do battle is turned off-kilter by her untamed attraction to the dangerously handsome human she can’t stay away from. If they manage to keep the world safe, can they turn the passion crackling between them into a love that will withstand the test of time?

MY REVIEW:

     In my review of the previous novel in this series, I stated quite firmly that I would not review future books. Well…I went ahead and read this novel, and I have to say that I should have stuck with my promise.

     Now, if you are a huge fan of generic paranormal romance, you will no doubt enjoy this story because it hits all the usual marks: handsome but sulky hero, beautiful but conflicted heroine, snarky dialogue from all the characters, evil-to-the-core villains, and steamy love scenes to fill in between battles. The problem is that every novel in this series plays out in exactly the same manner: A Guardian gargoyle awakens and hooks up with its human Warden (who is always standing next to it when it wakes up). As they battle the crazed nocturnis, the two fall in love and become soul mates for all eternity. 

     The only difference this time around is that the gargoyle is a female—the very first female Guardian. Her name is Ash, and her Warden is Michael Drummond (aka Drum), a Dublin pub owner with some magical “finding” powers that he tries not to think about. Michael’s mother and his four sisters are all women of power. For example, his mother, Maddie, is a healer, and his youngest sister, Maeve, is a clairvoyant whose visions always come true.

     After setting the four earlier novels in North America, Warren crosses the Atlantic to Ireland, where the nocturnis have managed to open a hellmouth. (Where’s Buffy when you need her?) At this point, four of the seven demons have risen, so (since this is the fifth novel and the fifth Guardian/Warden) we can presume that a fifth demon will be turning up in the utterly predictable slam-bang showdown battle that ends each and every book in the series.

     In the interval between Ash's awakening and the final battle, the nocturnis make several fireball attacks, kidnap a human, and generally make a deadly nuisance of themselves. Meanwhile, Ash and Michael are falling for one another, but both keep having all sorts of doubts that result in a continuous series of angst-filled interior monologues. Michael reacts to most situations regarding magic with rage and bluster and f-bombs (although, since this is Ireland, it’s spelled “feck”). His over-the-top histrionics get old pretty quickly, to the point that Maeve and Ash have to take turns slapping him on the back of his head once in awhile to calm him down.

     In addition to its predictable plot, the novel feels pieced together as if it had been written in chunks and then spliced together without a good, solid read-through by an editor. Especially in the final quarter of the book, there are several instances of word-for-word repetitious language and oddly placed dialogues that act as stumbling blocks for the reader.

     This time I mean it when I say that in the future I’ll be posting only the publisher’s blurb for the next two novels. (I’m guessing that there will be two more because there are only seven demons and we’ve already met five of them.) If you enjoyed the previous books, you’ll love this one and probably the future ones as well, but if you are looking for paranormal romance with originality and depth, this isn't the series for you.

     Click HERE to read an excerpt from Hard to Handle on its Amazon.com page by clicking on the cover art. 

FULL DISCLOSURE: My review of Hard to Handle is based on an electronic advance reading copy (ARC) of the book that I received from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I received no promotional or monetary rewards, and the opinions in this review are entirely my own.  

                         WORLD-BUILDING                         

      The series is set in a contemporary mortal world that, unknowingly, is threatened by demonic forces and protected by supernaturals and their human colleagues. The mythology is all too familiar to any reader of paranormal fiction: A small group of good guys (a mixture of supernaturals and humans) must save mankind from some long-dormant demons and their human minions. 

     The good guys are seven "brothers" called Guardians of the Light, who have the ability to shape shift into human form. The Guardians spend much of their time as grotesque stone statues, slumbering through the centuries but awakening when there is a demonic threat. They are supported by the Guild of Wardens. "The Guardians were summoned by the first mages of the Guild….They share...information with us, tell us what the evil forces plan, assist in battling against them, warding us against their evil. They monitor the activities of humans who are enslaved or seduced by the dark powers, and fight against their expanding influence. They bid us to slumber when the threat of the Darkness is defeated, and they recognize when the danger returns, waking us in time to foil its plans." (p. 35, Heart of Stone) In addition to the seven Guardians, there are lesser, non-slumbering guards (both males and females) who battle the weaker demons who show up on Earth.

     The demonic bad guys are called the Seven—powerful demons of the Darkness who have been imprisoned in other realms and are always trying to get back to Earth and destroy the Guardians. The demon minions (aka nocturnis) have organized themselves into a network called the Order of Eternal Darkness. The Seven represent "the sum of all that is evil and all that evil is….It is eternal and relentless and indestructible." (p. 85, Heart of Stone) Although the powers of the universe could not destroy evil, they weakened it by dividing it into seven pieces: "Seven slices of pure and utter evil whose only desire is to reunite and destroy all life and light in existence." (p. 86, Heart of Stone) The Guardians' job is to keep the Seven apart, banishing them from the human realm when they manage to slip through. So…essentially, the theme of the series is that old familiar battle between good (the Guild of Wardens and the Guardians—plus their girlfriends) and evil (the Seven and the Order of Eternal Darkness).

Gargoyle (above); Chimera (below)

     Not to nitpick, but the Guardians are not true gargoyles; they are actually chimera, or grotesques. To understand the difference, you need these three definitions: 

>> A gargoyle is a carved stone figure with a spout that is designed to catch rain water and keep it from running down the exterior wall of a building. It can have a grotesque appearance, but it is always a water spout.

>> A chimera  is a fantastical, mythological, or grotesque figure that is generally used for decorative purposes.

>> In art and architecture, grotesque is a synonym for chimera: a bizarre figure used for decorative purposes. When used as a descriptive adjective, grotesque is also a term used to describe weird shapes and distorted forms (e.g., a Halloween mask might be described as grotesque). 

     Although Warren's heroes are not really gargoyles, I can understand why Warren uses that terminology because naming your new series "Gargoyles" is probably sexier than naming it "Grotesques." I do think, though, that "Chimera" might have been a better choice. The only reason that I am writing about this issue is that it is just one example of sloppiness in the world-building.

     Here's another example: In book 1, we learn that the Order of Darkness has been building up its forces and decimating the warden population for several years. Yet, they haven't taken the single step that would guarantee their eventual world domination—the destruction or the imprisonment of the stone statues—the Guardians—that threaten their existence. If they had taken possession of the slumbering Guardian statues (who can be awakened only by a warden), they could have either pounded them into gravel or they could have dumped them deep into a mine shaft, never to be seen again. Instead, they sent the statues off to various museums around the world where they can be accessed by the general public, including wardens. I hate it when a new mythology has major flaws.

     Apparently, each book will feature one of the seven Guardians. In book 1, a Guardian is awakened by his soul mate rather than by a warden, and that is what will certainly happen in ensuing books. I'm guessing that each book will follow a similar pattern in which a Guardian wakes up when his soon-to-be lover is in danger, defends and falls for the girl, fights off some demons and/or nocturnis, and achieves an HEA.

                       NOVEL 1:  Heart of Stone                       

      The first Guardian is Kees Livingston. As the story opens, he sits on his pedestal on the terrace of the Vancouver Museum of Art and History in British Columbia. One night, Kees awakens from his stony slumber when a young museum employee named Ella Harrow is attacked by a nocturnis while she is sitting near his pedestal. Kees knows that he wouldn't have awakened unless a demon threat is imminent, so he and Ella begin to investigate (using Google, of course). When they learn that the Guild of Wardens has essentially been destroyed over the past few years, they realize that they will have to locate the other six Guardians and—somehow—wake them up.

     Ella has had the stereotypical tragic childhood that we find so often in paranormal fiction, and she is trying to overcome a decade of guilt over the death of her parents. She has spent her life knowing that some kind of strange force resides deep within her, and when she lets it out, bad things happen. Kees immediately recognizes that the force is magic and that she has the potential to become a warden.

     The story has little suspense. In fact, one of the villains is completely obvious from the moment he appears on the page. The action and the romance play out in a stereotypical manner as Kees and Ella are forced to flee to an isolated cabin in the woods, where their romance heats up and their enemies surround them.

     The one-note villains are all bad to the core—cackling and grimacing like cartoon characters, while the lead couple is bland and underdeveloped. Kees, who views himself as vastly superior to humans, has to come to grips with the fact that he is beginning to have human emotions as he falls for Ella. Ella must learn to control and strengthen her magic and lose her guilt over her parents' death. This is one of those insta-matic love stories in which the couple professes their undying love within days of meeting. Other than the love-speed, my problem with their relationship is that Ella is such a pushover—such a doormat. For example, after their initial night of blissful consummation, Kees essentially turns his back on her, having decided that he can't possibly be falling for a human (he constantly calls her "little human," frequently with great sarcasm). But his rejection doesn't stop her from deciding that he is the man for her (even though his behavior hurts her feelings). At one point, Ella muses that Kees is "a grumpy, grouchy, dictatorial, annoying, and often thoroughly unpleasant individual," but then she forgives him because he is also "protective, patient, intelligent, and fiercely loyal." (p. 175) In fact, "if it weren't for the wings folded behind his shoulders and the tail wrapped around his lower leg, he'd look like a pretty normal guy." (p. 193). Ella's only saving grace is that she does show courage in battle.

     To add to the glitches that I described in the "World-Building" section above, when Kees first transforms from his loincloth-clad stone self into his human form, he emerges clad in jeans and a T-shirt. He also has a very modern, American speech pattern and has no problem understanding the ins and outs of 21st century life in America. All of this is inexplicable since he is essentially a European who hasn't been awake since a brief period in the 1940s. (And where did those jeans come from?)

     Here is one more example of a mythology problem: In the first love scene (beginning on p. 108), Kees grabs Ella with his huge, clawed hands and passionately kisses her. Isn't his non-human, clawed form supposed to be stone? If so, this is a puzzling scene because Ella comments on his claws, his skin ("like unpolished stone or an emery board"), and on his lips and tongue ("warm and exiting"). Since stone isn't warm, how is this possible? Why isn't his stone tongue slicing up her mouth? Later in the scene, when Kees goes still for a long moment, Ella wonders whether he has changed to his stone form. If he is grabbing her with clawed hands and his skin feels like stone, isn't he already in his stone form? Seconds later, he shifts into his human form. This is a very confusing scene. Does Kees have three forms: stone, human, and something in between? None of this is made clear—a definite flaw in the mythology. Click HERE to read an excerpt from Heart of Stone.

     The next book will deal with a Guardian who is in a museum in Montreal. Ella's college friend, Felicity (Fil) Shaltis, will be the one who wakes him up.

                       NOVEL 2:  Stone Cold Lover                       

      The second novel, like the first, follows the standard genre formula for paranormal romance: a feisty heroine, a sexy hero, a string of angst-filled interior monologues, an evil villain who threatens the heroine, and a finale in which good triumphs over evil and the lovers get their HEA. The heroine—Felicity (Fil) Shaltis—even has the requisite tragic childhood: drug-addicted mother and absent father. She also follows the clichéd paranormal heroine rule that requires all vehicles to be called by human names (in this case, Josephine the van and Laurent the motorcycle).

     We met Fil near the end of Heart of Stone when that book’s heroine—Fil’s best friend, Ella—asked her to check out a grotesque statue in Montreal to see whether it might be a Guardian. Sure enough, when Fil sneaks in after hours to check things out, the statue comes to life and defends her against an attack by one of the nocturnis—the demon minions. This Guardian is Spar, who calls himself Spar Livingston (“living stone”—get it?) in the human world. Unfortunately, the nocturnis manages to shoot a dark magical force into the palm of Fil’s hand, leaving a mark that binds her to a demon named Uhlthor the Defiler. Soon, Fil begins to suffer from dark visions and gradually begins acting even more ill-tempered than usual.

     Unfortunately, Fil isn’t as likable as most paranormal romance heroines. In fact, she is so obnoxiously peevish and petulant that she snarls, curses, and sneers her way through nearly every scene. At one point Spar compares her to a prickly thistle—“all sharp tongue and wary distance.” (p. 90) The only time that she’s in a good mood is when she and Spar are between the sheets. Why Spar is attracted to this surly young woman is a mystery, but within a day or so after they first meet, they become passionate lovers. They hit a few emotional bumps on the road to their HEA, but there is never any doubt about their future together. Like her friend Ella, Fil has a magical ability. She can “see” energy that emanates from magical people or objects.

     The lovers soon find a witch who breaks Fil’s demon bond, but the nocturnis still want to get their hands on Fil as a sacrifice to bring back Uhlthor from his banishment. That means that Fil is attacked several times by various types of monsters, including a golem. The incident that sets off the climax is such an obvious TSTL moment for Fil and Spar that I could hardly believe that the author used it. You’ll know immediately that it’s a trap, but the characters are so clueless that they just blunder into it. 

     This is a formulaic series that will probably repeat the same general plot in each book. It’s a good vs. evil story arc, with smart and sassy human women finding their destiny with big, ugly stone statues who turn into handsome, sexy human men. If one-dimensional paranormal romance is your cup of tea, you’ll probably enjoy the books. Click HERE to read an excerpt from Stone Cold Lover.  

     The witch—Wynn Myfanwy Llewellyn Powe—will be the heroine of the next book as she travels to her hometown of Chicago in search of yet another stony Guardian. 

                       NOVEL 3:  Hard As a Rock                       
     Wynn Myfanwy Llewellyn Powe, the witch who helped break Fil's demon bond in Stone Cold Lover, is the co-star of this book, along with her hard-as-a-rock (in so many ways) Guardian lover, Knox. Wynn comes from a family in which many of the males have been wardens. Although Wynn has always yearned to be a warden, the Guild of Wardens has always refused to accept females into their ranks (in direct opposition to the history of the Guild's founding by a group of women).

     In the first scene, Wynn is trying to find the Guardian assigned to Chicago, but when she gets to the site, she finds that the Order of Eternal Darkness (aka the nocturnis) has already blown up his stone statue. As she tries to figure out what to do next, she is attacked by a security guard who works for the nocturnis. Just as he gets ready to stab her, a Guardian appears out of nowhere in his huge, stony, clawed, winged, fanged form and saves her life. This is Knox, a newly created Guardian apparently summoned by Wynn. That means either that Wynn is truly a warden or that Knox is her true mate (because the women of the series have figured out that other than a Warden, only the mate of a Guardian can wake him and that she is always a woman of power—like Wynn, who is a witch). They have also learned that once the entire demon problem is taken care of, the mated Guardians can demand their freedom so that they can become mortal and settle down in the suburbs with their wives and (hopefully) kids.

     The two plots—action and romance—are interwoven in the usual manner, with pages and pages of angst-filled whining from Wynn, lots of meaningful glances and heavy breathing from Knox, enough bedroom scenes to keep things hot, and a few tablespoons of action towards the end to resolve the conflict of this book, but not the overall conflict between the Guardians and the Order. The demon Uhlthor (aka the Defiler) is still on the verge of awakening, and the small but intrepid group of Guardians and their mates must keep him from gaining his full powers. This book adds a new element to the series story arc. As Wyn puts it: "Do you think there's something hinky going down at the Guild?" The group suspects that there has been long-term corruption within the Guild that led to the ultimate destruction of the Guild's Paris headquarters and to Uhlthor's subsequent awakening.

     Once again, the same general plot line from the first two books is repeated here: heroic Guardian, sassy but self-absorbed heroine, a sprinkling of one-dimensional bad guys, and the threat of demonic world domination. It looks as if this will be the formula for the rest of the books in the series, so I'll probably just post the publisher's back-cover blurb for the next book instead of doing my own review. 

     If you enjoyed reading the first two books, you'll get more of the same in this one. If you haven't jumped into this series yet, you could read this book as a stand-alone because it reviews the back-story in some detail (mostly in the first two chapters). Click HERE to read an excerpt from Hard As a Rock on its Amazon.com page. Just go to that page and click on the cover art. 

     Just one final nitpick: Most heroines of paranormal fiction swear by the goddess. Instead of saying "Oh, my God," they say "Oh, my goddess," and I have no quarrel with that—usually. But in one place in this book Warren has her heroine say this: "A phone call to Uncle Griffin managed to find the man awake and alert even at the ungoddessly hour of five AM." Really, Ms. Warren…you thought that "ungoddessly" would be the most appropriate word here? Because it brought me to a dumbfounded halt while I pondered its ridiculousness. Better to have skipped the weird, deity-centric "ungodlessly" and substituted "insanely early" or "outrageously early" or simply "at the crack of dawn."

                         NOVEL 4:  Rocked by Love                         

PUBLISHER'S BLURB: 
     Kylie Kramer knows that she's putting her life in danger when she decides to investigate her friend's mysterious death. What she doesn't know is that she's being watched over by a powerful protector. A legend in stone who has defended humanity throughout the ages. A rock-hard savior who swoops down from the sky, scoops Kylie into his impossibly strong arms, and draws her into a world that no mortal woman can imagine...or resist.

     As the strongest of the gargoyles, Dag is sworn to destroy the demons that threaten Kylie's world before returning to his stony slumber. But the burning desire she ignites in him is even harder to fight-an all-consuming force that, once unleashed, can never be tamed. As their passion grows, so do the ranks of a demonic army plotting to take over the earth. When the ultimate battle begins, Dag and Kylie must face some demons of their own-to carve out a love that's stronger than time. 

MY REVIEW:
     The formulaic plot of this novel is exactly like the previous three: heroine gets rescued by her rocky hero and then spends the rest of the book exchanging sarcastic remarks with him and their friends (three similar couples) while endlessly discussing plans to stop the evil nocturnis. These books could be read in almost any order because they are cookie-cutter copies of one another. Technically, the series story arc moves a baby-step forward in each book, but most of the action deals with issues entirely unrelated to the nocturnis and the demons they are trying to raise. Like the previous novels, this one is full of snarky dialogue, passionate bedroom scenes, and lots of repetitive generic strategy sessions. Rocked by Love has only two action scenes—one at the very beginning and one at the very end—and neither has very much action. In fact, the final one, which takes place during two brief chapters, is anti-climactic and provides no resolution to the ongoing nocturnis/demon conflict.

     The single element that makes this book different from the others is that Warren has made her heroine Jewish—actually half-Jewish (on her father's side). Kylie calls herself a "half-shiksa" and is not a practicing Jew, although she  spent a lot of childhood time with her paternal grandmother, who is. Unfortunately, this is also the worst element of the novel because Warren has overstuffed Kylie's dialogue with so many Yiddish phrases that the young woman comes across as the worst kind of stereotypical Jewish character on a really bad TV sitcom. Warren turns Kylie’s dialogue into hackneyed prattle, turning her into the well-worn Jewish grandmother trope (not unlike Kylie's own bubbeh, who shows up mid-way through the book). Kylie is constantly moaning, "Oy vey," or falling on her "tohkes," or complaining that something is "farkakta" or "farfoilt." She always dabs a “schmear” on her bagel when she has a “nosh.” When she is surprised, she “nearly plotzed.” She calls the bad guys “meshugener,” “kuppe drek,” and “shmuts,” and she calls her cat (King David) “bubeleh,” “bubbee,” and “boychik.” She calls Dag a “big, boulder-brained bulvan” and a “persistent nudnik.” Believe me when I tell you that this is just a tiny sample of Kylie’s Yiddish references. A little bit of this might have been humorous, but Warren ladles it on so thickly that after a few chapters, the humor evaporates and is quickly replaced by annoyance. If you want to read a really good humorous series with an East-coast Jewish heroine, take a look at Laura Resnick’s LAURA DIAMOND SERIES. Click HERE to read my reviews of the novels in Resnick’s series.

     I almost didn't read this book because I feared that it would be more of the same. Now that I've confirmed my suspicions, I definitely will not be reading and reviewing any more books in this series. I will, however, continue to add new titles to the list at the top of the review, as well as the publisher's blurbs for the new books. Click HERE to read an excerpt from Rocked by Love on its Amazon.com page by clicking on the cover art. 

UPDATE! Sandy Williams: SHADOW READER TRILOGY

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Sandy Williams with a review of The Sharpest Blade, the third and FINAL novel in her SHADOW READER TRILOGY.

Click on the pink-link series title above to go directly to the updated review.

UPDATE! Emma Jane Holloway's BASKERVILLE AFFAIR TRILOGY

UPDATE!

I have just updated a previous post for Emma Jane Holloway with a review of A Study in Ashes, the third and FINAL novel in her BASKERVILLE AFFAIR TRILOGY. 

Click on the pink-link series title above to go directly to the updated review.

Meljean Brook: THE IRON SEAS SERIES

Author:  Meljean Brook
Series:  THE IRON SEAS   
Plot Type:  Steampunk; Historical Fantasy; Soul-Mate Romance (SMR)     
Ratings:  Violence-4; Sensuality-4; Humor-2 
Publisher and Titles:  Berkley Sensation
  .4: "The Blushing Bounder" (e-novella, 11/13; also in Novellas & Stories, anthology, 5/13)
  .5: "Here There Be Monsters" (e-novella, 10/13; also in Burning Up, anthology, 8/10)
  1: The Iron Duke (novel, 10/10)
  1.5: "Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City" (epilogue to Iron Duke; e-novella, 8/12; also in some editions of The Iron Duke)
  2: Heart of Steel (novel, 11/11)
  2.5: "Tethered" (epilogue to Heart of Steel; e-novella, 4/13)
  3: Riveted (novel, 9/12)
  3.4: "Wrecked" (e-novella, 11/13; also in Fire & Frost anthology, 5/13)
  3.5: "Salvage" (e-novella in Enthralled anthology, 7/13)

  4: The Kraken King (8-part e-book serial novel, 1/14 through 3/14; published in full in paperback and e-book, 11/14)

     This post was revised and updated on 12/25/14 to include a review of The Kraken King, the fourth novel in this series. That review appears first, followed by an overview of the world-building and reviews of all of the preceding novellas and novels. 

            NOVEL 4:  The Kraken King             

     In this oversize novel (567 pages), the author tells the love story of Ariq and Zenobia, a tale filled with adventure, danger, and diabolical villains. Ariq's roots are in the Horde Empire (aka Golden Empire), where he was born to a courtesan in the court of Qajigin Khan (the former khagan, who is Ariq's biological father). His mother was a spy for the rebels who sought to overthrow the khagan, but her identity was discovered and she was executed by his father's successor when Ariq was a child. Ariq joined the rebel cause when he was very young, but when they began to kill innocents, Ariq turned his back on the rebels, even though he had worked his way up in the ranks. His departure is still viewed as traitorous by his superiors. 

     Ariq and his men (and their families) moved to the southwest coast of Australia, an isolated area settled primarily by smugglers. There, he built a village called Krakentown, offering sanctuary to anyone who wished to make a clean start and who agreed to follow his rules—no killing, no stealing, no cheating. Ariq is a large man, both in physical size and in political power. He is feared and respected by almost everyone, from smugglers to government officials. Recently, a series of anonymous attacks on ships and airships on Australia's west coast have caught the attention of the Empress of Nippon, whose empire is located on the northeast coast of Australia. If Ariq can't stop the marauders, he fears that the Empress will blame the attacks on his people and the smugglers and will send armed forces to decimate all of the towns along the western coast. Ariq has no idea who is behind the attacks or what their motivations are, but he has to stop them or his town and his people will be destroyed.

     Meanwhile, Zenobia Fox (aka Geraldine Inkslinger, aka Geraldine Gunther-Baptiste) is flying to Australia with her friend Helene, who is the pregnant wife of the French ambassador to the Nipponese empress. Unfortunately for Helene, the father of her unborn child is not her husband, and she is desperate to get to the Red City (the capitol city) in time to pretend that the child is his—just born prematurely. Zenobia has agreed to take the trip for two reasons: to help out her friend and to have an adventure of her own. Zenobia, as you will recall from previous books, is the sister of Archimedes Fox (aka Wolfram Gunther-Baptiste), who is both a fictional hero of adventure books written by Zenobia and a flamboyant globe-trotter who has risked life and limb in many adventures described in previous books in this series. At present, Archimedes is married to Yasmeen (Lady Corsair). (Their story is told primarily in Heart of Steel, with additional adventures being described in several of the novellas.) Zenobia has led a reclusive life because every time she makes an acquaintance or ventures out into public places, someone kidnaps her—or tries to. "She'd always been afraid. If not actively fearing for her life, then wary and expecting that she soon would. Only when writing was she somewhere else, somewhere without fear. Somewhere no one waited to hurt her, or to use her to hurt her brother, or to extract money." As this book begins, she has already been kidnapped four times and has survived many other rough situations. Currently, she is accompanied by her two guards, Mara and Cooper, who are disguised as servants.

     As the airship moves along the western coast of Australia, it is suddenly attacked by the same marauding flyers that Ariq is trying to catch. In fact, Ariq and his brother have just captured two of the marauders' flyers, and they arrive at Zenobia's airship right in the middle of the attack. Conveniently, Zenobia finds herself rescued by Ariq, and the two are immediately attracted to one another, though neither trusts the other. 

     Zenobia has learned never to trust anyone but herself, her brother, and Yasmeen. Every time she has trusted others, they have turned on her. For example, her brother's ne'er-do-well partner was her first kidnapper (in "Tethered"). So…even though she thinks that having a fling with Ariq would be an exciting adventure, she doesn't trust him—not one bit—especially when Mara overhears Ariq's brother say something insulting about her looks and Ariq seems to agree with him. Ariq also tells his brother that he is determined to learn Zenobia's secrets. Of course, Mara tells Zenobia what she overheard, and from that point on, Zenobia gives Ariq the cold shoulder. Ariq is confused because he thought they had a mutual attraction. He doesn't realize that Mara has a listening device that allowed her to hear his brother's insulting remarks.

     Helene is determined to get to the Red City as quickly as possible, so she begs Zenobia to figure out some way to get moving. Eventually, Ariq agrees to take them to the Smugglers' Dens, where they should be able to book passage on an airship. Ariq is extremely suspicious of Zenobia's reasons for such hasty travel to the Red City. Is she a spy? Is she carrying coded documents meant for his enemies? Why (and what) is she constantly writing in the notebook that never leaves her hands? Is the gold in her luggage meant to be a pay-off of some kind? If so, to whom? Why is she using a false name? Ariq plans to learn the answers to all of those questions, and he also plans to seduce Zenobia because he still wants her.

     So far, I have described the plot of the very first chapter, which sets up the action and intrigue for the entire book. The couple's relationship moves from cold to warm to hot and back again numerous times, with their first kiss coming about a third of the way into the book and their consummation coming about two-thirds into the story. The romance is slowed down or stopped many times by Zenobia's long-nurtured distrust and her assumption that people (including Ariq) want her only for personal gain—not because they love her. Ariq's distrust comes from the fact that he knows that Zenobia is lying and keeping secrets from him, and he's afraid that she will turn out to be an enemy. Even when the romance seems to have hit a high note, distrust and secrecy continue to be problematic. Eventually, the two become partners as they are threatened by several enemies and help each other escape from numerous dangerous situations.

     This is a terrific novel, one that kept me feverishly turning the pages well into the wee hours of the night. The author has created two fascinating lead characters with great depth. Zenobia has always been an interesting character in this series—a clever, witty woman who has made herself a fortune by turning her brother's adventures into novels that are read all over the world. On the downside, she is crippled emotionally by fear and distrust and longs for an adventurous life of her own, one in which she can walk down a street unmolested. After she is abducted once again, she laments to Ariq, "I just wanted to walk down a street. Even here, I should be able to. Is it so foolish to want that?" Along with being a supernaturally strong macho-man with loads of simmering sensuality, Ariq is completely committed to truth and justice in all aspects of his life. He would willingly give his life for the people he loves.

     The story is told in eight parts, each beginning with a letter from Zenobia to Archimedes that provides a sketchy description of her latest adventures. Each part ends with some type of cliff-hanger that is generally resolved in the next section. It is amazing to me that Meljean Brook has created and published all of the novellas and novels in this series in such a short period of time. 

     This is a complex and fascinating world filled with inventive alternate historical events and fantastic biological constructs. It mixes steampunk with historical fantasy in such a masterful manner that the reader gets pulled into the mythology immediately, with very little confusion (and this is definitely not the case with most mythologies that are as complex as this one is). The characters—although they do tend to fall into either all-good or all-bad tropes—are all true individuals, demonstrating various faults and idiosyncrasies, giving in to bad temper, making foolish choices, and trusting the wrong people. The great thing is that we relate to them because of their human frailties, and we root for them because of their good hearts. I highly recommend this series, and I suggest that you read it in the order listed at the beginning of this post, which is the author's recommended reading order.

             WORLD-BUILDING             

      The series begins in an alternate England nine years after Britain and Wales have been freed from their enslavement by the Mongol Horde. The map below provides a rough idea of how the world is now divided. The mythology is quite inventive, but complex, and rather than spend time and space summarizing it, I recommend that you read the author's explanation on her web site. Click HERE to go to Brook's "Iron Seas Guide," which includes a complete explanation of the Horde mythology, a larger version of the map below, and a brief glossary. The Horde's power is now centered in what we would call Asia (the bright green section of the map). 

     Seven centuries ago, the Horde developed  technology that allowed them to infect people with nanoagents that controlled the infected population through radio signals that kept them docile and unemotional. "Two hundred years ago, the Horde had hidden their nanoagents in tea and sugar like invisible bugs, and traded it on the cheap….And so for years  they'd traded tea and sugar, and England had thought itself safe. Until the Horde had activated the bugs." (The Iron Duke, p. 2) Here's how one character describes the effects of the bugs: "The Horde used to prevent the strong, enhanced population from rebelling—suppressing their hate, their love, their fear."   (from "Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City") The Horde also used highly developed mechanical technology to replace the hands, arms, and/or legs of workers of all types in order to make them more productive. For example, a seamstress would have her human fingers replaced by needles; a coal miner would have his legs replaced with jackhammers). Periodically, when the Horde needed to increase its worker population, the radio signals would be set to cause a sexual frenzy among the infected. 

     The Horde used another type of nanoagents to clear out the population of Europe. Those bugs turned people into vicious zombies whose bite would then infect even more people. Currently, Europe is largely uninhabited, with hordes of zombies inland and a few walled cities on the coast.

     Most children born as a result of the frenzies were taken from their families and raised in Crèches—walled-off sections of the city populated and mostly run by children—where they received the bare rudiments of an education and were trained and mechanically enhanced to become workers. Currently, in London's well-run Crèche, "all the children aged ten years and older worked, but also spent hours in their schools. Every child raised in the Crèche was well fed, well dressed, adept at reading and writing and knowledgeable in maths." (The Iron Duke, p. 396) Currently, poor parents who don't have the money to feed new family members drop off babies at the Crèche so that they can have a better life.

     Another part of the Horde technology is their creation of several types of mechanically-enhanced sea monsters: kraken (giant squid), monster sharks called megalodons, and giant eels. They also constructed war machines using Leonardo Da Vinci's famous sketches as blueprints.

     As the series opens, the people of London continue to despise the Horde and any reminder of their days under Horde domination. Unfortunately, during the frenzies, some English women were impregnated by Mongol males, and they were born with Mongol facial features. These women are spit upon and attacked by their fellow citizens and are odiously referred to as "jade whores." 

     Currently, there are two different population groups in England and Wales: the buggers and the bounders. The buggers include all those who lived under the Horde occupation and who are infected by nanoagents. The bounders are mostly aristocrats (or at least wealthy) people whose ancestors fled from England to America before the Horde's radio towers went up. The bounders are now returning to England to reclaim their estates, their seats in Parliament, and their political influence. Naturally, there is much distrust and dissension between the groups. The buggers are mostly poor-to-middle-class people who believe that they are the true English people. After all, they didn't run away (although they might have if they had the money to do so). The bounders are mostly wealthy people with noble connections. They look down on the buggers and are trying hard to take over the control of politics, business, and industry.

     This is a steampunk world in which people travel in various types of airships (as well as regular ships) and use weapons and ground transportation that require the usual gears, steam power, and clockwork gadgetry.  

     Here is a book-by-book list of the happy couples who find their HEAs in this series:

   > "The Blushing Bounder:  Constable Edward Newberry & Temperance
   > "Here There Be Monsters":  Mad Machen & Ivy Blacksmith
   > The Iron Duke: Rhys Trahaern & Mina Wentworth
   > "Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City": Rhys Trahaern & Mina Wentworth 
   > Heart of Steel:  Yasmeen, Lady Corsair & Archimedes Fox
   > "Tethered": Yasmeen, Lady Corsair & Archimedes Fox
   > Riveted:  David Kentewess & Annika Fridasdottor
   > "Wrecked":  Caius Trachter & Elizabeth Jennings
   > "Salvage":  Big Thom & Georgiana Thomas
   > The Kraken King:  Ariq (the Kraken King) & Zenobia Fox

          NOVELLA .4:  "The Blushing Bounder"            

     The first installment of this series tells the story of Constable Newberry and his bride, Temperance, as they stumble through the first weeks of their forced marriage and eventually find their HEA. Newberry and Temperance are bounders—immigrants to London from America, where their ancestors fled the Horde. Neither has been infected with the Horde's nanoagents that protect the body from disease and give it extra strength.

     Temperance is the youngest daughter of the estranged youngest son of a viscount. Having no marriage prospects, she was working as a governess when she met Newberry. Although the two had many long conversations as she supervised her young pupils in a Manhattan park, Temperance knew that because she was dying from consumption, she would not live long enough to have a happy family life. When her illness takes a turn for the worst, Newberry takes an action that ruins them both, and they are shipped off to England.

     As the story opens, they are newly arrived in London, where Newberry has become a constable again, this time as an assistant and body guard to Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth (heroine of The Iron Duke). Temperance hates Newberry for what he did to her, and she spends her days waiting to die.  Although Newberry tries to talk Temperance into being infected with nanoagents that will save her life, she fears becoming a monster and refuses his  desperate pleas. The story follows the couple as they separate fact from myth about the nanoagents while Newberry helps Mina solve a crime.

     This novella introduces Newberry, who is an important supporting character in The Iron Duke. It also gives us a look at a pair of bounders who are at the lower economic level. In The Iron Duke, we'll meet bounders who are at the top of the social and economic strata, and they are quite different from Temperance and her blushing husband. 

     In this story, many references are made to the Horde, but in order to get a full understanding of the Horde occupation, you should go to the "Iron Sea Guide" on the author's web site and read her full explanation. Click HERE to read an excerpt from "The Blushing Bounder." Click HERE to read "The Hook," a free, on-line short story featuring Constable Newberry and Mina Wentworth.  

            NOVELLA .5: "Here There Be Monsters"             

     The romance in this novella is between Eben ("Mad") Machen, a former surgeon, now the captain of a pirate airship, and Ivy Blacksmith, a young woman who was raised in a Horde Crèche and whose right hand is made of mechanical flesh. Ivy is an apprentice to the Blacksmith and is an expert in building mechanical prosthetic limbs and clockwork devices. She first meets Eben when he brings one of his crewmen to the Blacksmith to have a mechanical leg attached. One night, Ivy's boarding house is invaded by mysterious hooded figures who kidnap most of the boarders and drag them off into the night. Ivy is too scared to stay in London after this, and she remembers how kind Eben had been to his crewman, so she runs to his rooms and begs him to allow here to leave London on his airship, the Vesuvius. What Ivy doesn't know is that Eben is smitten with her and has already decided that he must have her. Eben's good friend, Yasmeen (aka Lady Corsair), who turns up in many future stories, secretly intervenes because she believes that Eben's reputation will suffer if people (especially his crew) learn that he has fallen for a mere girl. She sneaks Ivy away, and Ivy settles down in a small seaside village, believing that she is finally safe. 

    The real story begins when Eben finds Ivy two years later and takes her on his ship to build a mechanical kraken (giant squid) that he plans to use to attack slavers' ships so that he can rescue their captives. He also makes her sleep in his bed, but she pays him a single coin each night to leave her unmolested. Unfortunately, Ivy has only eight coins, and the trip will take 15 days (one way). What will happen after she uses up her coins? Ivy tries not to  think about it. The rest of the story follows the development of their romance, as Eben tries to curb his lust, and Ivy begins to fall for him. As in the other novels and novellas in this series, the consummation of their sexual union is a long, drawn-out process that begins with kisses and then (very slowly) gets progressively steamier.

     Eben, Ivy, and Yasmeen are continuing characters in the series, so it's nice to get some background on their relationship. This is a well-told story with plenty of romantic angst and just enough action scenes to keep things interesting. In the end, Ivy learns that the only way she and Eben can be together is if she can prove that she is just as mad as he is. Click HERE and scroll down to read an excerpt from "Here There Be Monsters."  

           NOVEL 1:  The Iron Duke            

     Rhys Trahaern (aka Duke of Anglesey, aka Iron Duke) is a former pirate who saved England from the Horde by sailing his ship up the Thames River and blowing up the Horde's radio tower. The disruption of the radio signals immediately freed all of the buggers, triggering a revolution that quickly destroyed the Horde. To reward Rhys for his bravery, the government made him a Duke and gave him a huge parcel of land on which he has built a well-guarded estate. Although most of the buggers view the Iron Duke as a hero, not everyone forgives him for his years of piracy. Here's what makes Rhys different from the ordinary English duke: "A normal duke did not begin life in a crèche, and then as a slave sold in the Ivory Market's skin trade. A normal duke did not mutiny aboard an English vessel, taking the ship for his own and using it in an eight-year run of piracy. A normal duke did not blow up a Horde tower in a fit of anger and spark a revolution that destroyed half a city." (p. 385)

     As the book opens, Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth and Constable Newberry are sent to the Iron Duke's estate to investigate a murder. Almost thirty years ago, Mina was born as a result of a rutting frenzy during which her mother was raped by a Mongol, and she has spent her entire life being spat upon and pummeled by people on the streets and caricatured in the scandal sheets. Mina's mother was so distraught when she first saw new-born Mina that she gouged out her own eyes, which have since been replaced by mechanical ones. Mina is an inspector with London's Metropolitan Police Force, a hard-won position that she works hard to maintain. Newberry is her partner and her protector against the people who call her "Jade Whore," and strike out at her because of her appearance.

     The story weaves together the usual two threads: the romance and the action. First the romance: As soon as Rhys meets Mina, he falls for her and is determined to have her in his bed—because he always gets what he wants and believes that every person has a price—which he is willing to pay. Mina, though, turns him down cold (although she is attracted to him). Her life revolves around her job and her family, and she isn't going to let the Iron Duke ruin her. Their romance is slow to develop and it hits quite a few bumps before their HEA comes into sight.

     Now for the action plot: Mina immediately determines that the body found on Rhys' front yard was dropped from an airship and that it has been frozen for a relatively long period of time. When Mina learns the victim's identity, Rhys knows immediately what is going on because the man was the captain of his former ship, Marco's Terror, which he turned over to the British Navy after he took down the Horde's Tower. Someone has dropped the body as a message to Rhys, and he is determined to track down his ship and the persons who stole it and killed its captain. As Mina and Rhys follow the clues, the case becomes more and more complex. Another man is murdered; treason is suspected; and a deadly weapon turns up. Eventually, the Black Guard is implicated. The Guard is a well-funded group of fanatic bounders that views all buggers as animals and wants to destroy them completely. Even after the requisite showdown scene (on the high seas), the bad guys don't give up, so the action continues to play out up to the very end—as does the romance. Click HERE and scroll down to read an excerpt from The Iron Duke.

           NOVELLA 1.5:  "Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City"            

     This epilogue to The Iron Duke takes place eight months into the couple's marriage, and they still have not lost their fear of losing one another. Mina is afraid that Rhys will tire of her, and Rhys is terrified that Mina will be hurt or killed on the job. 

     The primary story line follows Mina and Newberry as they investigate the murder of Viscount Redditch, a bounder who is proselytizing against the automation of factories. When Redditch is murdered, seemingly by a clockwork machine, the clues lead Mina into some dark and dangerous parts of London—to Rhys' horror.

     In a secondary—but connected—story thread, Rhys and Mina's ward, Anne the Tinker (who was introduced in The Iron Duke), briefly disappears and then turns up with a strange story involving a blacksmith who is a rival of the one for whom Anne works.

     This story appears to resolve Mina and Rhys' romance as they work out their mutual fears and move on with their HEA. Once again, Constable Newberry plays a strong supporting role as he continues to protect Mina in the line of duty. Click HERE and scroll down to read an excerpt from "Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City."

           NOVEL 2:  Heart of Steel            

     Here is some background: Archimedes Fox is the pseudonym used by Wolfram Gunther-Baptiste. As Wolfram, he grew up in a truly dysfunctional family: a moralistic father who was a cruel and merciless airship captain, and a meek mother who did nothing to prevent her husband from punishing Wolfram and his sister in terrible ways. When Yasmeen (aka Lady Corsair) becomes a crew member on Dad's ship, he tries to kill her (by roasting her over a fire), but she kills him instead and takes over his ship, naming it the Lady Corsair. By this time, Wolfram is calling himself Archimedes Fox, and he is making his living as a mercenary who supplies weapons to various sides in the wars and explores the ruins of Europe for valuable antiquities. His sister, now known as Zenobia, stays home and writes best-selling adventure books that star Archimedes Fox as an intrepid adventurer (kind of like Indiana Jones). Recently, Archimedes and Yasmeen met up for the first time since she killed his father, and Yasmeen learned that Archimedes did not bear her a grudge, but instead seemed fairly happy about what she did.

     The story begins on the Lady Corsair, several months after Yasmeen dumped Archimedes overboard near Venice—to certain death, right into a horde of zombies (near the end of The Iron Duke). Archimedes had discovered a valuable sketch by Leonardo Da Vinci, and he had tried to force Yasmeen to sail him directly to the Ivory Market so that he could sell it to pay off a monstrous debt that had assassins dogging his heels. 

     The book actually begins with a series of letters written between Archimedes and his sister, Zenobia, the author of the Archimedes Fox adventure fiction series, but the real action starts in chapter 1 when Yasmeen arrives at Zenobia's home (in Denmark) to notify her of Archimedes' death—only to rescue her from a mercenary who is after the Da Vinci sketch for himself. Then, Archimedes himself shows up—thin, but alive—and kidnaps Yasmeen. He wants the sketch back, and he promises her that he will fall in love with her—no matter how ridiculous she thinks that is. Yasmeen tries to palm off a forged sketch to Archimedes, but he's too smart for that. He lets her keep the fake, locks her in a wardrobe, and takes off with the original. Just as it looks as if Archimedes' famous luck is holding, everything falls apart. Someone murders Yasmeen's crew and blows up the Lady Corsair, and while Archimedes is desperately diving into the harbor to find Yasmeen, someone steals the real Da Vinci sketch from his rooms. All of this happens in the first three chapters, and the story keeps up this compelling pace throughout.

     Now, both sketches are lost—apparently to two different thieves. At this point, neither Yasmeen nor Archimedes have any money left. They have lost all of their possessions, and are aching for revenge. They are also determined to retrieve both sketches. When Hassan, an old friend of Archimedes, asks for their help on an expedition to search for valuables in deserted European town centers, they reluctantly agree. Archimedes still resolves to fall in love with Yasmeen, but only after a proper period of extended courting. Yasmeen is dumbfounded by his persistence, but agrees to go along with him, promising only that she will break his heart in the end. Because of the gender prejudices of the captain of the expedition's airship, the two must travel as husband and wife—a plan that Archimedes looks forward to with great pleasure and some trepidation.

     The story follows a complex series of adventures as the couple travels across Europe, stopping along the way to explore various ruins, which are nearly always occupied by zombies. The ship's crew is on the verge of mutiny, and the captain hates Yasmeen (because of her previous mercenary status). There's also a complicated political plot involving Hassan, and that's the only part that bogs down (about 2/3 of the way through). To help the reader understand that story line, the author provides a dense history of the early centuries of the Horde and the more modern history that involves the prominent public figures who are front and center to this story line of intrigue, betrayal, and murder. Even though the information is helpful, it tends to be lengthy and detailed, so it slows down the story.

     The love story is delightful, as the strong and independent Yasmeen gradually succumbs to Archimedes' charms. Like the previous books and novellas, the couple's lust plays out slowly, as they engage in a number of simmering love scenes that take them to the brink of actual consummation but no further—not until much later in the story. Eventually, Yasmeen tells Archimedes the story of her birth and upbringing, and we learn just who—and what—she really is (including the reason she always keeps her ears covered). 

     The ending ties up all of the loose ends and puts the happy (and now loving) couple in Paris, where they plan to purchase a new airship for Yasmeen. The next chapter in their lives is told in "Tethered," the e-novella sequel. Click HERE and scroll down to read an excerpt from Heart of Steel.  

            NOVELLA 2.5:  "Tethered"             

     The story picks up five months after the end of Heart of Steel. Yasmeen and Archimedes are blissfully in love and are living with their new crew on their new airship, the Lady Nergüi, when Archimedes' former partner, Miles Bilson, shows up asking for a favor. Bilson wants their help in rescuing his brother from New Eden, a cultish colony of airships run by a man named Bushke. Unfortunately for Bilson, Archimedes and Yasmeen turn him down. They offer to help him find someone else to do the job, but the cowardly and traitorous Bilson won't take no for an answer. Instead, he takes some dastardly actions to forcefully ensure Archimedes and Yasmeen's cooperation. 

     New Eden is a floating city run like a dictatorship. The airships that comprise New Eden are tethered together to form what Bushke views as a paradise of gardens, flowers, and greenery—kind of like a hippie commune back in the 1960s. Bushke has a force of loyal aviators who capture any airship that flies within sight of New Eden. If the airship flees, the aviators shoot it down. If it surrenders, Bushke forces its passengers and crew to join New Eden and kills anyone who objects or tries to escape. The story follows our intrepid hero and heroine as they outsmart both Bilson and Bushke and live to fight another day.

     This is a great story because it follows Yasmeen and Archimedes into a situation that threatens their brand new love for one another and allows them to triumph over their own fears and uncertainties as they defeat their common enemies. Click HERE and scroll down to read an excerpt from "Tethered." 

            NOVEL 3:  Riveted            

     The setting changes drastically in this novel as the story moves to Iceland, a land that the rest of the world knows primarily through legends of trolls, wild dogs, witches, volcanoes, and frozen, misty shores. Annika Fridasdottor grew up in an all-female secret settlement in Iceland that was settled by a group of women rescued from a Horde slave ship a century ago. Since then, their tradition has been to keep the village secret from outsiders and to allow only females to live there. Adults can leave to find men to impregnate them, but generally they return if the child is a daughter. Some women choose another path to motherhood by going to the New World and adopting an orphan girl from the streets. That's what happened to Annika, whose mother rescued her from the streets of Manhattan City (New York). Currently, Annika is in her twenties and is an engineer on an airship. She has spent the past four years searching for her sister, Källa, who was exiled from Hannasvik after a misunderstanding. 

     David Kentewess is a vulcanologist who is enroute to an expedition to Iceland on the Phateon, the same ship on which Annika is a crew member. Years ago, David was badly injured in an explosion that killed his mother. He lost his legs, his left arm, and his left eye and has since had then replaced by mechanical implants, a process that required him to be injected with nanoagents. As David's mother was dying, she made him promise to take her necklace of runes and bury it on the sacred mountain. Since that time, he has been trying to find that mountain. When he hears Annika speak, he recognizes her accent as being the same as his mother's and realizes that she can help him finally fulfill his promise. Unfortunately, when David tries to question Annika about her background, she realizes that he is digging for information that she has vowed to keep secret, so their relationship has a rocky beginning.

     The plot elements include a mad scientist, a gigantic mechanical whale, mechanical trolls, and a really strange use of volcanic power (which reminded me of the famous closing shot of Slim Pickens in the classic movie Dr. Strangelove). As David and Annika travel north, their relationship begins in distrust but eventually turns to lust/love and finally ends in their HEA, but not without a few bumps and a lot of dangerous adventures along the way. This novel enlarges the series mythology to include Norse myths and legends, which means that there is quite a bit of exposition to get through, some of which is dense at times. 

     The lead lovers are interesting in that they are not the fierce, cut-throat, worldly types of many of the previous novels and novellas. David is self-conscious about his scars, his nanoagents, and his mechanical parts, and he tends to keep to himself, while Annika is unskilled in social etiquette and tends to blurt out whatever earthy comment is on her mind, no matter how improper it might be. The villain is a sociopathic man with daddy issues, and his character is the least developed, and therefore the least interesting, of all of the supporting characters.

     Besides being a paranormal romance, the novel also has a gay rights theme. Two very different all-female Icelandic settlements are featured, and the author deals at length with the societal implications for lesbians in this steampunk world (which turn out to be pretty much the same as they are in the real, modern world). In fact, at first, the heroine herself isn't sure whether she will fall in love with a man or a woman. 

     This is probably my least favorite book in the series, mostly because of the added chunks of mythology and the barely developed villain. Another weakness comes in the runaway sister story thread, which never really worked for me because its development comes so late in the book that its resolution seems rushed and inchoate. Click HERE and scroll down to read an excerpt from Riveted. 

            NOVELLA 3.4: "Wrecked"             

     Mary Elizabeth Jannsen (who prefers to be called Elizabeth) grew up in Johannesland (NE U.S. near the Great Lakes) on an animal sanctuary owned by her father. Her mother died during her birth, and the death of his beloved wife drove her father over the edge into madness. I don't want to give you any details about the mysterious factors involved in Elizabeth's genetic heritage because that would be a spoiler. In any case, Dad has plans for Elizabeth that she does not want him to fulfill, so she runs away. 

     Dad sends Caius Trachter, his best Hunter, after Elizabeth, but she manages to escape him by jumping from a moving train. For the past few years, Elizabeth has been roaming the world, looking over her shoulder the entire time because she knows that her father won't stop searching for her.

     Caius and Elizabeth have known one another since they were in their mid-teens when Caius was an indentured, shackled worker who gave up his freedom to earn enough to take care of his mother and sister. Back then, Caius treated Elizabeth with disdain because he perceived her as a pampered rich girl, but when he learned the truth of her situation, he began to care for her deeply. Meanwhile, Elizabeth believed that Caius was loyal to her father and that he hated her.

     As the story opens, Elizabeth makes a hasty escape from Britain on an airship, with Caius on board and her father in hot pursuit. The plot plays out as Caius and Elizabeth discover their true feelings for one another in the midst of a major tragedy (the "Wreck" of the title). The only weakness I find in this story is that the villain isn't so villainous in the end—it's almost a let down. Otherwise, though, the lead characters are suitably tragic and angst-filled, and their adventures provide some compelling action and suspense.

     Click HERE and scroll down to read an excerpt from "Wrecked." This novella is available both as an e-book and as an entry in the anthology Fire & Frost. 

            NOVELLA 3.5: "Salvage"              
     This novella has the best opening sentence I've read in a long time: "When Georgiana came across her good-for nothing cheating bastard of a husband washed up on the beach with a bullet in his side, she considered leaving him for dead."  

     Georgiana is the daughter of a sea captain who settled in the coastal village of Skagan, in Denmark. She watched her lonely mother spend her life waiting for her husband to return from his travels and vows not to let that happen to her. When she marries Thom, her father's second in command, she finds, to her dismay, that he leaves her alone even more than her father did. Georgiana takes the money Thom sends her and builds a shipping business, but when Thom comes home this time, she plans to divorce him. 

     Thom was a victim of the Horde, who replaced his hands and arms with steel, mechanical limbs to increase his strength. What happens when he comes home is not at all what Georgiana expected. After Thom recovers from his wounds, the two are kidnapped and imprisoned on the airship of a greedy nobleman and his band of hard-hearted mercenaries, floating above a sea filled with giant sharks (aka megalodons) that make the one from Jaws look like a harmless minnow. The story is action-filled and full of passion as Georgiana and Thom finally get to know and love one another, despite their dangerous surroundings. Click HERE and scroll down to read an excerpt from "Salvage."