Reading level: AdultGenre: Steampunk Romance
Size: 692 KB
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: December 5, 2011
ASIN: B005Z1C47Q
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars
I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley(dot)com. This book consists of four novellas which all have themes of steampunk, romance, and Christmas holidays. All of the novellas were decently written, although some of them were a bit too romancy for my taste. My two favorite stories were This Winter Heart by PG Forte and Far From Broken by JK Coi.
- Crime Wave in a Corset by Stacy Gail (3/5 stars)
This was my least favorite of the bunch. It involves a lady theif who is captured by one of her former targets. He puts a clockwork watch on her that is supposed to kill her unless she can deliver the item she stole from him by Christmas. Of course they fall in love. The story was well enough written, but seemed to be mainly an excuse for erotic love scenes between the two leads than any additional story.
- This Winter Heart by PG Forte (5/5 stars)
A woman returns to her noble husband after years of estrangement; the twist to the story is that she is returning with their eight year old son after thinking she could never have children...but for different reasons than you might think. The writing and description throughout this story was absolutely beautiful. I completely fell in love with these characters and the story. There were a ton of steampunk elements to this story and it had a good mystery woven throughout.
- Wanted: One Scoundrel by Jenny Schwartz (4/5 stars)
This was the story of a young woman suffragette seeking a young man (scoundrel) to represent her woman's rights platforms in men's clubs. The story was very well done and covered a number of issues outside of the main romance. There was also a very intriguing world of politics and allegiances built throughout the story. The romance between the two main characteres was sweet, somewhat innocent, and ironic. The whole story made me smile and I really enjoyed it.
- Far From Broken by JK Coi (5/5 stars)
A prima ballerina has been brutally tortured because of her husband's secret position as a government spy. This story tells about her recovery as she is put back together and becomes something part-machine and super-strong. Much of the story is about how her husband is trying to help her recover and earn her forgiveness for the secretive actions that lead to her capture and torture. This story had a lot of wonderful elements to it; politics, experiments, excellent streampunk elements and a sweet rekindling of romance between husband and wife. It was very well written and I enjoyed reading it a lot. At the conclusion I was really hoping to read more stories about the wonderful adventures that this couple would have.
Overall a solid collection of stories. All of the stories have wonderful steampunk elements, but also rely heavily on romantic plot elements. Some of the sex scenes are very graphic, so definitely for adult audiences only. Overall I enjoyed the collection and am glad I read it. It's a solid collection of stories with both a Steampunk and holiday theme to them. Just a warning to steampunk fans, this is more steampunk-romance than anything else.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 100+ Reading Challenge
- Get Steampunked!
- E-book Reading Challenge
I read this as well from netgalley and really loved the first two stories!
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