Engaging the Heiress (Camden Girls, #2) by Juli D. Revezzo – Review

Tags

4 stars, Book Review, historical, Juli D. Revezzo, romance, Victorian England

About Engaging the Heiress by Juli D. Revezzo

Mr. Edwin Hetherington needs a fiancée he will never have to marry.  Years ago, his family lost everything to an unscrupulous Irish landlord. Now, the fellow offers to make amends by reinstating Edwin’s family title and properties forfeited during the famine, if he weds Miss Jera Camden, a young woman Edwin pines for but has never approached with more than polite conversation.

As far as Jera is concerned, so long as she manages to avoid an unwanted Scottish-born suitor of her mother’s choosing, the bluestocking is happy to play the part of Edwin’s blushing bride-to-be.

Can Edwin and Jera dupe the crafty landlord into making good on his promise before the wedding date arrives … or will their best-laid plans result in disaster?

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Review of Engaging the Heiress

It was easy to like the main characters Edwin Hetherington and Jera Camden.  They are friends and both would like more, but social circumstances make that possibility seem farfetched.   That is until Miles Vassyr comes along.  Vassyr makes an offer to help Edwin, in exchange for Edwin’s help.  There are two aspects to the deal.  Vassyr wants an architect and he wants to retore Edwin’s family title.  Vassyr’s motivation is confusing.  He wants an architect, but his heath is failing and may never live to see the the complete project.  He wants to make amends for what happened in Ireland, but why?  I never really figured Vassyr out.  

The Hetherington family history is only vaguely explained.  Which means I also did not understand how a title would be restored.  The subtleties of British titles and how they are bestowed is often lost on this American.

Regardless, I still enjoyed the story.  Like I say, Edwin and Jera are lovely characters whose lives end up taking a turn they did  not expect.  Dealing with the unscrupulous Mr. Vassyr and his creepy nephew challenge the pair.  Almost as challenging is treading among society (including an aggrieved former suitor) and Jera’s family.  The title is a bit of a giveaway regarding certain events, however those events are not evident until they happen.

Engaging the Heiress is the second book in the Camden Girls series.  The books have overlapping characters and some aspects of the plot are interconnected.  It might help to read book 1 first, but it is not necessary.

The author provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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The Brass Queen by Elizabeth Chatsworth – Review

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4 stars, Book Review, Elizabeth Chatsworth, historical, humor, mystery, romance, Steampunk, Victorian England

About The Brass Queen by Elizabeth Chatsworth

In 1897, a fiery British aristocrat and an inept US spy search for a stolen invisibility serum that could spark a global war.

Miss Constance Haltwhistle is the last in a line of blue-blooded rogue inventors. Selling exotic firearms under her alias, the ‘Brass Queen,’ has kept her baronial estate’s coffers full. But when US spy, Trusdale, saves her from assassins, she’s pulled into a search for a scientist with an invisibility serum. As royal foes create an invisible army to start a global war, Constance and Trusdale must learn to trust each other. If they don’t, the world they know will literally disappear before their eyes.

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Review of The Brass Queen

Two words: Steampunk fundom.

There is more to The Brass Queen than that, but basically, it is all about the fun.  That is, there is a mystery, there is romance, there is adventure.  But there are these larger than life characters that do outrageous things while while uttering outlandish dialog.  So, fun!

Constance, the heroine with a goggle collection, invents and makes weapons (of mass destruction).  I know, it seems an odd profession for a woman of the Victorian age.  What is even odder is that she does it incognito.  She sells her weapons under the name of the Brass Queen.  She a) is not very discriminating about who she sells to and b) needs to hire a good manager to avoid shipping snafus.  One particular snafu has the client wanting her dead.

Trusdale, American spy, becomes the reluctant partner of Constance as they search for the kidnapped scientists.  There is supposed to be a romance between these two.  I found the adventure and the humor kind of overshadowed any romanticism.  However, Constance and Trusdale make an interesting, bumbling, team that overcome several ridiculous obstacles with a combination of a little skill and a great deal of luck.  It was easy to imagine this story playing out in movie format with witty dialog, cool gadgets and lots of explosions.

An over-the-top bad guy with a mustache to twirl is the perfect complement to the hero and heroine.  Lucien is devious, ambitious, over-confident and throws grand garden parties.  Relentless in his pursuit of Constance, Lucien’s final confrontation is fast approaching.  This is evident from the moment you meet him.

While I enjoyed the story, the characters of The Brass Queen were not the kind I could connect with.   If the intent is to turn this into a series, more character development is needed.  However, as a stand-alone story, The Brass Queen, filled with humor and adventure, is steampunk fundom!

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Callisto 2.0 by Susan English – Review

Tags

4 stars, artificial intelligence, Book Review, feminist, lgbtq, scifi, series, Susan English

About Callisto 2.0 by Susan English

Shambhala Space Station, 2097. Solitary physicist Callisto (physics, after all, is a jealous mistress) never accepted conventional wisdom. So when she’s recruited to work on faster-than-light technology by a beautiful and mysterious older woman, she eagerly accepts the career opportunity at the women-only research station orbiting Earth’s moon. But her enthusiasm suffers when her first discovery is unexpected heartbreak.

Throwing herself into work on a problematic warp drive prototype, Calli blossoms in the utopian female community that shows her love and acceptance for the first time in her life. But when a twisted conspiracy, a disingenuous affair, and a disastrous betrayal test her place in this unique environment, the brilliant scientist must dig deep to find her moment of truth.  Will Calli embrace her destiny in an unexplored cosmos?

Callisto 2.0 is the transformative first book in the Shambhala Saga feminist science fiction series. If you like compassionate characters, deep-space intrigue, and hopeful visions of the future, then you’ll adore Susan English’s cosmic adventure.

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Review of Callisto 2.0

Callisto 2.0 presents a lovely vision of a women’s society that is based on pure science, cooperation and friendship.  What scientist wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to do pure research?  No papers required.  No quotas to meet.  Just research for the sake of knowledge. Plus, no back-biting competition from other scientists.  Only cooperative, helpful scientists.  And, there are no men.

Susan English portrays a captivating feminist dream of a women’s community for scientific advancement.  I found myself lulled into a sense of happy satisfaction for these women of diverse backgrounds coming together to make a better world.

Mind you, not all types of scientific research are desired at Shambala.  The creators of this idyllic society do have a goal in mind.  What is not completely evident to the scientists at first becomes increasingly obvious to the reader as the story continues. This resulted in a lack of suspense that also made the story a bit of a dragger.

Not that I disagreed with the goal.  But the fact that the scientists did not question the ultimate goal of their research was not quite believable.  Also unbelievable was the absolute harmony that seemed to pervade the research station.  Believe me, I am on board for all the harmony I can get, but in real life, people naturally create conflict.

If you want believable science fiction, you might not appreciate this one.  Despite the drawbacks, I am still giving Callisto 2.0 four stars.  Why?  Because, I enjoyed reading about this graceful feminist conception of a women’s society aiming for a better life.  Want to read something hopeful?  Read Callisto 2.0.

Thanks to the author for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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