The Art of Piracy by Cecilia Dominic from the Rogue Skies collection – Review

Tags

5 stars, airship, Art, Book Review, Cecilia Dominic, mystery, pirates, romance, series, Steampunk

About The Art of Piracy by Cecilia Dominic

Sometimes the clearest skies hide the deadliest secrets.

Veronica Devine is determined to return home in triumph and show the family who disowned her that she’s made it as one of the world’s premier art historians. Her one chance – escort art rescued from an abandoned chateau to the new art museum in Terminus. A simple airship trip over the Atlantic aboard a luxury liner promises to be a much-needed break and a chance to get her head on straight before facing the disgrace of her past.

Luc, the Marquis de Monceau, abandoned his chateau in the face of the Prussian invasion and is determined to recover one of the pieces. The problem – he can’t reveal who he truly is, or he’ll be arrested for aiding pirates. The other problem – he’s not sure which of the paintings he’s searching for since the information he needs is hidden in the art itself. Perhaps the beautiful art historian who’s escorting the collection can help him.

As clouds gather above, the ocean surges below, and air pirates pursue the ship. Veronica and Luc – locked in a dance of hidden identity, secret passions, and past betrayals – need to figure out which piece of art holds the key to unlock a metaphysical mystery, or else the pirates will be the least of their problems.

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Review of The Art of Piracy

Veronica has an eye for art. Well, maybe a feeling for art. Regardless of how one describes her talent, she manages to pick the one painting everyone else seems to want. Yes, that will cause trouble. One does not think an art curator will so troublesome. That she is, makes for a good story!

Luc is one of the people looking for that painting. Trouble is, he is not sure which painting it is. He just knows that Veronica is probably the key. Looks like he is going to have to get closer to her. Such a setup for a romance!

Most of the action in The Art of Piracy takes place on the Acadia Pearl, a brand new airship on its inaugural flight. To me, airships are the epitome of steampunk, so I always enjoy the in-the-sky setting. On the airship, Aether Physics series readers will be reunited with Inspector Davidson. At the request of the captain, he attempts to expose any possible piracy on this shiny, new luxury airship.

The title of this book is a giveaway. There will be pirates, ruthless pirates  –  as such characters tend to be. They are present throughout the story so the eventuality of the inevitable meeting with the pirates and the good guys (Veronica, Luc, and Inspector Davidson) makes for a nice bit of anticipation. Along with that anticipation, a slow-burning romance, a series of suspicious events and a bit of magic all combine to serve up a rousing good tale of adventure and love in the sky.

As a fan of Ms. Dominic’s Aether Psychics series, I am delighted with her return to that world in her new Steampunk/Romance The Art of Piracy. This might be my favorite so far!

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

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The Art of Piracy is one of 25 stories in the collection Rogue Skies.

About Rogue Skies

The skies have gone rogue. Space can’t be tamed. And magic is a law unto itself.

Transport yourself to new worlds where dark magic clashes with witty witches, diabolic demons, feisty fae, and sexy shifters. Or travel through time and space with cosmic spies, space thieves, and telepathic pirates. Add in a dash of Victorian heroes and inhuman soldiers, and you have a one-of-a-kind science fiction and fantasy collection of intoxicating proportions.

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Shockwave (Star Kingdom, #1) by Lindsay Buroker

Tags

5 stars, AI ship, Book Review, cliffhanger, humor, Lindsay Buroker, pirates, robots, sci fi, series, space opera

About Shockwave by Lindsay Buroker

What if being a hero was encoded in your genes? And nobody told you?

Casmir Dabrowski would laugh if someone asked him that. After all, he had to build a robot to protect himself from bullies when he was in school.

Fortunately, life is a little better these days. He’s an accomplished robotics engineer, a respected professor, and he almost never gets picked on in the lunchroom. But he’s positive heroics are for other people.

Until robot assassins stride onto campus and try to kill him.

Forced to flee the work he loves and the only home he’s ever known, Casmir catches the first ship into space, where he hopes to buy time to figure out who wants him dead and why. If he can’t, he’ll never be able to return home.

But he soon finds himself entangled with bounty hunters, mercenaries, and pirates, including the most feared criminal in the Star Kingdom: Captain Tenebris Rache.

Rache could snap his spine with one cybernetically enhanced finger, but he may be the only person with the answer Casmir desperately needs:

What in his genes is worth killing for?

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Review of Shockwave

A heroine (Captain Bonita) well past her youth, a brainy hero (Casmir Dabrowski) and a cleaning-obsessed AI ship (Viggo). What more could I ask for in a science fiction novel?

Bonita is jaded, but ever hopeful, taking on the modified young woman, Qin, who becomes the brawn of the crew. Bonita, otherwise known as Laser, has left her bounty hunting days behind and become a smuggler, a much tamer occupation. Well, that’s the theory. Things are not going to go that smoothly. Don’t you love it when a plan doesn’t come together?

Viggo, once human, is now a couple of centuries old and is always ready to offer advice, smart alecky comments, status checks and cleaning robots. In my book, AIs with humor always enhance a story.

Casmir, genius robot builder, myopic and seizure-prone and maybe a bit naïve. He uses humor in all situations, often as a defense, stall tactic, or to lighten a tense situation. He is pretty witty. His friend Kim, also a witty genius, gets accidentally pulled into the action when assassins go after Casmir. Why the assassins? Nobody knows, not even the knight, sent by his mysterious mother, to warn him.

Pirate/mercenary Captain Tenebris Rache is a main character also, along with his shanghaied doctor Yas. Rache is a mystery too.

Mysterious cargo, mysterious reason for an attempted assassination, mysterious pirates, mysterious mother. Lots of fodder for a 5-books series. This is just book 1!

I will mention that this book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger. For those that don’t like cliffhangers (like me) I think it is good to know that before you start a book. However, I am familiar enough with Ms. Buroker’s books to know that if the book is the first in a 5-book series, you must keep reading if you want to finish the story. Since I knew that going into this book, I am okay with the ending. And I do intend to continue with the series (refer to my first paragraph)!

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The Blacksmith Queen (Scarred Earth Saga, #1) by G.A. Aiken

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, fantasy, G.A. Aiken, humor, romance, series

About The Blacksmith Queen by G.A. Aiken

When a prophesy brings war to the Land of the Black Hills, Keeley Smythe must join forces with a clan of mountain warriors who are really centaurs in a thrilling new fantasy romance series from New York Times bestselling author G.A. Aiken.

The Old King Is Dead

With the demise of the Old King, there’s a prophesy that a queen will ascend to the throne of the Black Hills. Bad news for the king’s sons, who are prepared to defend their birthright against all comers. But for blacksmith Keeley Smythe, war is great for business. Until it looks like the chosen queen will be Beatrix, her younger sister. Now it’s all Keeley can do to protect her family from the enraged royals.

Luckily, Keeley doesn’t have to fight alone. Because thundering to her aid comes a clan of kilt-wearing mountain warriors called the Amichai. Not the most socially adept group, but soldiers have never bothered Keeley, and rough, gruff Caid, actually seems to respect her. A good thing because the fierce warrior will be by her side for a much longer ride than any prophesy ever envisioned …

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Review of The Blacksmith Queen

I have been looking forward to this book for too long! Reading the blurb, I knew this would much like the author’s Dragon Kin series. Larger than life good guys, small minded bad guys, lots of violence, and tons of humor and the perfect amount of kissing.

I was not disappointed!

Keeley Smythe comes from a long line of blacksmiths. Her mother was a blacksmith and it looks like there will be at least one younger sister to follow in Keeley’s footsteps. Keeley can swing a hammer – a really big hammer. She is also friend to all, especially animals, including the misunderstood demon wolves. And for Keeley, family is all. Don’t mess with Keeley’s family. You won’t like the results. How can you not like this heroine?

Caid is a low-key hero. Gruff, fierce, strong, quiet and, let’s face it, anti-social. Caid, his sister and other members of their tribe are there to make sure the future queen is kept safe. Keeley, will not let her sister go without her, so she joins the protectors. Together, they make an able group of warriors who are in for a surprise or two.

Future queen Beatrix reminds me of Dagmar Rheinholdt, the Beast of the Northlands (What a Dragon Should Know). Studious, calculating, smarter than everyone in the room. Except with Beatrix, her ambition makes her a little less smart.

In addition to blacksmiths, there are witches, elves, dwarves, centaurs, demon wolves, and humans. I love the heroic additions to the story: a quest to find gold, castles to battle over, pheasants to save, armor to wear, and enemies to defeat. There are several references to the world readers might remember from Aiken’s Dragon Kin series, but there is only one dragon in the story. Will there be more ties to that world? I hope so.

My favorite part of this book is the humor. Aiken is a genius with the dry conversational humor that just makes me laugh out loud! I dare you not to do the same. 😊

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

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