Howls and Hallows: A Steampunk Fairy Tale (Steampunk Red Riding Hood, #5) by Melanie Karsak – Review

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5 stars, Book Review, Melanie Karsak, romance, series, Steampunk, werewolves

About Howls and Hallows

You’re invited to the All Hallows Ball.
*Werewolves prohibited.

Busy tracking down thieving werewolves in London, Clemeny is surprised when Edwin asks her to lead a new case in the Fenlands of east England.

The Cabell family is haunted by a curse. Something in the misty moors surrounding Cabell Manor has come howling just days before the exclusive All Hallows Ball. How gauche. But London’s best agent is on the case.

Clemeny soon finds herself learning the ropes of polite society while hunting an apparition on the foggy fens. She’ll need to solve the case quickly if she hopes to be the belle–not the bruiser–of the ball.

Continue Clemeny’s adventures in Howls and Hallows, a Halloween-themed tale. Journey to gaslamp London in the 19th century in this steampunk retelling of the classic Red Riding Hood fairy tale by New York Times bestselling author Melanie Karsak.

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Review of Howls and Hallows

Clemeny is a brave and smart agent of the Red Cape Society. As a favor to her boss Edwin, she agrees, along with agent Harper, to check out the goings on at Cabell Manor, home to Lord Edison Cabell and his sister Lady Charlotte, friends of Edwin. It seems the family curse has been activated again and Edison, as the heir, may be in big trouble.  Lady Charlotte would like this nasty business taken care of before the annual All Hallows Ball being held at the manor soon.

Howls are heard by just about everyone at that manor. There is more going on than meets the typical human eye, but Clemeny’s mooneye can see just a bit more. She senses supernatural beings. The fen covered land complicates the investigation with wetlands and fog all around. The setting and the howls make for a creepy Halloween tale that is mysterious and fun.

Howls and Hallows is actually book 5 of the series. Because Halloween is right around the corner, I jumped right in with #5.  While I did feel I would have benefited from reading the rest of the series, there was plenty there to provide a complete story just perfect for Halloween week.  I am going back to book 1 now.

I love Melanie Karsak’s steampunk stories and Howls and Hallows is a perfect addition to her repertoire. If you are looking for a sinister seasonal saga, I recommend Howls and Hallows.

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Giveaway

Don’t forget the ongoing giveaway for the audiobook of Phantom Evil by Heather Graham, or the print books of Catherine Cerveny’s The Rule of Luck and The Chaos of Luck.  If you haven’t entered yet, you might be interested to know that commenting on today’s post helps qualify you for an entry – see the giveaway post for all the details.  Or go straight to the giveaway….

Click Here:  a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Vesta’s Clockwork Companions by Juli D. Revezzo – Review

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4 stars, Book Review, clockwork, historical, Juli D. Revezzo, romance, Steampunk

About Vesta’s Clockwork Companions

When Vesta Bartlett, a wealthy alchemist and inventor, arrives in England to finalize an arranged marriage and help overhaul a family friend’s outdated ironworks, she never expects to find the family so secretive, nor to develop feelings for her fiancé’s younger brother, Henry.

But the growing attraction between Vesta and Henry is just the beginning of their troubles. Things really heat up when they’re drawn into a secret project for Queen Victoria’s military, one that requires Vesta’s knowledge of clockwork and Henry’s iron.

An epidemic has wiped out all the dogs in Britain, and beyond. If the military fail in their effort to restore the species, a clockwork creation may be all that stands in the way of a world without canine companionship.

Are Vesta and Henry up to the challenge?

 

Review of Vesta’s Clockwork Companions

Vesta is a young women, trained by her father in metallurgy and alchemy. She needs more practice to develop her skills, but thanks to her very talented father, Vesta is on her way to becoming one of the best. She is not only skilled, but also quite inventive. Vesta creates clockwork pieces. She is also curious, compassionate and highly intelligent. Everything you want in a heroine.

Henry is the younger son of the Colchester family. It is obvious he has a thing for Vesta from the beginning, but she is betrothed to his older brother Percy. Henry is smart, book smart and street smart, and is the only one in the family that can make sense of the family business. Henry and Vesta share the traits of both common sense and a sense of adventure. They get along just fine if you know what I mean!

I would have liked more background on Vesta’s father, Jonathon Bartlett. There were quite a few hints about his past, but the details were not really filled in. And I think he is potentially a cool character, since he is such a talented alchemist and all round good father.

I would also like more background on the relationship between the two families – the Colchesters and the Bartletts. Yes, they knew each other before, but again, the details are vague. The Bartletts are from America and the Colchesters reside in England. More history would really add to the character development. Exactly how did Vesta and Percy come to be betrothed? It is obvious the two are not suited for each other. Considering the American culture, it does not make sense that Vesta would be forced to marry someone she not at all suited for. (Thank heavens, they all come to the same realization by the end of the book.)

Henry’s friend Acton is an interesting figure. He seems a bit of a gangster, but maybe that is a role he plays. He also seems a bit of a bleeding heart. So what, exactly, is he? Like I said, interesting. It is Acton that leads Henry and Vesta into their clockwork adventure with the upper echelon of England.

It took quite a while to get to the actual “clockwork companions” part of the story. You may call it build up. I’m not sure it was all necessary. There was a whole secondary plot line in addition to Vesta’s clockwork creations. The story of the Colchesters and their ironworks and the story of Vesta’s clockwork creations do overlap a bit, but the connections existed pretty much due to Henry. That is, he is in the Colchester family and he is involved in the clockwork aspect of the story.

The cover image for this book shows a man with a mechanical arm. Vesta is not the arm creator, nor is the man with the metal arm Vesta’s love interest Henry. The man is an incidental minor character. So the cover is a bit deceptive. Still, it is a cool cover.

I don’t know if a series is intended. Vesta’s Clockwork Companions is a standalone novel. But there is potential for more, since there is a dramatic scene near the end. There is plenty of room for character growth and there may be some conflict coming from the Queen of England. So….. I’d like to see more of Vesta and Henry and the fate of the clockwork companions.

Family matters, steampunk, national security and romance make up the tale of Vesta’s Clockwork Companions. I found this book to be sometime humorous, always engaging and entirely entertaining.

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

 

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Raven, Fire and Ice (Touch of Truth, #1) by Nita Round – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, fantasy, mystery, Nita Round, Steampunk

About Raven, Fire and Ice

Lucinda Ravensburgh sees the truth in everything she touches. When Captain Magda Stoner of the airship Verity, asks for her help in a very strange and messy crime, Lucinda cannot refuse. From that moment on, Lucinda’s life is changed forever. She discovers, no matter what the obstacle, nor the troubles they encounter, finding the truth is paramount.

Review of Raven, Fire and Ice

Oh wow! As soon as I started reading Raven, Fire and Ice, my eyes were glued to the page. Do not let the very brief book blurb fool you. This is a riveting story of rich characters, compelling earth magic and a vibrant setting that pulls you right into the scene.

Okay, that was a typical wrap-up paragraph for me. But I wanted to get your attention. The reason I decided to read Raven, Fire and Ice is because the author described it as steampunk. When added to the blurb, I thought, sure, I’ll give it a go. Wise move.

When the story begins, Lucinda Ravensburgh is doing her thing, using her gifts in her position as… Well, you don’t know what she is, so you just keep reading to figure it out. And it takes a while, but in the mean-time the action is riveting. The author’s style of writing is mostly dialog and action. There is not an abundance of descriptive narration and almost no internal character musings. It works well and made the story move very quickly for me, despite the 422 pages (so says Amazon).

The just right amount of descriptive narration vividly paints settings. From the Angles tower to the huge airship that must cause a bit of airship envy. From the new Raven Tower to the city of Wash Town with it’s many levels and layers. The brilliant settings seemed to take a life of their own, as much as the characters did.

And since characters make the story, I should say a bit about them. Lucinda is both confident and unsure. These two traits seem contradictory, but her honesty about them is both humble and boastful. I like her direct manner very much. Captain Magda Stoner made a brilliant entrance into the story clinging to proper titles so much that it became almost irritating. But it set the tone for her character. Correct, maybe a little uptight, but extremely capable. She is Captain of the airship with an assorted crew of able airship operators. Officer Ascara is in charge of security on the airship and off of it. Her seemingly casual manner is supplemented by vigilance and she is relentless when performing her duties.

This trio of women are an unlikely team of detectives that will discover the truth about disappearing people in Wash Town. While Lucinda was the person hired to do the job, Magda and Ascara are the catalysts that help her complete the process. Individually, each has her strengths. But as the team, the sum of the whole is greater than the parts. I like them very much!

They are more than a team which you will discover when you read about the Raven Tower and its emergence. They do spend a little time naked together and admiring each other in their nakedness. Are they meant to be more than a crime-solving team? In Raven, Fire and Ice, they do not become lovers, but the implication is that there might be something in the future. Each approaches the possibility of such a relationship in her own unique manner: amusement, pointlessness, hopefulness. I like that the relationship stays on a professional level, at least for now.  These three women as main characters overshadow all the other characters.

I will leave you with a passage from early in the book. More of foretoken of things to come, it also ties into the title:

As the door closed Lucinda leaned back in her chair and stared at the bare walls over the book cases. There were three quotes etched into the wall, and Lucinda recalled reading them over and over again. “Wise birds whisper,” she read, “Rage of fire,” on another part. Finally, “Strength of ice.” The words didn’t mean anything, yet they gave her a kind of comfort. No one knew why the words had appeared, but it had been in the early days of the tower’s formation.

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

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