This novel fits it's boring title perfectly. It contains both steam powered machines, magic, and it is incredibly generic and bland.The steam technology feels like a tacked on gimmick to take advantage of the popularity of the steampunk genre. The technology doesn't really play any sort of role i...
He squeezed back every so often, as if reassuring himself that she was actually there. The legalities had been sorted out. Her marriage to Peterson had been proven invalid on several grounds. First of all, she’d only signed the papers under duress. Secondly, the minister had been found, dru...
Belinda Danvers gasped as the sheriff pronounced the verdict. Her knees tried to buckle, but she refused to swoon in front of these lunatics, even if they hadn’t given her anything to eat since breakfast the day before. Crying out her denial was equally pointless. She’d already protested her inno...
She hadn’t traveled in this sort of comfort since she was sixteen years old. Not even when she’d gone places with her employers—the children and governess were generally relegated to a less elegantly appointed conveyance. Although this ride was only from one neighborhood of London to another, she...
What the hell had possessed him tonight? He’d been avoiding this for months. He’d even thought about asking for a transfer out of Detroit—away from temptation. Now it was too late. You could get fired for this, idiot. Worse, this kind of distraction, the way he had of thinking o...
He might be a broken-down wreck, but he’d muster the strength to kick some righteous ass for her sake. How the hell had she been convinced she wasn’t any good at sex? Jesus, if she was any better, he’d be dead. By the time this night was over, he might still be. At any rate, he ...
Nell removed her air mask as she settled into Tom’s steam car for their trip to Birmingham to visit the address Nancy had given them. Their research had turned up no more than that it was an old pottery, now owned by the man whose card the girl had seen. Nell carried a Babbage-engine copy of the ...
She weighed next to nothing—so thin and fragile, she might have been nothing more than a memory, a hallucination brought on by cold and fatigue. Her mother, though, made Seb want to smile. The woman had damn near died for her child tonight and she’d faced a parent’s worst nightmare, but she still...
Determined to have some good come of the night, she dressed in her coveralls and went out to the small workshop her father had built her on the upper story of the carriage house. Even tinkering didn’t soothe her frazzled nerves, though. With a sigh, she stowed her tools and made her way back to t...
Obediently, she dialed Elise’s number and waited for an answer. Meanwhile, Ric pulled her onto her back porch, away from the garage.“Elise? This…” She gulped back a sob that wrung Ric’s heart. “This is Meagan. Ric needs to talk to you.”She shoved the phone at him, and sat down on the concrete ste...
When he’d jumped between Elise and the bullet, he’d felt it enter his chest and known his time was up. Odd, though. He hadn’t expected it to be cold in the Summerlands. And whatever he was lying on was hard as well. No green, grassy meadow here. “Wake up, Daddy. Please wak...
Victor Arrington, Earl of Blackwell, handed the brass spyglass to his former first mate. Sunset had just begun to tint the Devon coastline in fiery hues of red and violet, while the soft breeze ruffled the waves to a gentle roar. “That damned crab won’t disappear on us this time.” The steam-belch...
Heidi jumped at the sound of Leta’s voice when she made her way out to the galley the next morning. “Uh… Hello.” Leta was curled up under a blanket on the couch. She yawned and stretched as she sat up. “Did you end up sleeping here last night?” Duh. Of course she had. Heidi shook her head and stu...
“You never did tell me why you were here in Philadelphia,” she remarked. They’d gone at it like minks on her living room floor the moment he’d walked in. Now they were taking a break for much-needed sustenance. “The job?” He thought he’d try the easy answer but he wasn’t surprised when she shoo...
The late October chill had receded, the sun shone brightly, and the weather was warm enough to be outside without coats. This was good since Fianna had been told the actual mating ceremony had to be held outdoors. She had the white velvet wrap to wear over her strapless gown, but that wouldn̵...