Review: A Riveting Affair
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 7, 2013
To be honest I try to avoid anthologies. I don't exactly hate them, it's just that I often find these collections comprised of pieces with overly similar theme and content, contributed by authors of unequal skill. The resulting mishmash annoys me to no end.So what prompted me to read A Riveting Affair seeing as I have little if any appreciation for the format? As usual I allowed my affinity for good cover art to get the better of me and requested it on Netgalley before realizing it what is was and feeling guilty, convinced myself I owed it to Entangled Publishing to at least sample the piece. It was a foolhardy decision to say the least, but one with a surprisingly pleasing conclusion.Across the board Eimer, Havens and Lang rose to the challenge and struck the perfect balance of romance and steampunk, never allowing one genre to overpower the other. More than that though, each of the three installments (Beauty and the Clockwork Beast, The Clockwork Bride & Demon Express) is well-written, solidly constructed and wonderfully unique. Though they incorporate similar themes, the stories don't bare so much resemblance that they run together.My initial skepticism aside, I greatly enjoyed this collection and hope to see more from each of these authors in the future.