Review: Enjoyable Light Steampunk/Gothic Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 12, 2013
Her Ladyship's Curse is the first half of the Book Disenchanted and Co. and as such, does end on a cliffhanger.  The second half of the book comes out in two months.  The completed book comes out in January of 2014.The setting is a fascinating and well-constructed alternate America - now named the Provincial Union of Victoriana after the American patriots lost the Revolution in the 1700s.This is definitely more an AU than a steampunk, though it does have steampunk trappings in the form of inventors and horseless carriages. But the genre here is more romantic urban fantasy than steampunk, taking place past the turn of the century.Charmian "Kit" Kittredge runs a business of mythbusting 'magic' - a rare and dangerous endeavor considering women do not have rights/are expected to marry to make their way in the world. Kit is hired by a nob (an elite) to come help her solve a mystery possibly involving magic. What Kit finds instead is that she will fall headlong into a conspiracy involving much more than she could have realized. As well, she has to contend with Lucian Dredmore, a disgraced aristocrat who claims to be a deathmage, and Tommy Doyle, childhood friend and now a copper/policeman.The book is very well written. The worldbuilding is strong and really brings up the location to the mind easily. I liked that Kit had friends in high and low places that could help her (if able). The romantic aspect could have used more work though (hence a 4 star review than than 5) since this is a romantic urban fantasy.  I just had a hard time believing she would give in as easily as she did when she was such a strong character.I read both halves of the book at one time and felt the first part of the book was much stronger when it stayed within the steampunk/victoriana setting.  The second half veers off sharply into magic/mysticism that lost the strong grounding set in the first book.In all, I did greatly enjoy the story and do recommend it.  Received as an ARC from the publisher.