Review: FUN FUN FUN!!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 7, 2011
This is not my first Cindy Spencer Pape novel, but despite how much I love her Motor City Books, I think this might be my favorite. This is a fast-paced tale of magick, wizards, werewolves and vampyres (not your Edward Cullen sort, more your giant fiends with filthy talons) during a time of clockwork pets and steam power.Our heroine is Caroline and she's a wily one.  While she understands (but doesn't truly accept) the nature of her position as a governess in society, she does everything humanly possible to maintain some sort of dignity and retain some power over her life and her destiny. This made me really happy, because often times, authors will write a historical heroine from a modern perspective. They behave in outlandish ways with a contemporary sensibility that would at worst get them killed and at best arrested or ostracized during Victorian times. Caroline is forced to live in the confines of society, but manages to end around them a bit, and refuses to allow herself to become a victim.Our hero is Merrick and he's a real swashbuckler. He's a member of the Order of the Round Table, which is a secret society of men who hunt the monsters (including the human variety) plaguing the city.  When he recruits young Tommy to move in with him and become his apprentice, things get hectic. See, Tommy comes with some baggage. Namely, the rest of the Wapping Street urchins. Merrick can't possibly handle his instant family alone, so he calls on the lovely Miss Caroline Bristol to help.I really enjoyed this book so much. The children added merry mayhem to the tale, and the love story between Merrick and Caroline was filled with tension and fun.  It also had a feminist sensibility that I loved.  Cindy Spencer Pape did a great job mixing the elements of steampunk and paranormal here and I can't wait to read her next offering!