Review: Kilts, steampunk and fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 19, 2012
I enjoyed the other books in the Gaslight Chronicles (Steam & Sorcery and Photographs & Phantoms), and I'm a sucker for kilt romance, so I couldn't wait to read this one. If you're familiar with Highland romance stories, you already know the gist of it -- independent woman (in this case, a doctor at a time when women weren't doctors) falls for a "laird" aka massive mountain of a man with a kilt, a Scottish accent, a sense of duty and a troubled past. This laird also has a blessing/curse in that he's bound to the land of his birth and it magically heals him whenever he's wounded, but he also dies if he leaves for too long. The author makes things even more interesting by setting the story in an alternate reality -- steampunk aka what if we never moved on from steam power to using gasoline? And throwing in a dose of magic and fantasy. The Knights of the Round Table are there, but in a kind of X-files form, investigating paranormal activity throughout Britain. A pleasant mix of action, adventure and romance -- I like my romance stories to have a plot, in this case it's the mystery of the vicious attacking kraken. And I like my adventures to have romance, so this fits the bill for fun adult-bedtime reading. Speaking of adult, there's one sex scene in the story. Open door (meaning, you're in the room and know what's going on) hot but not raunchy or unconventional.