Kady Cross

Claire Brooks agent Dove for the Company) is pursuing Stanton Howard, responsible for her brother's death, when she is wounded and falls from a roof into the hands of rival agent organization the Wardens. In order to continue her pursuit she agrees to lead the Wardens to Howard and an evil doctor who damaged one of the Warden's top agents. Alastair Payne is given responsibility for her and they set off neither trusting the other. This is great steampunk with lots of unusual gadgets, a romantic entanglement and lots of action. Loved it.… (more)

Arden, Lady Huntley, works undercover for The Wardens of the Realm who protect 1898 steampunk England by creating gadgets that help the agents. Her husband, Lucas, has been missing for 7 years but now he appears intent on killing her. But something is making him hesitate. As he begins to get bits and pieces of his memory he realizes he has been working for the opposite side and that not only has his memory been wiped but his body has been enhanced. Can this memory loss be reversed, can they stop the Company from doing this to others, and can they find the traitor in their organization who caused his original capture. There is a side story involving the murder of young girls.

I loved all the little steam enhanced gadgets that are described, like the goggles that Arden created that allows her to see the last few minutes of a victims life and the one that all the ladies want to “cure” their “hysteria”. Very good steampunk, murder mystery and romance combo.… (more)

Review to come.

The Strange Case of Finley Jayne:

So glad my library had a copy with this prequel in it. Really helped me to understand Finley better. She is a down on her luck governess who can't seem to hold a job to save her life. Rather, she loses her jobs because she keeps defending her own and other people's lives.

The Girl in the Steel Corset:

Finley Jayne is not normal. She thinks she might be possessed. Growing up in the late 1800's possession is no joke; understandably she tells no one. Until one night when she gets hit by a motorcycle.

This story was quite the interesting read. I enjoyed reading the story, though a few things did stick out to me. It is obviously a stab at a Jekyll and Hyde retelling. There is a distinct lack of character description.

All we know about the Aunt is that she works for the Queen and favors a piece of jewelry with a chain running from nose to ear. All we know about Finley is that she is tiny, possibly possessed, and starts off blonde. I prefer really accurate descriptions, claim your characters full identity on the page.

It took me a fair bit to get through this little beastie as I had to study for final exams.… (more)