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Sunday 9 September 2012

Review: Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster

Kiss of Steel
by Bec McMaster
(London Steampunk # 1)

Honoria Todd and her younger siblings have disguised themselves and fled to Whitechapel,  the roughest and one of the most dangerous places in London, to get away from the Echelon, the people who murdered their father. Whitechapel is one of the few places where the Blue Bloods don't have complete control, instead Blade a mysterious Rogue rules over them and he seems to have taken an interest in Honoria, but can he be trusted, or will he just use them as a pawn to get the revenge he desires over the Blue Bloods he hates?

Normally I am a little suspicious of books that have kick ass covers, the quality of the content doesn't always match the beautiful wrapping, but I am pleased to say that with this book, it was fantastic both inside and outside, I. Loved. It.

The two main aspects ofKiss of Steel that earned it top marks are the new world created by Bec McMaster and the characters, especially Blade. Now I haven't actually read huge amounts of Steampunk so when I say this world was completely original bare that in mind! But it was a great mixture of historical with the setting being in a Victorianesque and paranormal with the presence of Blue Bloods, who were essentially a new and interesting take on vampires. I also liked that the Steampunk element wasn't over the top as although there were nifty gadgets being used and mechanical men, there wasn't women swaggering around in strippy tights, corsets and funny hats every 5 minutes and lots of weird and outlandish technology that needed to be overly explained. So I am definitely looking forward to the next book so I can explore this world further and delve into the more intricate aspects now that the basics have been set up.

Now Blade...he has promptly been added to my list of book boyfriends, a very bad boy who has a soft spot for those he considers his family and of course the woman he loves and a tortured past, how was I supposed to resist that? But you can't swing a cat in the romance world and not hit a hero like that, but Blade had that extra something that had me panting, darkly sensual and struggling with inner demons but determined to do right by the people he protected I was doomed to love him.  Honoria I did like, but she took some time for me to warm to and although she was a good heroine it wasn't her that stood out for me.

This book was well written, with an interesting and well crafted world with plenty of characters from some of the vile Blue Bloods to Blade's motley crew for you to get involved with, and I can't wait for the next book to come out and continue the story.  

*ARC provided by publisher
Purchase Links: Amazon

2 comments:

Maria D. said...

I just got this book and can't wait to read it - I'm so glad you loved it!

Sophia Rose said...

That's funny! I think that sometimes about the promise behind a good cover. But this one has a promising blurb and your review makes it sound good too.

Thanks!