Source: NetGalley EBook Review, Provided by Entangled PubFormat: eBook
A Riveting Affair by Candace Havens, Lily Lang, Patricia Eimer
Date Read: April 2013
Genre: Romance, Steampunk
More Information:Beauty and the Clockwork Beast
Rose Verney wants to fulfill her father’s dying request: to complete construction of the teleportation device he designed. Knowing just who can help her succeed, she seeks out Sebastian Cavendish, her father’s brilliant former student.Sebastian hasn’t left his home since he returned from the Civil War. He's a broken man, his prosthetics a reminder of the terrible destruction his inventions brought to the battlefield. He wants nothing to do with Rose and her father's masterpiece, but when she barges into his abandoned lab and begins construction, it’s everything he can do to resist getting involved. Especially when she charms her way into his monstrous heart.
Demon Express
Professor Maisy Clark, professional demon hunter, is on the trail of an evil scientist responsible for the deaths of hundreds. Julian is worse than the monsters he creates, but he's also obsessed with Maisy and willing to kill anyone who gets too close to her. Just when she thinks she has Julian cornered, the sexy marshall Jake Calloway insists the investigation is his, and everything goes to hell. Maisy came to Texas to corner the scientist whose macabre experiments have taken so many lives, and Calloway is just another distraction she doesn’t need. Julian is her responsibility, one she’s not about to share. Even if Calloway can help, Julian will know Maisy is falling for the marshall, and she's not willing to risk his life.
The Clockwork Bride
When engineer Aida Mulvaney attends a masquerade ball at the home of a staunch Luddite earl with a personal vendetta against her father’s company, she doesn’t expect to end the night married to the earl’s son Julian Capshaw, a brilliant engineer in his own right. The marriage will allow both of them to pursue their love of science, without interfering parents and ridiculous social stigmas. Though they escape to the Continent to start new lives, Julian’s father will have none of his heir’s disobedience. Before long, a marriage begun for the sake of convenience becomes a union of passion, but will it survive the machinations of an earl determined to destroy everything they love?
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Also by this author: Tycoon Reunion
Overall Anthology Rating: 3.75
ANTHOLOGY NOTE: What you should know about the Candace Haven’s entry–it is more of a teaser for a new series than a true novella. Knowing that totally changed my rating since I really liked the characters but felt the story was incomplete.
Personal Note: On a whole I am not a fan of steampunk but I am glad I gave this one a whirl!
Beauty and the Clockwork Beast by Lily Lang
Overall Rating: 4.50
Story Rating: 4.25
Character Rating: 4.75
This was my favorite of the 3 stories! I am a sucker for Beauty and The Beast type of stories in the first place. This one was really well done and while I still could have used more character development, I did really enjoy the timeline. I could imagine what happened in the in-between so it didn’t feel like instalove. The steampunk elements were not overpowering and the story was solid!
The Clockwork Bride
Overall Rating: 3.00
Story Rating: 2.75
Character Rating: 3.25
This was my least favorite of the stories BUT that is because it had a lot of steampunk elements in it. I want to point that out because fans of steampunk will probably love it. This is just a case of the story not working for this particular reader. I did enjoy the characters and wanted to know more about them. The story line was quick to launch but she did refrain from rushing their love story. I do think this story will work better for steampunk readers.
Demon Express
Overall Rating: 3.75
Character Rating: 4.25
Story Rating: 3.25
First, it is important to note that I don’t think this works as a stand alone novella. It does however work quite well as a teaser for things to come. I really enjoyed the characters and the glimpse into their world. This reads a little different from a typical steampunk and I will give the full-length novel a whirl. I do love me some Cowboys and there is a smexy one in here!
Final Thought: Overall I was really impressed with this anthology even though I am not a huge fan of novellas. A Riveting Affair had some great characters and fans of steampunk will love the gadgetry!
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May I suggest “His Black Wings” by Astrid Yrigollen? If you enjoy steampunk and romance its a perfect combo. It pays homage to Beauty and the Beast but in a fresh perspective.
I do have fun with novellas and I do like Patricia Eimer’s writing. Will have to check this one out. Especially for the Beauty and the beast like story. I’m also a sucker for those! 😀
I really did enjoy the first story—it was very clever!
Sounds like a nice little collection of novellas, there! Steampunk, while I love the concept, doesn’t always read well. I’ve read some awesome stories and some really crappy ones…
That is pretty much me too. More often than not to much of the story is spent on the gadgets —which is just not my thing.
Wow, that blurb is longer than most of my reviews! I’m a fan of steampunk, so this anthology interests me quite a bit. Sometimes I do get hung up on all the gadgetry though, so I’m wondering if that will happen to me with The Clockwork Bride. Still, I hadn’t heard of this one before, so thanks for your thoughts Felicia!
It was rather long–my complete review was less 🙂 It was a pretty good trio and I really enjoyed the first story!
Steampunk is kind of hit or miss for me. I like some of the whimsy and creativity but when it gets too heavy into the inventions and less about characters I zone out.
This does sound kind of fun though and maybe the shorter novellas would be the right amount of steampunk for me.
I think that is the only reason it worked for me. Being short meant there was only so much gadgetry that could go in it!