Cindy Spencer Pape
Steam & Sorcery (2011)
First off, this is a Steampunk romance, with equal weight being given to both descriptors. So there is lots of boinking.
However, aside from the boinking, there are interesting characters and some good world building.
Sir Merrick Hadrian is a Knight of the Order of the Round table, and has special abilities that allow him to battle supernatural creatures. His aunt, Dorothy, is a bluestocking, and believes that women are the equals of men both intellectually and magically.
Miss Caroline Bristol is a member of Dorothy’s circle, and has been working as a governess, however, she continually has problems with her employers attempting to take advantage of her.
But aside from these two there are five children–all special in their own right–who draw not just the attention of Sir Merrick but also the monsters who walk the night streets of London.
As I said, it was a fun romp, and I really liked the world building, and was impressed by how she managed to come up with reasonable solutions to the problems imposed by the constraints of the place and time. Enjoyable and at the kindle price, worth reading as long as you’re willing to accept the boinking.
Rating: 7/10
Published by Carina Press
Photographs & Phantoms (2011)
This is a novella set in the same world as Steam & Sorcery, with the characters from that story making an eventual appearance in this one.
Amy Deland is a photographer, who is haunted by marks appearing in a handful of her pictures that seem to presage the death of the person she photographed.
Kendall Lake is a member o the Order of the Round Table, a group dedicated (since the days of King Arthur) to protecting the public from malevolent supernatural creatures.
As with the first novella, I liked the mystery and the steampunk, and could have done without all the boinking (or near boinking as the case may be). The world building is very good, and I hope she keeps writing stories in this world, even if the boinking bits are not to my taste.
Published by Carina Press
Steam & Sorcery (2011), Photographs & Phantoms (2011)
