Short and Sweet Book Reviews #3

I am still on a cruise with very slow and expensive internet so no links or covers.  Just a quick review.

Beauty and the Clockwork Beast by Nance Campbell Allen – Like the title suggest this is a take on Beauty and the Beast set in a Steampunk World.  Lord Blackwell is the beast and Lucy Pickett is the beauty.  They are thrown together where Lucy’s cousin becomes ill but no one came find out what is wrong.  There is mystery, tension, action, surprises and of course a happy ending.  The world building is very well done and there is enough backstory to help flesh out the characters.  This reads like the start of a new series.  There are story hooks for several of the secondary characters.  This is a complete story but is would be nice to revisit this world in future stories.

Best of My Love by Susan Mallery – Once again we get to visit Fool’s Gold and visit with more of the wonderful characters who live there.  As an added  bonus we get to met Charlie, a bichon frise, whose owner got the Your Pet in a Romance Novel prize at the 2015 Tuxes and Tails Seattle Humane Society fund raiser.  Charlie plays a important part in Aidan Mitchell and Shelby Gilmore’s story.  As usual there is great dialog, an interesting journey and finally a HEA for the two.  There are also hooks for future stories in Fools Gold and a new location.  Read and enjoy.

Poseidons Wake by Alastair Reynolds – This is book three in the trilogy.  Even though I had not read the first two I had no trouble keeping up with the story.  The plot is complex, the characters well-developed and the writing excellent.  Reynolds is a master story teller.  That skill is highlighted in Poseidons Wake.  Everything comes together allowing the reader to just enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

The Study of Seduction by Sabrina Jeffries – Jeffries uses a marriage of convenience in the second book of the Sinful Suitors series.  Something bad happened to Lady Clarissa Lindsey that has changed how she looks at her future.  Edwin Barlow is an old family friend who steps in to help her when she finds herself in danger.  The scene is set for the two to realize that they are more than friends.  Pick it up for a fun and interesting read.