The Diamond Conspiracy (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences #4) by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

Steampunk

From Goodreads:

For years, the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences has enjoyed the favor of Her Majesty the Queen. But even the oldest loyalties can turn in a moment…

Having narrowly escaped the electrifying machinations of Thomas Edison, Books and Braun are looking forward to a relaxing and possibly romantic voyage home. But when Braun’s emergency signal goes off, all thoughts of recreation vanish. Braun’s street-wise team of child informants, the Ministry Seven, is in grave peril, and Books and Braun must return to England immediately.

But when the intrepid agents finally arrive in London, the situation is even more dire than they imagined. The Ministry has been disavowed, and the Department of Imperial Inconveniences has been called in to decommission its agents in a most deadly fashion. The plan reeks of the Maestro’s dastardly scheming. Only, this time, he has a dangerous new ally—a duplicitous doctor whose pernicious poisons have infected the highest levels of society, reaching even the Queen herself.

Books and Braun are off on a new adventure and it is the most dangerous one yet.  It starts when the Ministry Seven go someplace they should have skipped and ends when they discover something from Books past.  In between they face danger as the tension builds and builds.

For me he interaction between Books and Braun is what makes this such a great series.  In The Diamond Conspiracy there is a more of the romance element and it adds spice to the story. 

I did think the first half of the book was better than the last half.  Even though the action and tension continued I thought the authors got just a little too cute with their side characters.  I was left wondering how the discover at the end would play out in the next book.

Ace published The Diamond Conspiracy by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris in 2015.

I received an ARC of  The Diamond Conspiracy from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

Dawn’s Early Light (A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel) by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

Steampunk/Paranormal

From Goodreads:

Working for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, one sees innumerable technological wonders. But even veteran agents Braun and Books are unprepared for what the electrifying future holds…

After being ignominiously shipped out of England following their participation in the Janus affair, Braun and Books are ready to prove their worth as agents. But what starts as a simple mission in the States—intended to keep them out of trouble—suddenly turns into a scandalous and convoluted case that has connections reaching as far as Her Majesty the Queen.

Even with the help of two American agents from the Office of the Supernatural and the Metaphysical, Braun and Books have their work cut out for them as their chief suspect in a rash of nautical and aerial disasters is none other than Thomas Edison. Between the fantastic electric machines of Edison, the eccentricities of MoPO consultant Nikola Tesla, and the mysterious machinations of a new threat known only as the Maestro, they may find themselves in far worse danger than they ever have been in before.

I love Books And Braun and Dawn’s Early Light continues to showcase how different they are and how well they work together.  Ballantine and Morris threw in a new curve for the two in Dawn’s Early Light.  They have to go to America and work with two agents form the American Office of the Supernatural and the Metaphysical.  The American agents are the opposite of Books and Braun.  The male agent is a shoot from the seat of the pants person and the female is a librarian.  Watch for a little jealousy to play a part in the story.

Remember that kiss at the end of the last book.  Well it is also playing a part in the story.  Eliza want to know just what it meant but she is having a lot of trouble pinning Wellington down.  The scene where she finally gets him to talk is one of the best in the book.

Again there are several historical characters in the book.  Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla are part of the story.  They are not at all how we think of them.  Same intellect but very different personalities.  

Dawn’s Early Light sets up the next book in the series. .  Hold on to your hat for another wild ride.  Nothing is as it seems.  There is a very serious problem in the English government and the last chapter is full of surprises.

Ace published Dawn’s Early Light by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris in 2014.

Stacking the Shelves, April 12, 2014

Books Stacked on My Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books I added to my shelves this week. They may it be physical or virtual. I include books I buy in a physical store or online, books I borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews.  Follow the link to see what others have on their shelves.

Purchased:  

The Great Escape by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Dawn's Early Light by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

Ghost Seer by Robin D. Owens

Marked by Alex Hughes

From the Author:

The Accidental Duchess by Madeline Hunter

For Review:

Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobbs

Carter Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company by Homer Hickam

The Scandalous Adventures of the Sister of the Bride by Victoria Alexander 

Waiting on Wednesday, March 19, 2014

 

 Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature sponsored by Breaking the Spine.  It is a great way to share upcoming releases.

I am waiting on Dawn's Early Light: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris.  This is book #3 in the series.  We just finished discussing book #1 in our Science Fiction Book Club and I have already read book #2.

Book beginnings and Friday 56

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56.

 Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and

Come Join us!

My choice this week is Phoenix Rising (A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel) by Pop Ballantine and Tee Morris. This was our Science Fiction Book Club selection for March. Everyone agreed it was a fun read.

Book Beginning:

"Wellington Thornhill Books, Esquire, had never heard an explosion that close before. Considering the ringing in his ears, he would most likely never hear another one like it again."

Page 56:

"Perhaps the worst was over. Perhaps she would actually make a fine assistant."

What Goodreads says:

Evil is most assuredly afoot—and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade . . . and a librarian.

These are dark days indeed in Victoria’s England. Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as corpses on the banks of the Thames, drained of blood and bone. Yet the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences—the Crown’s clandestine organization whose bailiwick is the strange and unsettling—will not allow its agents to investigate. Fearless and exceedingly lovely Eliza D. Braun, however, with her bulletproof corset and a disturbing fondness for dynamite, refuses to let the matter rest . . . and she’s prepared to drag her timorous new partner, Wellington Books, along with her into the perilous fray.

For a malevolent brotherhood is operating in the deepening London shadows, intent upon the enslavement of all Britons. And Books and Braun—he with his encyclopedic brain and she with her remarkable devices—must get to the twisted roots of a most nefarious plot . . . or see England fall to the Phoenix!

Stacking the Shelves - February 22, 2014

Some of the Books Stacked on My Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books I added to my shelves this week. They may it be physical or virtual. I include books I buy in a physical store or online, books I borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews.  Follow the link to see what others have on their shelves.

Purchased:

Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds
The Clockwork Wolf by Lynn Viehl

From The Library:

Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner