2016: My Year in Books

Here we are... 2016 has been a tough year in many ways, but I'd like to remember it for all the great reads I had the pleasure of reading: both new and old.

Review

It's been a year of Ilona Andrews' books for me. I finally took the plunge and basically devoured most of their back catalog, including Kate Daniels, The Edge, and Innkeeper Chronicles (this time on audio, which is absolutely fabulous by the way). The only problem now, I'm all caught up and have no idea what I shall do with myself - perhaps I need a re-read?! #sendhelpandbooks

Cover Reveal: Forged by Desire

Squee! We have a cover for the next novel in the London Steampunk series by Bec McMaster, and it’s seductive as always. Although I must say, I’m still quite partial to the recent My Lady Quicksilver, which was absolutely fabulous (read my review here). Now, all there is to do is wait for a really long time cause the book doesn’t come out until September next year.

So what do you guys think? Do you love it?

Forged by Desire (London Steampunk #4)
Bec McMaster

Release Date: September 2, 2014

Book Description:
Captain Garret Reed of the Nighthawk guard has a deadly mission: capture a steel-jawed monster preying on women. He hates to put his partner, Perry, in jeopardy, but she’s the best bait he has. Little does he realize, he’s about to be caught in his own trap.

Perry has been half in love with Garrett for years, but this is not exactly the best time to start a relationship—especially when their investigation leads them directly into the clutches of the madman she thought she’d escaped...

Amazon US | Goodreads

Book Review: My Lady Quicksilver

My Lady Quicksilver (London Steampunk #3)
Bec McMaster

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Book Description:
Determined to destroy the Echelon she despises, Rosalind Fairchild is on seemingly easy mission. Get in. Uncover the secrets of her brother's disappearance. And get out.

In order to infiltrate the Nighthawks and find their leader, Sir Jasper Lynch, Rosalind will pose as their secretary. But she doesn't count on Lynch being such a dangerously charismatic man, challenging her at every turn, forcing her to re-evaluate everything she knows about the enemy.

He could be her most dangerous nemesis—or the ally she never dreamed existed.

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:

“The Council gave him three weeks to find Mercury. Or he would share Mercury’s fate.” My Lady Quicksilver (p. 387).

Love, honor, duty, deception, desire and revenge are the elements that make My Lady Quicksilver a delicious thrill ride through the streets of this dark steampunk incarnation of London, where no one is safe and nothing is what it seems. As the tension between the Echelon and the humanists continues to escalate, Sir Jasper Lynch, fearsome leader of the Nighthawks, takes on the hunt of the mysterious revolutionary – Mercury, only to discover that s/he is not so easy to catch…

Book Review: Heart of Iron

Heart of Iron (London Steampunk #2)

Bec McMaster

Release Date: May 7, 2013

Book Description:

In Victorian London, if you’re not a blue blood of the Echelon then you’re nothing at all. The Great Houses rule the city with an iron fist, imposing their strict ‘blood taxes’ on the nation, and the Queen is merely a puppet on a string…

Lena Todd makes the perfect spy. Nobody suspects the flirtatious debutante could be a sympathizer for the humanist movement haunting London’s vicious blue blood elite. Not even the ruthless Will Carver, the one man she can’t twist around her little finger, and the one man whose kiss she can’t forget…

Stricken with the loupe and considered little more than a slave-without-a-collar to the blue bloods, Will wants nothing to do with the Echelon or the dangerous beauty who drives him to the very edge of control. But when he finds a coded letter on Lena—a code that matches one he saw on a fire-bombing suspect—he realizes she’s in trouble. To protect her, he must seduce the truth from her.

With the humanists looking to start a war with the Echelon, Lena and Will must race against time—and an automaton army—to stop the humanist plot before it’s too late. But as they fight to save a city on the brink of revolution, the greatest danger might just be to their hearts…

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:

Last year I picked up Kiss of Steel, a debut novel by an Australian writer – Bec McMaster. Needless to say that I’ve devoured the novel and the follow up novella – Tarnished Knight, and was eagerly awaiting release of the second book in the series – Heart of Iron. With its dark and seductive, gas-lit world, set in alternate Victorian England, filled with ruthless blue bloods, swoon-worthy heroes, and feisty heroines – London Steampunk novels are an exciting mixture of romance and adventure.

Book Review: Kiss of Steel

Kiss of Steel (London Steampunk #1)
Bec McMaster

Release Date: September 4, 2012

Book Description:
When Nowhere Is Safe

Most people avoid the dreaded Whitechapel district. For Honoria Todd, it's the last safe haven. But at what price?

Blade is known as the master of the rookeries—no one dares cross him. It's been said he faced down the Echelon's army single-handedly, that ever since being infected by the blood-craving he's been quicker, stronger, and almost immortal.

When Honoria shows up at his door, his tenuous control comes close to snapping. She's so...innocent. He doesn't see her backbone of steel—or that she could be the very salvation he's been seeking. 

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:

A fun debut novel by Bec McMaster! I very much enjoyed this entertaining PNR read; and it was so quick, that I’m almost sorry to see it end and will certainly look very much forward to book #2 this May.