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Gaslight Chronicles #8
Ether & Elephants
A Gaslight Chronicles Novel
Sir Thomas Devere and Eleanor Hadrian have loved each other most of their lives—but sometimes love doesn't conquer all.
Their chance at happiness was ruined by Tom's hasty marriage to someone else. Heartbroken, Nell left home, finding a new life as a teacher at a school for the blind. But when one of her supernaturally gifted students, Charlie, is kidnapped, Tom reappears and her worlds collide.
Tom claims he hasn't seen his wife since the day of their marriage…yet he fears the missing student could be his son.
The deeper they dig, the more Tom and Nell discover: a deadly alchemist, more missing gifted children and long-suppressed feelings neither of them is ready for. A race on airship across England and India may lead them to answers—including a second chance at love—but only if all of British Society isn't destroyed first.
83,160 words
Sir Thomas Devere and Eleanor Hadrian have loved each other most of their lives—but sometimes love doesn't conquer all.
Their chance at happiness was ruined by Tom's hasty marriage to someone else. Heartbroken, Nell left home, finding a new life as a teacher at a school for the blind. But when one of her supernaturally gifted students, Charlie, is kidnapped, Tom reappears and her worlds collide.
Tom claims he hasn't seen his wife since the day of their marriage…yet he fears the missing student could be his son.
The deeper they dig, the more Tom and Nell discover: a deadly alchemist, more missing gifted children and long-suppressed feelings neither of them is ready for. A race on airship across England and India may lead them to answers—including a second chance at love—but only if all of British Society isn't destroyed first.
83,160 words
193 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 20, 2015
About the author
Cindy Spencer Pape
79 books254 followersCindy Spencer Pape has been, among other things, a banker, a teacher, and an elected politician, though she swears she got better. She volunteers in environmental education, when she can fit it in around writing. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two teenage sons, a dog, a lizard, and various other small creatures, all of which are easier to clean up after than the three male humans.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
December 31, 2015
At long last Nell and Tom's story, and we get to find out what's kept the pair apart even though they've loved each other since the were youngsters. Tom made quite a mess of things, but fate is going to give him a second chance even though Nell's determined not too.
I really liked this story. So often in a series there's a pair I've been dying to see get their HEA and when their book finally comes out it doesn't live up to the expectations I've built book after book for the pair - but here I wasn't disappointed at all. Turns out Ether & Elephants not only makes Tom work to get the HEA his youthful mistake cost him, but it also wraps up the series with a more solid feeling story than the rest of its enjoyable but more lightweight feeling predecessors.
I am going to miss these Gaslight Chronicles with their mix of mystery, adventure, magic steam punk and romance - though there's still a slight hope for Pier's story in the future.
ARC via NetGalley - release date 7/20
I really liked this story. So often in a series there's a pair I've been dying to see get their HEA and when their book finally comes out it doesn't live up to the expectations I've built book after book for the pair - but here I wasn't disappointed at all. Turns out Ether & Elephants not only makes Tom work to get the HEA his youthful mistake cost him, but it also wraps up the series with a more solid feeling story than the rest of its enjoyable but more lightweight feeling predecessors.
I am going to miss these Gaslight Chronicles with their mix of mystery, adventure, magic steam punk and romance - though there's still a slight hope for Pier's story in the future.
ARC via NetGalley - release date 7/20
March 1, 2016
After many years, Nell has finally forgiven Tom for his indiscretion and has determined to get on with her life. Nell has decided to become a teacher and though it's not nearly as exciting as the life her siblings have created, for the most part, Nell is content. When her student Charlie goes missing, Nell is determined that she must find him. Upon some investigation, it come to light that Charlie may be Tom's son and while that knowledge stings a little bit it does not dull Nell's determination. It's not long before Nell finds herself in close quarters with Tom on a mission to save Charlie and though she has forgiven Tom, it's been a long time since they have been close.
Though this is the eighth book in this series, one need not have read the other seven to be able to follow what is going on. Those familiar with the Gaslight Chronicles series however will enjoy the brief appearance of several characters who have had their own books. We learn that they are all happy in their marriages and some have gone onto have children.
Obviously the purpose of this novel is to bring together Tom and Nell for their HEA. The mystery itself was quickly resolved. As with any romance, Pape introduced a stumbling block to forestall the HEA and in this case, it is Nell's reticence because Tom slept with someone before they were properly engaged and then married as a result of believing that he had gotten the young woman pregnant. As much as Pape tried to stress Nell's desire for independence and a career, I could not help but find her to be a twit. Nell wallowed for eight years before deciding to start leading her own life. Who the hell wallows for eight years? Then there's the issue that at the time Tom slept with Polly, they had not even mentioned their feelings for each other. How exactly did Tom break Nell's trust? When Tom finally is free of his entanglements, Nell holds onto her stubbornness but suddenly without explanation, at the end of the book, Nell changes her mind and decides to marry Tom. Then there's the little matter of Roger, the man Nell promises to marry who suddenly breaks off the relationship when he learns that Nell can control people with her voice. Roger's speedy exit left room for Tom to sneak in and Roger was a useless unnecessary distraction.
I must admit that I dreaded reading this story. From almost the beginning of the Gaslight Chronicles, Pape has made a big deal about the colour of Nell's skin. I understand that attitudes about race in Victorian England would not have been as evolved as they are today but the constant exotification of Nell is beyond tiresome to say the least. It made me want to scream, "I get it, Nell is half Indian get the hell over it." Pape never missed a chance to point out Nell's skin colour or the fact that she is biracial. Nell, for all intents and purposes is the "other" in the Gaslight Chronicles. It is then compounded by the fact that Pape decided to make Nell a princess. I rolled my eyes so hard and fast that I nearly hurt myself when I read that. Nell was well aware of the fact that she is of colour and does not shy away from it which is good but the way in which Pape handled race beyond that is problematic to say the least.
"Maybe he is my Micah, as you seem to suggest. But more than anyone else here, you know what it's like to be different, to be darker-skinned than society expects, to be eyed with suspicion. Micah gave you refuse from that. A chance to live an ordinary life. That's no small thing."
The problem of course is that everything brown or Indian was backward, dirty, wrong and even worth less. Nell even says that her biological mother described her father as "handsome, despite the hue of his skin." Nell's father even preferred steak and tea and biscuits to curry. Pape could have made some comment about internalized racism but instead continued on with her story as though the preference of a culture outside of one's own happens in a vacuum without the damage of colonialism. To be clear, there was nothing about British colonialism that did not have deleterious effect on Indian people. In fact, the harm continues to this day.
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Though this is the eighth book in this series, one need not have read the other seven to be able to follow what is going on. Those familiar with the Gaslight Chronicles series however will enjoy the brief appearance of several characters who have had their own books. We learn that they are all happy in their marriages and some have gone onto have children.
Obviously the purpose of this novel is to bring together Tom and Nell for their HEA. The mystery itself was quickly resolved. As with any romance, Pape introduced a stumbling block to forestall the HEA and in this case, it is Nell's reticence because Tom slept with someone before they were properly engaged and then married as a result of believing that he had gotten the young woman pregnant. As much as Pape tried to stress Nell's desire for independence and a career, I could not help but find her to be a twit. Nell wallowed for eight years before deciding to start leading her own life. Who the hell wallows for eight years? Then there's the issue that at the time Tom slept with Polly, they had not even mentioned their feelings for each other. How exactly did Tom break Nell's trust? When Tom finally is free of his entanglements, Nell holds onto her stubbornness but suddenly without explanation, at the end of the book, Nell changes her mind and decides to marry Tom. Then there's the little matter of Roger, the man Nell promises to marry who suddenly breaks off the relationship when he learns that Nell can control people with her voice. Roger's speedy exit left room for Tom to sneak in and Roger was a useless unnecessary distraction.
I must admit that I dreaded reading this story. From almost the beginning of the Gaslight Chronicles, Pape has made a big deal about the colour of Nell's skin. I understand that attitudes about race in Victorian England would not have been as evolved as they are today but the constant exotification of Nell is beyond tiresome to say the least. It made me want to scream, "I get it, Nell is half Indian get the hell over it." Pape never missed a chance to point out Nell's skin colour or the fact that she is biracial. Nell, for all intents and purposes is the "other" in the Gaslight Chronicles. It is then compounded by the fact that Pape decided to make Nell a princess. I rolled my eyes so hard and fast that I nearly hurt myself when I read that. Nell was well aware of the fact that she is of colour and does not shy away from it which is good but the way in which Pape handled race beyond that is problematic to say the least.
"Maybe he is my Micah, as you seem to suggest. But more than anyone else here, you know what it's like to be different, to be darker-skinned than society expects, to be eyed with suspicion. Micah gave you refuse from that. A chance to live an ordinary life. That's no small thing."
The problem of course is that everything brown or Indian was backward, dirty, wrong and even worth less. Nell even says that her biological mother described her father as "handsome, despite the hue of his skin." Nell's father even preferred steak and tea and biscuits to curry. Pape could have made some comment about internalized racism but instead continued on with her story as though the preference of a culture outside of one's own happens in a vacuum without the damage of colonialism. To be clear, there was nothing about British colonialism that did not have deleterious effect on Indian people. In fact, the harm continues to this day.
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May 31, 2017
Set partly in Victorian England and partly in India, this enjoyable fantasy and steampunk romance features a good cast of characters and sound or wicked motives. Nell is a young woman who was adopted from a slum, and early falls for a foster brother Tom. He doesn't care that her mother was a dock dolly and her father may have been a Lascar; he's a slum kid too. But while at university Tom falls for a sob story and marries a serving woman who later disappears with his wallet. This of course ruins his chances of marrying Nell or anyone else. So after some years, Nell is teaching at a Cornwall school for blind children, barely speaking to Tom if she does meet him.
Now matters get complicated. Nell turns out to have some paranormal talents and Tom has a way with cantrips, rather than major spells. A boy pupil is kidnapped from the school and in between finding where he and other stolen boys may have been taken, Nell gets to use the Babbage Analytical Engine which is being updated with registers of births, marriage and deaths. She discovers that there may be a facet of Tom's hasty marriage that he wasn't aware of. But the trail of an Alchemist villain and the kidnapped lad, who has a paranormal gift of finding, leads to India, so the duo catch an airship.
This book features more location and period detail, with paranormal abilities like talking to ghosts, than steampunk, but there are some clockwork touches and airships. The evidence of the Babbage Engine could as easily have been gained from the parish register so that wasn't a necessity for the plot.
This is eighth in a series (which I hadn't read) and I found many references to the events of the other books, especially at the start, which suggests that if you have read those you might give the tale better marks. Expect some strong language and adult activity.
An ARC was sent to me. This is an unbiased review.
Now matters get complicated. Nell turns out to have some paranormal talents and Tom has a way with cantrips, rather than major spells. A boy pupil is kidnapped from the school and in between finding where he and other stolen boys may have been taken, Nell gets to use the Babbage Analytical Engine which is being updated with registers of births, marriage and deaths. She discovers that there may be a facet of Tom's hasty marriage that he wasn't aware of. But the trail of an Alchemist villain and the kidnapped lad, who has a paranormal gift of finding, leads to India, so the duo catch an airship.
This book features more location and period detail, with paranormal abilities like talking to ghosts, than steampunk, but there are some clockwork touches and airships. The evidence of the Babbage Engine could as easily have been gained from the parish register so that wasn't a necessity for the plot.
This is eighth in a series (which I hadn't read) and I found many references to the events of the other books, especially at the start, which suggests that if you have read those you might give the tale better marks. Expect some strong language and adult activity.
An ARC was sent to me. This is an unbiased review.
August 2, 2015
I wanted to love this... but unlike all of the other female protagonists in the series, Nell is an idiot. The entire relationship tension stems from Nell's ridiculous "you cheated on me even before we declared our love, so I can never trust you again" is so absurdly infantile as to be completely untenable. To compound the mess, Pape gets out of it by shrugging it off without any excuse offered or character growth demonstrated. "Oh well, I forgive you, and I trust you." Really????
That was bad enough, but the plot is rushed and skimmed over, the sexual chemistry the weakest of the series, and everything good in the earlier titles seems entirely lacking in this one. I had hopes that the series might continue, but if this is the best Ms. Pape can do with this world and these characters, it's better for everyone if it ends now.
That was bad enough, but the plot is rushed and skimmed over, the sexual chemistry the weakest of the series, and everything good in the earlier titles seems entirely lacking in this one. I had hopes that the series might continue, but if this is the best Ms. Pape can do with this world and these characters, it's better for everyone if it ends now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2016
I received an ARC of this book from the Publisher, via Netgalley, this does not affect my opinion of this book or the content of my review.
This is the 8th and final book in Cindy Spencer Pape’s Gaslight Chronicles. I got into this series after reading Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas. It was so refreshing and different that I had to find more like it. Somehow in that mindset I missed the “different” aspect of it. Needless to say, I read some abysmal steam-punk, some mediocre stuff, and then I found Gaslight/Gaslamp and this little gem of a series. The series presents a unique spin on Gaslight with the inclusion of a Knights of the Round Table mythology, vampires, werewolves, fey, and steam punk elements. It sounds overly busy, but it isn’t, it is just a wonderfully engaging world and the different aspects are very well blended.
The first book in the series, Steam & Sorcery, sets up the world building and the main characters for further books. It may not have hit the peaks that The Iron Seas did, for me, but it was pretty awesome and so I devoured what was available and have kept up with it since. And THIS is the book that I have been waiting for since the beginning. There have been some hints and then some stumbling blocks along the way, but man have I been longing for this book. This is NOT, in my opinion, a stand-alone, and I strongly encourage reading the series in order.
Fair warning, this is not a comfortable book. There are children in jeopardy, and Nell and Tom had my stomach in knots and my heart in my throat. But that is the mark of a good storyteller, when you empathize with the characters so much they suck you into their emotions, when the pain and the worry is real, and the outcome feels uncertain. Fortunately, this is romance, and I trust Cindy Spencer Pape to give a reliable happy ending (unlike other authors I could mention,) but in the midst of the story it was so easy to see where it could all go wrong,
Tom was a bit of a tough nut. He did some stupid things in his youth, and rather than trying to resolve things, he basically buried his head in the sand and gave up. And I think that is what hurt Nell the most. Nell on the other hand, despite the heartbreak, she grew into herself and found her agency, learning to value herself and demand respect. Tom took a little longer to get the picture, but I respect that Nell kept to her path and didn’t allow him to sway her. I think you can tell I really liked Nell, and once Tom got his head out of it, I really liked him too.
As far as the mystery goes, it was satisfyingly twisty. There was a good bit of sleuthing to be done, and this gave our two main protagonists the chance to really see how they’ve grown, without the blinders of their youthful relationship. But the mystery wasn’t a McGuffin either, it was well thought out and worked for itself AND to further the relationships and emotional connections, rather than just the latter. It kept me engaged so the whole story didn’t feel like over emotional navel gazing. Who says romance can’t also have a real plot, a real story? Not me, that is for sure. There was a bit of wish fulfillment in one element of the story, but I only noticed that retrospectively. And it was such a delightfully happy thing, that I simply could begrudge it.
In the end I believed in this couple’s happily ever after and trusted they had the grit to work through anything together. It was a very satisfying happily ever after.
I’m still hoping the author comes back to this world and we get Jamie and Piers’ stories, but in the meantime, this was a satisfying conclusion to the series and in no way feels as though the reader has been abandoned in series. 4 stars and I look forward to what Cindy Spencer Pape might come up with next.
https://burnsthroughherbookshelf.word...
This is the 8th and final book in Cindy Spencer Pape’s Gaslight Chronicles. I got into this series after reading Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas. It was so refreshing and different that I had to find more like it. Somehow in that mindset I missed the “different” aspect of it. Needless to say, I read some abysmal steam-punk, some mediocre stuff, and then I found Gaslight/Gaslamp and this little gem of a series. The series presents a unique spin on Gaslight with the inclusion of a Knights of the Round Table mythology, vampires, werewolves, fey, and steam punk elements. It sounds overly busy, but it isn’t, it is just a wonderfully engaging world and the different aspects are very well blended.
The first book in the series, Steam & Sorcery, sets up the world building and the main characters for further books. It may not have hit the peaks that The Iron Seas did, for me, but it was pretty awesome and so I devoured what was available and have kept up with it since. And THIS is the book that I have been waiting for since the beginning. There have been some hints and then some stumbling blocks along the way, but man have I been longing for this book. This is NOT, in my opinion, a stand-alone, and I strongly encourage reading the series in order.
Fair warning, this is not a comfortable book. There are children in jeopardy, and Nell and Tom had my stomach in knots and my heart in my throat. But that is the mark of a good storyteller, when you empathize with the characters so much they suck you into their emotions, when the pain and the worry is real, and the outcome feels uncertain. Fortunately, this is romance, and I trust Cindy Spencer Pape to give a reliable happy ending (unlike other authors I could mention,) but in the midst of the story it was so easy to see where it could all go wrong,
Tom was a bit of a tough nut. He did some stupid things in his youth, and rather than trying to resolve things, he basically buried his head in the sand and gave up. And I think that is what hurt Nell the most. Nell on the other hand, despite the heartbreak, she grew into herself and found her agency, learning to value herself and demand respect. Tom took a little longer to get the picture, but I respect that Nell kept to her path and didn’t allow him to sway her. I think you can tell I really liked Nell, and once Tom got his head out of it, I really liked him too.
As far as the mystery goes, it was satisfyingly twisty. There was a good bit of sleuthing to be done, and this gave our two main protagonists the chance to really see how they’ve grown, without the blinders of their youthful relationship. But the mystery wasn’t a McGuffin either, it was well thought out and worked for itself AND to further the relationships and emotional connections, rather than just the latter. It kept me engaged so the whole story didn’t feel like over emotional navel gazing. Who says romance can’t also have a real plot, a real story? Not me, that is for sure. There was a bit of wish fulfillment in one element of the story, but I only noticed that retrospectively. And it was such a delightfully happy thing, that I simply could begrudge it.
In the end I believed in this couple’s happily ever after and trusted they had the grit to work through anything together. It was a very satisfying happily ever after.
I’m still hoping the author comes back to this world and we get Jamie and Piers’ stories, but in the meantime, this was a satisfying conclusion to the series and in no way feels as though the reader has been abandoned in series. 4 stars and I look forward to what Cindy Spencer Pape might come up with next.
https://burnsthroughherbookshelf.word...
July 13, 2015
The end of a series is always so bittersweet. I love that we got to see Tom and Nell FINALLY get their happily ever after, but it's hard to say goodbye to a family that started out as a ragtag group of street kids and became something so much more than that. *sniff* Goodbye, wacky Hadrian family with your crazy, huge get-togethers and loads of supernatural gifts.
But before we say goodbye, we have to watch Tom and Nell deal with the aftermath of his youthful marriage. Given that these two have been in love FOREVER, his bombshell at the end of the last book was devastating to Nell. For his part, Tom has closed himself off from the family so as not to pain Nell with his presence. In some ways that hurts Nell even more because she does still love him and she doesn't want to see him hurt.
Yes, theirs is a complicated relationship.
Man, their issues weren't pretty. However, the more time they spend together, the more things smooth out between them. Finding out the truth about Tom's wife goes a long way toward making things better. EXCEPT, Nell has come to terms with being alone and she's not willing to risk her heart after Tom destroyed it so thoroughly the last time.
Like I said, theirs is a complicated relationship.
I loved seeing how the various couples we've met through the previous books have expanded their families and are still desperately in love. I enjoyed revisiting old haunts. I... just like this series. And I'm sad to see it end. *waves sadly*
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
But before we say goodbye, we have to watch Tom and Nell deal with the aftermath of his youthful marriage. Given that these two have been in love FOREVER, his bombshell at the end of the last book was devastating to Nell. For his part, Tom has closed himself off from the family so as not to pain Nell with his presence. In some ways that hurts Nell even more because she does still love him and she doesn't want to see him hurt.
Yes, theirs is a complicated relationship.
Man, their issues weren't pretty. However, the more time they spend together, the more things smooth out between them. Finding out the truth about Tom's wife goes a long way toward making things better. EXCEPT, Nell has come to terms with being alone and she's not willing to risk her heart after Tom destroyed it so thoroughly the last time.
Like I said, theirs is a complicated relationship.
I loved seeing how the various couples we've met through the previous books have expanded their families and are still desperately in love. I enjoyed revisiting old haunts. I... just like this series. And I'm sad to see it end. *waves sadly*
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
July 21, 2015
Not the book for me. I read book 1 & 2 on this same series a few years ago, and I found them nice enough. The steampunk is merely a setting, and world building is scant, but the plot and characters were interesting enough.
Ether & Elephants had unfortunately everything on the wrong side on "enough", as plot and characters were unappealing, when not totally boring.
The hero and heroine were "dumber and dumbest", and worst, juvenile to the extreme. Their back story made no sense whatsoever. Yes, they were "engaged" and he "betrayed her" (why? Yes, you can't keep it in your pants, but marriage?). ok, fine, it was an overall plot point, but I could not see the reasons why she didn't start her own life after 8 years (8 not 1 or 2), nor why he didn't even try for annulment. ?!
Any way a second chance trope might be interesting as long as you don't give me a heroine who stopped living in the mean time. Otherwise I only get pissed as I really don't like the "a woman can't live without a man" trope. (Hey, yes you hurt, but then it ends.) :)
The plot revolves almost totally on the romance, with a scant story outside it. As I was totally uninterested in the couple and their childish antics I didn't have much to go on. Plus, everything was really too easy (think Roger).
Please read Melindeeloo 4 star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Ether & Elephants had unfortunately everything on the wrong side on "enough", as plot and characters were unappealing, when not totally boring.
The hero and heroine were "dumber and dumbest", and worst, juvenile to the extreme. Their back story made no sense whatsoever. Yes, they were "engaged" and he "betrayed her" (why? Yes, you can't keep it in your pants, but marriage?). ok, fine, it was an overall plot point, but I could not see the reasons why she didn't start her own life after 8 years (8 not 1 or 2), nor why he didn't even try for annulment. ?!
Any way a second chance trope might be interesting as long as you don't give me a heroine who stopped living in the mean time. Otherwise I only get pissed as I really don't like the "a woman can't live without a man" trope. (Hey, yes you hurt, but then it ends.) :)
The plot revolves almost totally on the romance, with a scant story outside it. As I was totally uninterested in the couple and their childish antics I didn't have much to go on. Plus, everything was really too easy (think Roger).
Please read Melindeeloo 4 star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 15, 2015
With Tom and Nell’s story Ether & Elephants puts the Gaslight Chronicles to bed. While this is primarily Tom and Nell’s story there is a gathering where we get to see most of the previous characters and find out how they are getting along.
Tom and Nell’s have a back story and it comes out as the book begins. It plays a big role in how the plot progresses. There is danger and tension as they have to work together to solve a mystery and get rid of a villain once and for all.
Both have always been interesting characters and as the story progresses we see how much they both have grown and changed. Tom because of a rash action that broke Nell’s heart and Nell as she left family and friends behind to live on her own. Tom becomes much more focused and Nell much stronger.
Ether & Elephants wraps up a mystery that started in previous books while allowing us to see the characters one last time. A very nice ending to the series.
Carina Press published Ether & Elephants by Cindy Spencer Pape in 2015.
I received an ARC of Ether & Elephants from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
Tom and Nell’s have a back story and it comes out as the book begins. It plays a big role in how the plot progresses. There is danger and tension as they have to work together to solve a mystery and get rid of a villain once and for all.
Both have always been interesting characters and as the story progresses we see how much they both have grown and changed. Tom because of a rash action that broke Nell’s heart and Nell as she left family and friends behind to live on her own. Tom becomes much more focused and Nell much stronger.
Ether & Elephants wraps up a mystery that started in previous books while allowing us to see the characters one last time. A very nice ending to the series.
Carina Press published Ether & Elephants by Cindy Spencer Pape in 2015.
I received an ARC of Ether & Elephants from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
December 3, 2016
2.5 stars.
I was a little disappointed with this one but I get the feeling the author had lost momentum and that's why it's the last one for now. I found it really frustrating early on where the wrong name was used for some characters, which is something that's happened in a few of them. In this instance Belinda is referred to as Nell in one scene. It may have been in number 7 or this one that Caro is referred to as Caroline Merrick instead of Caroline Hadrian. I'm surprised the editors didn't pick up on the mistakes.
On the whole it was okay.
I was a little disappointed with this one but I get the feeling the author had lost momentum and that's why it's the last one for now. I found it really frustrating early on where the wrong name was used for some characters, which is something that's happened in a few of them. In this instance Belinda is referred to as Nell in one scene. It may have been in number 7 or this one that Caro is referred to as Caroline Merrick instead of Caroline Hadrian. I'm surprised the editors didn't pick up on the mistakes.
On the whole it was okay.
August 12, 2015
This book just didn't resonate well with me. Nell's actions made it seem like she was punishing Tom, no matter how much she denied it. Tom was very wishy-washy, not seeming like a true Knight of the Order. I also didn't find it believable that Nell would be accepted that easily by her biological father's family. There was virtually no friction, and I was expecting a lot more than was there. I found this to be a very dissatisfying end to the series.
July 25, 2015
Originally published at Reading Reality
Ether & Elephants is the last book in Cindy Spencer Pape’s Gaslight Chronicles. I’ve enjoyed the series very much, from my first night binge-reading Steam & Sorcery and Photographs & Phantoms in one lovely gulp.
My favorite in the series is still Moonlight & Mechanicals. It even made my Best Ebook Romances of 2012 list for Library Journal.
But Ether & Elephants brings the series to a very lovely conclusion – all the more so because it brings things full circle. The series both starts and ends with the adoption of a bunch of slightly misfit, seriously talented and definitely precocious children into a family that is expressly made to nurture all their varied talents.
A family headed by two adults who finally figure out that they love each other to pieces, and that nothing can, or should, stand in their way.
The journey for Sir Thomas Devere and Eleanor Hadrian is even rockier than the one in the first book – because Tom and Nell are two of the children who were adopted back then. They are all grown up now, and have loved each other forever.
And they’ve both given up hope.
Tom made a horrible mistake while he was at university. It’s not really that he gave in to temptation and fell into someone’s bed. While he may have known that he loved Eleanor, and may have guessed that she loved him, he was five or so years older and Eleanor was not yet an adult. There were no promises, no commitments – they hadn’t even talked about a possible future.
The problem was that the adventuress who seduced him claimed to be pregnant with his child, so he married her. She disappeared the morning after their wedding with the contents of his wallet and anything else in his room that seemed salable. He never saw her again, but he still feels bound to the marriage.
He also doesn’t seem to have done anything like a thorough job in investigating his runaway wife or her circumstances after the fact. A young nobleman with all the power of the Order of the Knights of the Round Table behind him should have done a much better job of tracking down the thief – or at least discovered that there was something fishy about that wedding, as there so obviously was.
Tom seems to have been too ashamed to take care of his own business, and now it may be too late. Not just because Eleanor has made a life for herself away from the family, or even that she may be engaged to another man. The problem at the root of everything is that she feels she can’t trust him.
But she needs his help. Well, she needs the Order’s help, and Tom is what she gets.
Nell has become a teacher, specifically a teacher of blind students. And one of her students has been kidnapped. This isn’t a simple rescue, because young Christopher appears to be “talented” in the way that the Knights are. He’s also not the only child, or more especially the only “talented” child, to be kidnapped in recent months. There’s also the ghost of a chance that Christopher might be Tom’s son. It’s certain that Christopher’s mother is, or was, Tom’s erstwhile wife.
In the investigation and chase to determine Christopher’s whereabouts, a number of long-buried truths come to light. They discover that Tom’s missing “wife” has been practicing the pregnant and disappearing bride scam at Oxford and Cambridge for at least ten years, meaning at least 5 years before she pulled the stunt on Tom. The inevitable conclusion is that Tom can’t possibly be married to her because she “married” so many other men first.
She’s also aimed her sights very high. All of the students she conned were rich and noble, including one well-heeled rake from Buckingham Palace. The Queen is worried there’s a little bastard princeling somewhere in the country.
And the Order’s old enemy, the Alchemist, seems to be taking these talented children to fuel a dastardly plot of his own.
Meanwhile, the chase moves to India, where Eleanor, with the Order’s help, is able to find the formerly young sailor who fathered her on a trip to England long ago. Only to find out that Nell is much better connected, at least in the Raj, than any of the Hadrians are back home.
But with all of their lives on the line, and with the certainty that Tom is now free, Nell can’t resist indulging in the passion that she has always felt for him. The question is whether passion is enough to overcome years of mistrust.
And whether they all come out of this mess alive.
Escape Rating B+: Ether & Elephants is a very nice wrap-up to the series as a whole. We first met Tom and Nell in Steam & Sorcery, when Sir Merrick Hadrian discovers Tom in the stews of London and realizes that Tom must be the son of one of his fellow Knights. That Tom will not leave behind the family that he has made and protected for years is just one more sign of his nobility, considering that Tom is all of 14 at the time.
But children grow up. Nell has always loved the young man who saved the lives of herself and her half-brother Piers, and hoped that Tom felt the same. Discovering that he did, but that he had pissed away their chance at happiness nearly broke her.
Eleanor Hadrian, like all of the family she has built, is made of stern stuff. She doesn’t just soldier on, but she finds a career that fulfills her, and makes a new life. When her new life intersects with the old one, she is the first person to volunteer to find her lost student, even knowing that she will have to deal with Tom and the ashes of their old relationship.
One of the ongoing themes of the story is that Nell doesn’t need anyone’s protection, not from the bad guys, and not from her own past. So many people have tried to be delicate about her feelings for Tom, and while she isn’t 100% sure those feelings are completely dead, she is utterly certain that she is tired of being treated like a delicate flower, because she so isn’t.
Bringing the story to India was a very nice touch. It allows Eleanor to discover and embrace the other half of her nature, and also answers the question that she has always wondered about – where do her supernatural talents come from? While I loved Eleanor’s ability to embrace her Indian family and heritage, it felt just a bit over-the-top that her father was effectively a prince. Eleanor has all the nobility she needs without inheriting it from her father along with her talent for seeing ghosts.
I liked her Indian family, and their participation in the final chase and capture is crucial, but her “Baba” didn’t have to be the social or political equal of Sir Merrick Hadrian to be effective, or to accept her as his daughter.
It gave the story an aftertaste of Eleanor’s needing to be a princess to be accepted as Lady Devere, when Tom, the Hadrians and especially Eleanor herself had all the nobility required.
I will miss the Hadrians and their magically steampunk world, but Ether & Elephants makes a fitting end to this lovely series.
Ether & Elephants is the last book in Cindy Spencer Pape’s Gaslight Chronicles. I’ve enjoyed the series very much, from my first night binge-reading Steam & Sorcery and Photographs & Phantoms in one lovely gulp.
My favorite in the series is still Moonlight & Mechanicals. It even made my Best Ebook Romances of 2012 list for Library Journal.
But Ether & Elephants brings the series to a very lovely conclusion – all the more so because it brings things full circle. The series both starts and ends with the adoption of a bunch of slightly misfit, seriously talented and definitely precocious children into a family that is expressly made to nurture all their varied talents.
A family headed by two adults who finally figure out that they love each other to pieces, and that nothing can, or should, stand in their way.
The journey for Sir Thomas Devere and Eleanor Hadrian is even rockier than the one in the first book – because Tom and Nell are two of the children who were adopted back then. They are all grown up now, and have loved each other forever.
And they’ve both given up hope.
Tom made a horrible mistake while he was at university. It’s not really that he gave in to temptation and fell into someone’s bed. While he may have known that he loved Eleanor, and may have guessed that she loved him, he was five or so years older and Eleanor was not yet an adult. There were no promises, no commitments – they hadn’t even talked about a possible future.
The problem was that the adventuress who seduced him claimed to be pregnant with his child, so he married her. She disappeared the morning after their wedding with the contents of his wallet and anything else in his room that seemed salable. He never saw her again, but he still feels bound to the marriage.
He also doesn’t seem to have done anything like a thorough job in investigating his runaway wife or her circumstances after the fact. A young nobleman with all the power of the Order of the Knights of the Round Table behind him should have done a much better job of tracking down the thief – or at least discovered that there was something fishy about that wedding, as there so obviously was.
Tom seems to have been too ashamed to take care of his own business, and now it may be too late. Not just because Eleanor has made a life for herself away from the family, or even that she may be engaged to another man. The problem at the root of everything is that she feels she can’t trust him.
But she needs his help. Well, she needs the Order’s help, and Tom is what she gets.
Nell has become a teacher, specifically a teacher of blind students. And one of her students has been kidnapped. This isn’t a simple rescue, because young Christopher appears to be “talented” in the way that the Knights are. He’s also not the only child, or more especially the only “talented” child, to be kidnapped in recent months. There’s also the ghost of a chance that Christopher might be Tom’s son. It’s certain that Christopher’s mother is, or was, Tom’s erstwhile wife.
In the investigation and chase to determine Christopher’s whereabouts, a number of long-buried truths come to light. They discover that Tom’s missing “wife” has been practicing the pregnant and disappearing bride scam at Oxford and Cambridge for at least ten years, meaning at least 5 years before she pulled the stunt on Tom. The inevitable conclusion is that Tom can’t possibly be married to her because she “married” so many other men first.
She’s also aimed her sights very high. All of the students she conned were rich and noble, including one well-heeled rake from Buckingham Palace. The Queen is worried there’s a little bastard princeling somewhere in the country.
And the Order’s old enemy, the Alchemist, seems to be taking these talented children to fuel a dastardly plot of his own.
Meanwhile, the chase moves to India, where Eleanor, with the Order’s help, is able to find the formerly young sailor who fathered her on a trip to England long ago. Only to find out that Nell is much better connected, at least in the Raj, than any of the Hadrians are back home.
But with all of their lives on the line, and with the certainty that Tom is now free, Nell can’t resist indulging in the passion that she has always felt for him. The question is whether passion is enough to overcome years of mistrust.
And whether they all come out of this mess alive.
Escape Rating B+: Ether & Elephants is a very nice wrap-up to the series as a whole. We first met Tom and Nell in Steam & Sorcery, when Sir Merrick Hadrian discovers Tom in the stews of London and realizes that Tom must be the son of one of his fellow Knights. That Tom will not leave behind the family that he has made and protected for years is just one more sign of his nobility, considering that Tom is all of 14 at the time.
But children grow up. Nell has always loved the young man who saved the lives of herself and her half-brother Piers, and hoped that Tom felt the same. Discovering that he did, but that he had pissed away their chance at happiness nearly broke her.
Eleanor Hadrian, like all of the family she has built, is made of stern stuff. She doesn’t just soldier on, but she finds a career that fulfills her, and makes a new life. When her new life intersects with the old one, she is the first person to volunteer to find her lost student, even knowing that she will have to deal with Tom and the ashes of their old relationship.
One of the ongoing themes of the story is that Nell doesn’t need anyone’s protection, not from the bad guys, and not from her own past. So many people have tried to be delicate about her feelings for Tom, and while she isn’t 100% sure those feelings are completely dead, she is utterly certain that she is tired of being treated like a delicate flower, because she so isn’t.
Bringing the story to India was a very nice touch. It allows Eleanor to discover and embrace the other half of her nature, and also answers the question that she has always wondered about – where do her supernatural talents come from? While I loved Eleanor’s ability to embrace her Indian family and heritage, it felt just a bit over-the-top that her father was effectively a prince. Eleanor has all the nobility she needs without inheriting it from her father along with her talent for seeing ghosts.
I liked her Indian family, and their participation in the final chase and capture is crucial, but her “Baba” didn’t have to be the social or political equal of Sir Merrick Hadrian to be effective, or to accept her as his daughter.
It gave the story an aftertaste of Eleanor’s needing to be a princess to be accepted as Lady Devere, when Tom, the Hadrians and especially Eleanor herself had all the nobility required.
I will miss the Hadrians and their magically steampunk world, but Ether & Elephants makes a fitting end to this lovely series.
July 8, 2017
This was a good ending to a fun series! While we didn't get everyone's story in the series, this one wraps up with two of the original Wapping group getting the always hoped for HEA, which isn't really a spoiler, because that's how they all end, so you know it has to work out!
This time around we see Nell and Tom from the original group of kids adopted by Merrick Hadrian from, the streets. We get to see that they've always felt something for each other, but somewhere along the way things have gone haywire and what should have been a no brainer pairing, seems nearly impossible now. Nell is a teacher at a school away from home, and Tom is now a full fledged member of the Order. When one of her students goes missing, she sets out to find him, with the help of Tom and others, and of course there is much more to it than just one child's disappearance.
I've really enjoyed this series, with a loose basis to the Knights of the Round Table set in Industrial Victorian, Steampunk times (because mechanical pets sound like a lot of fun, at least the ones that Wink makes!). All of the main characters have special abilities, or high intelligence in certain areas and personalities that speak to me. Feisty ladies, chivalrous men, and a huge family that works together. As an only child I always love stories involving many siblings that get along well and care deeply for each other.
A definite recommend on the Gaslight Chronicles from me for light, romanc-y and satisfying reads. I look forward to trying this author's other work!
This time around we see Nell and Tom from the original group of kids adopted by Merrick Hadrian from, the streets. We get to see that they've always felt something for each other, but somewhere along the way things have gone haywire and what should have been a no brainer pairing, seems nearly impossible now. Nell is a teacher at a school away from home, and Tom is now a full fledged member of the Order. When one of her students goes missing, she sets out to find him, with the help of Tom and others, and of course there is much more to it than just one child's disappearance.
I've really enjoyed this series, with a loose basis to the Knights of the Round Table set in Industrial Victorian, Steampunk times (because mechanical pets sound like a lot of fun, at least the ones that Wink makes!). All of the main characters have special abilities, or high intelligence in certain areas and personalities that speak to me. Feisty ladies, chivalrous men, and a huge family that works together. As an only child I always love stories involving many siblings that get along well and care deeply for each other.
A definite recommend on the Gaslight Chronicles from me for light, romanc-y and satisfying reads. I look forward to trying this author's other work!
June 6, 2020
This series is so sappy, but I'm glad I finished it - typos and all! It seems like there are so many characters now that the author couldn't quite keep track of who was supposed to be where. I liked the actual story, but I was a little bit uncomfortable with some of the historically accurate (maybe?) terms used to talk about the Indian people. The author has no problem with anachronism in her stories, and her characters are so progressive in some ways, it was jarring to see the the smell of curry described so derisively.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2023
Gaslight Chronicle series
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, last one of the Gaslight Chronicles. This author somehow manages to combine magick and science in a steampunk United Kingdom. I also loved the fact that each book followed members of a family and friends and the adventure each one went on. There is adventure and romance. It is my sincere hope that the author will revisit this world, perhaps some years later on with an adventure for the two youngest members of this family. In the meantime, I can heartily recommend this book and series.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, last one of the Gaslight Chronicles. This author somehow manages to combine magick and science in a steampunk United Kingdom. I also loved the fact that each book followed members of a family and friends and the adventure each one went on. There is adventure and romance. It is my sincere hope that the author will revisit this world, perhaps some years later on with an adventure for the two youngest members of this family. In the meantime, I can heartily recommend this book and series.
January 10, 2018
Drat! This sounds as if it is the end of the Gaslight Chronicles. A totally delightful Steampunk series with an incredibly consistent world view and characters. Each book has built on the last and flowed nicely. Yes, each can be read not in series order, but so much of character development is lost as is the background of the current book. Highly recommended. Some romance in the series, probably must evident in this one, well developed and gentle.
August 16, 2018
Very disappointed in the 8th installment of this series. Felt like it was written by someone else. Definitely a new narrator far inferior to the one who did the first seven. Don’t waste your time on this one.
July 11, 2017
I just love this book, I've re-read this again and I still can't get enough of these characters ^_^
July 24, 2017
Only read this one is because Nell was my favorite character.
December 16, 2017
I was looking forward to this one, but I just did not like it at all. Between its inaccurate depictions of colonial Indua and its stupidly annoying love story I had to force my way through this one.
July 27, 2019
Better
Than the last few books. Still needs a bit more tension between the hero and heroine. Wrapped up a bit to quickly, so the pacing felt off.
Than the last few books. Still needs a bit more tension between the hero and heroine. Wrapped up a bit to quickly, so the pacing felt off.
June 18, 2020
Still pretty despite nearing forty! Really? Agh!
April 8, 2021
Hard to like
Neither Nell or Tom are likeable in this book. I found their whole relationship annoying and petty. They both behave badly and it’s incredibly irritating.
Neither Nell or Tom are likeable in this book. I found their whole relationship annoying and petty. They both behave badly and it’s incredibly irritating.
October 24, 2021
Probably my least liked from this series.
July 9, 2015
Ether & Elephants, part of the Gaslight Chronicles by Cindy Spencer Pape, is a Gaslamp Fantasy tale that doesn’t disappoint lovers of Romance. The story revolves around star-crossed lovers Sir Thomas Devere and Eleanor Hadrian, and their attempts to recover a missing student. And, dear reader, that student is one of Eleanor’s pupils, is blind, and has supernatural powers…which is why the evil Alchemist wants him in the first place. However, it isn’t just one little powerful blind boy he wants, no; several gifted children from all over England turn up missing. Eleanor insists on accompanying Thomas all over the Empire to find her missing pupil, and along the way they rekindle their old romance. Did I mention, dear reader, Thomas had married someone else in his misspent youth, thus destroying Eleanor’s faith in love, as well as potentially fathering the very same missing pupil they are searching for? Needless to say, the trials and tribulations to be overcome are huge in the emotional department, at least for poor Eleanor.
Reader, if you love romantic entanglements to take the forefront of your Steampunk/ Gaslamp fantasies then this is the novel for you. There are several romantic entanglements set up by Ms. Pape, though one might say they are solved with distressing ease. Case in point; Eleanor becomes engaged, almost accidentally, to a nice schoolteacher she worked with at the school for gifted children. This schoolteacher, by the innocuous name of Roger, practically beams his love for Eleanor right off the page, dear reader. He positively radiates his love for Eleanor in every way a fictional character can. Ms. Pape does a wonderful job setting Roger up as the doting-albeit painfully boring- suitor that Eleanor believes she needs. However, once Roger finds out that Eleanor has her own power, he bows out of his suit, and quickly. I find it very alarming that someone so enamored of a woman would give up his love in the space of a page. There is at least one other instance, dearest reader, in which Ms. Pape has resolved a major issue in the amount of time it takes to savor a sip of tea. Most distressing, I am sure.
Additionally, the amount of time spent discussing various other characters that are from previous books in Ms. Pape’s Gaslight Chronicles may be distracting to first-time readers of the series. This is my first foray into Ms. Pape’s lovely Gaslamp world, and I must admit to a certain amount of distraction brought on by multiple mentions of several characters from earlier works. A smattering whets one’s appetite to read the previous novels, but too much of a good thing is simply too much, dear reader.
Overall, Ms. Pape’s tale of romantic woe and cross-continent rescue mission is a satisfying read. It hits all the right notes, and there are no obvious loose ends. I would be so inclined to read the previous installments of the Gaslight Chronicles, if for no other reason than to find out the story behind all the other characters mentioned in this book.
*I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest review.*
Reader, if you love romantic entanglements to take the forefront of your Steampunk/ Gaslamp fantasies then this is the novel for you. There are several romantic entanglements set up by Ms. Pape, though one might say they are solved with distressing ease. Case in point; Eleanor becomes engaged, almost accidentally, to a nice schoolteacher she worked with at the school for gifted children. This schoolteacher, by the innocuous name of Roger, practically beams his love for Eleanor right off the page, dear reader. He positively radiates his love for Eleanor in every way a fictional character can. Ms. Pape does a wonderful job setting Roger up as the doting-albeit painfully boring- suitor that Eleanor believes she needs. However, once Roger finds out that Eleanor has her own power, he bows out of his suit, and quickly. I find it very alarming that someone so enamored of a woman would give up his love in the space of a page. There is at least one other instance, dearest reader, in which Ms. Pape has resolved a major issue in the amount of time it takes to savor a sip of tea. Most distressing, I am sure.
Additionally, the amount of time spent discussing various other characters that are from previous books in Ms. Pape’s Gaslight Chronicles may be distracting to first-time readers of the series. This is my first foray into Ms. Pape’s lovely Gaslamp world, and I must admit to a certain amount of distraction brought on by multiple mentions of several characters from earlier works. A smattering whets one’s appetite to read the previous novels, but too much of a good thing is simply too much, dear reader.
Overall, Ms. Pape’s tale of romantic woe and cross-continent rescue mission is a satisfying read. It hits all the right notes, and there are no obvious loose ends. I would be so inclined to read the previous installments of the Gaslight Chronicles, if for no other reason than to find out the story behind all the other characters mentioned in this book.
*I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest review.*
July 17, 2015
Ether and Elephants wraps up the sexy and smart steampunk Gaslight Chronicles in fine style. Fans of Pape's earlier outings will appreciate finally getting to see Tom's and Nell's romance, long hinted at in the earlier volumes. But even if you're not immersed in the series, their story remains more than worthwhile.
Tom and Nell lived on the streets of this alternate universe Victorian London until Merrick swept them off the streets and into the world of the Order: a magical legacy of the knights of King Arthur devoted to protecting the monarchy and the realm. Tom turned out to be the unexpected son of an Order family while Nell's ability to speak with ghosts and compel the unwary showed a magical capability in line with the order despite her shadowy origins as the child of an East End prostitute and a visiting sailor from India. And, of course, they've always been meant for each other in their hearts and minds.
Jump forward several years and Tom and Nell are anything but together. Tom unwisely entered into a marriage with a barmaid while at university and broke Nell's heart. She's off, serving as a teacher in a school for the blind when one of her pupils, one with a magical ability, disappears. She calls in her adoptive father who brings Tom into help, and our two estranged lovers are back together.
But Pape doesn't make it easy for Tom and Nell or for the readers. Even as Nell expects that Tom's marriage was a sham, she holds his youthful infidelity against him. I honestly found her attitude a bit grating: the more she focused on how this one event, years ago, when she was underage and Tom was away and there was no recognized relationship between them, made Tom totally untrustworthy, the more I doubted Nell's judgment.
It's in the area beyond the romantic plot that this novel really shines. The mystery links Nell's missing pupil, Charlie, an old foe of the Order, the Alchemist, and Nell's unknown father. It involves travel in the ether and a concluding chase in India, hence the elephants. And, as a fair bit of steamy romance along the way as is only fitting for a steampunk romance.
I cheered for Nell and Tom all the way through and the story made for a great ending to truly grand series. Now I'm going back to the start and reading the stories over again!
I recieved an ARC via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
Tom and Nell lived on the streets of this alternate universe Victorian London until Merrick swept them off the streets and into the world of the Order: a magical legacy of the knights of King Arthur devoted to protecting the monarchy and the realm. Tom turned out to be the unexpected son of an Order family while Nell's ability to speak with ghosts and compel the unwary showed a magical capability in line with the order despite her shadowy origins as the child of an East End prostitute and a visiting sailor from India. And, of course, they've always been meant for each other in their hearts and minds.
Jump forward several years and Tom and Nell are anything but together. Tom unwisely entered into a marriage with a barmaid while at university and broke Nell's heart. She's off, serving as a teacher in a school for the blind when one of her pupils, one with a magical ability, disappears. She calls in her adoptive father who brings Tom into help, and our two estranged lovers are back together.
But Pape doesn't make it easy for Tom and Nell or for the readers. Even as Nell expects that Tom's marriage was a sham, she holds his youthful infidelity against him. I honestly found her attitude a bit grating: the more she focused on how this one event, years ago, when she was underage and Tom was away and there was no recognized relationship between them, made Tom totally untrustworthy, the more I doubted Nell's judgment.
It's in the area beyond the romantic plot that this novel really shines. The mystery links Nell's missing pupil, Charlie, an old foe of the Order, the Alchemist, and Nell's unknown father. It involves travel in the ether and a concluding chase in India, hence the elephants. And, as a fair bit of steamy romance along the way as is only fitting for a steampunk romance.
I cheered for Nell and Tom all the way through and the story made for a great ending to truly grand series. Now I'm going back to the start and reading the stories over again!
I recieved an ARC via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
July 5, 2015
I was sad to read that this is the last planned book in the series. The copy I read was an egalley I received from NetGalley, and receiving it made me pick up and read the previous two books, as I had read the rest in the series already.
This book has the long awaited match between Nell and Tom. After the shocking revelation at the end of the previous book, 2 or 3 years have passed and Nell has decided that they were never meant to be as a couple, and Tom is still full of guilt and self-loathing. Nell has taken a job at a school for blind children, which she loves, but one of her students goes missing. He is only 9, and she finds out a strange woman has come and taken him. Because he has magical talent, she is concerned, and when the headmistress is unwilling to act, she calls in her family.
Tom comes with her father, and he starts to realize that he is more involved in the case than he expected. As they begin to investigate, they find that the missing student may be one of many other children who have gone missing and there is a tie to Tom's past. The investigation also uncovers more information about Tom's past, and the fact that Nell is now a stronger and more assertive woman than she had been. She is bound and determined that they are history, and even finds herself with another suitor. I wondered how that would be handled, and it was, although in a way that left me with a number of questions.
We get to see most of the family before Tom and Nell go on their trip. This is a trip during which Tom gets to be an idiot, Nell learns a lot about her past, and the villain from a previous book is revealed. There is also one very funny scene . In fact, while this book is less light than the previous few, there were still a few scenes that made me laugh. Overall it was a fun read.
This book has the long awaited match between Nell and Tom. After the shocking revelation at the end of the previous book, 2 or 3 years have passed and Nell has decided that they were never meant to be as a couple, and Tom is still full of guilt and self-loathing. Nell has taken a job at a school for blind children, which she loves, but one of her students goes missing. He is only 9, and she finds out a strange woman has come and taken him. Because he has magical talent, she is concerned, and when the headmistress is unwilling to act, she calls in her family.
Tom comes with her father, and he starts to realize that he is more involved in the case than he expected. As they begin to investigate, they find that the missing student may be one of many other children who have gone missing and there is a tie to Tom's past. The investigation also uncovers more information about Tom's past, and the fact that Nell is now a stronger and more assertive woman than she had been. She is bound and determined that they are history, and even finds herself with another suitor. I wondered how that would be handled, and it was, although in a way that left me with a number of questions.
We get to see most of the family before Tom and Nell go on their trip. This is a trip during which Tom gets to be an idiot, Nell learns a lot about her past, and the villain from a previous book is revealed. There is also one very funny scene . In fact, while this book is less light than the previous few, there were still a few scenes that made me laugh. Overall it was a fun read.
August 1, 2015
Alchemy and abduction
Nell and Tom; sweethearts for ever! One careless hasty step and Tom finds himself married to someone else. Eleanor Hadrian has loved Tom since before she can remember. Now she finds her best friend and true love has betrayed her trust. Nell throws her energies and shattered heart into a teaching career. When her favourite student, a musically gifted blind child is kidnapped its time to call in her very peculiar a family, including Sir Thomas Devere.
At the same time other children are going missing. The spectre of the alchemist is raised once again. Nell and Tom must join forces to track down Charlie who may be more important to Tom than he could guess. Along the way they gather up Nell's newly minted fiancé and mathematics teacher, Roger.
This time the intrigue stretches to India. Racing to reach those shores before those they are chasing, Nell and Tom catch an airship and meet some interesting folk along the way.
Nell is faced with the possibility of finding her biological father, her anxiety over the fate of Charlie and her heart's desire, whatever that might be. Tom must resign himself to being the supportive friend and brother that he has always been. Lover and husband is a dream to be banished. He made his bed, now he must lie in it.
Another fabulous read about the denizens of the Gaslight Chronicles.
A NetGalley ARC
Nell and Tom; sweethearts for ever! One careless hasty step and Tom finds himself married to someone else. Eleanor Hadrian has loved Tom since before she can remember. Now she finds her best friend and true love has betrayed her trust. Nell throws her energies and shattered heart into a teaching career. When her favourite student, a musically gifted blind child is kidnapped its time to call in her very peculiar a family, including Sir Thomas Devere.
At the same time other children are going missing. The spectre of the alchemist is raised once again. Nell and Tom must join forces to track down Charlie who may be more important to Tom than he could guess. Along the way they gather up Nell's newly minted fiancé and mathematics teacher, Roger.
This time the intrigue stretches to India. Racing to reach those shores before those they are chasing, Nell and Tom catch an airship and meet some interesting folk along the way.
Nell is faced with the possibility of finding her biological father, her anxiety over the fate of Charlie and her heart's desire, whatever that might be. Tom must resign himself to being the supportive friend and brother that he has always been. Lover and husband is a dream to be banished. He made his bed, now he must lie in it.
Another fabulous read about the denizens of the Gaslight Chronicles.
A NetGalley ARC
August 21, 2015
A nice ending to the series, although hopefully the author will decide to revisit this world in the future.
If you enjoy Steampunk, adventure, and the paranormal mixed with your Romance, this is a fun series that introduces a group characters and sees them find happily ever after in their own books.
Fans of Kerrelyn Sparks, Love at Stake series would enjoy this series. And vise versa for fans looking for a new series to sink your teeth in.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
If you enjoy Steampunk, adventure, and the paranormal mixed with your Romance, this is a fun series that introduces a group characters and sees them find happily ever after in their own books.
Fans of Kerrelyn Sparks, Love at Stake series would enjoy this series. And vise versa for fans looking for a new series to sink your teeth in.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
January 29, 2016
ARC honest review for Carina Press via Netgalley.
This is the 8th book in the series. And this is the second book in the series that I have read, the first being book 2 - Photographs & Phantoms.
I like the fact that each book is a stand alone, and can be read out of sequence. These are books you can just pick up and just get lost within the story that the author has created, without having to backtrack to previous books to find out what is going on! The author has artfully integrated back information within the story, without bogging the reader down.
These Steam Punk books are classed as YA (I think), and are full of adventure, intrigue, romance and some sex scenes.
They are well written, plotted and have full rounded characters. And It was a really enjoyable read.
Please visit my blog @ https://finalchapterreadersgroup.word... like and follow.
This is the 8th book in the series. And this is the second book in the series that I have read, the first being book 2 - Photographs & Phantoms.
I like the fact that each book is a stand alone, and can be read out of sequence. These are books you can just pick up and just get lost within the story that the author has created, without having to backtrack to previous books to find out what is going on! The author has artfully integrated back information within the story, without bogging the reader down.
These Steam Punk books are classed as YA (I think), and are full of adventure, intrigue, romance and some sex scenes.
They are well written, plotted and have full rounded characters. And It was a really enjoyable read.
Please visit my blog @ https://finalchapterreadersgroup.word... like and follow.
July 13, 2015
Everyone makes mistakes when they are young. Tom made a promise to Nell but a mistake nearly costs him what he wants most. Add in a dash of suspense, magick, and some unique machines and you have a wonderful story about love, family and trust.
Ms. Pape tells an engaging tale from the courts of England to the palaces of India. Her characters are complex and filled with determination, passion, and honor.
I loved how the story wove through her other books, yet is a stand alone. Having not read any of the others, I was able to read and enjoy this one, but it now has me wanting to read more!
Fans of tales of Sherlock Holmes will love this tale of mystery!
Ms. Pape tells an engaging tale from the courts of England to the palaces of India. Her characters are complex and filled with determination, passion, and honor.
I loved how the story wove through her other books, yet is a stand alone. Having not read any of the others, I was able to read and enjoy this one, but it now has me wanting to read more!
Fans of tales of Sherlock Holmes will love this tale of mystery!
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