Mummy Cat Claire's Reviews > Steam & Sorcery

I enjoy steampunk books but this book isn't what I was hoping. It really is just a glorified romance novel.

Set in Westminster, London in 1851, Sir Merrik Hadrian is working in the order and trying to keep normalcy in the city. After a short chase with vampires, he runs into a group of children and they help him defeat the foes. After this sort of bond, the children come home to live in society, be educated and be tended to by a governess.
Miss Caroline Bristol is a governess that seems to sexually attract her male employers, causing her to lose or quit her position. After Merrik's sister insists she come work for them, Caroline reluctantly agrees.
There are five children in all, they are all orphans and have lived on the streets for some time. Caroline takes to them immediately. Merrick and Caroline begin with a professional relationship but their feelings grow. Meanwhile, the children are in danger.

The book contains a power called Magick within the Knight of the Order. There are vampyres, werewolves and clockwork devices mentioned in the book but nothing really new and nothing is explained in detail. The world was fairly typical and only served as a backdrop to the story.

The romance was cheesy and quite unlikely. It had an air of "yeah, right!" The governess role was stretched to include into society when the children were present at a social function. I thought it was rather unlikely but this book is not supposed to be super accurate.

The author took her time in developing each child's character. With five of them, it could very easily become confusing and convoluted. I appreciated the author taking time in naming the children then explaining their ages, circumstances and abilities. It helped me keep everyone together.

Miss Dorthy is Merrick's sister. She is in a relationship with Miss Julian. Mr. Berry is Tommy's tutor and I thought he was rather mean. Meanness doesn't teach and I wasn't a fan of his. Caroline and him clashed and for good reason, but Mr. Berry was only "talked to."

Overall, not the most exciting and deep book ever but it was somewhat entertaining. I won't continue on in the series. I just didn't love the characters and the story that much. I was disappointed that the book concentrated more on the romance between the two main characters and not the steampunk world they lived in.

Content: some language