Beauty and the Clockwork Beast
Rose Verney wants to fulfill her father’s dying request: to complete construction of the teleportation device he designed. Knowing just who can help her succeed, she seeks out Sebastian Cavendish, her father’s brilliant former student.Sebastian hasn’t left his home since he returned from the Civil War. He's a broken man, his prosthetics a reminder of the terrible destruction his inventions brought to the battlefield. He wants nothing to do with Rose and her father's masterpiece, but when she barges into his abandoned lab and begins construction, it’s everything he can do to resist getting involved. Especially when she charms her way into his monstrous heart.
Demon Express
Professor Maisy Clark, professional demon hunter, is on the trail of an evil scientist responsible for the deaths of hundreds. Julian is worse than the monsters he creates, but he's also obsessed with Maisy and willing to kill anyone who gets too close to her. Just when she thinks she has Julian cornered, the sexy marshall Jake Calloway insists the investigation is his, and everything goes to hell. Maisy came to Texas to corner the scientist whose macabre experiments have taken so many lives, and Calloway is just another distraction she doesn’t need. Julian is her responsibility, one she’s not about to share. Even if Calloway can help, Julian will know Maisy is falling for the marshall, and she's not willing to risk his life.
The Clockwork Bride
When engineer Aida Mulvaney attends a masquerade ball at the home of a staunch Luddite earl with a personal vendetta against her father’s company, she doesn’t expect to end the night married to the earl’s son Julian Capshaw, a brilliant engineer in his own right. The marriage will allow both of them to pursue their love of science, without interfering parents and ridiculous social stigmas. Though they escape to the Continent to start new lives, Julian’s father will have none of his heir’s disobedience. Before long, a marriage begun for the sake of convenience becomes a union of passion, but will it survive the machinations of an earl determined to destroy everything they love?
REVIEW
Beauty and the Clockwork Beast
This was a very interesting retelling of “Beauty and the Beast.” Rose tracks down Sebastian who used to work with her father. Rose’s father has passed away and she wants help in finishing his teleporting machine. When Rose finds Sebastian, he refuses to help her and tells Rose that she needs to leave first thing in the morning. Rose stays instead. She begins to work on her father’s machine until Sebastian gives in and finally helps her. When something goes terribly wrong and Rose is injured, Sebastian sends for George to come and pick her up to take her home. Sebastian realizes how much he really needs Rose. I enjoyed this short story. I thought it was well written for a retelling of “Beauty and the Beast.” The clockwork machines and devices were a nice touch to bring the story a steam punk background.
Clockwork Bride
I really enjoyed “The Clockwork Bride.” I thought this story was entertaining and it kept my interest. I think Julian and Aida’s relationship is one for the fairy tale books. These two characters are amazing. In the beginning I was slightly nervous seeing where this novella was going to go but I have to say that I loved it. I thought it was great. The story definitely perked up and exceeded my expectations. I really enjoyed not only the plot but the characters and the different inventions that were mentioned in the clockwork world. The bantering that the characters get into is quite fun also. I think Patricia Eimer did a great job with this story and I can’t wait to read more from her.
Demon Express
“Demon Express” by Candace Havens definitely keeps the readers on their toes. The unnatural creatures that come out at night are no match for Maisy. These creatures are created by her ex-fiancé. Marshall begins to get in the way of Maisy’sinvestigation and creates issues. The action doesn’t seem to stop in “Demon Express,” however it was my least favorite novella out of the three. This story very much had a western vibe to it. I do think this story was a little rushed and I am assuming this was because it was suppose to be kept short for this collection. The romance that tried to take place between Calloway and Maisy went by way too quickly. It was to tell if they were even interested in each other.
I give "Riveting Affair" three out of five bookshelves.
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