Kiss of Steel

You can find more of my reviews on my blog, Pages of Starlight.

I only read about half of the book and then, around page two hundred thirty-four, began skimming. Because of this, some of the issues I had might be inapplicable to what happens in the latter half of the book. Also, because of this, I will not be adding this book to any of my challenges. Also, please note that this review will contain a few spoilers about the world and what some of the terms mean for this setting.

I picked up this book because I thought it was going to be a steampunk romance. How wrong I was. This book has a slight - very slight - level of steampunk, and that's mostly thanks to one character's automail arm. Oh, and the little automaton that reminded me of a robotic vacuum. What this book is, is a paranormal romance and little else. The romance, as it is, is expected to carry the whole book. Now, that probably works for some people - but I was misled as to what this book was.

I didn't realize that the main guy was a vampire - for all the author's unwillingness to use that word when describing him. There's two different types of vampires in this book: the vicious, blood thirsty creatures that are nothing more than a walking corpse (they even smell like one)... and the ‘blue-bloods' that are every teen girl's dream. The term ‘blue-blood' actually has double meaning in this book, both separating the vampires from the more ‘in control' beasts, and because - at least in theory - only the toffs can be infected with ‘the virus'. To me this book really sounds like Ms. McMaster wanted her cake and to eat it too. She's got the old-fashioned vampires - the ones that are nothing more than walking, rotting corpses that think of little else besides food, of which we are their primary source - however, that wouldn't make a good romance hero. So, she make vampires an offshoot of ‘blue-bloods' - or, rather, what ‘blue-bloods' become when they ‘fade'.

There was also a lot of talk about ‘a cure'. Now, I won't deny that I used to be easily taken by vampires - but that was before all this dark, brooding, ‘the cure' business that seems to have been first popularized by Angel. (TV series of the same name. Spin off of Buffy: the Vampire Slayer.) I hate vampire stories where they are looking for ‘the cure' as if being a vampire was a disease that has absolutely no upside. In the defense of this book, at least the ‘virus' would kill the infected eventually - or, rather, turn them into raving, bloodthirsty beasts - so you can kind of understand people not wanting to be that. However, Blade is still alive and going strong fifty years after being infected, so you can expect at least a normal lifespan as well as one greatly enhanced in prowess and abilities. I would like to add that the ending and how they dealt with Blade's ‘virus' seemed like a great cop-out to me.

The world was incredibly confusing and it took way too long to figure out what terms like ‘Echelon' and ‘The Virus' and ‘Blue-Bloods' actually meant in this world. I will admit that I was intrigued by the world building - which was probably why I stuck it out as long as I did. However, once you actually understand what each of these terms mean, there just wasn't anything there for me.

I would love to say that the characters made it all worth while... but they didn't. Honoria was kind of stupid and way too quick to fall in love lust with Blade. And Blade himself...First I must mention how unfortunate the name is. Really? A vampire named ‘Blade'? Now where have I heard that before? (If you don't know, Blade is a dhampir - a half-human/half-vampire crossbreed - in the Marvel Universe that hunts vampires.) So sorry, this Blade is a pale imitation (no pun intended, I assure you) of that Blade. And this vampire was really off putting when you first get inside is head. You see, Blade had just met Honoria for all of ten minutes - and he already decided that he would make her his. shudder That's pretty much the limit of his character thoughts, too. ‘she's mine' ‘I will claim her' and on and on ad nauseam.

(Ick, I'm feeling a little squicked out now.) This alpha male mentality is one reason I've never really read many romance novels. Not to mention the little habit many romance authors seem to have of using the ‘no means yes' mentality. (Yes, this book has that too. Lucky me.)

I'm not really sure what was supposed to be the plot of this story as even the few romance novels I've read have more of a plot than this one does. It just seemed to boil down to Honoria having to let herself go enough to admit that she wanted Blade. (Admit that to his face, I mean. She already admitted it to herself the first time he pressed himself against her and held a knife to her throat. During their first meeting. Yes, I found it as pleasant sounding in context as out.) And Blade working on fattening Honoria up enough that he could make her his feed on her suck her blood aw hell, there's no way of saying that that doesn't make me want to cover my neck and run for the hills.

A couple of final notes now. First, I was enchanted by the cover. However, Blade looked nothing like the - admittedly handsome - guy on the cover. Even the hair color is wrong. And I surely never recalling reading Honoria dressed like that.

And, secondly: the technical aspects of the writing were good - and I'll willingly admit that they were. There were no confusion and needing to re-read a sentence five times until it, finally, made sense. I could easily picture the scenes and locale. That's all to the good. Unfortunately, this is destined to be a good news/bad news scenario. While the technical writing was good, the creative aspect failed for me. It was almost as though a checklist was laid out for the best way to get readers. Something that, if I'm going by the books reception at Goodreads, paid off wonderfully.

Honestly, while reading this book it really felt like I was reading a poor knockoff/imitation of the Parasol Protectorate series. Victorian London? Check. Paranormal/Supernatural love interest? Check. ‘Independent' female? Check. Steampunk aesthetic? Check. But really, this book failed in so many aspects and didn't even have interesting characters. Or even entertaining characters.

Finally, just because the guy's name is Blade, that doesn't mean he is Eric Brooks. Eric Brooks, for those of you that don't know, is the actual name of that Marvel character I mentioned higher on my review.

Super interesting mix of steampunk and fantasy. The world is interesting and really want to know what is going on. I will definitely be continuing this series.

Holy crap. I have only read the first two of this series – I have three more to read. (My Lady Quicksilver, Forged By Desire, and Of Silk and Steam, with a second series in the same universe called The Blue Blood Conspiracy.) (Edit: I've now read three and four, and they're also excellent)

THESE ARE SO GOOD.

Victorian Steampunk in London with vampires, mechs, and werewolves (sort of) with romance, a political conspiracy plot, and plenty of action? YES PLEASE. These books are excellently written, with a hefty plot that moves at a perfect pace. Both romances have been very believable and intertwined seamlessly with the larger world's plot. Each book is a hefty length, enough to really get absorbed in and flesh out everything that needs to be covered, without dragging on and getting old. The characters are fascinating – even the side characters are interesting enough that I really hope future books focus on them.

I don't have a single bad thing to say about this series, and I can't wait to read the next books. I am forcing myself to take a break from the series, even though I have the next two books, because I have library books that are due sooner that I need to read!

See all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks

A reasonably entertaining read...I've never been too fond of the vampire as a love interest. However, the book was fast-paced and I did like Honoria (apart from the name).

Intriguing characters and interesting world building. Honoria is a tough, loyal, and confused character. Blade seems dangerous but his personality grows into a more protective, and kind character. The steampunk world is not focused on the gadget side but the medical developments, which makes for an interesting twist. Great debut. Although I love the cover art the main male character is blond.

I was a little disappointed in this book, which got great hype, although for 99 cents I really can't complain. The heroine stood up to the hero when he got his alpha on, but she also turned to putty in his arms pretty easily and didn't do much to protect herself in dangerous situations. Definitely not a kick-ass heroine, even if she admirably did all she could to care for her younger sister and brother. The hero was a little too over the top and he lost me pretty much for good when he literally demanded submission from the heroine. Looks like there is plenty of sequel potential, starting with the heroine's sister and the hero's werewolf sidekick but I'm not sure I have enough interest to follow along.