Kiss of Steel (London Steampunk Book 1)

The plot moves excruciatingly slowly and McMaster is one of those authors who likes to keep the reader in the dark, both as far as the characters go and in terms of world building. I admit I'm not a huge fan of steampunk - the restrictions of 19th-century England and the freedom of sci-fi fantasy just seem too antithetical to me to work - but this book has such rave reviews that I thought I should try it. But nope, the poor, yet virginal heroine, who just does not want to give into her passion and the evil, but good-at-heart hero whose passion sweeps her away is such a familiar trope that I could not get engaged.

This was a wonderful wonderful book. I absolutely couldn't put it down. I love the steampunk theme intertwined with the vampire theme. I cannot wait for the next book, werewolves beat vamps any day!!

The story of honoraria and blade is fascinating.it's a Non stop action romance. Very well written with fascinating characters,lots of tension and mystery. I really loved it and can't wait for the next novel.

The premise of this book intrigued me and lured me to buy it. A vampire named Blade, a brilliant woman who does not want his help but needs it, put together in a steampunk universe. I enjoyed this book and the world she built. I want to read more stories in this world. But if you really like steampunk for the descriptions of crazy machines, or you want lore with your vampires and werewolves, this is not the book for you. This is really a straight and simple romance.

What an awesome debut. Gorgeous blend of action and romance--with steampunk so subtly done, I was in the story 100% for the whole ride. Not sure I can make it to next May for McMaster's next installment.

I could not ask for a better romance! Bec McMaster is a goddess among wordsmiths! You cannot help but fall in love with the characters and the world building is flawless. I truly, truly admire Bec's talents.

A MUST READ FOR ALL ROMANCE ENTHUSIASTS!

Creative spin on vampires and werewolves that goes outside the norm. I've grown accustomed to the poorly edited ebooks with storylines filled with holes that this rare find was a breath of fresh air. Descriptive, well-rounded characters and a realistic point of view makes this a fluid read. Thank you Bec McMaster for such a well written book!

This book is for any romance minded steampunker. This was my first foray into this genre and I am impressed.This book had   action,romance,world building that seemed impressively real.Kiss of Steel is a good book.  Give it twenty pages,you'll thank me for an escape to somewhere completely different,with people you like,under challenging circumstances.

I absolutely love this book, and cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

I had never read a "steampunk" book before and I was very impressed. This is a gritty romance with strong characters. I literally could not put the book down! Can't wait for them all!

I. Loved. This book.

Dark, and gritty, with a scrumptious blend of steampunk, vampires, sex, and danger, this book captured me from the very first paragraph and wouldn't let me go until I'd finished it. I actually ended up staying up all night reading it, even knowing I had to get up early the next morning, because I couldn't stand the thought of putting it down.

That doesn't happen often with me.

Blade was delicious, with his barely-leashed violence and animalistic intensity when it came to Honoria, and he easily ranks as one of my new favorite heroes in romance.

Honoria, too, was a surprisingly enjoyable character, with just enough stubbornness and pride to keep things interesting, but well balanced with quite a bit of intelligence and passion.

The gloriously dark world-building, the steampunk elements blended beautifully with the paranormal, the luscious romance and the incredible chemistry all added up to a must read for any fan of gothic romance with a steampunk twist.

5/5 Stars

{This book provided, free of charge, by the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Full review available on The Romanceaholic}

This review was first published on Kurt's Frontier.

Happy New Year, 2018!!!

Synopsis:

Honoria Todd has found shelter in the dreaded Whitechapel district of London. Her sister Lena and brother Charles are safe from the man who murdered her father. Her father had been working on a cure for the blood-craving. Now Charles is infected, and Honoria is trying to get the money to help him.

Blade is known as the master of the rookeries. He is faster and stronger than a mortal man—nearly immortal. He was infected by the blood-craving long ago. Since then he has gone toe-to-toe with the upper crust, called the Echelon. Since accidentally killing his sister due to the blood-craving, he has had to keep himself under control. Honoria turns his world upside down, testing his tenuous control. However, she is stubborn and may be just what he needs.

Review:

Bec McMaster’s book seems to be steampunk on the edges. It focuses more on a fantasy romance with vampires and werewolves. Honoria Todd was born in the upper middle class, but not a “Blue Blood”, nobility infected with the blood-craving. (It seems the fashionable thing to do.) However, Blade is someone who was infected by Vickers, tormented, then left to kill his sister in his need. This has always haunted Blade. Vickers was funding Honoria’s father’s research for a cure for the blood-craving. When her father disappeared, Vickers put a price on her head and the heads of her sister and brother.

The book is a little slow in places, focusing more on the paranormal romance end of the story. So the adventure elements of the story give way to the interpersonal elements of it. Blade and Honoria are attracted to each other. Each has to win the other’s trust. Both are stubborn, making the relationship exciting. The end result isn’t exactly a page turner but interesting. I’m interested in seeing how the rest of the series plays out.

If you enjoy a variety of different romance sub-genres, and are looking for something new, Kiss of Steel and the London Steampunk Series may just be the answer. A hybrid between a historical, paranormal, and a science-fiction romance, Steampunk Romance combines the best of many of the romance sub-genres that I enjoy, with the added benefit of bestowing it all in one convenient package.

Of course, the London Steampunk genre's primary unifying characteristic is that the world contains steam-powered machinery, in this case somewhat akin to fighting robots, and is set in an alternate version of the 19th Century British Victorian era. However, for Steampunk afficionados, I will note that in Kiss of Steel I found the use of steam powered steel robots to be more of a background element than a central focal point. Instead, Ms. McMaster's writing is much more focused on the individual characteristics and personalities of these dynamic characters in this brave new world.

Also, please note that this series, like many paranormal based series, is meant to be read in order, as the underlying world continues to evolve over each sequential read. That said, the primary political and suspense filled battle and the romance between the main hero and his heroine is satisfyingly resolved, so you are not left with a cliffhanger feeling--just a desire to move on to the next chapter in this alluring series.

Honoria Todd is desperately trying to keep her younger siblings in hiding. Having lived among the Echelon (the rich and powerful, upper class, who rule this world), something happened in her past and she and her siblings are in hiding from a rich and powerful "Blue Blood." They have sought their anonymity in the dreaded Whitechapel district (the slums of this world were the poor and powerless live). Scraping every penny to get by, Honoria is finally at her at last straw, when she is summoned to the "master of the rookeries," Blade, the monstrous rogue, blood-craving leader of the Whitechapel district.

"Blue Bloods" have superhuman strength and healing abilities and are very difficult to kill. Only sons of royal Blue Bloods are typically approved by the Council of Dukes to be infected with the "craving virus" which turns a human into a Blue Blood. However, Blade was infected notwithstanding his seemingly less than royal blood lines. The downside of the virus is that, at its extreme, it can turn a Blue Blood or rogue, like Blade, into a vampire. Vampires are not good beings in the London Steampunk world. Instead, vampires lose all rationality and only know an insane craving for blood. Blue Bloods who reach this level are usually exterminated, so maintaining an optimal level of the craving virus without letting it overtake you, is of paramount importance in this world.

Given his ruthless reputation Honoria is scared to meet Blade, and yet she knows that she can and must do anything to survive--as well as help her little brother who is showing signs of blood craving virus. So Honoria does the "honorable" thing and delivers herself to Blade's doorstep knowing that he will likely use her for her blood, and may very well die in the process.

Blade, however, is surprised at the unique affect that Honoria has on him. He seems to have no control when it comes to her. And yet, he can't get enough of her. So unusual is this connection that at first they strike a unique bargain, but as each's situation becomes more dire, they will each need to decide whether Blade is the "monster" with teetering control that everyone claims he is or whether salvation lies in love.

For the most part, I found Alison Larkin's narration to be enjoyable. As you can imagine, given the London world, many of the characters have British accents, which Ms. Larkin performs well. Ms. Larkin also delivers the story with good pacing and her tone matches the mood of the scenes well.

The one area, that I will note will either work for you or not, is Blade's parts. In that regard, Blade has a somewhat unusual and very distinctive sound to him (somewhat akin, but not in its sound, more just in it's uniqueness, to Tavia Gilbert's rendition of Bones, from the Night Huntress Series by Jeaniene Frost). Adding further difficulty to this role is Ms. McMaster's writing in an accent that varies (depending on his grasp of control on his humanity) from his more typical cockney accent to at other times a more upper class sounding accent. All of these factors, render Blade's role a very tough one to nail and definitely a very different sounding hero which may not be to everyone's taste. Therefore, while I enjoyed the audio, I highly suggest that you sound sample this audiobook before determining what format to enjoy the story in.

All in all, Kiss of Steel was a fantastic start to a very promising series, and I can't wait to dig in to book 2, Heart of Iron.

Source: Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

This steampunk vampire romance definitely hit all the spots. It's filled with action, romance, and lots of steamy bits (Get it?). I do believe that this could have been a bit more steampunkier (is that even a word?), but the few mechanical hybrids depicted were quite interesting.

You know how sometimes being the reader you can see both sides of the story, and you already know that one of the characters was actually a good person even though their reputation shows different? Well, this was one of those stories. Even though I really loved her spunk, Honoria was one of those characters that I really wanted to just throttle at times throughout the story. I understood her reasoning behind not trusting Blade, but knowing that he was actually a good guy, and that she was just basing her judgments off of what she heard from other people, it made me want to just slap her a little bit and explain to her how he really was. But, I'm glad that she realized her mistake before it was too late. The two of them make such an awesome couple.

I like the way that in this take on the vampire genre, the vampire is the end result of a disease that you can be inoculated against, versus just being the result of being bitten by another vampire. I like that the transition to vampire is very slow... depending on the situation.

I'm really hoping the next book in the series is about Will and Honoria's sister. That wolf really needs somebody to give him a good hug (lol). Anywho, this was an excellent story.

Kiss of Steel is an erotic historical paranormal (steampunk it really isn't) story that differs in the genre a bit because the hero isn't an aristocrat: he is pretty much a street rat vampire gang leader on the wrong side of town (though with the prerequisite heart of gold, of course). Very graphic sex is interspersed with a mystery that will be solved at the conclusive end. Although there are other books in this world, this is a stand alone.

Honoria Todd lives in disgrace in a disreputable part of London after her father is killed in the line of researching vampires. The country is ruled by the bluebloods - creatures who were infected with a virus (brought back with a "lost Continent' type of explorer) and who exist on blood. Her father's research may prove key to understanding the virus - but all Honoria has left is her sister, her brother, and her father's diaries. Desperate, out of money, she makes a blood bargain to be a thrall with a local gang lord - a blue blood himself despite not being of aristocratic stock. Then a rogue vampire starts murdering and the murders seem to all link back to Honoria. Can she and Blade, her vampire lover, save her family as well as her own skin from both the rogue vampire and the bluebloods?

While I liked the book, I found I just wasn't invested in it. It was decently written, the plot solid, and certainly no major fault can be found overall. But I found I just wasn't interested in the main character, her lover Blade, or nearly any of the other characters. Blade was a bit too good to be true, Honoria too missish (which was appropriate for the era, however), and the mystery just didn't seem get very interesting. I think if more time had been devoted to the characters and plot rather than various sex or near sex scenes, it would have been more immediate. The last quarter of the book was pretty much sex scenes, which are fine for others but really a bit too much for me (I'd rather go to an erotic title for that much intercourse).

So although I rate this 3 stars, it really wasn't a terrible book. And certainly it wasn't the average historical romance. But it just never really hooked me into the action and characters. And certainly it isn't steampunk.

I listened to an Audible version of this book. Although the narrator did a decent job, I think she might have overdone the intonations, making Honoria seem girlie and Blade a bit too guttery?

Believe me I had my doubts about this series when I started to read it. I was told to read something in the Steampunk subgenre. I have never been much for sci-fi in general, but all I can say this book alone has changed my mind. My heart is still racing and it only took me two days to read this. IT is listed at having 423 pages. I just could not put it down. I read it on my kindle. I loved most of the characters, but I would have to say my favorites would have to be Blade, Will and Lena. That does not mean I did not enjoy the rest. I know that we all pick our book favorites.
I love the whole Victorian and being a court part, but the fight scenes where by far my favorite part of the storyline. I felt like I was right there amongst all the grit and grime. I was so pulled into the world that I have so ready to start the next one in the series as soon as I can get my hands on to it. One thing that did hit me to the core was the fact on how the two sides of society were so far apart and it almost hurt to think how one looked so down on the other. I am not saying that all of the Elchelon were bad people. I saw a little glimmer in Barrons and even the Queen.
I don’t want to tell you too much. I want you to go out and read this book yourself. I hope that you enjoy it as much as you do. I will try to have another review or post up for you very soon

This was a great historical romance. Honoria was an interesting female lead. I like how it emphasized how cruel and harsh it was for woman in that time period. Society basically made it impossible for woman to avoid becoming a prostitute. It's a sad truth. It was bad for women to work or have a profession. By protecting women society made them become part of a work force that it frowned upon.

I loved Honoria's determination to take care of her family and protect them. She knew when to fold and when to push on. Blade was the perfect counterpart for her. Shockingly he wasn't the typical mysterious male. It soon become clear that he was a compassionate and respectful lead. The way he treated Honoria was wonderful. Normally by the time the PNR ends I feel like the woman should have slapped the guy and told him where the crap to shove it. Instead I felt like Honoria was in the wrong most of the time, but I understood where she was coming from.

The quality of the writing was wonderful and I could see the world in my minds eye. Sadly the world building wasn't what I had hoped for. The time period felt real, but the steampunk themes where underdeveloped. The society with vampires and werewolves was so well thought out and developed with an alternative history that I was baffled how badly the technology was lacking. There are robots and a few “steampunk” things. But they were never described. What did the robots look like? How did they tick exactly? It was vague and it seemed like more of the technology was randomly talked about then actually present in the book.

Overall as a romance it was great. The society of vampires was well realized. But I felt like this could have been just another Victorian with a vampire twist than a steampunk. Hopefully the next book addresses this issue. At this point the Steampunk felt like a gimmick to lure in fans. However, I loved the setup and character Kiss of Steel introduced and I want to see them in their own stories. Not to mention I want to see a revolution in this London/Britain. Down with the blue bloods! Not to mention I want to see how other male leads will be. It was so wonderful to have a male lead who wasn't a total jerk.

Sexual Content: Sexual humor, standard romance/sex scene, some frank thoughts/discussions about prostitution as a career choice and such. Some darker themes, but overall pretty standard.

3/5- Adored it, just a few minor details held it back.

Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.

Honoria Todd has lived in blue blood servitude ever since her father started working as a researcher for one of the most powerful Barons in the city. The blue bloods are infected with a blood disease that gives them incredible strength and speed, certain powers and abilities that ensure they will always be the ruling class. With their metaljacket guards and their Nighthawk warriors, they essentially control the whole nation.
Her father was in the process of finding a cure or a vaccine for the virus that eventually turn the blue bloods into mindless vampires, when he is killed, leaving Honoria at the mercy of the Baron Vickers, who on many occasions, has taunted her with vial words and revolting solicitations. So she takes her father's research and her younger siblings and hides herself away in London's Whitechapel district, hoping against hope that they are never found.
She finds a job as an elocution tutor for one of the more well-to-do families and disguises her living situation, but returns to the slums each night hoping to avoid trouble at all cost. On her way home one night, the Whitechapel slum lord, Blade requests an audience with her, a request she can not take lightly, for he is also a blue blood and one who rules with an equal iron fist. In exchange for his protection in the slum, she will go to him three times a week to give him elocution lessons, a bargain that she is happy to make, until she loses her job and that bargain becomes a life line.
Then her past catches up with her and it takes everything she has, her whit and courage, her fighting spirit, to save those she love, and to avoid the evil that sent her into hiding in the first place.
Vampires in Victorian England with a load of adventure and a little mystery. It wasn't the best Steampunk paranormal I've read in a while. I think there was too much focus on the Honoria and Blade relationship and not enough on the mystery surrounding Whitechapel. I think that the author was more interested in writing a vampire erotica that fell flat more than anything.
4 stars out of 5 as it was well written, but I've no interest in reading more in the series.

My Rating 4.5. This 'vampire' story has a different bite. It is set in a wonderfully steampunk Victorian England with strong characters and a good action plot.

In Honoria's world the upperclass are the infected Blue Bloods, the ruling houses of the Echelon who are allied with the Queen. They have their armies of metaljackets and the specially trained Nighthawk warriors. Honoria was once a 'lady' with expectations of becoming a respected "thrall" to one of the Blue Blood families. Her father was a brilliant scientist who was experimenting to develop a cure or at least a vaccine against the blood craving virus that will first give a man strength and heightened abilities but eventually degenerates into the bestial vampires that are executed at first signs of deterioration. Honoria was her father's research assistant and kept a diary almost as good as his.

When her father is murdered by his cruel and vicious patron, Lord Vickers, Honoria flees with the diaries and her younger sister and brother. They are in hiding in Whitechapel which is full of dangers and under the control of the infamous Blade. Honor has caught the eye of Blade and although she resists his interest she is soon desperate with nowhere else and no one else to turn to for help.

Blade is the most famous infected being who escaped the clutches and experiments of the Echelon. He now rules in Whitechapel with the aid of a mixed group of henchmen including a 'verwulfen' and some mechanically strengthened humans. In addition to her beauty, Blade is interested in Honoria because he knows that Vickers has a price on her head. Blade has a personal score to repay for his own tragic loss brought about by Vickers.

Blade bargains with Honoria and her reluctance falls under his odd form of courtship. She discovers she can trust his gentleness as she has a way of bringing out his more honorable traits and even calming the beast within.

Blade has to cooperate with one of the Blue Blood lords, Barrons, who has some connection to Honoria. He doesn't want to be jealous but he doesn't like the secrets that keep Honor at arms length. As Blade and Barrons battle a rogue vampire a trap is set to capture Honor. Will Blade be able to save Honor from Vickers before he does harm? Will Honor be able to find a cure before Blade's disease progresses out of control?

I really loved Honor and Blade and their cautious courtship that finally blossoms with their passion. Their romance is sensual and steamy without ever seeming vulgar. Ms. McMasters does a grand job with world building a setting that is different and fascinating, especially since I enjoy steampunk features. The plot is believable and provided fast paced action and suspense. The secondary characters are drawn with appropriate depth to make them likable or horribly villainous. I recommend this to readers who enjoy strong, romantic characters who face dangerous odds. Even if you aren't a big fan of vampire stories you might enjoy this steampunk version with its twisted bite.

I received the ARC for an honest review (2012) -- review posted on blog.

5 STARS!

Bec McMaster has masterfully created a sinister city in the Victorian London. It is filled to the brim with paranormal creatures and Bec's take on the steampunk genre. Her characters were so creative and flawed that I was immediately drawn into their story. Speaking of story, the plot was well-paced and so immersive. I was legit hooked on the story from the very first chapter!

Honoria was such a inspiring heroine. Trying to hide from her past, she finds herself taking risks to care for her sister and ill brother. She is determined not to fall in the hands of the evil lurking in her town, but the "Devil of Whitechapel" knows everything. Honoria ends up on his doorstep making a deal for his protection. She has principals that she won't break for him, but he hopes for a change of heart.

Blade was considered a rogue blue blood. He'd actually become a blue blood in an unfortunate way that has left his character haunted and crass. Through his interactions with Honoria, we get to see him regain back some of his humanity. Honestly, I really enjoyed his character. Did I mention that he has an accent!? So hot!

“You're staring.'
'Can't 'elp meself,' he replied. 'You were made to be stared at.”

Set in an alternate history where England is ruled by blue-bloods (read: vampires that haven’t given completely in to their animalistic desires), Kiss of Steel offers readers a glimpse into a world where classism has a whole new meaning (the blue-bloods literally have blue blood, for example) and the heroine has to struggle with her own sudden demotion in rank as well as becoming the head of her household after the murder of her father. For a moment it almost seems like the novel will be a My Fair Lady story turned on its head (but this thread is sadly dropped almost immediately once it’s introduced), but instead falls into the more traditional mystery/damsel in distress with a secret trope. The novel is very well written and the plot is engaging, but nothing too new is done with the genre.

The biggest problem with this novel it it’s HEA: it isn’t very emotionally satisfying once the reader stops to think about it. The book has set up since early on that one of the goals (presumably) of said book is finding a cure for the “blue blood” disease that eventually turns humans into vampires (but they still have to drink blood even in the apparently non-vampiric stages of the disease, which is confusing at first when trying to differentiate the two). By the end of the book there’s still no cure found, yet the hero and heroine can have their HEA despite the hero’s disease because it is apparently in remission (similar to how cancer might function in “the real world”). Still, the hero remains infected, as does the heroine’s younger brother. Ending the novel on this note, combined with the mental and physical trauma the heroine has only just escaped from, leaves the HEA feeling almost absurd once the initial excitement of discovering the remission has faded.

Overall I give Kiss of Steel a four out of five. This novel is an enjoyable read with fun characters and an interesting plot that keeps the reader thoroughly engaged up until the very end.

Update: I've now read all of the rest of the books in the series and I can only say that it just gets better from here!

The first book in the Steampunk series I decided to give this a go because of the fantasy element. I was pleasantly surprised when it included vampires & werewolves - because...why not?

The timeline is confusing on how the vampire disease entered into London society and remained so embedded as a cultural norm, it's explained once, kind of, as brought over from Asia by a meddling European and who then offered it to the ruling powers in the West but it just doesn't seem to add up chronologically. At points it seemed like it hadn't happened that long ago (a century) or that it had been many centuries. The anti-hero/hero character Blade refers to himself as being 'a half a century old' at one point, which only makes him 50. The extended age that comes as an advantage of being infected with the vampire virus doesn't seem to be that extended after all since we learn later in the novel that Blade is close to 'The Fade' - when a vampire starts to turn less human aristocrat more bloodthirsty berserker at which point they are supposed to be executed. These discrepancies are scattered throughout the book, easy to overlook but still.
The privilege of being a vampire is hoarded by only the most rich and powerful families, it's hard to say how many people are actually infected with the virus but the whole of London serves these ruling families with their blood. The social structure that McMaster creates is actually believable and obviously modeled after the European courts. The hierarchy is male-centric, excluding women from being offered the virus with the exception of one who is an anomaly. McMaster provides us with this patriarchal society, I hope to see maybe down the line in the series that it is turned on it's head by the increasing tension she seems to be creating between the poor and the Echelon, the vampire ruling class.

Honoria is our heroine, working tirelessly to cure her sick little brother and take care of her sister, Lena, and also avoid discovery by a very dangerous member of the Echelon. She's got some brain smarts but can't make ends meet so she has to offer herself up to Blade - the local gang boss, for lack of a better term, and outcast vampire. Their pairing is great because they're both outcasts in their own way and their relationship is somewhat believable. Although the premise of it starts with a deal that Honoria will teach Blade to read, write and be more 'proper'...this literally never happens. He never learns to read, or write and somehow magically learns how to be a little more 'refined'. I was hoping to read a bit of a Beauty & the Beast scenario but, more sexy. It seems like McMaster is afraid of letting time lapse and just writes as if all the excitement just unfolds over the course a few weeks or something. The rest of the novel continues in a predictable manner for the most part with Honoria trying to suppress her attraction to Blade and Blade trying to craftily get into her bloomers - but only if she wants to!

The fight scenes were good but confusing to read and mostly I just got the gist of it by skimming through those sections because I could not picture them in my imagination. McMaster lacks the ability to explain a given space that her characters are occupying, getting lost in describing details instead of architectural believability. I enjoyed the slight twist at the end but it was honestly handled with little, to no finesse at all. There is no discussion or even barely acknowledgment of the hard decision that Honoria has to make towards the end of the novel. We never really get to feel her realization at her choice and it's effects on her. Blade is painted as a hard and harsh vamp-man his reputation being the Devil of Whitechapel, the slums of London, but he seems to show a lot of mercy to his 'people' as he calls them. We never find out how he makes his money or what he actually does in general.

McMaster does a good job keeping you interested on the character level and both Honoria & Blade have their little secrets from each other creating some good tension. I felt this was much stronger than her second novel, Heart of Iron, in all respects. Worth reading.

The COVER: Ugh, I feel like everyone has complained about it so I'm going to throw my hat in the ring too. I agree with everyone, Honoria would never wear something so scandalous, she has a background in training young women in etiquette and part of her allure is how buttoned-up she is. ALSO, Blade is said to be pale and blondish and a brute, that dude on the cover was in an Axe commercial. It also looks like he's not even in the same picture as her but that's an artistic criticism. Just, you know, if you're going to make a painting for the novel at least read the character description.

I borrowed this book during a free trial of Kindle Unlimited. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I thought I would give it a shot. Heck, I was reading it for free and I like the idea of steampunk.

Well, I loved this book! It combined steampunk, clockwork creatures, werewolves, vampires, and disease along with secrets, deceit, mistrust, and prejudices. In the mist of all this chaos, there is a glimmer of hope of love. The questions is: can the Honoria and Blade get over their past circumstances in an effort for something good?

Honoria Todd, aka Miss Pryer, was a middle class citizen until six months ago. Her father, a scientist whom Honor helped, gave her his scientific journals and told her to run to her other family. This didn't work out and she ends up working in the city but living in the slum of Whitechaple with her younger brother and sister where she could not make ends meet. Basically, she starved her self to make sure there was food enough for her siblings and medicine for her brother. On top of that, she feared her true identity of Miss Todd would become known because she was being hunted by one of the Echelon.

One night, she is summoned to the residence of Blade, the master of the rookeries, who knew her true identity and the price on her head, but not the purpose. Honoria was nervous because Blade had a bad reputation as the "Devil of Whitechaple." He offered his protection in exchange for speaking lessons. Blade is a Blue Blood, a person infected with the vampire virus who still has humanity. He desires Honoria to become his thrall, but he wanted to make her beg for him to drink of her and/or to touch her. However, Honoria grew up around these devilish men, so she built a wall of mistrust. After this first encounter, Blade finds himself going out of his way to take care of Honoria and assisting her with her problems. He puts himself and his men in danger protecting her from the murderer lurking in the 'Chapel.

This is the first steampunk book that I read although I am a fan of the genre. Realistically, this book was more paranormal romance than steampunk, but it was interesting having the two meet. The paranormal, alternate timeline of Victorian London is unique. The story is filled with humans, thralls (kept men/women for exchange of blood), Blue Blood (people infected with the craving virus and are vampire-like), werewolves, vampires (the last stage of the virus where humanity is stripped and the being is a vicious and rabid vampire consumed with blood lust).

Once used to the setting and the classification of the characters, I loved the plot and character interactions. Honoria is a strong willed, proud character who tried to act in the best interest of her family and dignity. She really had to overcome her previous notions/prejudices of the Blue Blood race after she met Blade. He was a kind, caring gentleman who takes care of his own, but has a devilish desire toward Honor.

This book is filled with action and romance in a steampunk/paranormal world. I suggest Kiss of Steel for ADULTS who like steempunk and paranormal romance. **There are some explicit scenes, so this book is designed for adults.

I really enjoyed this book. The world building was great. The characters were brightly drawn and leapt off the page and straight into my heart. The love story reminded me a bit of Lisa Kelypas' Dreaming of You or one of Amanda Quick's early (strong) work. The world the tale exists in is familiar to anyone who reads historical romance, yet is also new with a strong heaping of paranormal steampunk. The paranormal aspects are a stronger influence to the story than the steampunk though. And in all honesty, the author could easily have omitted the streampunk and the story would have been untouched. So if you are looking for true steampunk, despite the series name (London Steampunk) you will probably be unsatisfied. Since I purchased this story hoping for a well written paranormal romance (based on the reviews), however, it worked perfectly for me.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. There is a lot of heart and depth to the characters and unlike a lot of paranormal romance the relationship that develops between the characters is believable and is based on more than lust or a paranormal 'knowing' of ones perfect mate. The story is a bit dark, so if you are looking for a funny historical romance (Julia Quinn) or the droll humor of the Parasol Protectorate, this probably isn't the read for you. The character have very real, very serious problems, are both wary of trusting anyone that is not 'family' (whatever the definition of that may be), there is poverty and slavery and the paranormal world is not romanticized and instead quite bleak. But despite of all of this there is a feeling of hope and possibility that keeps the story from verging too far into the dark.

I am looking forward to reading the other tales in this series.

This book constitutes my first venture into the steampunk genre. I am very glad that I chose Bec McMaster as my debut author for that venture. Her ability to establish an alternate reality is superb.

While some sources may term this a vampire story, that is not strictly in keeping with the traditional definition of a vampire, a la Dracula, Twilight or Cat and Bones. No one has fangs, they can go out in sunlight, and the condition is caused by a virus administered to aristocratic males at the age of 15. No one is termed a vampire until the virus metastasizes so far that the blood intake cannot keep up with the blood need and the person literally begins to fade into an albino status. At this point the ruling powers of London execute the person before he becomes a deformed and clawed creature that is essentially an insane killing machine. They also execute almost anyone, particularly non-aristocrats, who are changed accidentally by ingesting infected blood.

And thus the main plot of the story is established. Our female protagonist, Honoria Todd, is a bio-medical research assistant with knowledge of a vaccine that can prevent the Changing Virus from taking hold to begin with. She is also in possession of notes that detail what promises to be a cure of sorts that would prevent someone with the virus from going into the Fade. Needless to say, she is on the run from the Duke who commissioned the research and who wants to control the vaccine and cure.

And, now entering stage right is our male protagonist, Blade, a non-aristocrat, who was infected intentionally by this same Duke. Blade escaped from custody and now, with his super strength and senses, rules the rookery of non-infected humans outside London’s city walls where Honoria goes to hide.

The subplot is the issue of trust. Both Honoria and Blade need each other to survive physically, but they have to surmount the need for secrecy surrounding their individual circumstances in order to effect that survival.

The story is told in third person POV, alternating between Honoria and Blade. The writing is so coherent and descriptive that you find yourself utterly caught up in the story. It is almost as if you are right there in the rooms and on the streets with the characters. And the need to know how each scene will be resolved is so strong that you have to force yourself to slow down to absorb the details. The scenes flow from one to the other naturally and the action sequences are heart stopping.

My only complaint is with the timeline of the story. First, there is no direct statement as to the year in which the story is taking place. There are some oblique references that, upon doing a little math, a general feeling for the early 1880’s is achieved. And, secondly, it is difficult to know whether the story is taking place over a period of several days or several weeks. The reader can usually tell when the story changes from day to night, but not necessarily if the story is changing from one day to the very next day.

This book is the first in a series and I will definitely be moving on to the next one.

Reviewed by SUZANNE & posted at Under the Covers Book Blog

Honoria Todd and her younger siblings have disguised themselves and fled to Whitechapel, the roughest and one of the most dangerous places in London, to get away from the Echelon, the people who murdered their father. Whitechapel is one of the few places where the Blue Bloods don't have complete control, instead Blade a mysterious Rogue rules over them and he seems to have taken an interest in Honoria, but can he be trusted, or will he just use them as a pawn to get the revenge he desires over the Blue Bloods he hates?

Normally I am a little suspicious of books that have kick ass covers, the quality of the content doesn't always match the beautiful wrapping, but I am pleased to say that with this book, it was fantastic both inside and outside, I. Loved. It.

The two main aspects ofKiss of Steel that earned it top marks are the new world created by Bec McMaster and the characters, especially Blade. Now I haven't actually read huge amounts of Steampunk so when I say this world was completely original bare that in mind! But it was a great mixture of historical with the setting being in a Victorianesque and paranormal with the presence of Blue Bloods, who were essentially a new and interesting take on vampires. I also liked that the Steampunk element wasn't over the top as although there were nifty gadgets being used and mechanical men, there wasn't women swaggering around in strippy tights, corsets and funny hats every 5 minutes and lots of weird and outlandish technology that needed to be overly explained. So I am definitely looking forward to the next book so I can explore this world further and delve into the more intricate aspects now that the basics have been set up.

Now Blade...he has promptly been added to my list of book boyfriends, a very bad boy who has a soft spot for those he considers his family and of course the woman he loves and a tortured past, how was I supposed to resist that? But you can't swing a cat in the romance world and not hit a hero like that, but Blade had that extra something that had me panting, darkly sensual and struggling with inner demons but determined to do right by the people he protected I was doomed to love him. Honoria I did like, but she took some time for me to warm to and although she was a good heroine it wasn't her that stood out for me.

This book was well written, with an interesting and well crafted world with plenty of characters from some of the vile Blue Bloods to Blade's motley crew for you to get involved with, and I can't wait for the next book to come out and continue the story.

*ARC provided by publisher

I love steampunk books, especially those set in London. So I had been looking at reading this series for a while. This ended up being a very well done romance with a decent plot that supports the romance well. There really isn't a whole lot of steampunk in here though.

Honora has had to scrap out a living as a language teacher in order to support her sister and chronically ill brother since the death of their father. Honora and her family are also in hiding from one of her father’s enemies. All this makes Whitechapel district the perfect place for Honora and her family to live and hide. The problem is Whitechapel is run by a fierce man named Blade and he likes to have some leverage on anyone living in his district.

When Blade finally meets Honora he agrees to trade lessons from her in exchange for protecting her family. They both find they are strangely drawn to each other in a way that neither one wants. Honora can’t help but admire Blade’s commitment to protecting his people and Blade admires Honora’s commitment to her family coupled with her innocence. When a rogue vampire tears a bloody path through Whitechapel they end up having to work together to take it out.

This story is definitely heavy on the romance. There really isn’t much steampunk in here at all. Honora uses an awesome gun and there is some talk of genetic manipulation in this Victorian world but that is pretty much it. I guess there was one character with mechanical lungs too, so that is pretty steampunky. I felt like there was a good world here, but it just needed to be filled out a bit more.

The romance between Honora and Blade however was absolutely excellently done. It was very steamy, there is a lot of tension, and you feel like the two characters are better people when they are together. They build a relationship over time and take the time to learn to trust each other. There are scenes between them that took my breath away and I loved how they each admired the other for their strong qualities and took the good with the bad.

There are also a lot of very well done side characters that I would love to read more about. It does look like the next book in the series, Heart of Iron, features Honora’s sister and one of Blade’s men. So this looks like it is one of those series where each book focuses on a different couple, but the main world and story around that couple are a spin-off of the previous book.

There are vampires and werewolves in the plot as well, pretty typical paranormal stuff. The vampires are interesting though because they are a bit different. Vampires start off as Blue Bloods and as the amount of virus in their system grows over time they transitions into raging vampires. It is interesting because a lot of the Blue Bloods are basically ticking time bombs.

The book reminded me a lot of Kate Locke's Immortal Empire series, which I liked a lot better than this book because that series has more action and world building. It also reminded me of Kristen Callihan's Darkest London series, which I liked just as much as this book. So if you are looking for a historical paranormal fantasy that is heavy on the romance this is an excellent choice.

If you are looking for more of a steampunk read with romance woven throughout, I would look elsewhere. Check out Meljean Brooke's Iron Seas series which has an absolutely stunning steampunk world as well as some romance.

Overall an excellent romance with heavy paranormal and lighter steampunk elements. The characters are excellent and the romance between Honora and Blade is just perfection. However the world-building is a bit weak, there are hints of an awesome world here but it wasn’t explored as much as I had hoped. Additionally the plot was well done, but there were times where it took a backseat to the romance. I will probably read the next book in the series when I am in the mood for a heart-pounding romance...however I won’t be looking to this series for a good steampunk fix. For my steampunk reads with some romance I will stick to Brooke’s Iron Seas series which just has a fantastic steampunk world.