Review: The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

Book Title/Author: The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook
Publisher/Year Published: October 2010 by Berkley Trade
Where I got it: Borders Blowout
Rating: 4/5 stars
Challenges: Reading Romances May Challenge: SciFi; TBR Pile Challenge
Summary:

After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power-and fear-of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

I've been hearing rumblings about The Iron Duke around the internet for quite a while, especially when talking about steampunk books. I don't know what put me off reading it. Maybe there were a bit of mixed messages, but forever reason I didn't read it. I ended up reading it now because I randomly picked it up at one of Border's going out of business sales because I vaguely remembered good things. Well now I have an option. And overall that one is good.

The Story:
I don't even know how to start explaining the story. There is just so much intricacy built in with the way Brook constructed the book. The world-building was excellent. It really felt like the past mixed in with the alternate reality future. At first I was a little put off and confused by the terminology but she doesn't deluge you with facts and slowly awakens your knowledge of the world she has created. I was soon up on the lingo and the world.

The basic plot is there an inspector, Mina, who get's called out on a case at the Iron Duke's house. He is sort of a celebrity in London due to him freeing them from their former occupiers, the Horde. As the investigation grows into something bigger either thought, they are pushed together more often than not and drawn to each other.

I don't want to give too much away, but this story is WAY more than just a who done it. It turns into some crazy shiz. And yes, that is the technical term.

The plot was no too hard to follow, but some scenes I thought were a bit rushed or non-existent. Like one in particular time, she built us up for a sea battle and we saw very little of it. Boo. The ending was okay I guess. I can't put my finger on why it felt off for me (and I mean like the VERY ending).

The Characters:
This was by far my favorite part of this book. The leads were wicked dimentional. The secondaries were as well and I really hope to see more of them again with their own book.

Mina, the inspector, has some interesting issue to deal with and I thought they were handled well. I didn;t think they were too glossed over and instead took a bit to be worked out. Rhys, the Duke, though could be a hit or miss for people. Early on he seems like the biggest alphole to ever walk the pages of my brain, but slowly you see him grow and change. His growth and change however does not make him lose his alpha characteristics. That's why he could be hit or miss. Within the context of this book and because of this character growth, he was a hit for me. Well, I warmed up to him.

It's gotta be mentioned. Scarsdale made me laugh out loud at least once a time he was on the page. Between him and Lady Corsair they were probably the most well rounded secondary characters I have seen in a romance novel for a while.

The Romance:
This is a paranormal romance novel and thus there are a number of romantic-centric scenes. But I hesitate to say that is how I would define it. It is very much a well done interweaving of romance and paranormal. It's easy to get lost in either side.

There are some difficult romantic elements in this book dealing with the way sexuality was expressed during the Horde rule. They are not comfortable scenes. Were they necessary in the context of the book? I think so. I really do. It made the world more real to me.

Also, the sexy times are frequent, hot and like I mentioned sometimes tied to some heavy emotional moments that could be triggers for some of us, so if you are not into that, this may not be for you.

The Execution:
Overall I enjoyed it but my biggest qualm lay here. Some of the scenes, especially ones with lots of action seemed unbelievably confusing to me. I literally read a page 3 times very slowly to try and get what just happened and I still had trouble. The times I had to do this were not overwhelmingly high, but enough to bother me.

What did bother me though is there are two admirals each with a B name and one is a good guy and one is a not-so good guy (?) and I still get them confused. We didn't see them enough for me to remember the name and who was what. I wish that one of the other letters of the alphabet were used so I wasn't like "Wait, isn't he dead?"

The Overview:
Overall, I sure as hell enjoyed it enough to survive this hectic work week with only on average 5 hrs of sleep. That may even be a max of five hours each night. All because I wanted to go back into this world and be with these people. I am really excited to continue this series.

It's Time For The Swim Suit Edition: Book B

Pick one of the following swim suit styles to fit your reading type.

A. Tank Suit - Read 1 book of at least 850 pages.
B. Bikini - Read 2 books totaling at least 850 pages and first published in 1946 (date of first named bikini) or later.
C. Tankini - Read 850 pages of book(s) published in last 5 years.
D. Victorian (The kind with sleeves, skirt & bloomers.) - Read 850 pages of book(s) published between 1834 and 1901.

Book title and author:Changeless (The Parasol Protectorate, #2) by Gail Carriger (Goodreads Author)
Info: published 2010 by Orbit
Where: The new fantasy book shelf at the library
Rating: 3/5

Changeless is the second in the Parasol Protectorate series that started with Soulless. This series follows the life of Alexia, a lady living in Victorian England, but she is not a normal Victorian lady. First of all, she is living in a world where paranormals are integrated into society. Second of all, she has no soul.

In this book she starts another adventure, a new job with the Queen. When some mysterious things start to happen to the supernaturals in London, she is tasked with finding out what and why this is happening. This may involve awesome weapons made out of an umbrella and dirigibles.

Compared to this first book, this one was not as gripping, but it was still entertaining. There were more characters introduced this time around and some of our old favorites returned where we found out more about them. The steampunk is in full swing with all of the awesome gadgets and science things. The climax had me reading without putting it down.

So why only a 3 out of 5? Well, with the more time spent with our heroine, the more she started to annoy me. She seemed quite inconsistent in her smarts. Maybe it's just limitations on her knowledge of the time, but she is continually called a blue stocking so I cant completely buy that. Lord Maccon was adorable in Scotland, but especially toward the end his stubbornness made me want to ring his neck! The secondary characters are amazing though.

The third book in the series, Blameless comes out August 31st. I found this awesome promotional video about the making of the cover. It's quite entertaining and interesting to see the process. I suggest you watch it and check out these books. They are really quite witty and entertaining. The writing makes me laugh out loud drawing quite a few looks from people around me.

Anyway check out the video! And the book!

Birthdays and Birthmonths: Book B

Since roughly 90% of the people in my (Ms. Anderson's) life were born in June, I thought it would be fun to do a task related to birthdays!

For your first book, pick out your birthday month from this list and read a NONFICTION book about that topic.
...
December: History of Language (EXAMPLE: Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World)

For your second book, find out what day of the week on which you were born (if you don't know already) and read a FICTION book from that genre.
...Tuesday: Alternate History (EXAMPLE: The Yiddish Policemen's Union)
...
Note: The books are two distinct categories, so therefore do not need to be related at all.

Book title and author:Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate, #1) by Gail Carriger
Info: published 2009 by Orbit
Where: Picked it up off the new book shelf at my college library
Rating: 4/5

This book was a breath of fresh air. I think reading this first chunk of the summary (via Goodreads) sums it up quite nicely.

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

First of all, what is "soulless"? Why are there vampires in Victorian England? And when have vampires ever been in the realm of social etiquette?

This first book in the series answers all those questions and more. It is a debut effort by Gail Carriger that mixes steampunk, paranormal elements and a powerfully strong heroine, adding a dash of romance and a whole smattering of intelligence. The writing is snarky and delicious and really brings you into a story where you have no trouble believing that vampires and werewolves are an integral and excepted part of English society.

With the resident werewolf love interest, Lord Maccon (who is to die for in his powerful manliness) and the lovable effeminate vampire Lord Akeldama are wonderful characters! And that only really names two. The secondary characters really round out the story and give it that extra something. The book is complete with horrible sisters, a mysterious society and all the glories of steampunk London.

It is worth taking a look. A good alternative to the many formulaic books on the shelf today. An interesting world, an interesting plot, awesome characters. Win, win, win.

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Read a book involving Greek and/or Roman gods. May be non-fiction or fiction. Half-blood Gods are fine.

Book Title/Author: Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Publisher/Year Published: 2002 by St. Martin's Paperbacks
Where I got it: I own it. I think I purchased it from Half Price Books back in the day
Rating: 3/5 stars

Fantasy Lover is the first in The Dark-Hunter series. Well, I would call it more of a prequel to the series because it stands alone quite nicely and really doesn't have any part in the mythos of the Dark-Hunters. It does the following: 1)sets up the thoughts that the gods are a part of life, even still today 2)mentions the character of the real first Dark-Hunter book a couple of times.

But let's get to the actual book, shall we? This book stars Grace, a frustrated sex therapist who is not getting any herself. Her concerned friend gives her a supposedly ancient book that will help alleviate this problem. Skeptical Grace gets drunk enough to say the enchantment that will release the sex slave from the book. It works and Julian, an ancient demigod who has been cursed in the book since Sparta was a viable state, pops out and starts wanting to get his freak on. Grace, though drunk, does not and decides to help him get out of the book with all that entails.

Writing that all out makes the book sound ridiculous, but in actuality it is quite funny. The premise is interesting. Ancient Greek sex slave, yours for a month! And the characters are very well rounded. Some of the secondary characters I love to death. Take for instance Cupid and Psyche, the bikers. Cupid, excuse me, Eros wears his bow on a little necklace!

If you like romance novels that have humor in them and a little bit of the super natural, I recommend this book. There is no commitment to the rest of the series as it wraps up quite nicely at the end. I'm not sure what number the Dark-Hunters are on now. I fell off the wagon when they all were the same plot with a slightly different take. But the first ones were quite enjoyable, starting with Fantasy Lover.

Sorry, followers. I thought this posted quite awhile ago. Apparently I screwed up the scheduling. My bad.