The Strange Case of Finley Jayne

Title: The Strange Case of Finley Jayne
(Steampunk Chronicles 0.5)
Author: Kady Cross
Kindle Edition, 78 pages
Published May 1st 2011

Finley Jayne knows she's not 'normal'. Normal girls don't lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behavior has already cost her one job, so when she's offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience. Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined...

This is a short story, a prequel to the steampunk bestseller The Girl In the Steel Corset, a book I have yet to read. The story begins with Finley Jayne who was fired from her last job after hitting her former employer's governess in the face!

Jobless, Finley went to her mother's home, hoping to find refuge for a few days. Then a wealthy matriarch hired her to be her daughter Phoebe's companion. Soon Phoebe and Finley became friends. Little did Finley know that  she was actually hired to spy on Lord Vincent, a man of science who was eerily engaged to Phoebe. I say eerily because there was something sinister about him and his house full of automatons, and wanting to wed a girl who looked like his dead wife!

Finley is a brave and loyal companion as well as a fierce heroine. She possesses great strength and character and she sure has lots of spunk! I really want to read  The Girl In the Steel Corset, really soon, because I need to know more about Finley and how she became a not-so-normal teenager with super-strength.

 The Strange Case of Finley Jayne is a quick/fast paced steampunk novella, quite entertaining and intriguing at the same time.  Young adult fans of steampunk will surely enjoy this :)

The Emperor's Edge

Title: The Emperor's Edge
Author: Lindsay Buroker
Kindle Edition; 197 pages
Published December 2010

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. 

But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed. Worse, Sicarius, the empire's most notorious assassin is in town. He's tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down.  

Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills... or someone wants her dead.

This is one of my favorite steampunk e-book and I actually LOVED it! Lindsay Buroker crafted a master-piece with lovable characters like Amaranthe, Sicarius and Maldynado.


A high fantasy novel in the era of steam - it simply has all the ingredients I am looking for in a story - magic, swordplay, politics, womanfolk and a little bit of romance on the side. The characters - simply amazing! A renegade enforcer (Amaranthe Lokdon), a deadly assassin with a good heart (Sicarius),  an evil & cunning commander (Hollowcrest), a lovestruck emperor (Sespian), a viscious team working in conspiracy (Books, an alcoholic ex-professor; Maldynado, an aristocratic ladies man, and Akstyr, a skeptic young wizard-in-training, who doesn't want others to know that he practices mental sciences)   and another group that is willing to do whatever it takes to take down the empire (Forge).. and don't forget the monsters or creatures that rip out the hearts of its victims!

From start to finish, I was at the edge of my seat, thinking about the strategies that Lokdon and Sicarius had done in order to ensure Emperor Sespian's well being, amidst all the chaos and poison circulating around the palace. Amaranthe Lokdon is a spectacular heroine, quick and witty, full of punk & steam (yeah literally), a little intimidating maybe, but is all business when it comes to protecting the Emperor. She's got a likeable persona even though she keeps on wearing her hair in a bun!

Sicarius, on the one hand, is still a mystery to me - although his relation to the Emperor has been discussed, I still believe that there is more to him than meets the eye. While I would love to see him get all goody-goody & lovey-lovey with Amaranthe, I think that Emperor Sespian and the lady enforcer look better together.

Maldynado, on the other hand, is quite a handful of a character. At first, I didn't really like him at all, but on the succeeding chapters, his humorous character has shifted into someone that can melt your heart and put smile on your lips.. He is truly a ladies man.. I'd love to read more about him on the rest of Lindsay Buroker's  trilogy.

The whole story is fast-paced, deep, a little dramatic in the end and a cliffhanger, too. The action scenes are imaginable (at least, to me!) and the dialogue will certainly never bore you. No dull moment at all.  But there was certainly something amiss in the end..

Where was the kiss?! Hahaha.. Just Kidding..

My bookmark rating for The Emperor's Edge: 5 stars!! An awesome feat! Kudos Lindsay Buroker :)

I already bought Dark Currents. I'll read it very very soon!! I promise!

Monday Musings

SEPTEMBER!

Do you remember the 21st night of September?
Love was changing the minds of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away...

Pardon me for singing.. I am just in the mood, this month of September. Where the cold season is awaiting. Anyway, welcome to the first edition of Musing Mondays for September.


Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB from Should be Reading.

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits. 

• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s). 

• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! 

• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it. 

• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us! Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

My Musing for today is about my monthly reading habit. If last month, it was all about Angels and Demons, this month, I am going to read Steampunks, Sci-Fis and Suspense Thrillers. OOhhhh.. this is gonna be a thrilling and exciting month!

Here are my proposed reads this week:

The Girl in the Steel Corset

by Kady Cross

The Josiah Trenchard series

by Jonathon Fletcher

Chosen

by Jolea Harrison

Steam

by Jessica Fortunato

Wither

by Lauren DeStefano

and

Private Games

by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan

Steel Lily

Title: Steel Lily (The Periodic series)
Author: Megan Curd
Kindle edition

AVERY PIKE is a commodity. No, more than a commodity. Her existence is guarded at all costs.
She’s a water Elementalist, the strongest of her dwindling kind. She creates steam to provide energy to fuel Dome Three: the only thing standing between humanity and an earth ravaged by World War III. No steam, no Dome. No Dome, no life.
Or so she thinks.
That is, until a mysterious man offers her a way out of having to donate steam. A way to escape the corrupt government of Dome Three. While the offer seems too good to be true, Avery is intrigued.
But when she arrives to her new home, she realizes the grass isn’t any less dead on this side of the fence. Instead, the lies are just hidden better.
…Which means digging deeper.
When Avery enlists the help of her friends to uncover the truth, it may make her wonder if she was better off being a government tool than searching for freedom.
Some secrets are better left concealed, but humankind was never meant to live in a cage. And when you can control the most sought after resource, you can learn to control anything…including the fate of your world.

I received this Advance Readers Copy in exchange for my honest review. As a bookworm, I keep my reviews honest and sincere.

Steel Lily is perhaps the best steampunk-dystopian novel I have ever read. Once again, the author Megan Curd blew me away with her creative and imaginative mind. Not only did she take me to the future, she showed me a whole new world that reeked with greed, betrayal, lies and love.

The story had a futuristic setting (2077 I think) and the events that happened therein were from the aftermath of World War III. The war had caused the Earth to crumple, radiation damaged the atmosphere, caused people to use oxygen masks in order to breathe. We meet Avery Pike, one of the Elementalists who had the ability to manipulate steam that powered the Dome they were living in. She was the reason the people were able to breathe clean air and experience better days. She was the best among the three steam producers and because of that, most people abused or took advantage of her.

She was surprised one day, when she was being followed by an influential man who soon promised her of a better dome, cleaner air, the opportunity to enhance and wield her power and the chance to see her long-lost parents. Although doubtful at first, she consulted her friend Alice about this possibility and soon after, they discovered what it was really about. This was made possible when their savior Jaxon showed up during a Polatzi chase and took them to the mysterious dome.

Cameras everywhere. Holograms covering the ugly truth. A group of other talented people persuaded and gathered for a secret mission.

Such is the situation Avery found herself in. She knew that everything she was offered was too good to be true. It is up to her and Jaxon and their small group of friends to discover the truth and do something right.

I loved Avery! She was, right from the start, a strong, determined and capable heroine. Fierce and loyal, everything you would want in a bestfriend. Jaxon? Ohh, the dreadlocks were to die for! My first time to read something about the main male character having dreads and could still look gorgeous even though he was so annoying and obnoxious. He and Avery were like magnets, exact opposites but definitely attracted to each other. Honestly, my cheeks hurt whenever I read scenes that included both of them. Ha! The other characters were also lovable. I liked Sari a lot. And Legs too!

I enjoyed this book a great deal! I simply cannot compare Steel Lily to anything else because this Megan Curd masterpiece is unique and original. The steampunk-dystopian combo kept me entertained from start to finish. Megan Curd is a talented author who knows her world extremely well; her creative style and uniqueness shone from every page. She had become the Master of Twists and Surprises, a talent I have always admired in Sidney Sheldon and Phillip Pullman (The Golden Compass).

To sum this up, I tell you, this is one book that you must own. I highly recommend this to all steampunk fans, dystopian lovers, YA and even New adults. Basically recommended to everyone! Go put this on your TBR List an get the book when it will be released!

Here's a cocktail toast with 5stars ***** for mega author, Megan Curd and her excellent book! Clearly, Steel Lily is the next book sensation!