Romance Book Review: Clockworks and Corsets

Author: Regina Riley
ISBN: 978-1-61650-130-3
Genre: Erotica/ Steampunk
Publisher: Lyrical Press

[Excerpt]

I'm sure I've read Steampunk before but I had no idea what it really meant until I looked it up. After reading Clockworks and Corsets I'm now hooked. For those who haven't heard of it, according to Wikipedia "Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction and speculative fiction, frequently featuring elements of fantasy, that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used — usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England — but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date."

In Clockworks and Corsets, author Regina Riley takes her readers back to 1865. President Abraham Lincoln has just been assassinated and speculation has it rumored that an mad scientist is part to blame. But hungry for power Madame Ruby knows the truth. She also knows that the mad scientist has let an important item an island and she is desperate to get her hands on it.

Ruby hires Rose Madigan's airship and the crew of the Merry Widow to go to the island and retrieve the package. Ruby believes that she should never send a man to do women's work and the Merry Widow is an all woman's crew--well all women except for one delightful and very talented young cabin boy.

When the Merry Widow finally makes it to the island they face a lot of challenges and they find something on the island they never expected.

Clockworks and Corsets is a sometimes funny, sometimes sexy, sometimes over the top sexy and sometimes adventurous romance featuring a great cast of characters with fun dialog and an interesting story line. For those who aren't used to this era of historical and like regency adventure stories this is one to check out. For those who generally aren't interested in historicals, but like good erotic adventures this one is a good choice. I really appreciate a short novel that can be considered erotic, but can still fill its pages with more than sex.

Description:

Clockwork, steam and secrets power a passionate adventure in the skies.

Everybody's looking for something.

Captain Rose Madigan of the airship The Merry Widow is looking for a paying job for her all-female crew. Gabriella Upstairs, her newest recruit, is looking for a reason to be glad she's on board. And Madam Ruby of the Red House Bordello is looking for the secret laboratory of a missing mad scientist--and is willing to hire the airship. When they find the lab and its single occupant, Atom Loquacious, danger and passion start steaming up.

Everybody's got a secret.

Captain Rose is secretly too ethical to complete this job. Gabriella's secretly attracted to Atom. Madam Ruby's secretly hungry for power. And the secret Atom is hiding might just threaten the lives of everyone on board.