Whether or not you’ve read steam punk, you are sure to enjoy
Steam & Sorcery (Gaslight
Chronicles #1) by Cindy Spencer Pape. This novel is a Winner of the 2012 EPIC
Award.
Available from Carina Press
Sir Merrick Hadrian hunts
monsters, both human and supernatural. A Knight of the Order of the Round
Table, his use of magick and the technologies of steam power have made him both
respected and feared. But his considerable skills are useless in the face of
his greatest challenge, guardianship of five unusual children. At a loss, Merrick enlists the aid of a governess.
Miss Caroline Bristol is
reluctant to work for a bachelor but she needs a position, and these former
street children touch her heart. While she tends to break any mechanical device
she touches, it never occurs to her that she might be something more than
human. All she knows is that Merrick is the
most dangerously attractive man she’s ever met—and out of reach for a mere
governess.
When conspiracy threatens to
blur the distinction between humans and monsters, Caroline and Merrick must
join forces, and the fate of humanity hinges upon their combined skills of
steam and sorcery…
Kiss Excerpt: PG-13
“Fascinating.” Her intent, intelligent expression bore out her
words. “Now how does that relate to this current problem with vampyres?”
To his own surprise, he told her. Everything.About his father’s
death and his own initiation at the age of twenty-two, and his training with
Sir William. Even up to the missing Babbage engine cards and his search for a
traitor within the Order. Throughout his recitation, she didn’t say a word,
though her brilliant green eyes grew round with horror.
“Is there any way I can help?” Somehow he’d known those would be
the first words out of her mouth.
He shook his head. “Just watch over the children. That’s more than
enough—more than I have any right to ask.”
Her chin set stubbornly as she stared him down. “Merrick ,
I’ve seen a great deal of the worst of human behavior. I would never
voluntarily leave any child, even ones more competent in some ways than
myself—to face that kind of evil alone.”
He gave in to the urge to reach out and touch her uninjured hand.
“I’ve told you my story, Caro. I would know yours, beyond that you’re from Somerset
She shrugged. “As I’ve said before, it’s not an unusual tale. My
mother was the daughter of a peer. Her father loved her dearly and didn’t
disown her when she fell pregnant with no husband in sight. She continued to
run his household, and he doted on the pair of us until the day he died.
Unfortunately, he was careless when it came to his legal affairs, and he didn’t
specify our continued subsistence in his will. His lordship, my uncle, wasn’t
inclined to support his disgraced sister and her offspring, so out we went,
with little more than the clothes on our backs. My mother…broke, somehow. Her
mind was never altogether sound again. So it fell to me to support the pair of
us—first at a small village school, then as a private instructor after my
mother died.”
“And you were how old?” He’d like to find her uncle and throttle
the man.
“Sixteen.”
He barely suppressed a growl. “And which peer of our realm is your
relative? It occurs to me I may know the man—though I can’t think of one with
the surname Bristol
She bit her lip, then admitted, “I took the name Bristol from the
nearest city to the village where I taught. It’s not my real name.”
“Caro—who is he?”
“No.” She met his gaze, determination evident in hers. Scooting
closer to the edge of the bed, she turned her hand in his, squeezing tightly.
“I’m not going to tell you, Sir
Merrick. Please just let it go.”
He didn’t have it in him to deny her—not while she lay there,
vulnerable. But one of these days he was going to find out and make the bastard
pay. He reached out and cradled her face in his free hand. “Caro—” Even he
didn’t know what he’d been about to say. He couldn’t fight the urge to see if
she tasted as good as she looked. Moving slowly, giving her plenty of time to
push him away, he leaned forward and lowered his lips to hers.
The barest brush of skin against skin burned like an electrical
shock. This wasn’t faery magick or a Knight’s power, but the raw, elemental
earth magick of male and female. He kissed her again, this time with enough
pressure to actually call it a kiss. It still wasn’t enough. Far from rebuffing
him, Caro clutched his head with her good hand, her fingers spearing through
his hair to hold him closer.
“Ahem.”
Merrick jumped back from Caro and she recoiled back against the
headboard, her face flaming a vibrant pink. They both turned guilty faces
toward the bedroom door.
Steam and Sorcery
is available from Carina Press
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