Kiss of Steel: A Uniquely Sexy, Paranormal Steampunk Romance (London Steampunk)

4½ stars. I picked this book on Kindle Unlimited because it sounded interesting, but I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from a steampunk vampire story. As some other reviewers have pointed out, the steampunk element is on the light side, but that hardly matters. Bec McMaster weaves a captivating story that had me hooked after just a couple of chapters. The characters are quite interesting, their histories & personalities revealing themselves throughout each page as the two fall for each other & eventually admit their feelings. Blade was a likeable character, & Honoria grew on me, though there were times that I just wanted to smack her because her inability to trust Blade kept causing her unnecessary strife. All of that was part of her growth arc, however, & when she finally accepts her feelings for him, the story really gets good. In addition to the two main characters, who were very well fleshed out, there were also a whole slew of secondary & tertiary characters. Though these were not fleshed out as thoroughly as I might have liked, this is primarily a romance novel, so it makes sense that the male & female protagonists would receive the most attention. In particular of the secondary characters, I found Will intriguing, & I'm excited that it appears the second book is the story of he & Honoria's sister, Lena. I have a feeling that some of the other characters might show up to populate the other sequels in this series. Aside from the excellence of the romance & my enjoyment of the two lead characters, I was also very impressed with the worldbuilding. This was an entirely new take on the vampire myth, & extremely well done, written in such a convincing manner that one could almost believe that it was an historical accounting! I really liked the world & I'm looking forward to reading more within it. There was enough going on outside of the main story that I think there will probably be some kind of common thread tying all the stories together. I would like to know more about the dynamics within the Echelon (the upper class) & particularly between the queen & the prince consort. Bottom line is, this story was well written, with a couple that was easy to root for, in a world that I am dying to learn more about. I'd recommend it to lovers of slightly out-of-the-box romance, as there are several spicy scenes, which I found to be tasteful & served to move the story forward, instead of just being randomly thrown in (I feel like a lot of books these days just add spice for filler when they don't have enough story). Like I mentioned earlier, steampunk fans might be a little disappointed, as I that aspect felt like more of a footnote than a real focus. Overall, it was a fun read, & the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat as everything came to a head! I will definitely be continuing this series, & likely checking out other works by this author as well.

Let me preface this review with the fact that I do not generally like the young adult (or YA) genre, or rather, I didn’t know until this book. You may agree with me, you may disagree with me, but Twilight and all of its sequels soured me on YA and Vampires entirely in literature for a while. When Fifty Shades showed up, I just was done with any ideas of going near it. Now I have friends who suggested dipping my toes in, but I was determined not to.However, Amazon did a cute thing and said “Hey, you should read this. It’s on sale!”Thank you Amazon, and thank you, Bec McMaster. This book is excellent. It healed many wounds that I didn’t know I was holding onto as a reader. Bec is a skilled and brilliant writer and was able to show a strong female character, with layers of vulnerability infused with strength. This very well written woman did not crumble against a male co-protagonist. He didn’t’ wave some magic ‘I’m a big strong dude’ wand and fix all the things. Instead, there was much struggling on both sides, and this book reminded me of what is right about relationships. At the very end of the book, the female protagonist is still a healthy and vibrant woman, whom I have respect for, and the male is not some shill who is pushed into becoming a spineless fool either. Bec wrote this book with balance!Now, let’s get into the meat of the story, and review!I know in my previous review I wrote a lot about the hook of the story. The hook of this story is well crafted, and I feel, it sold me on the book.The story is about the lovely but beaten down by life, Honoria Todd. Honoria has had one hell of a crappy year when the story starts, and is facing life in very unfamiliar circumstances, and trying to make her life work. She is a very stubborn woman, and slowly but surely she is pushed to a man that she initially does not like, nor does she trust. Over time though, she discovers he is a righteous person deep down, and worth believing. Set in a world of steampunk Victorian England, with elements of vampires and nobility issues, this is an exciting book with many factors.Honoria Todd is the main protagonist of the book, followed by Blade, the underworld king of Whitechapel. There also are some side characters, and what I like, a pair of exciting villains. The main villain, Vickers, is very realistic, and the one that hides in the shadows, The Prince Consort, is also realistic and frightening especially when he’s not doing anything. I feel he is an overall story villain, but he should be mentioned for providing fear to a moment.The characters in this story are credible and realistic. In many ways, Honoria’s stubborn behavior is something I am struggling with in my own life. It is challenging for a person who is trying to hold the world on their shoulders, to ask for help. Pride is one thing, but stubbornness and pride, save this woman from comfort and peace for far too long. It is when rationality and the fact that she has no other choice but to trust, that it works.I do not want to give any spoilers, even though this is an older book because I hope you read it. It’s excellent.Of all the characters in this book, my favorite is not Honoria nor Blade believe it or not. Oh, I like them a great deal, but there was one character I want to see more out of, and that is Esme. That is one dynamic character, and she’s not going to let anyone push her around. Esme is one of Blade’s little-adopted family, and she is incredible.I loved this book.However, that said there are some small critiques I have. This book does have some erotic parts in it. Now, remember back with what I said about Twilight and Fifty Shades? I’m not a fan of the erotica genre. Love scenes are in and of themselves perfectly reasonable and sometimes necessary, but I felt that there was a part of the book that was a love scene lasagna, and it was layer upon layer of love scenes. That’s my only critique. I don’t mind one or maybe two, but there were a lot, and I felt that it also was shoehorned in toward the end then stopped. That’s my only critique. If you enjoy steamy love scenes, you might love this part. For me, eh. I’m not a fan of them.I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who loves adventure stories, or strong female protagonists, or anyone who likes a good tale of science and fantasy. Kiss of STeel very well written. The battle and fight scenes are believable and natural to see in your mind as you read them. Bec writes very well.GET A COPY.This book gets a 5 out of 5 for me. A book that makes me reconsider my opinions on what I read, and makes me eat my shoe over my stupidity, deserves it.

In book 1 of her steampunk world, Bec McMaster introduces us to a race of 'blood drinkers’ referred to as blue bloods, who rule Victorian England with an iron fist. Humans survive as best they can, mostly as 'servants' and/or thralls. Blue bloods need to drink blood in order to prevent themselves from becoming vicious monster like vampires, but many of the blue bloods are an elitist and manipulative lot.Now most people avoid the dreaded Whitechapel district and Blade - the feared master/devil of the rookeries. But for Honoria Todd and her siblings the district and Blade will provide a much needed safe haven.This was one delectable read – Blade I loved, there was just something about him, he was one hero who drew me in and kept hold of my attention. Honoria is one strong-willed and independent women, who finds it difficult to trust or ask for help – but for her siblings she is willing to push pride aside and enter the lion’s den and when she does, she’s in for a surprise – Blade is so much more than she could have ever expected. The chemistry and heat between the two, was clear, I swear at times I could almost hear Blade’s scrumptious accent/voice.Honoria tests Blades much needed control and he is somewhat startled at how she makes her feel, I loved how protective he was. I found myself entertained by the plot and characters – the banter between Blade and Honoria was fun.I will most certainly be re-reading this at some point and am looking forward to the next book in the series.

I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I very much enjoy steampunk, romance and the occasional vampire but I don’t often enjoy the three all combined in one book but I thought I’d give it a chance and I am so glad I did!The vampire/blue blood structure felt like an interesting and fresh distinction, and the social order of the world were introduced subtly enough that none of this got in the way of the story itself.As for the story, there was exactly the right amount of angst and longing to keep the romance working, alongside some bigger themes that meant the steampunk world didn’t feel underused. Completely enjoyable, I’ll be picking up the rest of the series now!

As a newbie to the world of steampunk I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book and was more than anything drawn in by the amazing cover. After the first chapter I was totally hooked and engrossed in the world of the blue bloods and the love story between blade and honoria. The story revolves around a young girl called honoria who is on the run whilst desperately trying to find a cure for her younger brother. Blade is a blue blood and looking for vengeance against the same man who honoria is on the run from and initially intends to use her as bait to get to Vickers. However as the story progresses they slowly begin to fall in love and instead fight against the many obstacles in their path before facing the villain at the end. What I loved about this love story was that it didn't happen overnight it's more believable as both blade and honoria slowly warm up to each other. I loved the background that the story is set in and the characters within the world that mcmaster has created. Honoria is very protective of her younger brother and sister and doesn't instantly fall head over heels for blade which for the lead female character is really refreshing. Blade doesn't initially want honoria instead he wants to use her for his own personal gain and protect his adoptive family. Again as the lead male character it was just really good to have that gradual build up of the love between these two characters. My only negative with kiss of steel is that some of the main parts weren't clearly explained such as the echelon and the queen and Prince who didn't really tie in with the story, which is a shame because it was just because of the lack of backstory with those two major parts of the plot. That being said this is a brilliant story with brave characters all doing whatever they have to for love........and so without further ado it's onto the next book in the series.

I love vampire/paranormal romance so this sounded right up my street and the reviews were great.I’m afraid I couldn’t get past the writing in a cockney accent (and I’m a Londoner so it shouldn’t bother me). It just seemed too much somehow. My inner voice read everything Blade said in a voice like Dick Van Dyke in ‘Mary Poppins’.Probably a great story, just couldn’t do it and I really tried.

Not exactly my usual type of book but it came up on my Amazon's pics and decided to give it a whirl. It was enjoyable with the main characters well developed. Secondary character's with the exception of Will were less so but it I assume that this will come in future books which I will definitely read.