Veena’s review of Gilded Lily (Steam and Seduction, Book 3) by Delphine Dryden
Steampunk Romance published by Berkley 01 Jul 14
Delphine Dryden’s imagination conjures an alternate reality of eighteenth-century England complete with steamy miracles that falls just a wee bit short in my jaded twenty-first century eyes. Freddie is an intrepid heroine who is born out of her time with her love for adventure and talent for mechanical engineering. On the contrary, Barney is very true to his time period but finds himself following Freddie’s lead abandoning his gentlemanly norms. The story of their adventures is well crafted, but it does not enthrall me with the power of a limitless imagination that I’ve experienced in other books of this genre.
Freddie is a blue blood with very plebian tastes. She would much rather be disguised as a tinker, working mechanical marvels for the tradespeople of London than trolling the ballrooms of the ton dressed to the nines. When her father sets newly arrived Barnabas Smith-Grenville to be her shadow and report back to him on her doings, she’s in trouble. Except she quickly wins Barney over to her own cause and pretty soon he’s embroiled in her adventures.
Barney is convinced that his brother did not abandon his post and become a drug addict, and he’s determined to prove it. He arrives in London in search of clues and goes to work for Freddie’s father spying on her, while trying to find out the truth behind his brother’s disappearance. He quickly falls into line with Freddie’s plans, especially since they line up so well with what he wants to do.
Together they wander the London docks in search of clues and end up traipsing across the channel under water, using an experimental steam-powered trolley, and get into all sorts of mischief with the royal navy and opium smugglers. Some of their adventures, especially their discovery of the glass undersea Atlantis station make me feel like I might have wandered into a James Bond adventure.
There are very interesting octopus-like creatures called cuttlefish who appear to have some level of intelligence and ability to predict earthquakes that wander in and out of the story, interacting with our various characters. These creatures may, in fact, be useful in modern-day California with their ability to provide an early warning of earthquakes. Alas, I fear that exists only in the author’s imagination.
All in all, I struggled through some parts of the book as I enjoyed others. I have not read the earlier stories in this series, so do not know if that contributed to my enjoyment of this story in any way.
Grade: C
Summary:
Frederique Murcheson’s introduction into society hasn’t gone smoothly—some would even call it a disaster. Only Freddie considers her debut a success. Her scheme to become a makesmith has gone off flawlessly. The only thing that could upset her plans now would be if someone discovered that brilliant tinker Fred Merchant is, in fact, a lady in disguise.
Wooing a spoiled heiress is not exactly Barnabas Smith-Grenville’s idea of high espionage. However, considering his brother disappeared on the job, supposedly into the most iniquitous of opium dens, he cannot expect much better. At least the assignment will afford him time to search for his brother, whom he suspects is in spy-related trouble rather than a drug-addled haze.
But when Freddie proves to be both irresistible and the key to the answers he seeks, Barnabas finds himself not only entwined in a scandalous mystery involving lethal submersibles and deranged dirigibles, but also in a dangerous game of the heart…
Other books in this series:
