I love SFR (Science Fiction Romance) having cut my teeth on authors like Ursula K. LeGuin, C.J. Cherryh, Sharon Green, Carole Nelson Douglas, Saranne Dawson, Linnea Sinclair, and Tara K. Harper. So I have certain expectations when I read SFR. But since I’m a relative newcomer to Steampunk and Gaslight romances, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I opened MetalMark by author Ella Drake.
The hero of her story is a futuristic prince née figurehead named Lye, whose world, Brutus, is steam-powered. Known as Lye the Keeper, he’s under the parasitical thumb of the universe’s bad guys, The Syndicate. With Brutus under occupation by Syndicate overseers and his people enslaved with the insectoid MetalMarks, he’s left with no option but to give in to their demands and hope to help his people by way of a seat on the The Syndicate’s council.
In a very fun turn of events, help comes to the rescue in the form of one Jazzelina Eval, an infamous space pirate queen. Jazz makes a deal with a black marketeer to kidnap the handsome prince, but once she gets a look at him, she decides to keep him for herself.
Plenty of intrigue, romance, and swashbuckling futuristic derring-do, MetalMark rates high marks as a sexy and fun ebook.
Disclosure: While I did win this ebook in a contest, that doesn’t change my opinion of the skilled story craft of the author, or enjoyable nature of this novel.
Available from Lyrical Press
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