Beauty and the Clockwork Beast
Nancy Campbell Allen
352 pages
ARC through NetGalley
From the Publisher:
When Lucy Pickett arrives at Blackwell Manor to tend to her ailing cousin, Kate, she finds more than she bargained for. A restless ghost roams the hallways, werewolves have been reported in the area, and vampires lurk across the Scottish border.
Lord Miles himself is clearly hiding a secret. He is brash and inhospitable, and does not take kindly to visitors—even one as smart and attractive as Miss Pickett. He is unsettled by the mysterious deaths of his new wife, Clara, and his sister, Marie. Could Miles be to blame for the deaths?
Working together, Miles and Lucy attempt to restore peace to Blackwell Manor. But can Lucy solve the mystery of Miles? Can she love the man—beast and all?
Also includes a bonus prequel novelette entitled Marie’s Story.
Review:
I have a confession, I love books (that’s not the confession, that’s not a big secret!)… I have this little book blog… I read at least a hundred books each year, and I had not idea what Steampunk Genre was until reading this book! All I knew is that this was a book in the Proper Romance series, so I needed to read it! I had to Google what Steampunk even was before starting the book. Apparently I need to broaden my horizon and read a bigger assortment of genres!
If I had knows what steampunk was before reading Beauty and the Clockwork Beast, honestly I might not have read it, but I am so glad I did! I really loved it and thought it was pretty interesting. The book has a great mixtures of mystery, romance, darkness and monsters. Something I did not expect! To me this book would be a perfect book to read int eh fall – in October when I’m thinking about monsters/vampires and all that fun stuff!
Lucy is a fun heroine and so smart! I love that she isn’t scared of darkness and monsters. She is so strong and I love her sense of adventure and her desire to really help her family. I’m really surprised more people didn’t know about Miles and his secret than what was talked about in the book – it seemed pretty obvious to me, but I did like him. He made a perfect beast – tough and rough around the edges, but willing to do anything for Lucy.
It was a totally fun book – steampunk, romance, gothic and fairy tale. It was a good mix of all of it and I really loved it! If you have enjoyed the other Proper Romance books you should give this one a chance. Some other read a-likes for this book( besides the other Proper Romance books) include: The Paper Magician Series, books by Susanna Kearsley, and don’t laugh, but I think Twilight totally fits this category!
Final Score:
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