Kiss of Steel

One thing I particularly like about this series of books is the explanation of vampires. They're called blue bloods, not only for the color of their blood, but because they form the basis of the aristocracy. (At least in England. In France, the revolution and the guillotine, took care of that.) The blue bloods live and rule, and control the spread of the "craving virus" to ensure only male members of the right families get it, which they do with great ceremony when they turn 15. The craving virus ("CV") count grows higher as the blue blood ages, and when it becomes too high they enter "the Fade." At that time they begin the transformation to vampire, a mindless, rotting, killer. Traditionally they're killed when they reach the show more fade.

Blade is a blue blood who is not a member of the aristocracy and, naturally, though they seemingly have a wordless truce with him, they'd like to see him dead. Honoria and her siblings grew up serving one of the blue blood households, but had to flee after the death of their father. Now they're living in dangerous Whitechapel, where Blade becomes the only thing that can protect them.

It's paranormal romance. Of course Blade and Honoria are attracted to each other. Blade pivots about his control, wanting her but not wanting to frighten or harm her. Honoria, once she decides what she wants, goes for it, which I quite like about her.

The thing that cracked me up in this book was what I've taken to referring to as Bulletins from Honoria's Nipples. That woman's nipples are constantly tight, taut, or tingling, and she is always letting us know. I get that it signifies sexual arousal but it happened so often I started to look forward to it as if it were an in-joke: "We interrupt this important and frightening scene to bring you an update from Honoria's nipples. Nipples, how are you doing?" show less

I don't quite know what I was expecting, but this was much better than whatever I thought it'd be. I just wanted to keep reading and reading and got perturbed whenever I was interrupted or had to do "important things" - you know, like sleeping and all that jazz. I loved how neatly the world-building was threaded into the story so that you learned of it slowly as you went, rather than being info-dumped at the beginning. I was worried I wouldn't like Honoria because someone's review said it took a while to warm up to her, but everything she did totally made sense to me. She was very passionate and caring, but also logical and hesitant when she needed to be. And Blade was the classic (sassy) tortured, brooding hero - which is a classic for show more a reason. I'm definitely excited to continue the series and see how Will and Lena's story goes. show less

This book (volume one in the London Steampunk series) appeared unannounced on my kindle one morning. Given that it looked suitably trashy and never having read a book from the “steampunk, paranormal romance” genre I decided to dive in. Set in an alternative Victorian London ruled over by evil aristocratic vampires, the beautiful and feisty Honoria Todd, for a number of complex reasons, has to flee into the rookeries of the dreaded Whitechapel area. The rookeries are ruled over by the fearsome but sexily-dashing outcast vampire, Blade. It’s pretty obvious where things are going to end up between Honoria and Blade, but the getting there is reasonably well-handled despite some abject silliness. What is really impressive about the show more book, however, is the clever and unobtrusive, yet highly memorable world-building. The London steampunk setting of palaces, rookeries, razor gangs and blood-factories is excellently done as are the integration of the Victoriana and paranormal elements. There are some odd plotting issues, there is a reasonably high cheese factor and the final resolution is odd to say the least, but overall “Kiss of Steel” is an inventive and engrossing read with a great mix of steampunk, paranormal, vampires, verwulfen, Victoriana, danger and romance (oh, and splashes of hot, steamy sex). Can’t believe that I actually enjoyed this and can’t quite believe I’m contemplating reading the sequel….! show less

In the first book in the London Steampunk series, Honoria Todd and her younger siblings are in hiding from the Echelon, the cruel London aristocracy, and trying to survive the dangerous streets in the rookeries.
Blade has built up a reputation as a monster. Since he controls the rookeries and protects the people living there from violent human gangs and from the Echelon alike, the people must pay him or trade with him for his protection. Honoria has been living in Blade’s territory for months, not paying dues. After they finally meet, she has little choice but to fall in line.
OMG! I love this book! Honoria and Blade are wonderful, three-dimensional, in-depth characters. They love hard and fight even harder. The chemistry between them show more sizzles. Blade’s rough, uncouth accent is so damn sexy. He’s a yummy mixture of a violent, self-loathing, protective, and honorable man.
I adore the secondary characters: Will, Rip, Esme, Leo, Lena, and Charlie. All of them provide focus and the meaning of family for the H/h.
Though I really enjoyed the world building, I found some of it a little difficult to keep straight because so much was going on.
The blue bloods are a group of pseudo-vampires, and most of them are part of the Echelon. They were once human, but now they’re infected with the craving virus, which is considered an honor. Only rich, affluent men are allowed to become blue bloods, and they feed from blood thralls/slaves (human women and other men who do not belong to one of the noble houses). There are exceptions to this rule, however. If the blue bloods lose control of their need for blood and transcend into the Fade, they become vicious, mindless vampires, and must be killed.
Blade is a rogue blue blood, meaning he was illegally infected with the virus, so the Echelon wants him dead.
There are some unanswered questions/loose ends. Since Blade is a blue blood, he will slowly age and live for countless years as long as he doesn’t turn into a vampire. Honoria will grow old and die as a regular human while he’s still fairly young. This doesn’t seem like a real HEA to me, and I hope this issue will be resolved in a later book.
Anyway, the story is tight, well written, and kept my attention. Will’s story is up next, and I cannot wait to read it.
5 Stars

Disclaimer – I borrowed this ebook from the library. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape, or form for this honest review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason unless at my discretion. show less

Kiss of Steel
4.5 Stars

Forced into the squalor of the East End following her father's death, Honoria Todd must swallow her pride and seek aid from the most notorious rogue in the city. Blade, aka The Devil of Whitechapel, rules the slums with a ruthless hand but finds himself unable to turn Honoria away.

Readers expecting a traditional Steampunk novel will be disappointed as these elements are quite minor and contribute very little to the overall world building, plot and characterization. Nevertheless, McMaster has created a detailed alternate world with compelling dystopian features and an original approach to vampirism. Moreover, the setting comprised of the rookeries of Whitechapel and the upper echelons of London society lends darkly show more sinister and gothic overtones to the story.

The characters are well-developed with intriguing backstories and the romance is intense both physically and emotionally. Blade is fiercely possessive and volatile hero who will stop at nothing to protect those he considers his own. Struggling against the darkness that threatens to consume him, Blade must reconcile with his traumatic past and accept that the person he has become is deserving of love and happiness.

Honoria is an intelligent and admirable heroine willing to sacrifice herself for those she loves. Her pride and stubbornness often lead her astray, but once she learns to love and trust, she does so with her entire heart and soul.

The plot does take a few chapters to get going, which is understandable given that this is the first book in a series, but once the stage is set, the story turns into a captivating page turner.

In sum, a well-written and refreshing take on traditional paranormal tropes, and I am eager to see what happens next for the characters and world McMaster has fashioned. show less

I love steampunk books, especially those set in London. So I had been looking at reading this series for a while. This ended up being a very well done romance with a decent plot that supports the romance well. There really isn't a whole lot of steampunk in here though.

Honora has had to scrap out a living as a language teacher in order to support her sister and chronically ill brother since the death of their father. Honora and her family are also in hiding from one of her father’s enemies. All this makes Whitechapel district the perfect place for Honora and her family to live and hide. The problem is Whitechapel is run by a fierce man named Blade and he likes to have some leverage on anyone living in his district.

When Blade finally show more meets Honora he agrees to trade lessons from her in exchange for protecting her family. They both find they are strangely drawn to each other in a way that neither one wants. Honora can’t help but admire Blade’s commitment to protecting his people and Blade admires Honora’s commitment to her family coupled with her innocence. When a rogue vampire tears a bloody path through Whitechapel they end up having to work together to take it out.

This story is definitely heavy on the romance. There really isn’t much steampunk in here at all. Honora uses an awesome gun and there is some talk of genetic manipulation in this Victorian world but that is pretty much it. I guess there was one character with mechanical lungs too, so that is pretty steampunky. I felt like there was a good world here, but it just needed to be filled out a bit more.

The romance between Honora and Blade however was absolutely excellently done. It was very steamy, there is a lot of tension, and you feel like the two characters are better people when they are together. They build a relationship over time and take the time to learn to trust each other. There are scenes between them that took my breath away and I loved how they each admired the other for their strong qualities and took the good with the bad.

There are also a lot of very well done side characters that I would love to read more about. It does look like the next book in the series, Heart of Iron, features Honora’s sister and one of Blade’s men. So this looks like it is one of those series where each book focuses on a different couple, but the main world and story around that couple are a spin-off of the previous book.

There are vampires and werewolves in the plot as well, pretty typical paranormal stuff. The vampires are interesting though because they are a bit different. Vampires start off as Blue Bloods and as the amount of virus in their system grows over time they transitions into raging vampires. It is interesting because a lot of the Blue Bloods are basically ticking time bombs.

The book reminded me a lot of Kate Locke's Immortal Empire series, which I liked a lot better than this book because that series has more action and world building. It also reminded me of Kristen Callihan's Darkest London series, which I liked just as much as this book. So if you are looking for a historical paranormal fantasy that is heavy on the romance this is an excellent choice.

If you are looking for more of a steampunk read with romance woven throughout, I would look elsewhere. Check out Meljean Brooke's Iron Seas series which has an absolutely stunning steampunk world as well as some romance.

Overall an excellent romance with heavy paranormal and lighter steampunk elements. The characters are excellent and the romance between Honora and Blade is just perfection. However the world-building is a bit weak, there are hints of an awesome world here but it wasn’t explored as much as I had hoped. Additionally the plot was well done, but there were times where it took a backseat to the romance. I will probably read the next book in the series when I am in the mood for a heart-pounding romance...however I won’t be looking to this series for a good steampunk fix. For my steampunk reads with some romance I will stick to Brooke’s Iron Seas series which just has a fantastic steampunk world. show less

4.5/5
Egalley thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca
Please, someone, hold me! This book is scorching. *grinning*

If you're looking for pure steampunk, this is not it. Kiss of Steel is a paranormal historical romance with steampunk-ish elements, and oh boy it's done sooo well!

You get a classic trope of a damsel in distress falling on hard times and living in poor areas of London with two younger siblings. However, Honoria Todd is no gentle flower. Her father was an inventor working on a vaccine against vampirism for one of the vampires of aristocracy - Duke of Vickers. When Honoria's father experiments became way too dangerous and Vickers games of cat and mouse with Honoria got more and more twisted, the family fled but not without their father show more getting murdered.

Now Honoria is hiding in dark and dingy Whitechapel's apartments and dreading the moment when local master of the rookeries, Blade, will come knocking on her door asking to pay him for her protection.

Blade was absolutely fabulous, roguish, seductive, sharp and dangerous. He is a vampire hybrid who's been fighting his descent to madness for a long time and who hates all vampiric aristocracy and especially Vickers, his personal enemy.

He knows that Vickers put a huge price on Honoria's head and tries to keep her close in hopes that his enemy will get close enough for him to strike the Duke. There is plenty of politics, intrigues, experiments and wonderful secondary characters, but most of all, there is this undeniable, crackling with tension chemistry between Blade and Honoria, and this pretty much makes the book.

Of course, there is a bonus of vampire sword duel, but hey, who's counting? *wink*

I think, that fans of Firelight and Moonglow by Kristen Callihan will enjoy Bec McMaster as well. show less