The Best Paranormal Romance

Write a new comment 5 comments

1. Permalink # C. Thilmany said

   Jack, a fan of Steampunk, and his sister Hallie, end up in altered reality when an explosion happens in his lab. They end up unconscious on an airship where most things are powered by steam or aether. Jack has an immediate attraction to Captain Octavia Pye, who easily accepts their explanation of coming from a different reality. The United Kingdom is under the leadership of an emperor, which is currently in a war with the Moghuls and a rebel band known as the Black Hand. We meet the leaders of all involved as Jack and Octavia attempt to rescue Hallie who was captured and charged with spying.

   As with all of this author’s books, there is a lot of fun chaos and some of the secondary characters are memorable. The best parts of the book deal with the dialogs surrounding sex and relationships. I did like the way the focus jumped from his point of view to hers for entire chapters, giving the reader a little better insight into each of their thoughts and motives.

   But it’s difficult to like Octavia outside of that, partly due to her “oh so proper” persona, which fits with the idea of the Victorian era. There are also a number of things that just don’t make sense, including her crew. Are they a good crew? They don’t seem to obey her orders, yet are loyal. They are even there when she needs saving, yet there is no way they could have known she needed saving, much less had time to come up with a plan and carry it out.

   It took me a number of days to get through the book because it was just too easy to put down.

   Upgraded to 3 stars for the funny stuff.
   
   Rating: 3 / 5

   Reply

2. Permalink # dnamat said

   Wow, my fingers were glued to the pages, could not stop reading Steamed. Missed my train stop both going to work and coming home. Can I please have a side of Jack Fletcher with my dinner… Upbeat & addictive; can’t wait for the next MacAlister to come along (hopefuly when I am in the Keys).
   Rating: 4 / 5

   Reply

3. Permalink # Jessie Potts said

   Rating this was rather hard. If I were to rate it based on the `Steampunk’ Genre it would get a 2 to 3 star rating. I say this because I have read great Steampunk, Levithian, Sir Thomas Riley, Bone Shaker, Clockwork Heart. All of these are pure Steampunk with the gadgets, the alternate history, the weapons masters who create a mixture of live and mechanical tech. Steamed was more so Katie MacAlister’s attempt at breaking into a new genre.

   Now if I were to rate it based on a fantasy romance it would get four stars. This new series has more life and is infused with a better plot then her drug out Dragon series with May. A man who adores old school tech is transported directly in to that reality and meets a fiery red head. This is pretty good work, at times the dialogue was dumb, yes, also the word steamed, steampunk and any variation there of was also used quite a bit. But what do you expect? The author wanted to let her readers know that this was a new genre, this was a new series, and frankly I’m sure it’s hard to break away from the Dragon series with both plot and character.

   This book is enjoyable, come on it’s paperback price (even cheaper on the kindle) and the characters are likable. For a romance, as I said it’s not too bad and I even like Octavia’s character quite a bit. But for a Steampunk? That my dear Steamed is not, yes there is some slightly cool tech, yes there are airships and gadgetry, but it just isn’t pure steampunk. If you want a taste of what a real steampunk is, go grab one of the above suggested. Still, much better than Me and My Shadow and Crouching Vampire Hidden Fang. So enjoy.
   Rating: 3 / 5

   Reply

4. Permalink # Sacramento Book Review said

   Katie MacAlister launches a new series with //Steamed//, which purports to be a steampunk romance — the melding of steam technology and Victorian sensibilities. MacAlister’s imagination and trademark humor are here in full force, but //Steamed// as a whole is half-baked, muddled, and too arch to take seriously.

   Computer technician Jack Fletcher is touted as a hero for exploits he only happened to stumble into. His life is thrown into more chaos when his sister Hallie accidentally sends them on an airship to a dystopian steampunk past. The airship is piloted by Captain Octavia Pyle, a competent, no-nonsense woman who isn’t fazed by Jack’s charm. The steampunk setting is interesting and thought-provoking, but MacAlister slathers it on too thickly, making the gadgetry and world-building read like a Disneyland version of the Victorian era rather than an exploration of a different sort of Victorian past. A few of the characters are also problematic, most pressingly Jack, who begins the tale as a slightly serious, capable technician, but becomes, the moment he lands on Octavia’s ship, a lecherous, irritating seducer.

   //Steamed// is written in a distant first person. The book needs to describe an unfamiliar setting, and this distance makes the steampunk elements feel superficial and the action difficult to follow. //Steamed// is an interesting experiment, but it fails to engage us and take us to new worlds. The romance is lackluster, overly dependent on describing the physical attraction between Octavia and Jack rather than an actual romantic relationship. Fans of MacAlister’s previous books will probably enjoy //Steamed//, but new readers may be disappointed.

   Reviewed by Angela Tate
   Rating: 3 / 5

   Reply

5. Permalink # M. Lembach said

   I enjoy Katie MacAlister’s books fantasy and historical. She generally writes with wit, humor and keeps her plot moving at a fast pace. Although most of her novels fall into the “Romantic Fantasy” genre, I find her worlds ‘believable.’ I found “Steamed A Steampunk Romance” hard to believe and very much doubted that the the hero and heroine would fall in love under the book’s circumstances (I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone so no details.) I also had to very much concentrate on the plot to keep thngs straight.

   Because Ms. MacAllister has entertained me over many books, I’ll give this series another try if there is another installment.
   Rating: 3 / 5

   Reply