Review: Steampunk Darcy by Monica Fairview

From the publisher:

William Darcy is obsessed with his ancestors. So much so that he intends to rebuild Pemberley (destroyed during the Uprising) stone by stone, and he wants to employ reconstruction expert Seraphene Grant to help him. 

Or does he? Seraphene wasn’t born yesterday. She can smell a rat, particularly when it stinks all the way up to her airship. She knows Darcy is hiding something. But with the Authorities after her and her other options dwindling by the moment, the temptation of genuine English tea and a gorgeous Steampunk gentleman are very difficult to resist. 

But what if Darcy’s mystery job courts nothing but trouble? What if Darcy is harboring a secret to kill for? When kiss comes to shove, will Darcy’s secret destroy Seraphene, or will it be her salvation?

Join us on a romantic adventure like no other in this whimsical Pride and Prejudice-inspired tribute, featuring Wickham, Georgiana, dirigibles, funky fish, and swash-buckling pirates.

Review:

Centuries have passed since Fitzwilliam Darcy and his lovely bride, Elizabeth, began their journey together as husband and wife on the magnificent estate of Pemberley. The simple days of strolling through the dew-kissed grass, arms linked with the one you love, planning the life you will build together are long gone. Now, that dew is likely composed of toxic slime rain and is more likely to do physical harm than to merely dampen the hem of your skirts. This is the post-Uprising world, where William Darcy lives and works in what once was Boston, desperately trying to recreate that idyllic, serene world in which his forebears lived. But, William’s ancestral Pemberley has long since been destroyed, and it will take much work, and some help from the beautifully strong-willed Seraphene, to make his vision come to life. Now, if all these obstacles would somehow remove themselves, he could really get down to work.

This was my first experience with steampunk. So, I did some research before I began reading Steampunk Darcy and set my expectations according to what I found. I expected a good bit of brass and copper, Victorian clothes and hairstyles, and some interweaving of history and sci-fi. I was not disappointed. I did not expect sky pirates, a hairstyling automaton, or mutant fish. Those threw me just a little.

Sky pirates notwithstanding, I am a sucker for a story about a tough girl from the wrong side of the tracks who refuses to be rescued from herself and the gentleman who finally takes her away. That is exactly what Steampunk Darcy promises and delivers. While there are many similarities between William Darcy’s love story and that of his famous ancestors, there are enough differences to keep his and Seraphene’s tale fresh. I am fairly sure, for example, that Elizabeth Bennet never mastered the fine art of operating a dirigible. Ultimately, it is a beautiful and genuine gesture that William makes with only Seraphene in mind that earns him her trust and softens her heart – and mine.

*Review copy provided by author. Review written by Leatherbound Reviews contributor Heather Head.

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