You Have My Attention

Chapter 1 thru 8

There is another book by C.J. Archer in my audible library called The Librarian of Crooked Lane and I’d started it but never finished it. Not because it wasn’t good, but some other book distracted me. You can tell clearly what kind of stuff attracts my attention … libraries, watchmaking and horology … anything like that you have my attention immediately.

I liked the title of the series … Glass and Steele. It reminded me of the epic scifi show with Joanna Lumley and David McCallum called Sapphire and Steel.

The setting reminds me so much of Susan Dennard‘s Something Strange and Deadly series … it’s Victorian age with magic setting really appealed to me; gaslamp genre I guess it’s called. I love that setting and Strange and Deadly was so perfect in so many ways. Glass and Steele’s India Steele is so very appealing to me because she’s strong, independent, smart AF, AND a horologist who is better than all the men around her and in the watchmakers guild that they, of course, won’t let her join because she is a woman. Matthew Glass is a mysterious American searching for a particular watchmaker and his band of very American outlaw ruffians reminds me so much of the band of gruff and lovable pirates in Alli Temple‘s The Pirate & Her Princess Series. I already love all the characters so much.

I guess everything about the first 8 chapters reminded me of two books that I enjoyed so very much and I’ve been looking for a similar feel for a while now. This series just MIGHT be what I have been searching for based on the first few chapters.

Emma Powell is a new narrator for me but I think she is going to very quickly become a favorite like all the others where I search out books based solely on the fact that she is narrating them. I LOVE her work here. She doesn’t do men well AT ALL but not a lot of female narrators do. For some reason men can do women really well but not vice versa and I don’t know why that is. It’s not distracting here at all. Her voice work of Matthew Glass is more than acceptable.

I’m REALLY looking forward to diving back in tonight!

Story this session: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Voice work: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

A Very Expected Ending

This novel was so predictable. I really was just enjoying the performance and looking forward to seeing where the next book goes. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat or anything and I feel like things kind of wrapped up fast in preparation for another book … it felt a bit rushed. But again, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the story. I absolutely did.

I liked the reveal as far as India’s role and how that played out. I also like the budding romance aspect. Sometimes the old “omg he saw my ankle” kind of thing is nice and not overwhelming and overly explicit … sometimes I’m just not in the mood for that stuff but it feels like sometimes so much stuff is heavily focused on romance and sometimes I just want a good story without all that … it’s hard to find which sucks. It shouldn’t be. (sigh)

It was tied up too nicely in a bow … like the end of a Lifetime movie. I assume it’s because the story will pick up and just continue on in the next book.

Story this session: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars4.0
Voice work: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0