The Engineer Wore Venetian Red

An earthquake strikes. A prince and the engineer who loves him are missing. But is it disaster—or foul play? Hot on the trail of their missing father, Daisy and Freddie Linden step off the airship Iris in San Francisco de Asis. At the moment they discover their best clue to Papa’s whereabouts, an earthquake levels the city—and a disaster is the best time for a political coup. The forces of evil have two targets: May Lin, the river witch, and Carlos Felipe, the country’s handsome young ruler. She is sucked alive into a crevasse, having never told the prince she loves him. Carlos Felipe is abducted—with Freddie the only witness. The kingdom will descend into chaos unless someone can find them both—and Daisy and Freddie seem to be the only ones left standing. “Buckle up, you are in for a ride like no other.” — License to Quill The Engineer Wore Venetian Red is the fourth novel in the Mysterious Devices series set in the Magnificent Devices steampunk world. Though the books can be read as standalones, there are threads of romance and family running through them all. No strong language, just a very proper kiss or two and a satisfying solution. If you like books by Gail Carriger, you’re in the right place. Enjoy!

She wants to be an engineer, but society will never allow it. Until riots break out in steampunk London and she seizes her chance... It’s 1889, and Lady Claire Trevelyan is expected to do nothing more with her life than catch a rich husband. Unfortunately, her talents lie not in the ballroom, but in the laboratory, where her experiments have an embarrassing habit of blowing up. When her father gambles the estate on the combustion engine and loses, Claire finds herself out in the street with nothing to her name but her steam landau and her second best hat. But the embarrassments of her old life might be the talents that save her now ... if she can stay alive long enough to barter her skills for a street gang’s protection. It’s not long before a new leader rises in the London underworld, known only as the Lady of Devices … a double life Claire must keep secret. Will she achieve her goal of an engineering degree? Will her loyalty to her friends be her undoing when it jeopardizes the plans of powerful men? And just how many funerals will her unfortunate mother be forced to arrange? “An immensely fun series, a wonderful main character (one of my favourites in the genre) and a great sense of Victorian style and language that’s both fun and beautiful to read.” —Fangs for the Fantasy: The latest in urban fantasy from a social justice perspective This two-book set contains Lady of Devices and Her Own Devices, the first two novels in the Magnificent Devices series. The series is meant to be read in order, but it is divided into duets and quartets for easy navigation. If you like books by Gail Carriger, Lindsay Buroker, or Nancy Warren, you’re in the right place. Enjoy!

How much must one sacrifice for the sake of friendship? Lady Claire Trevelyan has had to deal with betrayal before, but none is quite so painful as the belief that Gloria Meriwether-Astor deserted her and her friends and left them to die under the waters of Venice. But when she learns that Gloria has vanished, can she do the right thing and attempt to find the missing heiress? Of course she must. But this does not sit well with the gentlemen in her life, who had every reason to believe she planned to settle down at last. Suddenly Claire finds herself without a career, a fiancé, or the confidence in her own abilities that has carried her this far. Worse, Captain Ian Hollys is suffering from the megrims and cannot seem to recover from his dreadful experience as a prisoner. Alice’s dream of captaining her own ship in England is scuttled. Tigg is struggling with a revelation that has turned his life upside down—and may result in a betrayal more harrowing than any the flock has yet seen. Will the bond of friendship that has brought Claire and the flock together be the very thing that separates them for good? Or will love tip the balance and prove that what really defines a gentleman of means is none other than a lady of resources? “I have to repeat how excellent this series is with the female characters. Not just because they’re good and capable and interesting, but because they’re also different.” Fangs for the Fantasy, on A Gentleman of Means A Gentleman of Means is the eighth novel in the Magnificent Devices steampunk series. No strong language, just a very proper kiss or two and a satisfying solution. If you like books by Gail Carriger, Lindsay Buroker, or Emma Jane Holloway, you’re in the right place. Enjoy!

Georgia Brunel, Lady Langford, boards the transcontinental airship Juno with her late husband’s aunt, Millicent Brunel. They are looking forward to nothing more dangerous than a painting holiday in the clockwork city of Venice, but trouble soon finds them in the person of Millie’s nemesis from her long-ago schooldays. Old grudges have not been forgotten. Old hurts have not healed. Will an old feud finally be resolved … in murder? “The Air Affair” is a prequel short story to the Lady Georgia Brunel Mysteries set in the Magnificent Devices steampunk world. Though these books can be read as standalones, there are threads of love and family running through them all. No strong language, just a very proper kiss or two and a satisfying solution. If you like books by Gail Carriger, Emma Jane Holloway, or Lee Strauss, you’re in the right place. Enjoy!

Flying and love. Which poses the greater risk? To outsiders, Lewis Protheroe is merely private secretary to Lady Claire and Sir Andrew Malvern, the most famous inventors in steampunk London. But to insiders, Lewis is a financial wizard and the owner of the Gaius Club, where the hottest bets this month are on the races at the Kennington Oval. Lewis and Snouts can’t resist the chance to go. The races are illegal, but the purse is large enough to attract daring inventors of personal flying machines from all over the country. As long as they don’t get caught… Lady Philomena Noakes has been driven to the Oval by pride and despair. Women are not allowed to compete, of course, but women aren’t allowed to do very much in a Blood family, except be married off to the highest bidder. If she can just fool everyone long enough to show what she can do with her dilapidated flying machine, winning the purse could change everything. And perhaps two lonely people might discover that flying and love are the two things in the world that pose the greatest risk—and the greatest happiness. “This is one of those books you can't help but cheer for. The plot is exciting, the challenges are difficult, and the stakes could not be higher. It's a quick read, and will keep you on the edge of your seat.” —Lori Alden Holuta, author of the Brassbright Chronicles Acorn is the fifth novella that follows book 12 of the Magnificent Devices steampunk series. These short reads capture secondary characters about whom readers have wanted more. Though they can be read as standalones, there are threads of romance, friendship, and family running through them all. No strong language, just a very proper kiss or two and a satisfying solution. If you like books by Gail Carriger, Lindsay Buroker, or Nancy Warren, you’re in the right place. Enjoy!

Who said life is but a dream after the wedding? Married eight months, Lady Claire Trevelyan and Dr. Andrew Malvern are blissfully working together on a new invention, and providing a home for a collection of street sparrows. Then Claire’s mother, the redoubtable Lady Jermyn, arrives with her family in tow and expects to stay indefinitely ... Peony Churchill turns up on the doorstep with valise in hand ... and raffish cousin Claude comes for a visit ... While separately any of these would be most welcome, together they are overwhelming. Claire and Andrew flee to Athena for a bit of breathing room. But the last thing they expect is to have their airship hijacked ... with Claire’s little brother Nicholas still aboard ... Carrick House is the 13th book in the Magnificent Devices steampunk series. Books 13-16 are short reads in the “Manor House” miniseries and can be read separately. No strong language, just a very proper kiss or two and a satisfying solution. If you like books by Gail Carriger, Lindsay Buroker, or Emma Jane Holloway, you’re in the right place. Enjoy!

On the first day of Christmas My true love gave to me Dreadful relations, high expectations, And a sudden urge to pull up ropes and flee. It is the event of the season—on Twelfth Night, the Dunsmuirs have invited the cream of London society to celebrate the marriage of Lady Claire Trevelyan and Andrew Malvern at a reception to which the Prince Consort himself is expected. Captain Ian Hollys brings his fiancée Alice Chalmers to attend and meet his family—people who cannot see past her flight boots to the woman who stands by his side as an equal. When two young cousins of Gloria Meriwether-Astor arrive in London, the inhabitants of Carrick House are happy to welcome them. Sydney and Hugh Meriwether-Astor are completing a world tour, and the Dunsmuirs’ ball is just the thing to cap it off in splendid fashion. But Maggie learns that Sydney has his own plans for the family business. And unlike Gloria, said plans don’t include cutting off the supply of arms to the Royal Kingdom of Spain and the Californias. It’s time for Alice—someone with a spine, an airship of her own, and reasons to put fields of air between herself and decisions about her future—to pull up ropes and warn Gloria that betrayal is closer than she thinks … “All of the women are planning their own lives. Even better, they’re all planning different lives, different paths—because there’s more than one way for a woman to live and be strong and express her agency... The books are already turning into far more than Claire’s story and I’m happy to see that.” —Fangs for the Fantasy, on Devices Brightly Shining Devices Brightly Shining is a novella connecting Claire’s story with that of Gloria Meriwether-Astor in the Magnificent Devices steampunk world. No strong language, just a very proper kiss or two and a satisfying solution. If you like books by Gail Carriger, Lindsay Buroker, or Nancy Warren, you’re in the right place. Enjoy!

A lady of resources has the power to change the world—if she can stay alive long enough to do it. Lady Claire Trevelyan had been looking forward to glittering balls, congenial society, and relief from pursuit during her stay with Lord and Lady Dunsmuir in the Canadas. Though being pursued by a handsome airship captain is rather satisfying, especially when it appears Andrew Malvern is becoming distracted by a certain blond mechanic. But a shot fired in the night puts an end to such diversions, and instead plunges her and her orphaned band of children into a fight for their very survival. Between secret conversations at the highest levels of society and skullduggery in the diamond mines, Claire must discover who is behind the attempts on her friends’ lives—before her mother is compelled to make funeral arrangements yet again. “I have a big grin on my face which is my Magnificent Devices grin—it’s impossible not to smile your way through this book. It’s such swashbucklingly good fun. The tone has that wonderful lightness of humour and joy that keeps up in even the direst of situations. At the same time it wonderfully maintains the sense of time and place—the Victorian feel, the language, the class, the clothing, the attitudes are all extremely vivid, carefully maintained and, at times, gloriously lampooned.” —Fangs for the Fantasy, on Brilliant Devices Brilliant Devices is the fourth novel in the Magnificent Devices steampunk series. No strong language, just a very proper kiss or two and a satisfying solution. If you like books by Gail Carriger, Lindsay Buroker, or Emma Jane Holloway, you’re in the right place. Enjoy!