Heart of Steel

I love this series!!!!!!! Even if the sex was somewhat anti-climactic (no pun intended).

3.5 stars

This was much better than I expected. I thought The Iron Duke was just OK and I expected something along the same lines. I'm glad I was wrong. I really enjoyed the interactions between Archimedes and Yasmeen. They were very cautious of each other, but willing to work together toward a common goal. I really liked Archimedes's slow seduction of Yasmeen. Even though he thought it was a long shot for her to love him, he did everything in his power to make it happen. Everything that occurred between them felt right and natural. So, why 3.5 stars? The pacing of the storyline was a bit slow, though I did find most of it interesting. This book would have been 4 stars, but the ending fell flat. Without giving too much away, Yasmeen was looking for something. Once it was found, I felt the story kind of fizzled. It was just going through the motions, and I missed the suspense that led up to it. Overall, it was a good story.

4.5
Well, we have another winner! I very much enjoyed Yasmeen and Archimedes' story. Yasmeen was a great, strong female lead and Archimedes was like an anti-alpha. The man had some definite subby tendencies that I found adorable.

Though the world-building is as impressive as in the first book, I didn't feel the plot was quite as expansive. Therefore, I wasn't as wowed here as I had been with The Iron Duke (though I still really liked it).

I also thought Yasmeen's attitude toward Archimedes seemed to shift suddenly and without a lot of clear reasons, especially considering how vested she was in not falling in love. Plus, as I've seen frequently in romances, the deeper in love she fell the weepier she became. This especially annoyed me as she was otherwise so...well, not unemotional, as she's passionate and full of emotion, but also not one inclined to the softer emotions. Tears seem drastically out of character.

Despite a few little niggles, I'm in love with this series and hope my local library gets the rest of the series.

Rollicking steampunk adventure/romance featuring ruthless pirate queen Yasmeen and the zombie-killing, thrill-seeking adventurer Archimedes Fox. Brook's world-building is almost as much fun as her characters. Definite re-read potential.

I really like it but I'm not that gushing like the first novel (which I reread prior to reading this book) and sigh... although the male characterization differ (alpha male in the iron duke; bad boy in this) but the female MC is fascinating.

I like the play between Archimedes Fox and Captain Yasmeen. From the first novel, there was a sexual tension between both characters which went off the chart when Archimedes was enroute to Venice for Da Vinci treasures which he want to use for his debt. These were cut short when Yasmeen knock Archimedes off her ship into zombie-infested city of Venice.

So, this book started with Yasmeen meeting with Archimedes's sister Zenobia to offer the news about Archimedes. Unfortunately, Zenobia was held hostage because previously Archimedes had dropped his supplies on Yasmeen ship within it was a Da Vinci's sketch which worth a king's ransom. Like a bad-ass woman she is, Yasmeen blasted someone's brain out in graphical description that would make any zombie salivate and vomitory for the still alive counterpart. Knowing everyone including her was at risk, she travel to another port (insert Final Fantasy 9 FMV) where she was trying to sell off the sketch. Unfortunately, our own steamy adventurer boy wonder, Archimedes Fox, decided to kidnap the infuriating captain and made her a deal about the sketch with a bit of persuasion, a poison-or-not clockwork bracelet. Forced to be in a brief period of bondage by an annoyingly irresistible former smuggler who kept taunting her, they exchanged funny dialogues between one another (kinda like Pirate King Elizabeth Swann and reformed Jack Sparrow) while we devour the mecha of the era of steam punkness with clockwork secret compartment, forgeries, exotic female assassins and etc, Yasmeen was again dosed with hallucinogen and stuck into a locked wardrobe when Archimedes decided not to trust Yasmeen with their bargain and escaped with the sketch.

However when Yasmeen came to her senses, she found her entire crew were slaughtered, her ship burning and the forged sketch (Anyone watched White Collar?) were missing. The airship blown up on her leaving her with a shattered knee. Moments when Archimedes found himself with his beloved sketch, he left in hurry as soon as he heard the commotion from Lady Cosair. Conveniently, he forgot to leave with the sketch, hence giving an open opportunity to anyone who would come and steal from his room. Back to the port, Lady Cosair was in a burning heap and Archimedes went ballistic when he realized that he left Yasmeen unconscious when this happen and frantically seeking through the burnt corpses for her. Weeks later, he was often drunk and in full regret over his grieve over the captain when Yasmeen herself came back from the dead with a sword on his throat and started berating about his emoness and wanted answer on who he was running from.

And thats just earlier chapter of this action-packed book. Its not a conventional romance or erotica but its an fantasy adventure first and romance the second. The characters were intriguing and somehow fit the psudo-industrial age settings. Airships were more prominent in this book, although Ms Brook didnt emphasize on the technicalities of the ships but she did capture the whole scene with a new revolutionized airship pirating.

However if talking about realism, you can hardly find anyone to be as good as the Iron Duke in our real life. But Archimedes is what to be considered as a rational woman pseudo-fantasy of a man who understand her need. Archimedes was surprisingly romantic, he cared for Yasmeen and attentive to her hurt and feelings. He let her take charge of her life and somehow stood equal with her and can be a supporting character to his lady love. Archimedes was an alpha male of his own passion, he strive in adrenaline rush, dream of swashbuckling adventure. But he learn to crumble the womanly defences by being reliable and trustworthy. He did took charge when she was incapacitated and more oftenly, he get what he wanted in the end. He was an indicative genius master of manipulator and know when to push the buttons to everything. It might not be too far from being a realist but he certainly a basis of, what every woman worth her salt, desired the most.

Strong female character, intelligent male character, intricate subplots and undertones made this novel a delight.

I love the world Meljean has created with her steampunk series. I have two complaints about this book. 1) it ended. 2) it ended and there aren't any other books in the series that I haven't read.

This is one of those books that desperately needs a map.

This is my least favorite of he series. The story is, as with all of the Iron Seas series, great. I just really didn't like the hero and heroine much. By the end, I did like it, but it took almost half the book to really want to see a happily ever after for either of them.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.Quick & Dirty: A strong continuation of a daring adventure, the airship captain slowly opens her heart to a dashing thrill-seeker.Opening Sentence: Yasmeen hadn’t had any reason to fly her airship into the small Danish township of Fladstrand before, but her reputation had obviously preceded her.The Review:I love Meljean Brook. After The Iron Duke, I became a fan. Who wouldn’t love pirates, steampunk, and zombies in a historical setting? With the next book in the Iron Seas series, Heart of Steel, I wasn’t sure if I was going to miss Trahaern and Mina too much to be open to another storyline. But Brook proved me wrong. She proved that anything set in this world is just as adventurous and daring as the one before it. Let me tell you why.The Lady Corsair is captained by none other than Yasmeen. She is a mercenary captain with a ferocious loyalty to her ship and her crew. When a man she previously threw off her ship comes back from the dead and tries to seize her ship, she will stop at nothing to get her guy. Archimedes Fox wants what is his. He has an agenda, and a pricey one at that. He will do what he can to seduce the airship captain and get what he wants. Now whether that is the bounty or the captain herself, it will be up to the captain.Yasmeen is a fantastic heroine filled with flaws and secrecy. We first met her in The Iron Duke, already with as much spunk that you’d want in a leading character. She has so much ferocity; you will never want to be on her bad side. But with all of these personality traits on the outside, we also get to see Yasmeen’s soft inside. Just don’t tell her that you see it, and you’ll stay alive. She is vulnerable and is a romantic. As a reader, we get to see her thoughts towards her ship, her crew, and delve inside the tidbits of her past that she allows. The growth of her character throughout the book is fascinating – from the anger and sorrow of her loss to the calm and contentment of the peace she eventually receives. I will always vote for Yasmeen, and you should also.Mr. Fox is a dashing man. He is charismatic and witty, always quick to say something snarky. He is a wonderful match for Yasmeen. He has known her for a long time, since the days aboard his father’s ship. It is this that allows him to slowly work his magic towards melting her heart. But despite how positive and happy he seems, he has his own flaws and sorrows.I spoke in depth about the Iron Seas’ world in my review of The Iron Duke. I thought that Heart of Steel would take me along familiar paths and places, but Brook proved me wrong. I was taken deeper into the world, past the borders of New London and the Horde territory. I was brought into a different culture that I knew of. It was fascinating to learn more about it all.Brook’s two books so far has talked about loyalty to the captains’ crews. She showcases the bonds created between a group of people, respecting their leader and understanding what the crew needs. But she also manages to talk about the turmoil and pains that the main characters have gone through after the Horde. With Yasmeen, we are taken to another place, another part of pain that I wasn’t expecting.Meljean Brook’s Heart of Steel is a wonderful story of adventure and love. But beyond that, it is also about loyalty and respect. Heart of Steel is a great story for the science fiction fan. Come for the pirates and stay for the zombies.Notable Scene:He’d known he was in trouble. He hadn’t realized just how close she’d come to turning the tables on him.Thankfully, the opium had acted more quickly this time. He’d expected to dive into the hideaway until the drug had taken her down, but apparently even Captain Corsair didn’t have much resistance against a second dose. Was it too much?No. Her breathing and pulse were both strong. She simply needed to sleep it off. He glanced at the bed but immediately recognized the folly of it. She might forgive him the trickery, but she wouldn’t if any of her crew came in and saw her drugged in bed, fully dressed.She also wouldn’t forgive him if he stripped her naked.Damn it all. He looked to the hideaway—and hoped she could forgive him this, too.FTC Advisory: Berkley Trade/Penguin provided me with a copy of Heart of Steel. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

While HEART OF STEEL did not reach the romantic heights of Mad Machen and Ivy, nor the Iron Duke and Mina, it was viscerally satisfying to see the ferocious Captain Yasmeen meet her match in the adrenaline fiend Archimedes Fox. I was having a hard time understanding any relationship that started with mutiny and attempted murder, but as in previous books, appearances and respect trump all. The political climax of the story was academically interesting, and as always, reading how this alternate world was formed is pretty cool, but it was Archimedes's treasure hunting that really kept me going. Yasmeen losing her ship felt oddly underplayed, and thus, made my reaction to most of her plot line rather muted. It also seemed pretty far fetched when the architect of her tragedy conveniently popped back into the story (though I found it very interesting, and in character, that she didn't mind who meted out deadly revenge, so long as death occurred).

Full review to follow.

Sexual content: Several sex scenes, prostitution, and an attempted rape.

Enjoyable, rollicking story, not too taxing.

Steampunk, zombies, and ass-kicking heroines. What's not to love?

This is one of those annoying cases in which words are going to fail me, so I apologize in advance.

Meljean Brook picked up one of my very favorite romance plots in HEART OF STEEL. The heroine, Yasmeen, is a pirate with a heart of steel. The hero, Archimedes, is a reckless adventurer who’s never fallen in love. Most authors don’t deal with couples like this very well. They can’t write a romance between two independent, adventurous people without domesticating one or both of them, robbing them of exactly the qualities that make them so extraordinary. So even though it’s one of my favorite plots, the books adopting it almost always make me mad.

But HEART OF STEEL? Oh, it made me very, very happy. It’s fantastic. Not only does it feature a wonderful romance, in which Yasmeen and Archimedes bond during death-defying adventures and then head back to the cabin of their airship to bond in a different, extra-sexy way, it’s probably my favorite of the steampunk universes that I’ve run across so far. There’s a lot of research and imagination in Brook’s alternate history, with a Mongol Horde that held onto the dominance it attained at the peak of its empire, and then expanded further. Her gadgets and gizmos have just the right whiz-bang effect, just the right balance between impossibly modern and antiquated.

And Brook tosses out plot twists like they’re going out of style, sending her story careening along at a pace that would put most roller coasters to shame.

Both this book, HEART OF STEEL, and the first in the IRON SEAS series, DUKE OF IRON, are absolutely amazing. I actually caught myself slowing down while I was reading, which I never, ever do, to make the experience last longer.

Anyone who’s even slightly tempted by a steampunk romance should read these books. They’re top notch.

The further adventures of some characters from The Iron Duke: Yasmeen, the genetically modified airship captain, meets up with the adventurer Archimedes Fox, whom she earlier kicked off her ship into zombie-infested waters because he pulled a gun on her. (As a woman in a sexist society she couldn’t afford the challenge to her authority, but also she just couldn’t abide the insult to her competence.) Did I mention that the airship used to be his abusive father’s, before she killed the father? Archimedes survived and thrived, and there are no hard feelings—well, not that kind. Steampunk romance with light political intrigue. A little too heavy on the romance and mooning over the hardness of Yasmeen’s heart and how Archimedes will suffer for his love, but on the other hand neither of them play head games about love and one of the things he adores about her is that she’s got her own agenda and won’t let him get in the way. I’d be tempted to read anything set in the same world (the Horde and its nanomachines conquered Europe centuries ago, but empires fall; mechanically altered former slaves are making their own ways in the world while the Continent is still mostly zombified), but hope for more worldbuilding in the next outing.

This is the second book in the Iron Seas series by Brooke. This book is not a continuation of the characters in the first storybut instead follows around the Yasmeen, the captain of the pirate airship the Lady Cosair, and Archimedes Fox, the famous treasure hunter. While I didn't find the story as compelling as the first book, it was still a good story. There wasn't as much world building, there was more focus on intrigue and Yasmeen and Archimedes' relationship instead.Yasmeen had sent Archimedes plunging to his death, or so she thought. She is on her way to convery her condolences to Archimedes' sister and sell a valuable daVinci print when Archmedes shows up again. Someone attacks Yasmeen's airship leaving her destitute. Now Yasmeen and Archimedes are forced to plunge deep into Horde occupied Morocco to right past wrongs. Will they be able to concentrate on their goal and resist the pull to each other?I love the steampunk feel to this novel and the politically/technologically complicated world that it is set in. I missed that this book didn't expand of the world but rather depended on the world set up in The Iron Duke (the first book) to hold the story up. We do get to visit more of the Horde occupied areas when the characters travel to Morocco. Most of the story though concentrates on Archimedes' debt and his efforts to repay it. Yasmeen gets tangeled up in the story when she tries to take off with a valuable daVinci print that Archimedes had acquired. The story also spends a lot of time with Yasmeen and Archimedes trying to learn how to work together while falling for each other and trying not to piss each other off.The two main characters (Yasmeen and Archimedes) are very well done. Both are charasmatic and engaging characters. They both have interesting and complex backgrounds. I didn't think their relationship was as steamy as the one portrayed between the characters in the Iron Duke, but it was more a relationship of give and take and mutual respect...so I did enjoy that. In some respects their relationship was more realistic than most of the relationships you see in typical romances.I love this world and enjoyed the characters. I just didn't find the story quite as compelling and the romance between Yasmeen and Archimedes quite as engaging as the story and characters in the Iron Duke. It was still a fun and easy read and I enjoyed it.Overall a solid addition to this series. Love the world these stories are set in; it is a complicated political world with heavy steampunk elements to it. Yasmeen and Archimedes are interesting and charasmatic characters that were fun to read about. There wasn't as much world building in this book as in the first and I missed that. I also didn't find the romance between Yasmeen and Archimedes to be as compelling as the romance in the first book; but I did like that their relationship was built on mutual respect of each other. If you like romance with some adventure and an interesting steampunk setting this is the book for you. Recommended to steampunk fans and fans of paranormal romance.

I received this audiobook for review from Penguin Audio. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.This is the second book in the Iron Seas series.I was initially disappointed that this book did not feature Mina from the first in the series, The Iron Duke. Rather, the heroine is Yasmeen who was also introduced in the series debut.Yasmeen is the Captain of Lady Corsair, the airship. She is a wonderful character and extremely complex. I love that she is so head-strong and loyal. She initially comes across as cold-hearted and never lets her emotions interfere with her head (hence the title, Heart of Steel). She thinks of herself as practical, never allowing herself to become involved in matters of the heart.Yasmeen's heart is slowly melted by the dashing Archimedes Fox. I loved Archimedes from the moment he was introduced! He is such a romantic and is undeterred from his conquest, Yasmeen, no matter how much she pushes him away. Although they seem like an unlikely match at the outset, you soon see that he is the yin to Yasmeen's yang. I thought they were perfect for each other! I loved their banter, and there a lot of humour:Archimedes to Yasmeen: "Goddammit. Can't I save you just once?"And there is sweetness:Yasmeen to Archimedes: "Ah," she said watching his face. Her sneer mocked him. "It is easy to fall in love with a woman who is always making you feel more of a big powerful man. You ought not have picked me, after all."Archimedes: "That isn't it." He didn't question his abilities. "It is simply difficult to know I offer nothing at all to the woman I'm falling in love with." Her expression lightened.Yasmeen: "You offer me nothing? Stupid man. You already give me what few men could. It is rare the man who has the confidence to let me be what I am, whether it is captaining an airship, climbing atop you in a steamcoach, or brawling in a tavern."This book is more of an adventure than the previous book. I was swept up in their quest to find the da Vinci sketch. I really enjoyed the story!Now that I have become accustomed to Adele's accent, I had no trouble at all with her narration. I thought she was well-suited for the book.MY RATING: 4 stars! I really enjoyed it!!

This series is so much better than the man-tittie covers. I can't want for that trend to end. Anyway, about the actual story...I liked the world building, especially how instead of the "look at the cool gadget, clothing item or other accoutrement" obsession that mars much of the steampunk I've read, Ms. Brook allows those elements to mostly stay in the background. They're there, but they don't get in the way of the story. I also like how much attention she pays to getting the sociopolitical elements of this alternate world right. It's not just a light glossing over of this reality, but the way the different cultures, alliances, beliefs and languages are portrayed reflect a complete and well-thought-out world.I also liked the characters, both primary and secondary. I liked that Yasmeen and Archimedes are their own people, both in the sense of being fully developed and mature, but also that they're really different from previous romantic leads in the series. It makes me wonder what Ms. Brook has in mind for future installments. I also liked that we have the opportunity to watch Yasmeen and Archimedes fall in love and struggle to accept how that will change their lives. (There was an early attraction, but no insta-love, no destined mates, no dickhead "alpha" nonsense.)The one thing that I wish had been better is the transitions. Sometimes there would be a really funny or really devastating scene and then boom! mood change. It was a little disconcerting at times. Especially after (is this a spoiler? someone tell me if it is and I'll remove it.) Yasmeen's ship is destroyed and her crew is slaughtered, I felt like there wasn't really any time to process/grieve before we went on to the next scene. That was likely intentional, but still... disconcerting.Overall though, I really enjoyed it and am very much looking forward to the next one!

I always end up falling in love with Brook's characters in both this series and her Guardian series. I find both her heroes and heroines complex, unique, sexy, and a little bit kooky. Our hero, Archimedes Fox, is always looking for an adventure, be it fighting zombies or treasure hunting. His newest adventure is falling in love, maybe with the thrill of getting his heart broken. He has set his sights on Yasmeen, captain of the air ship, Lady Corsair.In the previous book she had left him for dead in a zombie infested Venice. Now he pursues her not only for love, but to get back a sketch by da Vinci she took from him in Venice. He needs the money he would make by selling it. Upon their reunion, they find themselves embroiled with the Horde rebellion when the sketch is stolen from Yasmeen.The romance slowly built through the book. At the beginning Archimedes told Yasmeen he was going to fall in love with her. But Yasmeen was slow to accept her feelings for Archimedes. She needed a partner who could let her be in charge, to watch her back, and let her be her. It took her a while to trust him with that. The romance may have been slow, but it was fun and hot.I adored this book just as much as The Iron Duke. Same awesome world building and characters, but with a different feel. Both Archimedes and Yasmeen have dramatic pasts, but are not as serious and dark as Rhys and Mina. It gave the book a lighter feel. Brook's alternative history is just plain fun and inventive. Definitely recommended.