Dead Handsome: A Buffalo Steampunk Adventure
by Laura
Strickland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Clara
Allen needs a husband in order to keep a roof over the heads of her assorted
dependents, a roof her nasty grandfather will re-appropriate unless she is
married by her 21st birthday, only a few days away. Strong-minded, unwilling to
take orders from any man, she decides to solve her problem by raising a
murdered prisoner from the dead and marrying him. She expects an empty-headed
puppet; she certainly never dreams he’ll be so devastatingly handsome.
Liam
McMahon doesn’t recall much about his life before his hanging in the prison
yard, other than being Irish. He does remember the kiss Clara bestowed as she
brought him back to life. Every time he looks at her, his desire gets out of
hand. But his former life is chasing him down like a steam engine, and when a
couple of mad geniuses decide he’d make a fine experiment, he wonders if he’ll
live long enough to claim Clara’s heart or if he’ll die all over again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPTS (Exlusive Excerpt):
The man leaned in, and the mechanical eye adjusted
disconcertingly. But Liam had passed far beyond being disconcerted.
“You’re a fine specimen,” the man said. “I’m pleased.”
“What are you going to do with us?” Fagan croaked the words
as if he couldn’t prevent them. The man’s head swiveled to face him.
“Nothing very pleasant, I assure you,” he said without much
emotion. “But comfort yourself with knowing you’ll be part of a grand and
important experiment, and significant portions of you will live on.”
“Jayus,” Fagan wailed.
The black-haired man advised, “I really shouldn’t bother
calling on him, if I were you. He never comes here, though many have called.”
“Do you have a name?” Liam snarled. “Your buddy there is called
Charles. But are we not to know the name of the man who murders us?”
“You may call me Master Mason, since I am a member of that
noble, ancient, and venerated society. And I’m no murderer.”
“Right. You usually have your meat brought to you —fresh hanged.”
“Usually, and only the finest. You should consider yourself
honored to be amidst an august company. The Irish have many faults—many—but
they do grow fine examples of manhood, strong and tall. And, so very often,
dispensable.”
“He’s not dispensable.” Liam jerked his head at Fagan. “A
policeman—”
“Unfortunately, a victim of a tavern brawl while off duty.
Someone saw him going into the river. Lost.”
“Get on with the job.” The steam-burned man, Charles—he with
the horrific hands—appeared at Mason’s side. “Must you toy with them? Just end
it, and let’s get to work.”
“Me? Why me? You do it.”
Liam bared his teeth again. Aye, they had no liking for the
ugly deed Maynard usually accomplished for them.
“You’re the man who’s so good with the saw,” Charles said.
Fagan moaned.
My Review:
I am not usually a steampunk fan but the blurb for this book intrigued me so much I just had to read it. I was not disappointed it. The book is set in Buffalo New York in 1880 with Clara Marian Allen, the star of the book and Ruella, Clara's former cook looking at a dead man laying on Clara's worktable. The dead man is Liam McMahon.
Clara needs a husband, her Grandfather will disinherit her if she is not married by her 21st birthday, which is coming up fast, and Clara has no prospects. So she does the only thing she can, she brings a man back from the dead. Clara herself had been brought back from the dead as an infant.
Liam McMahon is the man Clara is bringing back to become her husband, Liam was ripped out of his jail cell and hung from a makeshift gallows. When Clara brings him back he remembers nothing more then being Irish.
Clara just wants a marriage of convienece in order to keep her home. Can Liam change her mind?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Born in Buffalo
and raised on the Niagara Frontier, Laura Strickland has been an avid reader
and writer since childhood. To her the spunky, tenacious, undefeatable ethnic
mix that is Buffalo spells the perfect setting for a little Steampunk, so she
created her own Victorian world there.
She knows the people of Buffalo are stronger, tougher and smarter than
those who haven’t survived the muggy summers and blizzard blasts found on the
shores of the mighty Niagara. Tough
enough to survive a squad of automatons? Well, just maybe.
Laura will be awarding a pair of hand-crafted, Steampunk-style pierced earrings - US only .
a Rafflecopter giveaway
