Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE:  Precious Metals

SERIES:  Metals #2

AUTHOR:  L.A. Witt

PUBLISHER:  Riptide Publishing

LENGTH:  150 pages

BLURB:  

For Constable Paul Benson of the North-West Mounted Police, monotony is a blessing. As a provision inspector below the Chilkoot Pass during the Klondike Gold Rush, he’s seen miserable conditions and gold fever turn civilized prospectors into madmen.

Joseph Starling is on his way to the Klondike to find the men who savagely beat him, murdered his eldest brother, and stole their mining machine. They’ll kill his youngest brother if Joseph doesn’t operate the machine for them—it won’t work without him. With time running out, Joseph must purchase an expensive ticket aboard a crash-prone airship. But the station is miles away through dangerous terrain.

Under orders, Paul grudgingly escorts Joseph, but quickly finds himself intrigued by the young man. As they make their way toward Juneau, it’s not just the need for warmth that drives them closer together. But neither man can draw an easy breath until they make it to the gold fields . . . and there’s no guarantee that Joseph’s brother will still be alive when they do.

REVIEW:  

I quite liked the first book that was set in this steampunk world, so I was very happy when I found out that a second book was coming. And though this really doesn’t have any real connection to Noble Metal, other than the world and places it was set it, I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first. Maybe even a tiny smidgen more.

Guarding prospective gold hunters from themselves on the base of the Chilkook Pass is cold, dirty, thankless work for Constable Paul Benson–or any of the other members of the North-West Mounted Police. But it is his job, and Paul intends to do it to the best of his ability. He just didn’t expect that his next duty would be to escort Joseph Starling–a man beaten, robbed, and on a suicide mission–to save his younger brother from the gang of men who killed Joseph’s older brother, Sam, stole the digging machine that had made them rich, and kidnapped David to make it work. Except it will never work without Joseph there to run it. There only hope is to get to Dawson as quickly as possible. And that means an Airship.

But even if they can convince the owner of the airship to give them tickets on the costly flight, they have to get to Juneau first. And even if they can get to Dawson from there, they have to find David and somehow rescue him from men intent on having that gold no matter what. That is a lot of maybes for a country where the only real certainty is that the land, the weather, or just plain stupid luck could kill you at any moment.

One of my favorite things about this book (and really, there are several ‘favorite’ things) is the way that the steampunk world is so well integrated into the historical aspects of this book. I saw a lot of this in Noble Metals, but it worked just as well in this book as it did in that one. And this time we actually get to take a ride on a airship, which I always love. Just the way that every thing in this book, whether based in reality or not, felt natural, was a very big selling point for me. I love steampunk, but sometimes it can get a bit crazy–but not here. Everything makes sense. It operates on enough logic that I can pretty much buy anything that L.A. Witt is trying to sell me.

And the romance…sooo good. There is a lot of tension building up between them as they are on the road. Not only because they could die at any moment, but becasue they both want each other–but are unsure if they can ever show that. Joseph has never even kissed anyone before, so it isn’t like he is experienced in making the first move–but even if he was, there is every chance that the rugged Mountie will push him off the side of a cliff or something if he makes unwanted advances on him. Not that Paul would do that, but Joseph can’t know that.

But even as they start to realize that the cold isn’t the only thing they are feeling on those close snuggle-for-warmth nights, they have no clue how long what they have could last. Or what it means.

I’d have sold my soul right then for warmth and a place to lay him down if he’d have me. As much as I wanted this journey to be over and for Joseph to find and save his brother, a part of me wished it would last just a little longer, if only so we might have even one night together. So I might have a chance to let him know it wasn’t the cold that had drawn me to him last night, and that if he’d turned me away, I wouldn’t have deserted him. Just a little bit of time so we—

This wonderful push/pull of attraction and wariness is a nice compliment to the danger that nature is constantly throwing at them. They don’t face a lot of human adversity till the end of the book, so it is basically Joseph and Paul trying not to be killed by Canada’s bitch fits. Which I really enjoyed. I liked that the danger in this book isn’t so much a group of people–though they certainly have their place in the story–but just mother nature doing what she does. And Paul and Joseph have to find a way to get thru snowstorms, rockslides, just about everything nasty and dangerous about winter in the great north-west. I think this made it more tense, because they were not trying to outsmart a bunch of men, but battle something that had no care or mercy for them.

If you like steampunks and historicals I can highly recommend this book. But even if you don’t, I would say check it out. I don’t think you have to have read the first one, since this is pretty much a stand alone (but I really enjoyed it, so you might just want to pick it up anyways), and the world building is so well done that it doesn’t require you to know much about steampunk tropes or the historical background of the gold-rushes during this time. It is a good, solid story. And one I am very glad to have read.

RATING:  

BUY LINKS:

Riptide

Amazon

Amazon.uk

ARe