Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Clockwork Heart
SERIES: Clockwork Love #1
AUTHOR: Heidi Cullinan
PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing
LENGTH: 248 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 2, 2016
BLURB:
Love, adventure and a steaming good time.
As the French army leader’s bastard son, Cornelius Stevens enjoys a great deal of latitude. But when he saves an enemy soldier using clockwork parts, he’s well aware he risks hanging for treason. That doesn’t worry him half as much, however, as the realization he’s falling for his patient.
Johann Berger never expected to survive his regiment’s suicide attack on Calais, much less wake up with mechanical parts. To avoid discovery, he’s forced to hide in plain sight as Cornelius’s lover—a role Johann finds himself taking to surprisingly well.
When a threat is made on Cornelius’s life, Johann learns the secret of the device implanted in his chest—a mythical weapon both warring countries would kill to obtain. Caught up in a political frenzy, in league with pirates, dodging rogue spies, mobsters and princesses with deadly parasols, Cornelius and Johann have no time to contemplate how they ended up in this mess. All they know is, the only way out is together—or not at all.
Warning: Contains tinkers, excessive clockwork appendages, and a cloud-sweeping tour of Europe. A little absinthe, a little theft, a little exhibitionism. Men who love men, women who love women, and some who aren’t particular.
REVIEW:
Being the (bastard) son of the man intent on ridding Europe (and probably then the world) of any but French rule, Cornelius really ought to know better than to engage in treasonous acts. But he despises his father’s actions and plans, and the loss of life both French and foreign that come with them, so it should not be too much of a shock that he would consider–and then act–to save the life of one badly injured Austrian soldier.
Saving that life, though, comes with a far greater cost to both Cornelius and Johann, the soldier he saves. For to save his life, Cornelius must replace Johann’s heart with something that is both dangerous and wonderful: a prototype clockwork heart. But with one side of the war looking to harness the power of the heart, and another looking to destroy it, Cornelius has inadvertently thrown himself and the man he is coming to love into the middle of war bent to destroy everything they know of life as it is. Staying one-step ahead of all sides is their only solution, but it will require perhaps more tinkering and pure damn luck for them to survive.
I’ve been struggling with a way to fully describe this book. It is steampunk…just minus the steam. It is swashbuckling…just with “buckles greatly excessive beyond use.” It is romantic, but hedonistic and at times downright filthy. It is at once all things heartbreaking…but without the loss of hope.
There are (semi-)honest pirates, electrifying parasols, orgies and absinthe-induced hallucinations. There are bad fathers, loving mothers, mysterious mentors, and bad guys intent on ruling the world (in a very French manner).
There is also fisting. Steampunk fisting. I’m not sure how one is supposed to remain objective when that was so dirty and damn hot.
Honestly, I just want to call it a damn good fucking time. Sometimes quite literally.
Cornelius is gloriously slutty. I have no other way to describe it. It is glorious how he revels in it, and how he shows Johann the wonders of sex. They are so hot together it is surprising that certain parts of Johann don’t become too hot to touch.
I should say though there is more to this book than sex. Truly. It is just that the sex was great, and it tends to leave one a bit hot under the collar. But there were so many other aspects to this book that I would want to rave about.
The pirates were great. I love the whole steampunk-steamship thing (which is odd because I can take or leave actual sea-pirates), and these four were some of the best I read. Maybe because the book was so good it just kinda leaked over into every aspect of it, but I loved them all the same. They were fun and intriguing. I have high hopes that we have not seen the last of them. We didn’t spend nearly enough time up in the air with them.
And the political parts were good, though I dearly wanted to shove Cornelius’s father off a mountain. Or into a mountain. Or under a mountain. I’m not particular. Just that there be a lot of death involved.
The alternate-universe aspect made me really enjoy this book because I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen. I liked figuring out the differences and changes in how the world grew with aether instead of electricity and oil leading the way.
From top to bottom from bow to stern, I loved this book. It has a bit of everything and quite a bit to rave over. Have at it, you won’t regret it a bit.
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