I won this ARC in a contest at Dear Author.

I have a confession to make... I was afraid to read this book. I have a serious love affair with this author's Guardian series. I mean, how many of my Goodreads friends did I nag into reading it lately? Five? I know they finally broke down and read it just to shut me up, but that's okay, because they loved it anyway and I got more people to talk about it with. So, I was afraid something would happen and I wouldn't be able to get into the new series and I'd lose a favorite author. Thank God I slapped the neurotic out of myself and read it! It was great!

So this is an alternate view of England. Two hundred years ago some of the English, now referred to as bounders, fled the Horde and only returned to England after the Iron Duke had broken the Horde control. The bounders aren't very popular because they've come back to try to claim their titles and their land and are rich, while the people of England who stayed and suffered are poor. The Horde hid nanoagents (or bugs) in the sugar they traded with England. When the time was right, they activated the bugs and thus began the Horde control. Nine years ago, the Iron Duke had broken the Horde control on England. For his trouble, his pirating was pardoned and his was awarded a Dukedom.

This book opens with Mina Wentworth being called to the house of the Iron Duke to investigate a murder. She works for the Metropolitan Police Force and is very good at her job. The Iron Duke, Rhys Trahaearn, is willing to let her investigate, but wants to be involved and informed of all the particulars. Because of his particular status in England, Mina is forced to agree.

It took me a while to figure out exactly why Mina was a pariah in her own society. I don't know if the author was slowly hinting at it, or if I'm just slow, but it took me a while to figure out exactly who the Horde were and why her connection to them would be easy to spot. I was expecting something to do with the nanos or prosthetics. I had a lightbulb moment midway through and felt really dumb. Please let it have been the author's plan and not me being dense! :P Once I figured it out, those insults made a lot more sense...

The beginning of this book was hard for me to get into. Not because of the writing or the characters or anything, it just took me a while to fully acquaint myself with the technology aspect of it. I've got to admit, I find it a lot easier to watch a steampunk movie than read a steampunk book. A movie requires much less understanding for me than a book, and I'll own it - I just don't understand engines. The details start coming about engines and machines and it just blows my mind. So, I think this won't affect anyone who understands these aspects better than I do. I struggled for a while, but did eventually understand the technology and the world. But that lack of understanding isn't unique to this book. I always feel it when reading steampunk. It's just me.

I loved the characters in this book! Not just Mina and Rhys, but the side characters too. Yasmeen, Lady Cosair, a merchant captain with a bad ass attitude. Archimedes Fox, the adventurer who seems to have quite an attachment to one of the other characters. Scarsdale, an excellent character who despairs about Trahaearn's blunt speech and who is incapable of getting onto an airship without being extremely drunk, drugged, or knocked out. And then there's Mina's coworker, Constable Newberry... What an absolute sweetie. I really enjoyed his relationship and loyalty to Mina.

Mina was an excellent heroine. She's smart and assessing at all times. She doesn't go looking for trouble, but she won't back down either. The years under Horde control have had a huge impact on her. She will not be controlled again. Not by a person, and not by her own emotions. Her situation in life is so sad. Where can she go so people will look at her and see something other than the Horde? She is constantly having to hide in the shadows and prove her own worth. Poor girl. She lives in fear, although it is not always apparent. Fear of being controlled, fear of being hurt, fear of being the cause of her family's suffering. Her every action is influenced by those fears.

Rhys is a hero who just wants to be ignored. He likes the power and influence his name gives him, but he doesn't want the hero worship. He doesn't want people to look at him and thank him, it makes him uncomfortable. The public takes his image and runs with it and no one seems to care about the truth of his past. He doesn't care, a lie can serve him better than the truth at times. Unfortunately, he seems to forget the image he has been given and pushes Mina and tests her, not knowing that she's judging his actions by who she thinks he is.

Rhys had a really harsh childhood that has shaped his view of the world and his relationships to people. He values people by their use to them and keeps them or discards them depending on their value. He knows that everyone has a price, and has no problem with manipulating someone into the situation he wants them to be in. Thank goodness for Scarsdale. He's the voice of reason telling Rhys when he's fumbling things with his pursuit of Mina. I cracked up at the severe understatement of the term, "bad sport," that Rhys and Scarsdale kept throwing around. I loved Rhys though, because once he figured out that his manipulation was doing more harm than good he dropped it and started tweaking another angle.

There is a part in this book that I think is going to make some readers uncomfortable. I, personally, loved that it was there and that they had to deal with it in an honest and adult way. It was, sincerely, an honest mistake. Rhys didn't mean to do it like that, and Mina couldn't help her reaction. I loved how it all worked out.

Can I just point out that there are zombies in here! How cool is that? I didn't read the summary of the book, I just wanted it based on the author, so they were a big surprise. I loved their roll and I loved the explanation for their existence!

The only problem I had was toward the end. Mina and Rhys and their total miscommunication made me want to smack their heads together. It totally fit with their characters, and the fact that they seem to speak a different language at times, but I still found it a bit frustrating. I just wanted to sit them both down and have an intervention! But it was wonderful too.

I cannot wait to read the next book!!!