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The Lawmen of the Republic #1
Lace & Lead
Breathtaking action, startling originality and polished story-telling combine in this futuristic Sci-Fi novella about a rough mercenary, a pampered daughter, and the lies they both believe.
Blue-blood Emmaline Gregson survived one of the most brutal mining accidents ever recorded in the Republic, but she's never been in a firefight. So when unknown assailants circle the family estate, the only man she can rely on is Peirce Taggart. A former Lawman turned mercenary, Peirce has a simple protect Emmaline until her father can collect her and sell her to sex trafficker Richard Stone to pay off his debts. But when Arthur Gregson tries to cheat his way out of the contract, Emmaline seizes the opportunity to hire Peirce for herself, regardless of how crude, dangerous, or appealing he may be. Given the chance for redemption, he promises to help her escape both her father and Stone. But Peirce soon realises that hiding her in his apartment until the storm has passed may be more dangerous than looking down the barrel of a gun...
Blue-blood Emmaline Gregson survived one of the most brutal mining accidents ever recorded in the Republic, but she's never been in a firefight. So when unknown assailants circle the family estate, the only man she can rely on is Peirce Taggart. A former Lawman turned mercenary, Peirce has a simple protect Emmaline until her father can collect her and sell her to sex trafficker Richard Stone to pay off his debts. But when Arthur Gregson tries to cheat his way out of the contract, Emmaline seizes the opportunity to hire Peirce for herself, regardless of how crude, dangerous, or appealing he may be. Given the chance for redemption, he promises to help her escape both her father and Stone. But Peirce soon realises that hiding her in his apartment until the storm has passed may be more dangerous than looking down the barrel of a gun...
- GenresScience FictionSteampunk
186 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2013
67 people want to read
About the author
M.A. Grant
29 books345 followersM.A. Grant fell in love with the romance genre while working at an independent bookstore. She spent a decade in the rugged beauty of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula before moving to the mountains of Eastern Washington. When she’s not calling out to passing ravens or making a cup of tea, she’s writing dark and moving stories.
She is represented by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency.
She is represented by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 20, 2019
Starts with a bang, and then heads into forgettable territory. There is nothing wrong with this book, just nothing that really stands out. It is definitely hurt by its novella length as world building isn't developed enough.
December 16, 2013
Originally published at Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly
My heart keeps wanting to say Firefly, although when I break the story down, it isn’t a logical reaction. Pierce Taggart sure as hell isn’t an avatar for Mal Reynolds, and Emmaline Gregson has nothing in common with Inara Serra, although it turns out she has quite an affinity for Kaylee.
But this has the feel that Firefly did, a futuristic western, even if that future is rather undefined in Lace & Lead. And Pierce Taggart is also an ex-military man, as Reynolds was. Except that Taggart’s cause wasn’t lost in the fight, only his sister.
In this future, the mostly good army is fighting against aliens who are not human and seem to think we might be dinner. I don’t know about you, but that feels like way more than a difference of opinion that can be smoothed over with a little negotiation. I like my parts attached.
I said “mostly good” because some of Taggart’s former comrades-in-arms are as susceptible to human forms of corruption as the criminally-minded in our world. Just because they fight the good fight some of the time, doesn’t mean some people are always good.
One of the reasons that Lace & Lead feels like a western is because the story starts on a very western-seeming ranch. Admittedly a ranch with some very high-tech security gadgets, but still a ranch. Also, our heroine is not just wearing a corset, but wearing gowns (gowns!) that require a corset to fit properly. Retro-fashion at its finest.
All of Emmaline Gregson’s references to her life before the story begins are to a life where women, or at least “blue-blooded women” are not supposed to have any agency. Her future was supposed to have involved a move from her father’s dubious care to her husband’s, with her being a sheltered child-woman never allowed to make any decisions for herself along the way.
The attack on the ranch that begins the story shoves her life off course and changes everything. Lucky for her, it also breaks her father’s contract with Pierce Taggart. Because Taggart is something unusual, an honorable soldier-of-fortune.
When Emmaline’s father sends a rival band of mercs to kill his crew in order to prevent them from collecting their pay, it does pretty much invalidate their contract, freeing him to take a much more honorable contract from Emmaline.
Because Emmaline wants Taggart to protect her from her disgusting father and the man he was planning to sell her to. Yes, I said sell. In order to pay off a very large debt, “dear old dad” is planning to sell his gently-reared, blue-blooded and virgin daughter to a known flesh peddler.
Attempting to stiff his hired guns by turning them into stiffs is by far the least of his sins, but it is where the story gets mighty interesting.
Taggart thinks Arthur Gregson is an arrogant prick. He thinks all blue-bloods are useless except as a source of jobs for his team. Until Emmaline.
Because while he’s busy rescuing her, she’s equally busy transforming herself from the worthless prissy bitch she never wanted to be into something else entirely.
It’s not just that she’s beautiful in dingy cargo pants as she crawls under old engines and learns to rebuild discarded military transport--it’s that she’s finally found a life that suits her right down to the ground.
If only the men chasing both of them will let her keep it. And Taggart.
Escape Rating B+: There’s a lot of story packed into a relatively short novella, and it packs a surprising amount of emotional punch.
Lace & Lead feels space western, and it hints at it effectively without a lot of detailed worldbuilding. Not that I wouldn’t have enjoyed a bit more worldbuilding. There’s a piece missing about how extremely different life is between the high and low classes. It always is different, but Emmaline’s total lack of agency to the point where she wasn’t permitted to pick her own clothing seemed beyond extreme, especially compared to Taggart’s sister’s life in the military.
The rich are always different from you and me, but on this world, how did they get this far that way?
Emmaline is an active participant in her own rescue. She may need Taggart and his men to break her out, but she was planning to find a way of escape from before the story starts. Also, the suspense subplot of why the chase continues to pursue her involves an earlier incident where Emma very much took matters into her own hands.
She’s not the shrinking violet her society expected her to be. It’s important in the story that Taggart doesn’t just fall for her, however reluctantly, but that he also provides her with a way to do meaningful work for the first time in her life. She needs that purpose as much as she turns out to need him.
Because she needs to become his equal or they don’t have a chance. Not to save their lives, and not to make a future.
My heart keeps wanting to say Firefly, although when I break the story down, it isn’t a logical reaction. Pierce Taggart sure as hell isn’t an avatar for Mal Reynolds, and Emmaline Gregson has nothing in common with Inara Serra, although it turns out she has quite an affinity for Kaylee.
But this has the feel that Firefly did, a futuristic western, even if that future is rather undefined in Lace & Lead. And Pierce Taggart is also an ex-military man, as Reynolds was. Except that Taggart’s cause wasn’t lost in the fight, only his sister.
In this future, the mostly good army is fighting against aliens who are not human and seem to think we might be dinner. I don’t know about you, but that feels like way more than a difference of opinion that can be smoothed over with a little negotiation. I like my parts attached.
I said “mostly good” because some of Taggart’s former comrades-in-arms are as susceptible to human forms of corruption as the criminally-minded in our world. Just because they fight the good fight some of the time, doesn’t mean some people are always good.
One of the reasons that Lace & Lead feels like a western is because the story starts on a very western-seeming ranch. Admittedly a ranch with some very high-tech security gadgets, but still a ranch. Also, our heroine is not just wearing a corset, but wearing gowns (gowns!) that require a corset to fit properly. Retro-fashion at its finest.
All of Emmaline Gregson’s references to her life before the story begins are to a life where women, or at least “blue-blooded women” are not supposed to have any agency. Her future was supposed to have involved a move from her father’s dubious care to her husband’s, with her being a sheltered child-woman never allowed to make any decisions for herself along the way.
The attack on the ranch that begins the story shoves her life off course and changes everything. Lucky for her, it also breaks her father’s contract with Pierce Taggart. Because Taggart is something unusual, an honorable soldier-of-fortune.
When Emmaline’s father sends a rival band of mercs to kill his crew in order to prevent them from collecting their pay, it does pretty much invalidate their contract, freeing him to take a much more honorable contract from Emmaline.
Because Emmaline wants Taggart to protect her from her disgusting father and the man he was planning to sell her to. Yes, I said sell. In order to pay off a very large debt, “dear old dad” is planning to sell his gently-reared, blue-blooded and virgin daughter to a known flesh peddler.
Attempting to stiff his hired guns by turning them into stiffs is by far the least of his sins, but it is where the story gets mighty interesting.
Taggart thinks Arthur Gregson is an arrogant prick. He thinks all blue-bloods are useless except as a source of jobs for his team. Until Emmaline.
Because while he’s busy rescuing her, she’s equally busy transforming herself from the worthless prissy bitch she never wanted to be into something else entirely.
It’s not just that she’s beautiful in dingy cargo pants as she crawls under old engines and learns to rebuild discarded military transport--it’s that she’s finally found a life that suits her right down to the ground.
If only the men chasing both of them will let her keep it. And Taggart.
Escape Rating B+: There’s a lot of story packed into a relatively short novella, and it packs a surprising amount of emotional punch.
Lace & Lead feels space western, and it hints at it effectively without a lot of detailed worldbuilding. Not that I wouldn’t have enjoyed a bit more worldbuilding. There’s a piece missing about how extremely different life is between the high and low classes. It always is different, but Emmaline’s total lack of agency to the point where she wasn’t permitted to pick her own clothing seemed beyond extreme, especially compared to Taggart’s sister’s life in the military.
The rich are always different from you and me, but on this world, how did they get this far that way?
Emmaline is an active participant in her own rescue. She may need Taggart and his men to break her out, but she was planning to find a way of escape from before the story starts. Also, the suspense subplot of why the chase continues to pursue her involves an earlier incident where Emma very much took matters into her own hands.
She’s not the shrinking violet her society expected her to be. It’s important in the story that Taggart doesn’t just fall for her, however reluctantly, but that he also provides her with a way to do meaningful work for the first time in her life. She needs that purpose as much as she turns out to need him.
Because she needs to become his equal or they don’t have a chance. Not to save their lives, and not to make a future.
October 14, 2013
3.5
Pierce Taggart and his crew have been hired to keep Emmaline Gregson safe until her father can trade her to a sex trafficker in order to pay off his debts. When Pierce and his men realize they've been played for fools, Emmaline takes the opportunity to hire them herself to protect her from her father. Pierce and Emmaline both have a strong attraction to one anther that has been building since they met two weeks ago. Will he be able to put his feelings for her aside in order to get the job done?
I enjoyed this quick read for what it was. The sexual tension between Emmaline and Pierce was definitely intense. They both had feelings but niether wanted to admit it. Pierce also suffers from heartbreaking events in his past that keep him from getting close to anyone, especially a Blue-blood like Emmaline.
The only part that I think was a little unclear for me was the world. With the story being as short as it was, I felt like the world didn't get as developed as it could have. Lace and Lead is set in a furturistic world (with id scans implanted in wrists, and credits used for money) but there was also touches of old world in there, especially with references to the corsets Emmaline wears. I just wasn't clear on which direction it was going with certain aspects of world-building, but given more space, or if M.A. Grant decides to write more stories in this world, I think it could definitely be built upon.
Regardless, within the short space the story really does have a clear path with a satisfying ending. I look forward to reading more stories by M.A. Grant, and wouldn't be opposed to reading more about Emmaline and Pierce.
Pierce Taggart and his crew have been hired to keep Emmaline Gregson safe until her father can trade her to a sex trafficker in order to pay off his debts. When Pierce and his men realize they've been played for fools, Emmaline takes the opportunity to hire them herself to protect her from her father. Pierce and Emmaline both have a strong attraction to one anther that has been building since they met two weeks ago. Will he be able to put his feelings for her aside in order to get the job done?
I enjoyed this quick read for what it was. The sexual tension between Emmaline and Pierce was definitely intense. They both had feelings but niether wanted to admit it. Pierce also suffers from heartbreaking events in his past that keep him from getting close to anyone, especially a Blue-blood like Emmaline.
The only part that I think was a little unclear for me was the world. With the story being as short as it was, I felt like the world didn't get as developed as it could have. Lace and Lead is set in a furturistic world (with id scans implanted in wrists, and credits used for money) but there was also touches of old world in there, especially with references to the corsets Emmaline wears. I just wasn't clear on which direction it was going with certain aspects of world-building, but given more space, or if M.A. Grant decides to write more stories in this world, I think it could definitely be built upon.
Regardless, within the short space the story really does have a clear path with a satisfying ending. I look forward to reading more stories by M.A. Grant, and wouldn't be opposed to reading more about Emmaline and Pierce.
July 7, 2014
A novella set in a futuristic world where money and breeding mean all. A life full of hardship and suffering and a society that is bound by the Law. Welcome to a possible future.
In this short story we are introduced to Emmaline Gregson a young woman classed as a Blueblood and therefore protected and cosseted at every turn. She finds herself in danger and her father has arranged for retired Lawman Pierce Taggert and his crew to protect her. Pierce finds the young woman to be strange contradiction as she's unlike any female Blueblood he's ever encountered and can't help but find her attractive. Emmaline has faced danger and survived before but this time the danger is closer to home.
They find themselves cruelly betrayed by Emmalines cowardly father and need to escape in a hurry. On the run its Pierces job to protect Emmaline and help her find safety. Unfortunately a cruel sex trafficker Richard Stone,is trying to find Emmaline and take revenge. Deciding to hide Emmaline in his own apartment Pierce begins to see a side of her that calls to him . This attraction is mutual and together they have to face both the danger that follows Emmaline and also the demons that haunt Pierce.
I really enjoyed this short read. It starts with a bang and continues to move at a fast pace. I liked that the author sought to keep up the tension and her depiction of a futuristic society felt bleak and realistic. A tense feeling permeated the writing and there was enough action to keep me turning the pages. Sizzling chemistry between the two leads and I would love to read more from Ms Grant.
In this short story we are introduced to Emmaline Gregson a young woman classed as a Blueblood and therefore protected and cosseted at every turn. She finds herself in danger and her father has arranged for retired Lawman Pierce Taggert and his crew to protect her. Pierce finds the young woman to be strange contradiction as she's unlike any female Blueblood he's ever encountered and can't help but find her attractive. Emmaline has faced danger and survived before but this time the danger is closer to home.
They find themselves cruelly betrayed by Emmalines cowardly father and need to escape in a hurry. On the run its Pierces job to protect Emmaline and help her find safety. Unfortunately a cruel sex trafficker Richard Stone,is trying to find Emmaline and take revenge. Deciding to hide Emmaline in his own apartment Pierce begins to see a side of her that calls to him . This attraction is mutual and together they have to face both the danger that follows Emmaline and also the demons that haunt Pierce.
I really enjoyed this short read. It starts with a bang and continues to move at a fast pace. I liked that the author sought to keep up the tension and her depiction of a futuristic society felt bleak and realistic. A tense feeling permeated the writing and there was enough action to keep me turning the pages. Sizzling chemistry between the two leads and I would love to read more from Ms Grant.
Read
July 15, 2014Cliffhanger: No
HEA:
Cheating:
Rape:
Violence:
POV: 3rd person limited POV, alternates between hero/heroine
Sensuality level (1 being kissing only and 5 being Penthouse Letters graphic:: 2, limited sex scenes, not overly graphic
Grammar errors/typo level (1 being what you'd see in any book, 5 being this read like a rough draft): 1
Would I re-read?: No, but I thought this was a super fun novella. I enjoyed the world that was set up, and definitely would have loved it to be a longer book.
Fans of heroes who become possessive/protective as they fall in love will love this.
HEA:
Cheating:
Rape:
Violence:
POV: 3rd person limited POV, alternates between hero/heroine
Sensuality level (1 being kissing only and 5 being Penthouse Letters graphic:: 2, limited sex scenes, not overly graphic
Grammar errors/typo level (1 being what you'd see in any book, 5 being this read like a rough draft): 1
Would I re-read?: No, but I thought this was a super fun novella. I enjoyed the world that was set up, and definitely would have loved it to be a longer book.
Fans of heroes who become possessive/protective as they fall in love will love this.
December 26, 2013
From the cover and the description, I was expecting something bit different from what I read. Not a bad thing, just a bit confusing.
I really liked this short, and want to read more from this world. The world-building was a bit sparse because of the format, but what I read I liked. I have a weak spot for future dystopias. I liked the H/H as well and thought their personalities and motivations really came through despite the story length. Overall, I would say that this story was a hell of a lot sweeter than the cover makes you think it will be.
Copy courtesy of Harlequin Enterprises Australia, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really liked this short, and want to read more from this world. The world-building was a bit sparse because of the format, but what I read I liked. I have a weak spot for future dystopias. I liked the H/H as well and thought their personalities and motivations really came through despite the story length. Overall, I would say that this story was a hell of a lot sweeter than the cover makes you think it will be.
Copy courtesy of Harlequin Enterprises Australia, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 3, 2014
This book was amazing. I've read this author's other story and knew this had to be equally as great. She has a way of creating such powerful characters, and pulls you right into their lives. Lace and Lead wasn't something I would typically read but I sure did enjoy it. The tough as nails heroine hiding behind her feminine skirts was just the right match for the hot as sin, potty-mouthed hero. Action, sex, emotion, past hurts and wounds all swirled together in a story that made me keep turning the page until I was finished. Couldn't put it down. Can't wait for something else by M.A. Grant.
November 20, 2013
I'm not much for the 'damsle in distress' type of story but this one really hooked me. Emma is a fierce little rich girl that has been through hell and back at the hands of her own family. Pierce is an aloof mystery that I was dying to peel the layers from. This book kept me awake late into the night, something that hasn't happened in a long time. I couldn't stop reading!
See the full review at:
http://lvanhorn.blogspot.com/2013/11/...
See the full review at:
http://lvanhorn.blogspot.com/2013/11/...
January 7, 2026
Summary accurate.This reads like fanfiction.
August 1, 2016
Short but good Steampunk.
Interesting plot and sizzling romance makes this a fun little read.
My biggest issue it way too short. I wish there was more!
Interesting plot and sizzling romance makes this a fun little read.
My biggest issue it way too short. I wish there was more!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews