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Iron Heart
Edinburgh, 1859
Beauden Somerton is dying. Despite the efforts of his father and renowned medical expert, Dr Augustus Somerton, time is running out for Beauden. So, when the research of an enterprising young medical student catches their attention, they realise she may be their last hope.
Galena Tindale fears her unorthodox research has jeopardised her chances of graduating from Edinburgh Medical College. Still, she cannot turn down an opportunity to assist the infamous Dr Somerton in a groundbreaking attempt to save his son’s life. And, as she strives to mend Beauden’s failing heart, he succeeds in capturing hers.
But not everyone wants Beauden to survive, and it's clear they'll go to violent and destructive lengths to prevent his revolutionary treatment from going ahead. But how far will they go? Will Galena manage to perform lifesaving surgery before it’s too late? Or will she be forced to live in a world that doesn't include Beauden Somerton?
Beauden Somerton is dying. Despite the efforts of his father and renowned medical expert, Dr Augustus Somerton, time is running out for Beauden. So, when the research of an enterprising young medical student catches their attention, they realise she may be their last hope.
Galena Tindale fears her unorthodox research has jeopardised her chances of graduating from Edinburgh Medical College. Still, she cannot turn down an opportunity to assist the infamous Dr Somerton in a groundbreaking attempt to save his son’s life. And, as she strives to mend Beauden’s failing heart, he succeeds in capturing hers.
But not everyone wants Beauden to survive, and it's clear they'll go to violent and destructive lengths to prevent his revolutionary treatment from going ahead. But how far will they go? Will Galena manage to perform lifesaving surgery before it’s too late? Or will she be forced to live in a world that doesn't include Beauden Somerton?
324 pages, Paperback
Published June 29, 2022
About the author
M.C. D'alton
9 books6 followersMy first name is Michelle, but I decided to write under the pen name of MC D’Alton & Michelle Dalton.
I am cook, cleaner, taxi driver and all around go-to person in my household. I make sure to spend at least an hour each day writing. I am currently attempting to get a degree in writing.
Born in South Africa, my husband and I packed up and moved to Australia in 2010.
Besides being blessed with triplet boys, moving to a new country was both the greatest adventure, and adjustment of our lives. Raising three children of the same age left no room for my calling as a nurse and so I decided to concentrate on my second love – writing.
My passion for writing about the fantastical and love swept, started at an early age.
I lose myself in daydreams and what if’s whenever life spares a free minute.
I am a huge romantic but also love drama, mystery, intrigue and the unknown.
My Goal — to create worlds where people can escape to for a few precious moments, places where magic is the order of the day, and love is served on a silver platter.
I hope you enjoy what is on offer.
I am cook, cleaner, taxi driver and all around go-to person in my household. I make sure to spend at least an hour each day writing. I am currently attempting to get a degree in writing.
Born in South Africa, my husband and I packed up and moved to Australia in 2010.
Besides being blessed with triplet boys, moving to a new country was both the greatest adventure, and adjustment of our lives. Raising three children of the same age left no room for my calling as a nurse and so I decided to concentrate on my second love – writing.
My passion for writing about the fantastical and love swept, started at an early age.
I lose myself in daydreams and what if’s whenever life spares a free minute.
I am a huge romantic but also love drama, mystery, intrigue and the unknown.
My Goal — to create worlds where people can escape to for a few precious moments, places where magic is the order of the day, and love is served on a silver platter.
I hope you enjoy what is on offer.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 28, 2020
You can read all my review on Blog - Books Teacup and Reviews
Iron Heart was steampunk romance that revolved around Iron Heart. It was about love, compassion, women’s position in Victorian era, men’s ego and their view towards women acquiring higher studies, medical inventions, greed and darkness in humanity.
Writing was great with smooth and fast pace. It pulled me in the world from the very beginning. If there wasn’t a title page or cover I couldn’t have guessed the book was written by two authors. Both authors did wonderful job in representing theme, world and characters. It was written in third person narrative from Galena and Beauden’s perspective.
It started with Galena’s moment of humiliation and hopelessness on failing to represent her research based on Bachvarov’s theory about replacing damage human heart tissue with suinae tissue that could mark her name in history. She was afraid she had lost her chance graduating from Edinburgh Medical College. But that didn’t last long as the famous medical expert, DR Augustus Somerton, was interested her research. He didn’t have much time. She was his only hope saving his son, Beauden Somerton. Beauden was born with critical heart condition, he would have died at age 5 but he lived as his father replaced his damaged heart with Iron Heart. But Iron Heart was failing, poisoning his body. Only Galena’s research combined with DR Augustus’ mechanical heart design can save his life.
Will Galena help him? Can she design a heart with Augustus that can give Beauden better life? Can she perform life threatening procedure? And then there is unknown narrator who didn’t want Beauden live and egoistic medical student who couldn’t stand Galena’s project and DR Augustus’ way of saving human life.
All characters were well written and developed. I loved the way author wrote protagonists. Galena was feisty and strong heroine who fought in all conditions bravely whether it was against bully or villain or performing life threatening procedure on her love. I loved the way she cared for Beauden and how well she got along in Somerton house.
Beauden was interesting character. I enjoyed reading his mindset and feelings. Though he had to compromise with life because of his heart condition, he never let bitterness and unfairness of life in his nature. He won my heart when he defended Galena in campus and in park, even though it could cut short his days. He welcomed the hanging threat of death bravely. He had soul and heart of gold, I mean literally.
DR Augustus was amazing in the book. All his research and the mechanism he made were wonderful. It showed to what length parents could go to save their Children’s life. At first I thought he wouldn’t accept Galena’s entry in his son life more than just his son’s doctor, he would behave like those aristocratic people of the era but he surprised me there. His decision in climax just filled my heart with admiration.
All other characters, staff and employee of Somertons were great. I’m glad I could know their importance in Somertons’ life.
The world was interesting. It was world where women were not respected for entering men’s profession, often bullied and told by male colleagues their place is at home and hearth; examining cadaver for educational purpose was considered unholy; any unconventional invention was not approved by society and considered unnatural; Medical students didn’t dare to follow Bachvarov theory as it used lesser species’ tissue and replacing heart with metal was considered monstrous. It was interesting to read people’s prejudice and beliefs. It made me think how they could oppose something that is going to save lives. I could imagine how first discoveries might have faced challenges.
Now that Bachvarov’s theory and Iron heart concept was fictional and so other contraptions like mirror messengers, unicarriage, and house system run by steam. It was pretty impressive though. I loved how it gave steampunkery touch. I don’t know when first prosthetic tissue valve was discovered but yes some part of the Bachvarov theory was true/plausible. Some other inventions/discoveries of the era were also used in the book like Grey’s Anatomy, dirigible, mechanical ventilator. It felt good to read heart’s anatomy and physiology once again. Readers aware of medical term and love idea of inventions would enjoy reading this.
I liked insight in the book about wickedness of human nature. Even though Beauden had iron heart, he was most human character while other normal humans acted like monsters. Greed for money and power, how low one can fall for their selfish gain was well presented.
I loved relationship between Galena and Beauden. It progressed a bit fast but I enjoyed reading their love, compassion, and admiration for each other. There was constant tension that tested their love and feelings, first with corroding iron heart and then unknown narrator and his plans.
My favorite scene was surgery and action in climax. It made me nervous and skip my heart few beats. Of course it was bit reckless decision by Galena in climax but I liked how things took turn from thereon. Author could have ended it here making it cliffhanger but I’m glad to see the end of the story and getting the closer. I wonder what might be in next book of the series. And don’t miss authors’ note at the end. It represented book perfectly.
Overall, it was compelling, well written steampunkery historical romance with wonderful world and characters. I definitely recommend this book to fans of steampunk or speculative fiction.
*** Note: I received e-ARC from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Vulpine Press. ***
Iron Heart was steampunk romance that revolved around Iron Heart. It was about love, compassion, women’s position in Victorian era, men’s ego and their view towards women acquiring higher studies, medical inventions, greed and darkness in humanity.
Writing was great with smooth and fast pace. It pulled me in the world from the very beginning. If there wasn’t a title page or cover I couldn’t have guessed the book was written by two authors. Both authors did wonderful job in representing theme, world and characters. It was written in third person narrative from Galena and Beauden’s perspective.
It started with Galena’s moment of humiliation and hopelessness on failing to represent her research based on Bachvarov’s theory about replacing damage human heart tissue with suinae tissue that could mark her name in history. She was afraid she had lost her chance graduating from Edinburgh Medical College. But that didn’t last long as the famous medical expert, DR Augustus Somerton, was interested her research. He didn’t have much time. She was his only hope saving his son, Beauden Somerton. Beauden was born with critical heart condition, he would have died at age 5 but he lived as his father replaced his damaged heart with Iron Heart. But Iron Heart was failing, poisoning his body. Only Galena’s research combined with DR Augustus’ mechanical heart design can save his life.
Will Galena help him? Can she design a heart with Augustus that can give Beauden better life? Can she perform life threatening procedure? And then there is unknown narrator who didn’t want Beauden live and egoistic medical student who couldn’t stand Galena’s project and DR Augustus’ way of saving human life.
All characters were well written and developed. I loved the way author wrote protagonists. Galena was feisty and strong heroine who fought in all conditions bravely whether it was against bully or villain or performing life threatening procedure on her love. I loved the way she cared for Beauden and how well she got along in Somerton house.
Beauden was interesting character. I enjoyed reading his mindset and feelings. Though he had to compromise with life because of his heart condition, he never let bitterness and unfairness of life in his nature. He won my heart when he defended Galena in campus and in park, even though it could cut short his days. He welcomed the hanging threat of death bravely. He had soul and heart of gold, I mean literally.
DR Augustus was amazing in the book. All his research and the mechanism he made were wonderful. It showed to what length parents could go to save their Children’s life. At first I thought he wouldn’t accept Galena’s entry in his son life more than just his son’s doctor, he would behave like those aristocratic people of the era but he surprised me there. His decision in climax just filled my heart with admiration.
All other characters, staff and employee of Somertons were great. I’m glad I could know their importance in Somertons’ life.
The world was interesting. It was world where women were not respected for entering men’s profession, often bullied and told by male colleagues their place is at home and hearth; examining cadaver for educational purpose was considered unholy; any unconventional invention was not approved by society and considered unnatural; Medical students didn’t dare to follow Bachvarov theory as it used lesser species’ tissue and replacing heart with metal was considered monstrous. It was interesting to read people’s prejudice and beliefs. It made me think how they could oppose something that is going to save lives. I could imagine how first discoveries might have faced challenges.
Now that Bachvarov’s theory and Iron heart concept was fictional and so other contraptions like mirror messengers, unicarriage, and house system run by steam. It was pretty impressive though. I loved how it gave steampunkery touch. I don’t know when first prosthetic tissue valve was discovered but yes some part of the Bachvarov theory was true/plausible. Some other inventions/discoveries of the era were also used in the book like Grey’s Anatomy, dirigible, mechanical ventilator. It felt good to read heart’s anatomy and physiology once again. Readers aware of medical term and love idea of inventions would enjoy reading this.
I liked insight in the book about wickedness of human nature. Even though Beauden had iron heart, he was most human character while other normal humans acted like monsters. Greed for money and power, how low one can fall for their selfish gain was well presented.
I loved relationship between Galena and Beauden. It progressed a bit fast but I enjoyed reading their love, compassion, and admiration for each other. There was constant tension that tested their love and feelings, first with corroding iron heart and then unknown narrator and his plans.
My favorite scene was surgery and action in climax. It made me nervous and skip my heart few beats. Of course it was bit reckless decision by Galena in climax but I liked how things took turn from thereon. Author could have ended it here making it cliffhanger but I’m glad to see the end of the story and getting the closer. I wonder what might be in next book of the series. And don’t miss authors’ note at the end. It represented book perfectly.
Overall, it was compelling, well written steampunkery historical romance with wonderful world and characters. I definitely recommend this book to fans of steampunk or speculative fiction.
*** Note: I received e-ARC from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Vulpine Press. ***
June 3, 2018
Steampunk is a complicated genre and I admire authors with the imagination to take it on. D'alton and Page smash it out of the ballpark with this story. The machinery, medical procedures, materials used, descriptions and settings were well created and delivered imagery that made scenes jump off the page and feel real. A beautiful, tender romance between the lead characters added a sweet touch and raised the question: How much would you risk to save the one you loved? A truly wicked villain lends a touch of suspense and highlights the suspicions and misled beliefs in medical history as well as the struggle women faced for equality. This was an entertaining read I could not put down.
May 17, 2018
This review is based on an ARC that I had the privilege to beta-read. I am looking forward to the release of the book on June 2, 2018, and have already pre-ordered my copy.
I have to say, I was completely drawn into this world that MC & Melanie created and was sad to see it come to an end when I got to the last page.
While romance novels have never been my first choice of genre to read, I blame that mostly on the covers of the books and the tawdriness of the stories, this one shattered that stereotype. The characters were so real in my mind that they lept off the pages. The setting and storytelling were beautiful and I was completely immersed.
They managed to open my eyes to well-written romance and the wonderfully crafted stories that they can be.
The story flowed without interruption, there were no points where I wanted to stop reading or felt like I was pulled out of the story. In fact, the more I read, the deeper I was pulled in. The tension was palpable in the places it needed to be. I found myself disliking Jacob and Merrick, and recoiling when I would read what they were up to.
There were times I had to force myself to put down the book, regardless of how much I wanted to continue and find out what would happen next because I wanted to give it the proper attention it deserved and not just race through.
I would definitely recommend this and both of their other stories as well.
I have to say, I was completely drawn into this world that MC & Melanie created and was sad to see it come to an end when I got to the last page.
While romance novels have never been my first choice of genre to read, I blame that mostly on the covers of the books and the tawdriness of the stories, this one shattered that stereotype. The characters were so real in my mind that they lept off the pages. The setting and storytelling were beautiful and I was completely immersed.
They managed to open my eyes to well-written romance and the wonderfully crafted stories that they can be.
The story flowed without interruption, there were no points where I wanted to stop reading or felt like I was pulled out of the story. In fact, the more I read, the deeper I was pulled in. The tension was palpable in the places it needed to be. I found myself disliking Jacob and Merrick, and recoiling when I would read what they were up to.
There were times I had to force myself to put down the book, regardless of how much I wanted to continue and find out what would happen next because I wanted to give it the proper attention it deserved and not just race through.
I would definitely recommend this and both of their other stories as well.
December 31, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. It was unpredictable and a page turner. The story was interesting and unique. The characters were well developed and engaging. It has a little bit of everything action, romance, suspense etc.
June 12, 2018
This was an unbelievably good Steampunk story. I had the privilege of reading an ARC copy.
These ladies put together an incredible story based in a 19th-century world with unique and interesting technology.
The elegant writing style added flavor and fit into the time period. While reading, I felt like I was actually taken back to the 1800's. It was a fascinating journey.
As their individual worlds fell, they found each other. She saved his heart, he saved her self-worth.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fascinating worlds, alternate and unique technology, wonderful romance, and to anyone who loves to root for the underdog.
Well done, ladies.
These ladies put together an incredible story based in a 19th-century world with unique and interesting technology.
The elegant writing style added flavor and fit into the time period. While reading, I felt like I was actually taken back to the 1800's. It was a fascinating journey.
As their individual worlds fell, they found each other. She saved his heart, he saved her self-worth.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fascinating worlds, alternate and unique technology, wonderful romance, and to anyone who loves to root for the underdog.
Well done, ladies.
June 14, 2018
Beautiful story. Never read steampunk before but this romance is compelling and so characters relatable. This is so different to the stereotypical romance.
Love the world building with this historical fiction.
Love the world building with this historical fiction.
June 18, 2018
An enjoyable read
With some clever explanations for some vey intricate mechanical and human medical combinations this was an easy read. The romance was sweet and the use of language well chosen to depict an bygone era.
With some clever explanations for some vey intricate mechanical and human medical combinations this was an easy read. The romance was sweet and the use of language well chosen to depict an bygone era.
June 9, 2018
Brilliant plot with exceptional world building. Galena Tindale, is a heroine like no other, and Beauden Somerton, an exceptional hero. Tension levels reach all time highs as Galena strives to save Beauden and a wicked villain endeavours to destroy their love. A must read for historical, steampunk, and any lover of a good romance.
September 9, 2018
MC Dalton and Melanie Page have written a wonderful story here. Action, betrayal, and of course a beautiful love story, combined with intricate but understandable medical drama, it ticks all the boxes. The heroine Galena is such a sweet blend of independence, gumption and a loving heart. Beauden’s acceptance of his fate, turned to a fierce desire to protect and love Galena is heart warming as his mechanical heart strives to keep him alive. I devoured it and can’t wait to see what they give us next.
January 3, 2020
Iron heart immerses the reader into the steampunk world of Galena and Beauden, where to achieve their happy ever after, Galena must fight not only the men who would see all women struck from the medical profession, but her own doubts.
MC D'Alton and Melanie Page create a world full of colour and life in the era of chivalry and struggle, with the wonder of steam gadgets that make me wish they existed.
I thoroughly enjoyed Iron Heart. The writing is clean, engaging, and swept me up into Galena and Beauden's world where I forgot my own for a while.
I look forward to what they'll write next.
MC D'Alton and Melanie Page create a world full of colour and life in the era of chivalry and struggle, with the wonder of steam gadgets that make me wish they existed.
I thoroughly enjoyed Iron Heart. The writing is clean, engaging, and swept me up into Galena and Beauden's world where I forgot my own for a while.
I look forward to what they'll write next.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews