Heart of Steel (Iron Seas, #2) in Exclusive Author-Editor Chat featuring author Meljean Brook and editor Cindy Hwang

Nov 01, 2011 Melindeeloo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: steampunk, x2018-audio-challenge, x2018-favorites, x2018-series-binge

4.5 stars for my second 'read' in audio. I enjoyed in even more this time around, pary of that is expectations and part is the reader. I wish Brook would write more, I miss her amazing world building and characters.

My original review...
4 stars -In the previous installment of 'The Swashbuckling Lady Lynx and the Idiot Adventurer', Yasmeen - the Captain of the Lady Corsair - threw a desperate Archimedes Fox to the zombies... but I just knew that the colorful Archimedes couldn't really be gone – he 4.5 stars for my second 'read' in audio. I enjoyed in even more this time around, pary of that is expectations and part is the reader. I wish Brook would write more, I miss her amazing world building and characters.

My original review...
4 stars -In the previous installment of 'The Swashbuckling Lady Lynx and the Idiot Adventurer', Yasmeen - the Captain of the Lady Corsair - threw a desperate Archimedes Fox to the zombies... but I just knew that the colorful Archimedes couldn't really be gone – he'd survived zombies before and it would it would have been such a waste of a fabulous character.

Fortunately, Archimedes was just having an off day, because he was anything but an idiot here, actually both he and Yasmeen were so much 'more' than was shown in their short screen time in the Iron Duke and I was surprised at how much that liked both the capable and not as ruthless as she seems, Yasameen, and the clever dashing roguish Archimedes who's determined to court her.

I was almost afraid to read Heart of Steel, I'd been looking forward to reading this second Iron Seas novel sooooo much that I was worried about being over hyped - I was so blown away by the first book and the way the Victorian society was warped by technology and by occupation by the Mongol Horde, that I had really high expectations for this book. Since Heart of Steel is more of an adventure story, and since Archimedes and Yasmeen spend most of their time on an airship (or battling zombies while searching for treasure), Heart of Steel didn't quite have the same 'wow' factor for me – the worldbuilding doesn't jump to the forefront as much here even though the steampunk elements are still strong. As an adventure story however, Heart of Steel was a rollicking read, and the action alternating with interaction between the Archimedes and Yasmeen - which included some excellent sensual tension building - kept me turning the pages.

Expectations aside, if there was a weakness to the story it was that the two big conflicts facing Archimedes are resolved easily instead of capitalizing on all of the angst that went before. But that really was a minor nit that didn't keep me from enjoying the book. On the positive side, some little things that I enjoyed: brief appearances by Ivy and Mad Machen from “Here there be Monsters” were fun and I also really liked Archimede's sister Xenobia – hope to see more of her. So now the excitement and the waiting begins again, next up for the Iron Seas according to Brook's blog are a Scarsdale short and a Rhys/Mina short next year. ...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Brianne rated it really liked it

i really liked this second book in the series. It was set in the same world as the Iron Duke, yet was also so different - different type of story (road story with lots of fighting and exotic locales); different races )the story takes us closer to the Horde lands); more history and world building (tons of information about the Horde and a lot about Yasmeen's background - sooo different than that of the people in the Iron Duke. different perspectives about the world they all live in were presented ...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Fedora rated it it was amazing

Goodness--this was completely amazing. I loved The Iron Duke and waited to read this in part because I wasn't sure how this would compare. This blew any concerns out of the water.

I loved Yasmeen and Archimedes's larger-than-life characters. Ms. Brook made them such colorful characters but with such a deep core of emotion. I loved seeing their relationship grow from the somewhat antagonistic one they started with to one where they truly are the perfect match.

And both Heart of Steel and the bonus ...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Rhianna rated it it was amazing

Everything I desire in a Romance done to perfection.

Archimedes Fox, legendary hero of serial novels and treasure hunter, is bound and determined to have his greatest adventure yet. He plans to fall in love. But not with just any woman. Fox wants Yasmeen, the equally legendary Captain of the Lady Corsair, the woman who has done nothing but make her heart of steel obvious. From tossing him to zombies to taking his most valuable find courting Yasmeen could be more trouble than any adventurer—legend Everything I desire in a Romance done to perfection.

Archimedes Fox, legendary hero of serial novels and treasure hunter, is bound and determined to have his greatest adventure yet. He plans to fall in love. But not with just any woman. Fox wants Yasmeen, the equally legendary Captain of the Lady Corsair, the woman who has done nothing but make her heart of steel obvious. From tossing him to zombies to taking his most valuable find courting Yasmeen could be more trouble than any adventurer—legendary or not—can handle.

Getting his treasure back is a life or death matter for Fox. When circumstances alter the course of their adventure to get it back the pair must brave zombies, a mutinous crew, and Horde territories. Can the pair survive their most dangerous adventure yet? Will Yasmeen's heart find enough warmth in Archimedes to melt her cold exterior or will her past keep her from a love worth waiting a lifetime for?

I shouldn't be reviewing this book. I'm having a terrible time finding anything I didn't like about it which makes it difficult to be objective. Keeping that in mind let me just say that I know this book and series will not work for everyone. You have to suspend disbelief a considerable bit and let the pseudoscience be.

Brook has built one of the most exciting worlds I've read but there's so much of it I think it'd be easy to get Tolkien-esque in description overload. Fortunately, Brook has done an excellent job of not overly fatting this novel while still giving readers much more of the world to explore. If you've read THE IRON DUKE and wanted to know more about the Horde this book will be very satisfying.

As an adventure this book is great. As a romance it is exceptional. The groundwork for it was laid a bit in THE IRON DUKE so I honestly would not recommend this as a stand-alone though I think it's the better of the two. Yasmeen is an intriguing woman and finally getting some background on her made her even more enjoyable. Archimedes is charming and could disarm any other woman thrown at him but naturally he wants the one who doesn't want love with him or anyone. Their banter is as amusing as always but the sexual tension in this one sparks off the page to the point of nail-biting. Looking for some steamy steampunk? This is your book, hands down.

If you read THE IRON DUKE and struggled with disliking Mina and Rhys or finding their romance a little too unbelievable (I know many of you did based on reading others' reviews) I'd suggest giving this one a try. Yasmeen is no wilting flower and Archimedes is not the overbearing alpha-male type that I personally can't stand. The pair are equals in all ways which is exactly what I was looking for. This is one of my favorite romances I've ever read and the adventure only makes it more exciting. I'm scared Brook might not be able to top this one but I'm anxiously awaiting more Iron Seas novels.

**Review copy received via publisher. ...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Malin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-books, favorites

This is the second book in Meljean Brook's Iron Seas series, and while it can be read as a stand alone, a lot of the world building is established in the first book, The Iron Duke, as well as the first encounter of the protagonists of this book, so it's definitely better if you read that one first. Also, while the covers for these books are beyond awful, I promise that they are actually REALLY REALLY good. It's why I buy them as e-books, so I can avoid embarrassment on public transport.

Yasmeen i This is the second book in Meljean Brook's Iron Seas series, and while it can be read as a stand alone, a lot of the world building is established in the first book, The Iron Duke, as well as the first encounter of the protagonists of this book, so it's definitely better if you read that one first. Also, while the covers for these books are beyond awful, I promise that they are actually REALLY REALLY good. It's why I buy them as e-books, so I can avoid embarrassment on public transport.

Yasmeen is the legendary mercenary captain of the airship Lady Corsair, and refuses to cede authority to any man. When adventurer and explorer Archimedes Fox tried to threaten her and take control of her airship, she threw him over the side, into waters teeming with zombies. Now she has to tell his sister, the woman who's made him famous writing about his adventures, that Fox is most likely dead. As Yasmeen also killed the woman's father, she is not really looking forward to the encounter.

I'm spoiling very little by revealing that of course Fox is only mostly dead. He survived the horde of zombies, and now needs to get the very valuable da Vinci sketch he left on the Lady Corsair from Yasmeen, so he can pay off an old acquaintance and hopefully no longer be trailed around the world by assassins. He doesn't mind at all that Yasmeen killed his father in the past, he's grateful, frankly, and now feels that she would be the perfect woman for him to fall in love with. Having had his emotions smothered and blunted under Horde control, he's now determined to live life to the fullest and feel every emotion at its strongest, and he believes loving Yasmeen and probably having his heart broken by her would be a glorious adventure. As they need to travel through Europe together, avenging the deaths of her airship crew and trying to reclaim his stolen sketch, while looking for treasures and running from zombies, falling in love with the temperamental mercenary shouldn't prove too difficult.

The Iron Duke first established the world of Brook's Iron Seas - a Victorian era where the Mongol hordes took over huge amounts the world with their advanced technology, enslaving people with the use of nanobots in their blood stream. The oceans are filled with giant armor plated megalodons and krakens, much of Europe and parts of Africa are teeming with mindless zombies. Having been trained as a warrior, Yasmeen learned the hard way that most men could not be trusted, and felt threatened by her independence, self-sufficiency and strength. While her former lovers would desire her, they could not accept that she held the highest authority on board her own ship, and frequently tried to dominate her in front of her crew. Archimedes Fox is not such a man. He's attracted to Yasmeen because she is strong and capable and could quite possibly kill him if he so much as looked at her the wrong way. He's a thrill seeker and adventurer, and getting the dangerous and deadly Captain Corsair into bed would be his greatest achievement. He has no wish to outrank her on a ship, he just wants to be with her.

A lot less angsty and grim than the previous Iron Seas novel, Heart of Steel is an adventure romp. There are kidnappings, sneaky attempts at poisoning, witty banter, double crossings, explosions, bar fights, revenge quests, adventure, zombie attacks, huge amounts of sexual tension (the couple don't do anything but throw amazing quips at each other until the latter half of the book, they don't even kiss until the last quarter or so). I think I actually even preferred it to The Iron Duke, and can't wait until the next one comes out. ...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Visionary Druid rated it it was amazing

Mmm, quite an entertaining way to start the book. Brother and sister correspondence. I giggled, quite humerous and entertaining. You really get the vibe of sister and brother.

Archimedes and Yasmeen are introduced in The Iron Duke. So for those who have not read the Iron Duke yet, I would recommend that you do. So much happened in that book and to learn that... So the two characters are some-what known...

My first impression of Archimedes was "playboy" "Rogue" "peacock" - One who has this devil ...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Bron rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, steampunk

Heart of Steel had so much promise. A female captain who has sworn never to love, has a very dark secret and makes sure that her rules are followed, and an entertaining adventurer who is the star of books based on his own adventurers. Our adventurer, Archimedes is the only person that can stand up to the Captain, Yasmeen and live. So much promise, but the final chapters were too soft and disappointing, they didn't feel like they were in style with the main characters. ...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Rebecca rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, steampunk

I love Meljean Brook's Iron Seas series, and this is no exception. The worldbuilding in this book is amazing, and I love the heroine, Yasmeen. The only reason I'm rating this a 4 is that I never really "got" the hero, Archimedes. I like that he wanted a strong heroine and supported Yasmeen, but I never could get a grasp on his character.

Despite that, I highly recommend this book to anyone - it's a great read and an excellent example of the steampunk genre. Loved it! ...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Jill Myles rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

Love the audio for this one too! Archimedes sounds playful, and Yasmeen sultry and dangerous. It did throw me a little when Mad Machen had a Scottish accent, though. :)

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