Title: Victorian Scoundrel: Windsor Diaries Book One
Author: Stephanie Burkhart
Publisher: Desert Breeze Publishing
Pages: Approx 230 pages
Genre: Steampunk, Sensual Romance
Two grandchildren of the Queen from a steam driven England of 2010, return to the Victorian era. Edmund, son of the Prince of Wales, is the instigator and his cousin Alice, daughter of the Duke of York, follows him through the time machine to stop him getting into trouble.
Edmund is fascinated by dirigibles but Alice knows it's too early to introduce them into Victorian England. Will their interaction with their many times grandparents change their own future. What will Alice do when she finds Grayson, the man of her dreams, but knows he must remain in this time while she returns to her own?
I have a growing interest in steampunk, and having read some of Ms Burkhart's previous books I was intrigued to see what she would make of this genre. She steamrollered it! Pardon the pun.
From the initial meeting of Alice and Grayson, the misunderstandings, the burgeoning love - all this pulls the reader deeper into the story. Edmund has his sights set on more technical things, but this doesn't make him immune to the attractions of the opposite sex.
Alice and Edmund have a playful attitude to each other which shows they have been brought up together and know one another well. Fun and laughter follow most of their moves, even when Alice gets annoyed with her cousin.
I wondered how the story would finish and no I'm not going to give as spoiler. I'll only say the end was unexpected, riveting and right up until the last page I had no idea how the author was going to solve the difference in time to my satisfaction. At the end of the book the only frustration I had was that I had no more pages to read, and the second book in the series hadn't been released.
Even if you've never tried steampunk, if you enjoy a good book this is one you'll love. Well done Ms Burkhart, I look forward to reading the second book in the Windsor Diaries.
