To Read, Perchance to Dream: Book Review: A Clockwork Christmas

File Size: 691 KB
Print Length: 353 pages
Publisher: Carina Press (December 5, 2011)
Sold by: &nbsp;Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B005Z1C47Q

Changed forever after tragedy, a woman must draw strength from her husband's love. A man learns that love isn't always what you expect. A thief steals the heart of a vengeful professor. And an American inventor finds love Down Under. Enjoy Victorian Christmas with a clockwork twist in these four steampunk novellas.

Anthology includes:

Crime Wave in a Corset by Stacy Gail
This Winter Heart by PG Forte
Wanted: One Scoundrel by Jenny Schwartz
Far From Broken by JK Coi

I know it's past Christmas, but I prefer to think I'm early for Christmas 2012!

I was really excited to get this collection of Steampunk stories to read for Christmas. I just discovered the genre last year and was looking for any good stories I could find. I found this on Netgalley and was given a copy for review from the publisher. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in this collection.

First off, there was little to no Christmas anywhere. One of the stories just mentioned it as the heroine was ill and slept through it. If a book is going to be called a Christmas Anthology, then Christmas needs to be the main theme throughout. It wasn't. Bah Humbug!

Then there's the fact that these stories totally put the "steam" in Steampunk! Every story had fairly explicit sex scenes in them. I'm not a prude, but I prefer my literature without the sex. I like the romance that just hints at it and lets me imagine the rest. Nothing in the synopsis led me to believe there would be such steamy scenes. I worried about any teens who might grab the book because of the steampunk genre.

The stories themselves weren't captivating, so with the two strikes against them already, I just didn't really enjoy this anthology.