Reviewed by Heather C
Title: Tarnished Knight
Author: Bec McMaster
Series: London Steampunk #1.5
Hero & Heroine: Rip & Esme
Genre: M/F Paranormal Romance; Steampunk
Length: 162 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: April 2013
Available at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble & Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: In the steam-fuelled world of Victorian London, vampires, werewolves and slasher gangs stalk the night and a man made partly of metal is about to discover just how far he’ll go to protect the woman he loves…
After a vicious vampire attack left him struggling to leash the dark urges of the craving virus, John “Rip” Doolan thinks he’s finally starting to master the darkness within. The only thing that threatens to shatter his hard-won control is Esme, his closest friend and the only woman he’s ever wanted. If the stubborn beauty ever realized precisely what was going through his mind, their friendship would be ruined.
For six months, Esme has waited for Rip to recover and take her as his thrall, not daring to hope for more. Too afraid to put her heart on the line, she is devastated when Rip reveals that he never had any intentions of making her his.
But when a savage gang of Slashers start causing havoc in Whitechapel, Rip and Esme have no choice. They must face up to the depth of the passion that burns between them and forge a new relationship…or risk losing each other forever.
Review:
Yep, I’m still loving this series!
We met Rip and Esme in Kiss of Steel, and it was immediately obvious that there was more than just feelings of friendship between them. Tarnished Knight takes place over the first Christmas at the Warren since Blade’s little family has expanded; about six months after book one…six months after Rip was infected with the craving and Esme almost lost him…
This was the case of poor communication, neither Esme nor Rip wanting to admit their true feelings for the other one. Thank the gods for Blade’s meddlin’ ways! (Gah! I ♥ Blade!). So yeah, I was a bit frustrated with both Esme and Rip for a while in the beginning and wanted to confront them both myself!! Rip sure was dense there for a while…thank you Blade! But once their feelings were finally exposed, I couldn’t put it down; Rip and Esme were smokin’ hot together!
There was a little mystery going on with Rip looking into a few Slasher attacks in the ‘Chapel. Personally, I didn’t find that aspect of the story very interesting and didn’t even try to figure out who the culprit was…even though it should have easily been obvious.
Excited to continue on with this series!
Overall Impression: I Really Liked It!
*I purchased my own, personal copy of this book for review.*
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