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Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice is a blog that reviews and highlights books mainly from YA and LDS fiction. We post parental content reviews Monday- Friday. If you are an author or publisher we invite you to contact us for interviews, book trailer stills, author and event photos, promotional book tour packages, swag design and reviews

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Legacy of the Clockwork Key (Secret Order)

Legacy of the Clockwork Key - Kristin Bailey ARC Giveaway and review at http://fireandicephoto.blogspot.com

There were several things that really drew me to this book from Simon Pulse when it first came in the mail. The first was the cover, which is different form the final shown above. Mine shoes main characters Will and Meg holding the clockwork bird. You can tell Will is a handsome Scottish lad just by the dark hair and brooding face. The setting is obviously Victorian and steam punk.

All of this rolled into a perfect read for me since I am currently tracing my family history in the Victorian era with Scottish roots. The Victorian period records I have been looking at have numerous watch makers and clock shops which you just don't see much of in our day and time. So I was pulled in to the idea of tinkers, inventors and clock work trinkets. I was also fascinated by the idea Will being a Scottish Tinker or traveller. And after learning that he was left an orphan by the side of the road next to his parent's wagon and taken in as a stable hand I was so curious.You'll have to look up the history of the tinkers after or before reading. It makes Will's personality so much more understandable--his pride in his work and worries about social station.

Meg, the main female heroine, is headstrong and somewhat impulsive--a house maid who is forced into the service of a hidden mysterious man who must keep his home in the same state as the night his wife died. Her prized possession is a clockwork necklace which is all that was left of her parents home the night they both died in a fire and left her without status or means to provide in Victorian society. What she finds out is that the necklace she wears around her neck is much more than it seems, and she holds the key to oh so many secrets!

I thoroughly enjoyed Legacy of the Clockwork Key with its historical base as well as the steampunky creations of the Order of the Musical Amusematists. The setting and world building were fascinating, the various contraptions fun to visualize. I also loved the other hero of the book Oliver with his night vision goggles and unruly hair, as well as his love interest Lydia who has a tragic past of her own.

Content is suited for 16 and up only because Meg keeps losing pieces of her clothing in "accidents" along the way, but overall the romance is appropriate for the time and refreshingly so. There is one swear word which seems misplaced. The only other little thing I wished was that Will would have kept his thick Scottish voice in his inner and outer dialogue through out the entire story.

Would I recommend this one? Definitely! It is adventurous, historically spot on and steampunky goodness.