Brook's writing seems to be getting more cohesive while losing some of the spark that made me fall in love with her earlier books like Demon Angel, Demon Bound, or even the short story that launched her Iron Seas series, "Here There Be Monsters." I appreciated that Heart of Steel read like a well-done action/adventure novel. I liked most of the characters well enough and I recognized that the convoluted story line that has marred some of her earlier works, was not as evident here.
However, I fell in love with Yasmeen and Archimedes in The Iron Duke, and I was expecting some serious friction and heat between these two in their own story. I couldn't wait for their story to come out and even had it delivered on the day of its release via Amazon because I couldn't stomach NOT reading their story as soon as humanely possible. And then I started reading and discovered that they were watered down versions of the hot-tempered, quirky, and danger-loving characters I met in the previous book. If you recall from The Iron Duke, Yasmeen and Archimedes had a hate/love relationship that was fraught with pride, bad temper, and lots of smoldering passion. And then Yasmeem threw Archimedes off her ship and into Zombie infested waters. I couldn't wait for him to return and have a little need for vengeance or for her to be a little pissed that he survived. I don't know, I was expecting fireworks or *anything* but the two of them to meet up several months later with no hard feelings whatsoever. Archimedes announces he's going to fall in love with Yasmeen and she's like, "Whatever! As long as I can jump you occasionally and you don't mess with my authority as Captain of a ship, it's all good." It was just so lukewarm after experiencing their first meeting. There was no effort put into making me believe they fell in love. I wanted to experience the realization along with them, but it's obvious they were in love before the book began and all the good parts happened off screen so to speak.
I'm really disappointed with this book and, though the adventure aspect saved this book from a really poor rating, I can't forgive a romance novel for botching the *romance* portion of the story.
However, I fell in love with Yasmeen and Archimedes in The Iron Duke, and I was expecting some serious friction and heat between these two in their own story. I couldn't wait for their story to come out and even had it delivered on the day of its release via Amazon because I couldn't stomach NOT reading their story as soon as humanely possible. And then I started reading and discovered that they were watered down versions of the hot-tempered, quirky, and danger-loving characters I met in the previous book. If you recall from The Iron Duke, Yasmeen and Archimedes had a hate/love relationship that was fraught with pride, bad temper, and lots of smoldering passion. And then Yasmeem threw Archimedes off her ship and into Zombie infested waters. I couldn't wait for him to return and have a little need for vengeance or for her to be a little pissed that he survived. I don't know, I was expecting fireworks or *anything* but the two of them to meet up several months later with no hard feelings whatsoever. Archimedes announces he's going to fall in love with Yasmeen and she's like, "Whatever! As long as I can jump you occasionally and you don't mess with my authority as Captain of a ship, it's all good." It was just so lukewarm after experiencing their first meeting. There was no effort put into making me believe they fell in love. I wanted to experience the realization along with them, but it's obvious they were in love before the book began and all the good parts happened off screen so to speak.
I'm really disappointed with this book and, though the adventure aspect saved this book from a really poor rating, I can't forgive a romance novel for botching the *romance* portion of the story.
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