{Review} of Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster

Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

GENRE: Steampunk
THEME: Romance and Vampires
RECEIVED: Bought

BLURB:

n Victorian London, if you’re not a blue blood of the Echelon then you’re nothing at all. The Great Houses rule the city with an iron fist, imposing their strict ‘blood taxes’ on the nation, and the Queen is merely a puppet on a string…

Lena Todd makes the perfect spy. Nobody suspects the flirtatious debutante could be a sympathizer for the humanist movement haunting London’s vicious blue blood elite. Not even the ruthless Will Carver, the one man she can’t twist around her little finger, and the one man whose kiss she can’t forget…

Stricken with the loupe and considered little more than a slave-without-a-collar to the blue bloods, Will wants nothing to do with the Echelon or the dangerous beauty who drives him to the very edge of control. But when he finds a coded letter on Lena—a code that matches one he saw on a fire-bombing suspect—he realizes she’s in trouble. To protect her, he must seduce the truth from her.

With the humanists looking to start a war with the Echelon, Lena and Will must race against time—and an automaton army—to stop the humanist plot before it’s too late. But as they fight to save a city on the brink of revolution, the greatest danger might just be to their hearts…

REVIEW:
I couldn’t wait to read the next in the London Steampunk series by Bec McMaster. After falling for Blade and Honoria, the power couple, I couldn’t wait to see what will happen with Will and Lena.

Heat of Iron picks up right where Kiss of Steel left off, Honoria and Blade are now together and living a somewhat normal life. But Lena Honoria’s younger sister moved back to the life she was use to with her half brother. After an incident with Will, Blades second and command she couldn’t live with her sister any longer. But when she gets stuck in the middle of the very outspoken humanist group and the powerful blue elites, Will steps in to make sure she stays out of trouble.

Lena is a lot like her sister, tough, independent and is closed off to the one guy who makes her heart skip a beat. After a kiss with Will went very wrong, she has always felt a longing for the connection. But moving forward is her new focus until she makes a mistake that puts her in too much danger. Luckily Will figures out what she’s in the middle of a decided to stay by her side while learning the proper ways of a gentleman. I loved the tension between Lena and Will; they are always heated both in passion and anger. Lena also is a bit blind to the fact that Will is trying to stay away from her in the romantic sense for a very good reason. My favorite tidbit about Lena is that she has a mechanical touch. Where he sister was good with science, Lena can build amazing trinkets.

Will, also known as the beast and Blades right hand guy, is not what many would picture as a passionate person. But Will is full of fire, protectiveness, and a passion to care for one woman whom he cant get out of his head. Will is a hard-core fighter and werewolf, he is also a former slave and wishes for the freedom of his kind. When a chance to protect Lena and free his people comes into play, he’ll do anything to see it through. I adored Will, no matter his aggressive side; he is a sweet and loving person. He prides himself of his family and friends; he’ll do anything to keep them safe. But he fears the possibility of hearting Lena because of his nature. I liked that his heart and instinct kept pulling him in all directions but his heart just wanted what he most feared.

Overall this was a fantastic second installment, I liked that I got the vampire side in the first book and a werewolf side in the second. Plus it was great to see the progression of Honoria and Blade; there were some great surprises with them. But Lena and Will stole the show; there are some steamy scenes that were very hot and heavy. The readers will also get some insight on the Humanist, a group of people who are against the blue bloods, as well as introducing the next characters in the series. In the end I love this world more and more, it’s dark, gritty and dangerous but the anti-heroes are strong and great to follow.

RECOMMENDATION:
This is a paranormal steampunk romance story with mature sexual content. Fans of the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger and Bitter Spirits by Jenn Bennett will love Hear of Iron by Bec McMaster.

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