Forged by Desire By Bec McMaster

The Basics:
Forged by Desire By Bec McMaster
SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca
Book Four in the London Steampunk series
Romance, Steampunk, Paranormal
Published September 2, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon.ca Kobo.com

Why I picked up this book:

The cover, the description... I was hooked.


Blurb:

A FEAR SHE CAN'T ESCAPE
Ten years ago, Perry fled her thrall contract to find sanctuary among the Nighthawks. In that time, she's become a respected woman of the Guard, and she's wanted Garret Reed for as long as she can remember. But when a new case takes a chillingly familiar turn, Perry finds herself once again in the path of a madman...only this time, there's nowhere left to run.

A DESIRE THAT CAN'T BE TEMPERED
Out of their depth and racing against time, Perry and Garrett must learn to trust the desire sparking between them...or risk losing themselves forever to the darkness stalking London's streets.

My thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this paranormal steampunk romance.

Perry and Garrett make a delightful couple - I love the 'friends to lovers' trope, and it worked really well with this duo. Having worked together for years, Garret's sudden awareness of Perry as a woman and of how necessary she is in his life amped up the tension as Perry faced some demons from her past.

The way the two dance around each other, fretting about the fate of their friendship and trying to protect each other even while being drawn to each other.... I loved it!!!  This is a couple with serious issues and the way that they work through them had me glued to page (or my ereader, actually).

Forged by Desire takes the vampire trope and gives it a little tweak, playing off of existing social classes. The way that the story plays in and around familiar ideas, with little nudges here and there to give the story a steampunk-paranormal flair was absolutely fun to read.

I enjoyed the way that earlier books in the series played into this - I will definitely go back and read a couple of them (which is saying something because I usually HATE going backwards in a series!)

I'm also curious about the direction that the series is taking, and I'll be on board for more.

Bottom line:

I loved Forged by Desire - it was fun, it was full of sexy tension and it had plenty of paranormal action to keep me engaged from start to finish. I highly recommend this one and I'll be looking for earlier books in the series!

5 stars
For fans of steampunk romance, paranormal romance, friends to lovers stories, spy agencies.