This is the 5th book in the Darkest London series. This was a very well done steampunk romance, I enjoyed it a lot. The sixth book in the series will be titled Soulbound and will feature Adam and Eliza. Soulbound is planned to come out in February 2015.

This book follows the story of Holly Evernight and William Thorne. Holly is an inventive genius but has had a hard time recovering from the events in Shadowdance, she hasnt left her house at all. Someone has been trying to kill her and she doesnt know who. After having his heart replaced with a silver clockwork heart in Shadowdance, William has suffered madness and unspeakable pain. When he charges into Hollys house intent on seeking revenge, Holly touches Will and her ability to control metal immediately soothes Wills pain. Now Will is determined to help Holly figure out who is trying to kill her, while Holly is determined to fix Wills clockwork heart. Woven into this we learn more about Adam, the leader of the GIM.

Although I havent liked any of the Darkest London books as much as the first book in the series, Firelight, this was still a very engaging read. I really enjoy Holly as a character; she is a bit stereotypical (an ice queen on the outside, but warm beneath her cool exterior) but I still enjoyed her and her crazy inventions. Shes an extremely capable woman thats struggling with some agoraphobia caused by the events in Shadowdance. I wish we had seen a bit more of Holly's inventions, we see some but I really wish that was a larger part of the story.

Will is an interesting character too. The metal from his clockwork heart is slowly taking over the rest of his body. He is in constant pain and falls in and out of madness. In some ways he is also a bit stereotypical (major alpha male and over protective of Holly). Again, I still enjoyed reading about him.

We also learn more about the Nyx, Adam, and how the Fae are involved with elemental power. All of that was incredibly interesting. The scenes with Adam and Eliza May are leading up to the next book, Soulbound. Which will be the story of those two characters.

The steamy scenes between Will and Holly are really well done, the two have excellent chemistry. Callihan really does an excellent job with romance and with writing very creative and engaging sex scenes.

The story is very engaging and hard to put down. There is a lot of action, romance, some nifty steampunk devices, and wonderfully descriptive writing that really brings the scenes alive.

Overall a very well done steampunk romance. I would recommend the whole Darkest London series to those who love steampunk with romance. The tone is very similar to Bec McMaster's London Steampunk series which I have also started reading and enjoy.

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This was another really good book in this series. Both had appearances in the previous books. Holly is an elemental (human with fae heritage) and controls metal. She's an inventor for the SOS. Will is a sanguis demon (think vampire). In the previous book, both were kidnapped. Holly for her abilities and intelligence, Will as an experiment. Will was given a platinum heart and is now after Holly.
I liked the twists and turns. I liked seeing Adam (the founder of the GIM) and look forward to his story which is next. The last book features Holly's "cousin" Sin (St John)- Daisy, Miranda, and Poppy's brother.

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Callihan has the ability to create some of the quirkiest, loveable characters ever. Holly and Thorne are her newest opposites attracting experiment and boy did it work. Holly (I always kind of pictured Abby from NCIS in my mind ) had appeared briefly in several of the earlier books and I was so pleased to see that this crafty, quirky inventor finally got her chance to shine in her own storyline. Ive read all the books in this series and they were all 5 star reads for me, this one being one of my favorites along with Firelight. I read on Goodreads that Firelight , book 1 was rejected by all but one publisher and it went on to win RT Magazines Seal of Excellence, Library Journals best book of the year, Publishers Weeklys Spring 2012 best book and ALA RUSAs best romance book of 2012. It would not surprise me to see more of the same for this book.
While in the past, Ive not enjoyed demons in a storyline so much (Im more the vamp or shifter lover) Thornes macho, assine behavior was a perfect compliment to the nerdy (if that word can even be used in Victorian England) emotionless inventor Holly. They have a past and you really need to have read the earlier books in this series to thoroughly appreciate the meshing of these characters.
In Shadowdance, Holly was forced to construct a clockwork heart for a madman and this madman has come back into her life to extract his revenge. A year after Shadowdance finds Holly housebound and afraid to venture back to her job as head inventor at SOS (Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals) and Thorne is going mad with pain as his body is consumed by Platinum. Holly uses her elemental magic to push back this metal invasion and relieve his pain and once they both realize that they must frequently touch or caress, the real fun begins. While Hollys not technically a virgin (another wonderful little side story here), her responses to Thornes masculinity are often laugh out loud funny. Hollys no shrinking violet and is capable as giving as good as she gets.
I love the world building in Callihans books. This steampunk version of Victorian England is a vivid character all its own and one of the reasons Ive enjoyed this series so much. Hollys inventions and Victorian London are as fascinating as the mystery and secrets that add yet another layer to this fascinating series. I also love that we get glimpses and tidbits of information on former characters from earlier books- Poppy, St John, Adam, Lucien, Mary Chase and Jack. Cant wait to see who has the starring role in book 6 and 7, Soulbound (2/24/15) and Foevermore (TBA), St John and Layla or Adam and Eliza May. Either would be more than entertaining and will be on my auto buy list as this series just gets better and better. When I first started this book, I found myself sitting up way too late to read and as it progressed trying to slow down and savor it as I knew Feburary is still a long ways off.
The only complaint I had about this book and its minor to me as I dont get all hung up on the covers but I wanted Thorne to have long flowing platinum hair as described in the book rather than the close cropped blondish look . As I read this ARC on my Kindle, I didnt see the book cover till I had finished and was posting my review so it was definitely a minor point.

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