Gilded Lily

Today's post is on Gilded Lily by Delphone Dryden. It is the third in her Steam and Seduction series. It is 296 pages long and is published by Berkley Sensation. The cover has the two main characters looking very steampunky. The intended reader is someone who likes steampunk, romance, and fun time. There is mild foul language, sex, and mild violence in this book. The story is told from third person close of the two main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- HIDDEN IDENTITIES, SCANDALOUS SECRETS…
DEADLY ATTRACTION.
Frederique Murcheson’s introduction into society hasn’t gone smoothly—some would even call it a disaster. Only Freddie considers her debut a success. Her scheme to become a makesmith has gone off flawlessly. The only thing that could upset her plans now would be if someone discovered that brilliant tinker Fred Merchant is, in fact, a lady in disguise.
Wooing a spoiled heiress is not exactly Barnabas Smith-Grenville’s idea of high espionage. However, considering his brother disappeared on the job, supposedly into the most iniquitous of opium dens, he cannot expect much better. At least the assignment will afford him time to search for his brother, whom he suspects is in spy-related trouble rather than a drug-addled haze.
But when Freddie proves to be both irresistible and the key to the answers he seeks, Barnabas finds himself not only entwined in a scandalous mystery involving lethal submersibles and deranged dirigibles, but also in a dangerous game of the heart…

Review- As the last in the Steam and Seduction series, this was a nice send off. The missing brother was found and innocent, Barnabas get someone to love, and Freddie gets to live her own life. That said the villain was not great and I wanted Freddie's father to have to really deal with that he has done. I found the love story between Freddie and Barnabas to be very believable. They both want someone to share their lives with and they found that in each other. the steampunk stuff was more in the background for this final novel than in the previous two but I am okay with that. I think that this story was more about stopping the technology from being used badly than the other novels so that made it take more of a background. A nice, solid ending.

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.