The Iron Duke/Meljane Brook

The Iron Duke by Meljane Brook; romance, steampunk; 384 pages

If there is one thing I learned for this book, it's that I need to stop reading romances. I love a good genre book (fantasy or scifi, please) with strong romantic elements, so I thought I'd also enjoy a romance with strong genre elements. This one was advertised as a steampunk romance, so I figured I would love it. Oh, how wrong I was.

To be fair, I liked the world of this novel, and its premise: hundreds of years ago, Genghis Khan's Horde conquered all of Europe and Asia. They developed advanced nanotechnology, which they used to control the population, and to create half-metal half-biological beasts to keep them in line. And zombies, of course, which now roam the continent unchecked. Nine years ago, a rogue pirate ship lead the attack which drove the Horde out of England, and freed its populace. The captain of that ship was rewarded with a dukedom--and the title the Iron Duke. Now, in the late 19th century, a murder on the duke's estate sends Detective Inspector Wilhelmina Wentworth to investigate, and she and the duke soon find themselves tracking down a conspiracy that threatens all of England. Sounds great, right?

I could write you a small novel detailing why I didn't like this book: the choppy writing; the sketchy plotting; the abrupt conclusions to too many subplots; or the almost total lack of British-isms from the supposedly English (and Welsh) main characters. But the real bone of contention was the "courtship" between Mina and the duke. At first I thought it was just that the duke was too "alpha male" for me--but when the duke sexually assaults the inspector, with no repercussions, I lost it. I finished this book, but only barely.