Holiday weekend makes for heavy reading

I was able to enjoy three straight days of sunshine, poodles, and reading. After weeks of rain interrupting some great outdoor time, there is now a lull to catch up on all the yard work. Trimming bushes, pruning roses, cutting and edging, etc. I watched my industrious husband from the porch with cold refreshments and my trusty Kindle. Now I am back to the grindstone refreshed and ready for a short week.

Magnificent Devices by Shelley Adina

New characters, new problems, new lands all add together for yet another fantastic installment in the world of Lady Claire and her rag tag party of orphans. With many more appearances from the Mopsies, I was a little disheartened to realize that many of the flock were left behind in Jolly Ole England to not have their stories told. None of it detracted from the big picture, though, and the story came out quite brilliantly. The conclusion left more questions than answers as a good middle novel should. I was ecstatic to have the entire 4-book set in one Kindle bundle, as I plowed straight to the concluding novel.

My history of the Wild West is sorely lacking, but I feel Ms Adina may have taken many artistic allowances with her creation of it to fit the steampunk genre. This is where I am not a fan of the alternate history aspect of fiction. I feel it clutters the knowledge base and many youths end up with a radically skewed perspective of the world. It is very important that we understand where we came from to know where we are going. So my tangent aside, it does not impact the overall joy of the novel (I just personally wish it were a little more accurate).

While Claire is not a lady to run from her problems, sometimes the best option for everyone is to get out of Dodge (or go to it in this case). Her latest endeavors at making a life for herself outside the Blood influence becomes an exaggerated mishap yet again. The Lady of Devices is required to set her balanced and steady in the Wit world. The pace of the story was remarkable. I never felt it lull, yet didn't feel it became monotonous with flowery description. The wit was quick and quite humorous. The serious moments were given perfect weight. 

These books are certainly outside the realistic with everyone clandestinely meeting each other or missing severe injury by mere breaths. Continuous happy endings tie up all the strings floating around in the plot to make a picturesque tapestry. Every now and again you just need a book where the hero/heroine does not die some painfully tragic death. I appreciated the goodness and positive outcomes that filled Magnificent Devices.

Here is to the conclusion of our rat race!