The Gilded Scarab

Dashing good fun, and I'm not usually a steampunk fan. Rafe Lancaster has a distinctive first person narrative voice - confident but vulnerable, full of British stiff-upper-lip and wry humor. I wish the two potential love interests had been a little more nuanced; they might as well be wearing signs saying “bad guy” and “perfect good guy” but the forces keeping Rafe and Mr. Right apart are genuine and don't feel forced. Still don't love steampunk (the aether-powered gadgets they have don't always seem consistent; for example, if they have “data readers” and “radios (Marconis)” why don't they have television?) but already planning to read the sequel.