My Lady Quicksilver
By Bec McMaster
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: October 1, 2013
Series or Standalone: London Steampunk #3
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads
Rating:

MY REVIEW

Oh, man. My Lady Quicksilver starts off with a bang and does not let up! In the third entry in the London Steampunk series, the story shifts to focus on Sir Jasper Lynch, the leader of the Nighthawks, and Rosalind Fairchild, aka Mercury the leader of the humanist movement.

Rosalind disguises herself as Lynch’s secretary to gather intel to try to find her younger brother who has ended up involved with the splinter group of extreme members of the humanist movement who bombed the Tower during the signing of the verwulfen treaty. Lynch meanwhile has been charged by the prince consort to find Mercury or else it’s his life on the line. Little does he know, Mercury is hiding right under his nose. Meanwhile, Lynch is also trying to solve a rash of vicious murders where blue bloods who are not close to the Fade, aka turning into a mindless murdering vampire, are attacking and killing their families.

It’s hard for me to pick a favorite book or couple in the series, but I think Lynch and Rosa are up there. I love stories like this as there are so many emotions when a person is in disguise. What added an extra level to this story was Lynch’s attraction to Mercury, while wrestling for his feelings for Rosa, his secretary, without realizing they are one and the same person. 

I loved the opening of this book, when Lynch confronts Rosa as Mercury. The chemistry between the two of them is intense. They shouldn’t feel any sort of attraction, he’s a rogue blue blood and leader of the Nighthawks trying to bring Mercury to justice, and she’s the leader of the humanist movement intent on taking down the system in place that gives him power. From that first interaction, I knew this one was going to be a blast. When Rosa goes undercover as Lynch’s secretary, the chemistry was still there, though it played out differently as Rosa’s personality as Rosa is very different than her personality when she’s playing at being Mercury. 

Watching Lynch become unraveled by Mercury and Rosa was so much fun since he holds such a tight control on his emotions. You know when characters like that fall, they tend to fall hard. As a blue blood, he needs a tight control over his emotions to keep the craving virus in check. When he becomes affected by the thing causing the blue bloods to lose control and go on a murderous rampage, we really see that control slip and I loved how Rosa was the only thing able to bring him back to himself. 

The whole time while reading this book, I could NOT wait until Lynch found out who Rosa was and see how he handled that. You know it had to happen at some point and I was not disappointed with the reveal. I know some people don’t like storylines like this as it can feel like a betrayal, but I personally love them since you get so many emotions and it can be so heart achey. I love that even when Lynch finds out who Rosa really is and is feeling betrayed, he still cannot force himself to give her up. It makes for such a dramatic ending! 

Outside of Rosa and Lynch’s romance, McMaster continues to build on the world she’s created in this alternative London. We continue to get deeper into the politics and the fractures in the society. With the rash of blue blood attacks, it feels like the tensions between the humanists movement and the Echelon is continuing to ramp up. We also see more of the prince consort in this, and it feels like he’s slowly losing his edge and control over those he rules so it will be interesting to watch how this continues to play out over the next few books. And with the actions at the end of this book, the Council of Dukes seems to be moving away from being under the prince consort’s control and I’m sure there will be consequences for that further down the line. 

Honestly, these books are such a treat and I’m so glad I stumbled across them. I literally finish one book and need to immediately move on to the next one – they’re just so addicting!! I literally cannot wait to see what happens next especially as we start heading towards the conclusion of the series. 

I highly recommend these books to anyone who wants a great romance with an engaging plot set in a unique world. They’re so unlike anything I’ve read before, and they’re perfect!