Viridis by Calista Taylor

In steampunk Victorian London, where airships dot the sky and tinkerings abound, Lady Phoebe Hughes develops an herbal elixir, Viridis, unlike any other. London's elite flock to her club to experience the euphoria and heightened senses the drink brings, an orgasm brought on by a single kiss. But when Lord Hawthorne is murdered after leaving her club, Phoebe is shocked to find that not only was he working for the Special Services to infiltrate the Cause, a movement fighting for the city's poor, he was also in possession of her secret formulation for Viridis.

Adding to her difficulties is the unexpected return of Mr. Seth Elliott, a brilliant tinkerer who stole her heart and imagination, only to abandon her when she needed him most. Unable to ignore all that is between them, Phoebe finds herself falling for Seth once again, only to have a powerful rival for her affections wrongly accuse Seth of attempted murder. As Phoebe struggles with a way to free her love, revolution, conspiracy and murder threaten to ruin it all. Book description

I found myself in the mood for another Steampunk novel, and I found “Viridis” by Calista Taylor in the free section of the Kindle store. Much to my surprise I really enjoyed this book. Granted it brings nothing new to the romance genre, but what it does have is the “Steampunk” element with lots of gadgets, tinkering’s and steam, which I enjoyed immensely.

Set in Victorian London, the story follows Lady Phoebe Hughes, who is a driven and determined young woman. Driven by the death of her sister she creates an herbal elixir which stimulates pleasure.  Hence the name for her Club “Virdis” where the elite of London Society release their inhibitions with one drink. Within the setting of the club, we see Phoebe being drawn into an elaborate plan of murder and mystery that threatens the very people she holds dear, for her and her friend’s involvement in the cause is considered treason.  

You can’t help but like the Characters in this story, the story is centered around Phoebe, who is strong willed, intelligent and at the same time very vulnerable, which of course is we see her in the midst of a love triangle between Seth her fiancé and Gavin his best friend. Both wanting to see her safe we see the tension between all three escalate, but in the end the friendship bond they have overrules everything.  There were several supporting characters that really stood out, William the officer who was investigating a murder who did things by the book, and Phoebe’s brother Gabriel whose role in the story was downplayed and I felt could have been explored with more depth. One thing I would have liked seen the author explore more was the background story between Phoebe, Seth and Gavin, you get a sense that they have been through a lot, but that is only briefly explored and left me wanting to know more. With this being the first book in the series, I can only hope to learn more about what brings them together.

The book was well written though sometimes I felt the chapters weren’t complete and a bit short which made the plot line feel choppy which was distracting. The author did a very good job of bring several plot lines together into a dramatic ending, though as I mentioned before the character of Gabriel places a very important role in this story that was never fully developed and I think things would have made a bit more sense in the end if they had been. Though as a reader I did finally understand his role, I just think it would have brought more to the story.  There is a strong sensual tone to this book and this is most definitely a book for adults. The steamy scenes were well written and a bit predictable but done in a way that you feel what the characters are feeling vs. graphic descriptions which sometimes can take away from the story itself.

All in all this book was an easy and fun read, I finished it quickly and for getting it free from Kindle it was a very nice surprise and I look forward to reading the second book in the series "Devil on a Sparrow's Wing" So if you are in the mood for a Steampunk murder mystery then this book is for you!  With that said I give it a 3.5 stars.

                                            3.5 Stars

You may purchase "Virdis" here : DarkissReads Bookstore

You may find Calista Taylor here : http://asteampunkreverie.blogspot.com/

Reviewed by Witchofthemists.