Series Info: This is the 5th book Gaslight Chronicles series. I borrowed this book through Audible escapes.

Audiobook Quality (4/5): The audiobook was well done and I enjoyed it. So far this whole series has been narrated very nicely.

Characters (3/5): This story follows Connor McCay and a woman accused of witchcraft named Belinda. Both characters were fine, but nothing special.

Story (2/5): The story here was a bit lackluster. Basically Connor is trying to clear Belinda’s name of witchcraft charges. There is a bigger story around catching the people who are hunting witches/magic users. The whole thing fell pretty flat for me. I thought that Connor’s solution to Belinda’s issue (that they get married) was contrived and a serious case of insta-love.

Setting (3/5): Again this was okay but not great. This steampunk world could be a lot more filled out.

Writing Style (3/5): This was fine, nothing special. The dialogue between characters is well done, the descriptions could be a bit better. Pacing was fine.

Summary (3/5): Overall, this was a mediocre read. Every book in this series is starting to feel the same to me. It seems like these shorter novellas in between the larger books provide decent background but just aren’t that interesting. ( )

Please note: THIS IS A BOINKING BOOK.

You have been warned. ( )

Connor McKay has resigned himself the fact that Wink, the woman he loved is now happily married to someone else. He has done his best to keep busy to avoid thinking about it. When he gets a call that Belinda Danvers has been convicted of being a witch and is about to be burned to death he decides to investigate. After meeting Belinda, Connor quickly realises that she has little real power and seems incapable of murdering the children she has been accused of killing. Unable to get through to authorities, Connor breaks Belinda out of jail and takes her back to his family home. In order to keep her safe, Connor decides to marry Belinda in order to invalidate any warrant for her arrest. All is not happy ever after however, because someone is still determined to see Belinda dead.

The reason behind the romance between Connor and Belinda is once again thin. Connor knows her for approximately 48 hours before he proposes marriage. His family is quick to go alone because, well, woo woo. I don't understand why it's so damn hard to base a romance in a little bit of reality. At 48 hours, what people have is lust, most certainly not love. Just because this love at first woo is a staple of paranormal romance, does not make it any less irritating. In truth, I am becoming less enamored with this series with each book that I read.

Both Nell and Belinda are women of colour. Belinda is Romani and it has been suggested in the past that Nell is of Indian descent. Looking at the image of Belinda on the front of the cover, she hardly looks like a woman with a dusty complexion. On this I give Cindy Spencer Pape a pass, as most authors have little to no say on the covers of their books. I do however hold her accountable for the two women being labelled as exotic.

"Nell was exotic enough to be from Persia or India."

"Without Madame Zara, there won't be a fortune-teller." Wink said. "I wonder if I could pretend to do that."

"Or me." Nell bit her lip."I have the exotic looks, remember."

Belinda shook her head"No I'll do the fortune telling. Madame Zara is my great-aunt, after all, and I am a Rom, so I look the part too.

Even in the 1800's the U.K. was not a White utopia and I am sick and tired of Cindy Spencer Pape calling her characters of colour exotic. It's coded language and is absolutely racist.

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