The Silver Skull (The Elemental Steampunk Chronicles, #2)

by Anne Renwick

This was fantastic. I loved the first book in the series and this was just as good. Although fairly different. This one is a lot more action packed and had more Mr and Mrs Smith (the movie) vibes. Olivia is hilarious. She's a total badass hiding under her good looks and airheaded personality. I really loved that she embraced traditional female qualities like cooking and fashion but made it her own. For instance she cooks a mean cream cake through her robotic skills - she programs the robot to follow the recipe - and her corset stays are replaced with lock picks. I really loved her creativity and drive. Katerina was also a pretty strong female character even if she was a lot more brutal in her approach. I loved Wei as well. Her bravery and kindness and joy for life added something special to the story. I liked Elisabeth too although felt she was a bit slow on the uptake.

Ian was amazingly supportive for a man in fiction. Or in life. Just in general - he's a huge proponent of women being allowed to do as they wish and make their mark on the world which frankly was a refreshing change of pace. He likes that Olivia is smart and capable and is proud of her accomplishments in engineering and programming.

The relationship between Olivia and Ian was lighthearted and natural. They did get to the romance pretty quickly but they were also pretending to be married. Plus there relationship progression felt natural. It felt like they got to know one another and respected one another. I loved the flirty banter and scientifc lectures. I will say some of the sex scenes seemed bloody stupid - they're surrounded by enemies but they're getting it on in the lab? Defies belief. But it's about what you expect of romance and romantic suspense books and they were still enjoyable.

I have no idea about the science/steampunk elements but I very much enjoyed reading it. The whole book was really enjoyable and I'll definitely be continuing with the series. 5 stars.