Watchmaker's Heart

by Juli D Revezzo

[kimbacaffeinate]

Poor Phoebe is nothing like her peers and prefers tinkering with her creations much to her parent's horror. Determined to set her on the straight and narrow they are encouraging a marriage with a man, dear reader who makes Phoebe shiver and cringe. I am inclined to agree with her. Not to be deterred she sneaks off by train to attend an inventors convention and share her diffuser. Being a young lady unescorted let alone attending such a conference was rather scandalous. When she spies a reporter on the train, she seeks to hide fearing her father will discover where she spent her day. As she hides she encounters,  London watchmaker Mortimer Kidd. Mortimer has gotten himself into some trouble with the local gangs of London and at first, seeks to strip Phoebe of her diffuser, but as they strike up a conversation all that changes.

The tale that unfolds was an engaging one, as Phoebe tries to avoid Sir Dugard, the ghastly man her parents wish for her to marry and chooses to spend time with the exciting watchmaker, Mortimer. He seems to see the value of Phoebe's diffuser as he helps her tinker with the gadget. A friendship soon develops, as do warm, romantic feelings, but Mortimer isn't for the likes of Lady Phoebe, and his secrets might put them both in peril.

Revezzo did a fantastic job of taking a classic Victorian storyline and making it her own. She weaved in steampunk, mystery, and suspense all while entertaining us with a forward speaking young heroine whose outlandish ideas about romance, sex and more shock her parents and bewitch Mortimer.

The audio narration by Rachael Beresford had some issues. While Beresford did a splendid job, the quality of the track left something to be desired. I was rather surprised at the background noise, particularly at the end of each chapter. It almost sounded like the noise the needle makes at the end of an album. While I am sure this is an editing issue, it did deter from my overall enjoyment of the narration. I would recommend reading this tale if such matters annoy you. Noise aside, I felt Beresford captured Phoebe's spirit and gave each character a voice befitting their description. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer