Book 1

A teen girl unravels the mysteries of a secret society and their most dangerous invention in this adventure-swept romance set in Victorian London.

When a fire consumes Meg’s home, killing her parents and destroying both her fortune and her future, all she has left is the tarnished pocket watch she rescued from the ashes. But this is no ordinary timepiece. The clock turns out to be a mechanical key—a key that only Meg can use—which unlocks a series of deadly secrets and intricate clues that Meg has no choice but to follow.

She has uncovered evidence of an elite secret society and a dangerous invention that some will stop at nothing to protect, and that Meg alone can destroy. Together with the handsome stable hand she barely knows but hopes she can trust, Meg is swept into a hidden world of deception, betrayal, and revenge. The clockwork key has unlocked her destiny in this captivating start to a trilogy.


Book 2

Rise of the Arcane Fire

by Kristin Bailey

Published 4 February 2014

Mysteries of Meg’s past and threats to her future are revealed in the thrilling and suspenseful second book in The Secret Order trilogy, set in steampunk Victorian London.

After her parents died in a fire and her grandfather disappeared, Meg Whitlock thought her life had come to a standstill. But when she learned that the pocket watch her grandfather left her was really an intricate key, Meg, with the help of a stable hand named Will, uncovered the Amusementists: members of an elite secret society dedicated to discovery and shrouded in mystery.

Now the Amusementists are convening in London, and Meg is determined to join their ranks. But being the first girl in the Order has its difficulties, and with Will away in Scotland, Meg fears she can’t trust anyone but herself. Her worries are only supported by the sabotage happening at the academy, with each altered invention being more harmful than the last.

With threats lurking around every corner, and while trying to prove her worth as the first female Amusementist, Meg must uncover the identity of the academy’s saboteur before the botched devices become deadly. And after she finds evidence of a sinister and forbidden invention, Meg must stop it—or risk the entire future of the Amusementists.


Book 3

Shadow of the War Machine

by Kristin Bailey

Published 3 February 2015

Meg finally finds the answers she’s been searching for in the thrilling and action-packed conclusion to the Second Order trilogy, set in steampunk Victorian London.

Meg has come a long way from her days as a lowly housemaid, driven to learn the truth behind her parents’ murder. She’s since discovered that they were part of the Secret Order of Modern Amusementists—an underground society of inventors. Determined to reclaim her heritage, she joined the Amusementists as an apprentice, but that hasn’t brought her closer to the man responsible for the loss of her family: the man in the clockwork mask.

Now the man in the clockwork mask is coming for her. But Meg is tired of being hunted and she intends to become the hunter. The truth about her family is out there, and she will find it. With Will, the boy who holds her heart, Meg embarks on an adventure that takes them far from the cold London winter and into the heart of France.

But the City of Light is filled with dark shadows. There’s a plot afoot that could turn the tides of a terrible war, and cost the lives of millions—that is, if it doesn’t take the lives of everyone Meg holds dear, including her own.