Steam and Sensibility by Kirsten Weiss

Steam rising. California Territory, 1848. Gold has been discovered, emptying the village of San Francisco of its male population. Steam-powered technology is still in its infancy.

At 19, Englishwoman Sensibility Grey has spent her life tinkering in her father’s laboratory and missing the finer points of proper British life. But when her father dies in penury, she’s shipped to San Francisco and to the protection of an uncle she’s never met.

The California Territory may hold more dangers than even the indomitable Miss Grey can manage. Pursued by government agents, a secret society, and the enigmatic Mr. Krieg Night, Sensibility must decipher the clockwork secrets in her father’s final journal, unaware she’ll change the world forever.

Magic, mayhem, and mechanicals. STEAM AND SENSIBILITY is a pre-Steampunk novel of paranormal suspense set in the wild west of the California gold rush.

First of all I want to mention the cover of this book.  I think it's really cool.  It really gives you a sense of that steampunk genre that is becoming more and more popular.  I love the gears and the symbols and even the tower in the back that all come into play in this book.  I know I've said this before but I love when a cover does  such a good job of representing what is inside.

I know this book is labeled as YA but the characters and feel of this book really didn't make me feel like this was YA.  The main character, Sensibility, spoke, thought and acted much like an adult.  I often found myself forgeting that she was nineteen.  Since there were no other younger characters to bring that youthful side out, it overall just felt like an adult novel.

Sensibility's name surely fits her.  She really is a no nonsense kind of girl.  She's a thinker and she's been through a lot.  I never really connected with Sensibility on an emotional level but she had a lot of admirable qualities.  I think one thing that was hard for me as a reader (and this is a small but important thing, I think) was that Sensibility was always Sensibility.  Her name was never shortened and she never had a nickname or anything.  It was all so formal all the time.  Sensibility is such a mouth full of a name.  Even when reading it silently in your head!  :)  Because that familiarity wasn't formed between any characters, it wasn't formed for me either.  I hope that makes sense.

I enjoyed the tinker steampunk aspect of this book.  I've read a few steampunk books and while I wouldn't say this was my favorite, it was good.  This book has a bit of the paranormal thrown in with some suspense which added and interesting mix of flavors.

Overall, this was a book was okay.  I didn't fall in love with it and I wasn't emotionally drawn in.  It didn't always hold my interest but it had some good moments.

Content:  There is some mild swearing and violence

You can purchase "Steam and Sensibility" at Amazon.

Kirsten Weiss worked overseas for nearly fourteen years, in the fringes of the former USSR and deep in the Afghan war zone. Her experiences abroad not only gave her glimpses into the darker side of human nature, but also sparked an interest in the effects of mysticism and mythology, and how both are woven into our daily lives.

Now based in San Mateo, CA, she writes paranormal mysteries, blending her experiences and imagination to create a vivid world of magic and mayhem.
Kirsten has never met a dessert she didn’t like, and her guilty pleasures are watching True Blood and drinking good wine.

Follow her on Twitter @RigaHayworth or on her blog at http://kirstenweiss.com