Audiobook Review – Kiss of the Spindle (Proper Steampunk Romance, Book 2) by Nancy Campbell Allen, Narrated by Justine Eyre (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Steampunk Romance
Length: 9 hours and 24 minutes (352 pages)
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: July 3, 2018
ASIN: B07FGFZCL9
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Proper Steampunk Romance series
Source: Audiobook borrowed through Audible Escapes
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Doctor Isla Cooper is cursed. Literally. Each night, at the stroke of midnight she falls into a death-like sleep from which she cannot be awakened for six hours. To make it worse, the curse has an expiration date–after a year, it becomes permanent. And the year is almost up.

In a desperate attempt to find Malette–the witch who cursed her–Isla blackmails her way onto Daniel Pickett’s private airship bound for the Caribbean, only to discover she’s traveling with three illegal shapeshifters and the despicable Nigel Crowe, a government official determined to hunt down and exterminate every shapeshifter in England. Isla and Daniel must work together to keep the identities of the shapeshifters hidden while coming to terms with their own hidden secrets, and their blossoming attraction to each other.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 2nd book in the Proper Steampunk Romance series. I borrowed this from Audible Escapes with my Audible membership.

Audiobook Quality (5/5): This audiobook is really well done and a joy to listen to.

Story (4/5): I enjoyed this Sleeping Beauty retelling a lot. The story is engaging and has a good balance of action, adventure, intrigue, and romance. It’s fast-paced and fun to listen to. This is only loosely based on Sleeping Beauty but I enjoyed the parallels to that fairy tale.

Characters (5/5): The characters were definitely the highlight of this story. I loved Dr. Isla Cooper and her ability to fight her own battles…literally. Daniel Pickett was great fun as well.

Setting (4/5): I really enjoyed the steampunk setting and the journey from England to the Carribean. There aren’t a ton of unique steampunk elements in here and the world-building is a bit sparse, but it’s still a fun setting.

Writing Style (4/5): This is very well written and the writing flows well. The viewpoints switch between Cooper and Pickett and this works very well for the story. No complaints about the writing style.

Summary (4/5): Overall this was another fun and highly entertaining steampunk romance novel. These have been just pure fun to read. I enjoy the characters, the action, adventure, and the romance. I especially love the fact that these are well done steampunk fairy tale retellings (two of my favorite genres mashed up). I definitely plan on continuing the series.