I love steampunk and fairytale retellings, so this book was right up my alley. Having heard about Emmeline in previous installments, it was great to have her take center stage.

Fun steampunk

There were hints of a Cinderella story, with a strong, determined heroine and dashing hero. This was a sweet and clean read, I'd rate it PG-13 for discussion of vampires and shifters, along with some kissing.

The story was an alright retelling of Cinderella.
But sometimes it felt like it was trying too hard, and it showed very much.
But, it was alright.

I’m putting this as finished, because I’ve read more than half the book and I think that counts. No rating for me, though… I think this is a serious case of “it’s not you, it’s me”, because the story isn’t bad. I just didn’t feel it. When we came to the halfway point, I just realised that I didn’t care about what happened to the characters or the story. I think, maybe, I would have been more invested had I read the previous books.

If you enjoy paranormal historical romance with lots of action, mysteries and sparks between antagonists, this is the book for you to try out.

/ Denise

This book is amazing! I read the whole thing in one afternoon. And I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s a Steampunk retelling of Cinderella. This book is so well written.

Emme is the main character. And she’s a fireball. She’s an activist for shape-shifters. Emme is always in the middle of trouble. I had to laugh when she got hauled off to jail in the very first chapter. By her archenemy Detective-Inspector Oliver Reed.

Speaking of Oliver Reed. The way these two get thrown together because of Emme’s need for protection was such a fun part of the book. Oliver goes out of his way to make sure she’s safe, even when she does crazy things like jumping from an airship. Oliver and Emme slowly fell in love during the craziness of their adventure. That was one of my favorite parts.

I loved the cast of characters of this one. They’re all a little nuts. There’s Emme’s family, Gus the vampire, and her friends, which we’ve seen in Nancy Campbell Allen’s other books. You should read them all if you haven’t! I’d start with Beauty and the Clockwork Beast. But they’re all amazing! I’ll leave links to them all below.

If you haven’t read a Steampunk book yet, I highly recommend this series!

I just love Nancy's steampunk fairy tale retellings! This is a steampunk Cinderella and the fourth in a series.

Emme is an advocate for shifters -humans that shift to another form (vampires, werewolves and the like) a few times a month. She believes that the non-violent ones deserve more rights.

Oliver is a detective inspector and Emme's nemesis. When Emme keeps getting threatened as she is headed to a convention in Scotland to speak for shifter's rights, Oliver is tasked as her bodyguard.

There are many attempts to prevent her from getting to Edinburgh and as she and Oliver navigate their way, they discovery they may not actually hate each other.

They are such a fun couple! I love a little enemies to lovers (this is a clean read so just lots of kissing!) Oliver is such a great protector and he's so gentle. Emme speaks her mind and is very great advocate for the shifters.

The author writes a uniquely interesting tale with these steampunk stories. It’s not really the genre I love, but these are better than most.

I really enjoyed this steampunk romance set in London England involving shifters, family drama and a love story. This was somewhat of a retelling of Cinderella as it involves two step-sisters (one of whom is really mean), a step-mother, and a handsome young man. I loved the witty banter between Emme and Oliver and would highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good witty romance or steampunk book.

I received an e-ARC of this book by the author and publishing via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I have been curious about Emme and Oliver for quite awhile now, and Oliver's brother. I'm so glad I got to read their story! This can be read as a stand-alone, but I'd highly recommend reading the others because you just get a bigger picture of the world Allen has created. Brass Carriages only adds to this steam-punk world.

While I had a harder time relating to Emme, I loved Olivers character. Finding out what made him tick was a treat. Emma grew on me, but with all that's been happening in the world lately, her brand of riots and protests just didn't strike the right cord in my world. However, her passion for change and justice for everyone did resonate and I loved that about her.

It's another winner for Allen. I can't wait for the next one in the series.

Brass Carriages and Glass Hearts is the final novel of Steampunk fairytales. A wonderful spunky retelling of “Cinderella”, it will delight with its fast pace and familiar anecdotes.

However, while the plot was very engaging, the characterization and emotion impact was a little lacking.

Emme is the leader of an protest against a law restricting and prohibitive predatory shapeshifters. She’s invited to speak in Scotland against the Act and has received several death threats. Oliver Reed is an inspector who keeps ending up on the other side of Emme protests.

He accompany her to Scotland in the light of her death threats. The plane is sabatoged and they have to make their way to Scotland in time for Emme to give her speech.

Delightful and very fast paced, which I love. It wasn’t very balanced as Emme and Oliver fell in love a little fast and felt forced rather than totally organic. I did love all the Cinderella elements.

This is probably my least favorite out of the series but a well rounded finish for an excellent series.

Nancy Campbell Allen has once again created a wonderful mix of mystery, fairy-tales and steampunk. A must read for an Cinderella fans!

I didn’t dislike this book nor did I like it. It was a good relaxing book to read after I was in a bit of a book slump.
The story line was a bit expected, but still fun. I did love the whole steampunk setting and really want to read more of that genre.

Very disappointing. There's very little steampunk going on in this novel with the exception of the way our heroine dresses. She is suppose to be so very intuitive but doesn't realize what's going on under her roof with her sisters. It's very contradictory and reads very flat.

I've read all the books in the series and I think this is my favourite so far. this series is just super fun and enjoyable, it feels so unique and different. really enjoyed the characters in this one.

Cinderella is a classic fairy-tale story, but add some steampunk and spunky characters and I am sold! I adored this story to pieces! I have read another book in this series (Lady in the Coppergate). This was a great follow-up with awesome characters and worldbuilding. Emmeline and Oliver cracked me up with their banter and the confusion they brought to one another. All the characters added to the story in a way that flowed seamless. No character felt irrelevant and they all felt like real people. The plot was well-written and kept me invested and intrigued to know more. Sometimes the pacing was a bit off for me, personally, but I still loved the story. I definitely plan to re-read this book because this was such a joy to read.

This is the 4th book in the Proper Romance Steampunk series. While it’s technically an interconnected standalone, I highly recommend you read the others first to get the full effect. Plus you'll get to meet some of the current characters.

Emme is all about full rights for everyone, including shifters. Unfortunately there are those who disagree and have made their feelings known, in the way of a death threat. So Inspector Oliver Reed is charged with being her bodyguard. After dealing with the aftermath of her many protests, he is less than thrilled with being forced to be around her even more.

Watching these two together was so fun. They circled around each other for a while. It was bit like enemies to lovers, which is my favorite sub genre of romance. They clearly didn’t feel good and happy thoughts in the beginning. But the more they’re put together the more they come to the realization that they care for each other.

Plenty of butterflies in the belly moments sprinkled with a few heart stopping ones makes this the perfect sweet romance. I really hope we got more from this world!

I had high hopes for this book. I generally enjoy steampunk novels and romance, so this seemed like a good fit. Unfortunately, there was *a lot* going on (a civil rights struggle, strange technology, political agitation, family drama, et cetera), and I found the main characters rather flat. I quit after a couple of chapters.

Another great addition to a very interesting well written series that blends fairy tales with romance a little steampunk. I’ve been obsessed with the serious from the first book and was excited to get a story about these characters. I remain as ever a fan and can’t wait to read more from the author.

This is one of those books that you mark as "currently reading" and then you are currently reading it for the next 12 years. I was liking it, with some fun banter and a brilliant set-up for an enemies to lovers romance. I loved the feminist/activist storyline of our main heroine, especially in Victorian period and with the rights of werewolves and shapeshifters put into question. In my busy life I simply have the time to keep reading things that I read one page per week of, so I'm dusting this off that black hole of a Goodreads shelf and declaring it "read."

Thank you to Shadow Mountain for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A good addition to the steampunk romance category. I guess I would've appreciated the book more if I had read the previous three--didn't realize this was part of a series. I laughed visualizing all the times Oliver had to haul Emma off during a protest (when their past history was described, plus one current incident), flinging her over his shoulder. Perhaps a too smooth transition from enemies to lovers, with strange flips trying to create tension that quickly smoothes over. The worldbuilding was consistent, but I'm sure a lot of that was carried over from the first three books. You can figure out pretty early who the culprit is if you think about it for more than a moment. Relatively chaste, of course HEA. I just might have to check the previous books in the series, though!