
Member Reviews

In The Brass Queen, this very capable author transports her readers into a nineteenth-century magical world of festooned airships, exo-suits, multi-fueled flamethrowers, mechanical mallet-wielding beasts, brass blunderbusses, and invisibility serum.
The heroine—gregarious, hilarious, and larger-than-life—Constance Haltwhistle, is an arms dealer for an enterprise known as Steamwerks and the daughter of ‘a portal-tripping mad scientist’. Thrust into a fanatical hunt for a husband, in order to retain her family’s estate, she reluctantly hosts a coming-out ball. There she meets J.F. Trusdale, a cowboy from Kansas; the only thing plain about him is the land upon which he took his first breath.
Following the kidnapping of her avant-garde scientists, Constance realizes a diabolical plan is in play and selflessly tosses her own agenda aside with the gallant Trusdale at the ready to assist.
The novel clips along at an entertaining pace. New to this genre, I found it a surprisingly refreshing change from the detective mysteries I normally read, and I highly recommend it.

Such a fun book! Miss Constance Haltwhistle and J.S. Trusdale are indelible and intrepid characters, and their adventures kept me turning pages. The side characters were also amusing, and I love how Chatsworth brings in fantastical elements - alternate universes exist alongside and facilitated by steampunk technology. The humor was top notch.
I could have done with a smidge more of the heavily hinted-at romance to come, but the main characters' final scenes together were very sweet.

A great steam punk novel for fans of Kady Cross! The world building is stunning and the characters are lovable, witty and brave. I will definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

I’m fussy about what I read, and rarely give a five-star review, but I was lucky enough to be an early reader of this book, courtesy of NetGalley, and found it delightful. Not only is the world of Lady Constance fun to be in, but the witty repartee between her and the ‘tall, dark, and almost handsome’ American spy she has to deal with is hilarious. I literally laughed out loud in places. A perfect book for when you need cheering up or just to get away from this world to Victorian Yorkshire, where the book is set. If you enjoyed the movie Wonder Woman, you'll likely enjoy this too. A must for lovers of humorous fiction, adventure fiction, historical fiction (albeit alternative), and steampunk. There’s nothing distressing in it, just a good, fun read. And I think teenagers will love it too.
I hope there’s a sequel in the works.

A rollicking steampunk adventure/romance. Fans of The Invisible Library Series by Genevieve Cogman will enjoy. We will be buying a copy for our library.

I love a good steampunk story. This has great crazy characters, action, Funny dialogue, curiosity’s and not quite magic.

An incredible romp. I’m new to this author and love her energetic writing. I’ll definitely be reading more of her titles.

The Brass Queen is a fantastical, fun adventure into an alternate Victorian timeline. In 1897 Yorkshire, Miss Constance Haltwhistle is the last in a line of blue-blooded rogues. After her father absconds to another dimension, she's left to keep her ancient family estate running by any means possible. This includes inventing and selling illegal ray-guns and blunderbusses on the black market. As unscrupulous relatives move in to try and take Constance's family estate, an archaic law that requires a single woman to marry to hold onto property kicks in. Fiercely independent Constance is forced to host her own coming-out-ball to find a noble husband who will marry her within three days!
Enter US Spy, Trusdale, an almost-handsome cowboy and a rogue in his own right. The two are thrown together in a madcap search for missing scientists, an invisibility serum, and a villainous royal who's plotting the start the war to end all wars. Whip-smart banter, uproarious comedy, and all the best in Anglo-American misunderstandings ensue. It's fast-paced, funny, and filled to the brim with quirky characters and settings. I loved everything about this novel. I hope this is just the start of Constance and Trusdale's shenanigans!