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    Wanted: One Scoundrel: A Steampunk Christmas Novella
    Unavailable
    Wanted: One Scoundrel: A Steampunk Christmas Novella
    Unavailable
    Wanted: One Scoundrel: A Steampunk Christmas Novella
    Ebook119 pages1 hour

    Wanted: One Scoundrel: A Steampunk Christmas Novella

    By Jenny Schwartz

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    All suffragette Esme Smith wants is a man. A scoundrel to be precise. Someone who can be persuaded to represent her political views at men-only clubs. As the daughter of the richest man in Australia, Esme can afford to make it worth the right man's while.

    Fresh off the boat, American inventor Jed Reeve is intrigued by Esme's proposal, but even more interested in the beauty herself. Amused that she takes him for a man who lives by his wits, he accepts the jobmade easier by the fact that he already shares her ideals. Soon, he finds himself caught up in political intrigue, kidnapping and blackmail, and trying to convince his employer he's more than just a scoundrel...

    26,000 words

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCarina Press
    Release dateDec 5, 2011
    ISBN9781426892844
    Unavailable
    Wanted: One Scoundrel: A Steampunk Christmas Novella
    Author

    Jenny Schwartz

    Jenny Schwartz is an Australian author of Coastal Romance. Her books celebrate the joy of falling in love and the freedom of choosing to follow your heart. She has a degree in Sociology and History, and a passion for reading, especially books with a guaranteed happy ever after. You can chat with Jenny and learn more about her books at her website: http://authorjennyschwartz.com 

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    Reviews for Wanted

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    • 4/5
      Wanted: One Scoundrel by Jenny Schwartz is set in and around the Swan River colony -- mostly in Perth and Fremantle. The protagonist, Esme, is the daughter of a gold prospector and inventor who struck it rich relatively recently. She is also a suffragette spearheading a political party with the goal of giving women and non-Anglos rights and votes.The story opens with her realisation that, since her main political opponent has somehow arranged for all political debates to take place at gentlemen's clubs, she needs a male spokesperson to be a figurehead leader. Unfortunately, all her present male supporters are too busy with their own affairs to devote sufficient time to actually leading a political party. So, with the aid of her captain uncle, she set about finding herself a newly arrived scoundrel ("fresh off the boat" -- would that there weren't other connotations to that phrase) whom she intends to pay to be her puppet.Enter Jed. A conveniently unknown American recently arrived from England with her uncle's (steam-powered) ship. Jed quickly agrees to be the front-runner for her political party and a friendship/attraction blossoms between them (well, it is also a romance story).Esme's main rival is an old-money easterner (insofar as there is any aristocracy in pre-federation Australia, he seems to be a prime example). Unlikeable to the bone, he doesn't seem to realise that Esme finds his desire to prevent anyone that isn't male, white or rich (or, really, anyone that isn't him or his friends) from voting abhorrent. He started off merely an arrogant prat, but this escalated for the climax in an exciting way, I thought. (No spoilers.)The steampunk elements are scattered throughout the story. For example there are the steam powered boats that make it to Swan River from England in a matter of weeks, not months, miscellaneous minor steam-powered contraptions and even forays into electricity and magnetism (Tesla gets a very brief mention, too). From a scientific point of view, I found no obvious faults, although I'm a little sceptical of the kangaroo-inspired land vehicle mentioned at one point.As I implied at the start, the thought of a steampunk story set in Australia made me very keen to read this and I was not disappointed. I hereby encourage more Australian authors to write Australian steampunk. Steam + gold rush allows for a wealth of material to draw from.Speaking of the gold rush, being an easterner myself, I only really know a bit about Victoria's gold rush, and next to nothing about Western Australia's (arguably, I know more about Western Australia's current mining boom than any of the past). It was nice to read about a slightly different gold rush. I even learnt about the significant Indian population of the time (cf Chinese miners in Victoria).The writing was ever so slightly clunky in places, mostly when there was an instance of head-hopping (between Esme and Jed) within the same scene. I also found the story got more amusing as it went along -- after a slightly uneventful beginning -- and I really enjoyed the climax and ending. It had my laughing out loud a few times in the second half. I loved Esme, who was strong, progressive (obviously) and kept her head in trying circumstances. Overall, I recommend this to anyone with a passing interest in steampunk or Australian history.4 / 5 stars.