Genre:
steampunk/historical
Aether Psychics, Book 1
If love is the ivy, secrets are the poison.
After enduring heartbreak at the hands of a dishonest woman, Edward
Bailey lives according to scientific principles of structure and
predictability. Just the thought of stepping outside his strict routine
raises his anxiety.
Adding to his discomfort is Iris McTavish, who appears at his
school’s faculty meeting in place of her world-famous archeologist
father. Worse, the two of them are to pose as Grand Tourists while they
search for an element that will help harness the power of aether.
Iris jumps at the opportunity to prove her worth as a scholar—and
avoid an unwanted marriage proposal—while hiding the truth of her
father’s whereabouts. If her secret gets out, the house of McTavish will
fall into ruin.
Quite unexpectedly, Edward and Iris discover a growing attraction as
their journey takes them to Paris and Rome, where betrayal, blackmail
and outright theft threaten to destroy what could be a revolutionary
discovery—and break their hearts.
Warning: Allergen alert! This book was produced in a facility that
handles copious amounts of wine, tea and baked goods. May contain one or
more of the following: a spirited heroine, a quirky hero, clever
banter, interesting facts both made-up and historical, and lots of
secrets. It is, however, gluten free.
The train slowed and rolled into a coal yard in a deserted area. Iris
thought she saw some hints of blue in the gray-brown haze above the
train, but she had no desire to go outside. Then she observed something
very strange—the maid and the men who must be conducting and fueling the
train walking around with long-handled hand-looking devices and looking
on and under their cars. The men also had long-barreled steam rifles,
which from the glow on the handles had been turned on and primed long
enough ago to be ready for immediate use.“What are they doing?”
Professor Bailey asked.
“I don’t know.” Iris tried to angle herself to get a closer look at
the proceedings, but she bumped her head on the window and rubbed her
forehead. A thunk and other sounds above her told her someone climbed on
the roof and walked across it. The crack of a steam rifle made her
jump.
“Are we under attack?” Iris asked at the same time Bledsoe sat straight and asked, “What the hell…?”
More rifle shots made them all duck and cower below the window line
so as not to be easy targets. Iris found her head cradled against
Professor Bailey’s chest, which felt broader and stronger than she had
estimated.
“Miss McTavish, your hair is tickling my nose,” he said.
“Stop complaining or I shall poke you with one of the pins from Bledsoe’s friend.”
“That would be worse,” he agreed. “No telling what diseases an actress’s pins harbor.”
“I can hear you, you know,” Bledsoe grumbled from somewhere near
Iris’s bustle, and she became aware of the weight of his head on her
hip.
After about twenty minutes of awkward silence during which Iris heard
people moving around outside and a few more shots, the train moved
forward again. Something crunched under the wheels.
The maid, unencumbered by the clawed device, wheeled a lunch cart
into the room, and her eyebrows raised when she caught sight of the
three of them on the floor.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Miss, Professor and Maestro,” she said. “What are you doing on the floor? Do you need me to return later?”
“Certainly not.” Iris scrambled back onto the bench she had been
sitting on, and the men did likewise. She narrowed her eyes at the maid,
who looked like she tried not to laugh at them.
“What were you doing?” Iris asked. Both of the men looked at her, and
she guessed they were irritated by her speaking first. It was bad
enough her reputation would be at risk for traveling with the two of
them unchaperoned, she didn’t need to be caught in any compromising
positions. Therefore, she needed an explanation to put the situation in
context.
“It’s the Clockmakers’ Guild, Miss,” the maid said. “They send little
toys to crawl into Mister Cobb’s and other gentlemen’s trains to annoy
them but also gather information. We take advantage of the stop for coal
to clean ’em off.”
“How do they work?” Professor Bailey asked.
“Some of ’em have cylinders in them like player cylinders, but made
of wax, that they transfer information on. It’s too complicated for me,
but I’m sure Mister Cobb will be happy to explain on his airship. The
blast from the steam rifles shuts them down, or we catch ’em with the
claws and squeeze them out of shape so they can’t move anymore, and the
train wheels grind them into uselessness.”
Buy Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble Google Books Kobo Samhain Publishing
Cecilia Dominic wrote her first story when she was two years old and
has always had a much more interesting life inside her head than outside
of it. She became a clinical psychologist because she’s fascinated by
people and their stories, but she couldn’t stop writing fiction. The
first draft of her dissertation, while not fiction, was still criticized
by her major professor for being written in too entertaining a style.
She made it through graduate school and got her PhD, started her own
practice, and by day, she helps people cure their insomnia without using
medication. By night, she blogs about wine and writes fiction she hopes
will keep her readers turning the pages all night. Yes, she recognizes
the conflict of interest between her two careers, so she writes and
blogs under a pen name. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with one husband
and two cats, which, she’s been told, is a good number of each. She also
enjoys putting her psychological expertise to good use helping other
authors through her Characters on the Couch blog post series.
To buy her books, you can get them in trade paper and all ebook formats from
Samhain Publishing.
Cecilia’s books are also available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Sony, and anywhere else books are sold.
Cecilia is giving away two prizes
during her tour. Prize #1 is a $25.00 Amazon GC and Prize #2 is a signed
copy of Eros Element. For a chance to win these Prizes please fill out
the rafflecopter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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