Her Sky Cowboy by Beth CiottaMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Did not finish. 2 stars to be charitable. I think I made it to chapter 5.
Steampunk is a difficult genre for me. An author does not necessarily have to explain how all technology works in their fictional world. But some of it should be explained and the explanation needs to make some sense as well as being reasonably consistent. (the same goes for magic, but that doesn't apply here)
In this case, the author just assumes the reader will buy in by just talking about technology as if it were window dressing.
I also dislike characters that emote their way to a solution.
In this case, the character went on ad nausea about how socially constrained she was. It wasn't something that was evident from her interaction with other characters. The extensive internal monologues were mind-numbing.
I have read many stories with characters that were similarly constrained by social constructs. The best stories not only feature an illustration of those constraints via interaction with other characters, they also feature constrained characters that spend more time figuring out how to escape those constraints than they do complaining about being constrained. In that way, the characters explain how those constraints were a detriment to the society as opposed to a personal impediment to "fulfillment".
Strong female characters escaping social constraints don't bother me. Whiny female characters do.
While I don't read a ton of romance, I have read some. I can't comment on the quality of that aspect of the book as it had yet to develop.
I might have stuck with the book if it were a stand-alone novel. As the first of a series, I just couldn't see investing myself in it.
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