The Blushing Bounder by Meljean Brook – An Iron Seas novella of 15,000 words: The search for a killer puts Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth’s life in danger and her assistant, Constable Newberry, in the line of fire. But Newberry faces a danger of another kind: to his heart, by the woman forced to marry him. What will it take for this prudish bounder to convince his wife to stay?

Vixen by Jill Myles – A shifter novella of 15,000 words: Miko’s denied her were-fox nature for far too long and turned her back on her vixen heritage. But when she meets two very sexy cat-shifters, she has to decide if she truly wants to give up on her frisky side, or embrace it. Because the were-fox in her doesn’t want to choose between both men…it wants them both.

Kitten-tiger & the Monk by Carolyn Crane – A Disillusionists novella of 20,000 words: Sophia Sidway, Midcity’s most dangerous memory revisionist, seeks out the mysterious Monk in the wasteland beneath the Tangle turnpike, hoping for redemption…but it turns out that the Monk is not all that pious, and the turnpike is no turnpike at all.

When I first heard about Wild & Steamy I new immediately that I had to read it. I loved Brook’s and Crane’s series and well I always wanted to try a Myles’ novel because I heard that they are so much fun. Best chance to get all wanted in one book. How could I say no to that? 

Newberry was already pretty intriguing in The Iron Duke and I was so looking forward to see his story told. We meet his wife, the shy and unfortunately really sick Temperance. She is a strong woman with a good heart inside but she is full of prejudices. Her lacking understanding of the world she’s faced with in London forces her to question her world views.

I loved to see Temperance discover the London of Brook’s Iron Sea’s world. This story actually happens while The Iron Duke takes place but it also givve a different perspective to what we learned in the first installment. We learn how the Americans see what happened and why they distance themselves.

The Blushing Bounder has a cute and sweet love story about misunderstandings, oldfashioned worldviews, prejudices and how to find love in such a situation. The characters are vivid and shine through Brook’s writing. I really enjoyed this one and I’m already dying to read about what will happen next. Steampunk, love, adventure- a great mix you should definitely try out.

This one was so hot. I have to say a have a soft spot for kitsune- fox shifters are just so much naughty fun. *g* Okay so Miko probably isn’t the typical kitsune- she lives an isolated life to avoid the temptation social life offers her. she tries really hard to be a good girl but well who cares for those. *wink*

When our heroes join the story the pages practically heat up. Vixen is definitely the hottest story in this anthology. I loved the banter between our 3 protagonists. The contrast between the guys’ familiarity with each other and Miko’s efforts to stay detachted were a nice contrast that gave this story a nice twist. The actual plot was okay but didn’t really kept me glued to the edge of my seat. This story was more about the interaction between the characters than the setting. 

I really hope that Myles will write more about these shifters though- the world-building has great potential and I’m sure it would shine more if given some more space. 

I so missed this series. I really did- it’s so unique. In this novella we meet Sophia again, the not so loved revisionist. She played an antoganistic role in the previous books and I was very intrigued how Crane would make me like her. I’m usually not very forgiving with things like that but Crane really succeded. 

The plot was fascinating and mysterious- I so wanted to see how this one would work out. Okay I admit I realized rather fast who was who but well it still was a pleasure to see everything unfold and to read about the reasons for our protagonist’s actions. 

I love the way we are drawn into the setting and story- the descriptions always have a certain mysterious touch to them. I would so love to see what Crane imagines Midcity like. I so can’t wait to read book 3. I adore this series – it’s refreshingly unique and has a touch of cool you won’t find in any other other urban fantasy novels. Can’t praise it enough. 

Wild & Steamy is one of the best anthology I ever read. I really enjoyed all the stories and never once thought about skipping one (I do this more often than I should). The stories contrast each other in a way that provides a varied entertainment not many anthologies have.  Highly recommended read- you shouldn’t miss this one.

I give Wild & Steamy 4.5 out of 5 bookies.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.