Tracy’s review of Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith
California girl Kim Murray is unsatisfied with grad school and restless in life. Modern men disappoint her, and she studies ballet and fencing because they remind her of older, more romantic times.
She lives with her parents and her beloved but secretive aristocratic grandmother, who speaks only French and refuses to share stories about the mysterious family she left behind in Europe, inspiring Kim to travel there and find her roots.Kim soon finds herself swept up in an adventure of fantastic deceptions and passionate intrigue-and a shocking realization about her own bloodline that leaves her reeling.
Grad student Kim Murray heads to France and then Vienna to try and figure out her genealogy. She’s not having much luck but she’s ever hopeful. While she’s in Vienna she starts to get the feeling that she’s being watched but can never see anyone watching her. One day she runs into a man, Alec. They share conversation and some wine and next thing you know she’s on a train heading who knows where. Yep, she’s been kidnapped, but she can’t quite figure out why. Being the daredevil that she is she jumps out of the train window when it slows for a station stop and heads out to find her way back to Vienna. But her trek is short lived and she’s soon caught once again by Alec. That night, however, Alec discovers that he’s made a mistake. You see Kim is the “almost” identical twin to a woman named Aurelia – his fiancé – who has gone missing. Alec believed that Kim was Aurelia and was taking her back to their country, Dobrenica. During this discovery Kim finds out that Dobrenica is more than likely where her grandmother is from.
When Alec releases Kim she heads to Dobrenica as she now believes that her ancestors are from that country. What she finds is strange family relations, kidnapping plots, fairy tales – or are they?, political intrigue and a little bit of romance.
This was a very good book. Not my normal type of read at all but very entertaining. There is tons of history involved and I found myself really getting into it. It’s definitely not a light and easy read. I think you have to be very much invested in the reading of the book and pay close attention with the history, poetry, subtle innuendos, hints and family lineage that is involved. I think the only thing that I didn’t care for was the amount of description in the book. Everything was described in great detail and it got to be a bit much, for my liking, after a while.
Kim was a great character although I found her a bit odd at times. A very intelligent woman who grew up with very intelligent parents she could really carry a conversation and was knowledgeable about a great many things. But then at times she was a bit thick and incredibly trusting of her distant relations. I guess it was because she hadn’t grown up with all of the politics that she was easily swayed by relatives. Her California speak was a bit off-putting at times as well but I guess I got used to it after a while.
Warning: this is not a romance with an HEA. I can tell you that there will be more books, just based on the last chapter that I think will have more romance involved between Kim and Alec (I hope). Things were left up in the air, which was a little frustrating for me since I love my happy endings, but that just means that I’ll have to keep reading to find out what happens next.
Rating: 4.25 out of 5
You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place
Sherwood Smith has said on her LJ that she’s just finished the follow-up and I expect she sold both as a series to DAW. I’m not sure if there will be more after that, but I’m looking toward the second one to clarify Dobrenica’s situation – and I want Alec to have a HEA ^^