Have I ever mentioned in all the book reviews I’ve written here on the blog how much I love intelligent characters? I mean, it’s great when the hero in the novel is smart and the heroine can actually carry on a conversation. Novels that are mostly internal dialogue or that are based on lack of communication just don’t really do it for me. Full Steam Ahead by Karen Witemeyer is exactly what I love in a book.
When love simmers between a reclusive scientist and a wealthy debutante, will they abandon ship or is it full steam ahead?
Nicole Renard returns home to Galveston, Texas, to find her father deathly ill. Though she loves him, Nicole’s father has always focused on what she’s not. Not male. Not married. Not able to run Renard Shipping.
Vowing to find a suitable husband to give her father the heir he desires before it’s too late, Nicole sets out with the Renard family’s greatest treasure as her dowry: the highly coveted Lafitte Dagger. But her father’s rivals come after the dagger, forcing a change in Nicole’s plans.
After a boiler explosion aboard the Louisiana nearly took his life, Darius Thornton has been a man obsessed. He will do anything to stop even one more steamship disaster. Even if it means letting a female secretary into his secluded world.
Nicole is determined not to let her odd employer scare her off with his explosive experiments, yet when respect and mutual attraction grow between them, a new fear arises. How can she acquire an heir for her father when her heart belongs to another? And when her father’s rivals discover her hiding place, will she have to choose between that love and her family’s legacy?
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Okay I need to get this out of the way before I get into my review, but I really don’t like the cover of the book. Neither character on the cover looks like the characters in the story, and Nicole’s eyes just look crazy. So please, don’t judge this book by it’s cover, it does not do it justice.
Karen Witemeyer is an amazing author. She can take a setting or plot line that honestly doesn’t seem very interesting and turn it into a work of art. If a friend came up to me and said “Hey, I have a great book about steam engines in the 1800’s, you should read it” I probably would give them a thanks but no thanks. But Full Steam Ahead crafts a story about a time and space in history that we modern 21st century folks take for granted, and it makes you like it and want to read about it.
I love these two main characters. Darius Thornton was a funny character to me, but only because Nicole balances out his quirkiness and makes him loveable. Darius is an extremely focused engineer, boarding on obsessed, and not personable at all. Think Tony Stark on Iron Man.
Enter Nicole. She comes into his life and without really meaning to helps him to take a step back, open his eyes, and actually see the world around him instead of focusing on his mission to create a safe steam engine, which is consuming him.
Nicole is sharp and witty. Yes, she has her own weaknesses, but her sarcastic and quick wit make her a very lovable character. She doesn’t give Darius and inch and there’s great chemistry written between these two from the beginning.
As a Christian fiction novel, I enjoyed how Darius and Nicole learn that faith, hope, and love actually play the most vital roles in their lives.
Great read, I definitely recommend Full Steam Ahead.
Because I’ve read all of Karen Witemeyer’s other novels, I’m already looking forward to the next one!
