OFF THE BOOKSHELF: Lady of Devices, by Shelley Adina

Whew! Finally worked through an avalanche of work that quite honestly gave me almost no time for reading the last few weeks.

What a treat to have TIME to sit down and just read for pleasure, instead of all the reading involved in making a living.

Even more of a treat to discover a new author and a series I want to keep up with -- in fact, when I finished this book, I got into B&N and bought a couple more books in the series.

LADY OF DEVICES by Shelley Adina is the first book in her Steampunk series about Lady Claire, a modern-minded young lady of the nobility who would rather go to the university and study engineering than attend to her Season and snag a husband ASAP -- the goal of her parents, of course. As she gears up to battle for her freedom and future, her world falls apart around her. The Steampunk world experiences its own version of the stock market crash, and her family loses everything. In short order, Lady Claire is on the run from an angry mob out to punish her family for their losses. She flees for her life, and ends up scrambling for an existence, allied with a handful of "alley mice" -- orphaned or cast-off children from London's streets. Between her technical know-how and their street smarts, they become a gang to be reckoned with, and the tales of the Lady of Devices begin.

FUN series. I bought the book because it was recommended as a grand example of Steampunk writing. I'm buying the rest of the books just because they're good and I like reading them. A great character will take you far. Can't wait to read and report on more adventures of Lady Claire.