Review
Title: Brass Carriages and Glass Hearts
Author: Nancy Campbell Allen
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Genre: Proper Romance, Steampunk
Year Published: 2020
Number of Pages: 303 pages
Binding: Softbound
ISBN: 13:978-1-62972-737-0
Price: 15.99
Reviewed by Heather Harris-Bergevin for the Association of Mormon Letters
One of the lovely things about being very new at reading any “Proper Romances” is that I don’t know that any series exists. I love to read “cold,” so I can get precise ideas without any bias in advance. This leads me to my fun reading this one, which was considerable! Brass Carriages and Glass Hearts is a surprisingly delightful book, which I was not expecting (my bad, really). When it arrived, I found myself not only dubious, but actively postponing reading it after a quick glance– but, you can’t judge a book by its cover!
Indeed, Brass Carriages is a fun romp, not only in a fairy-tale genre but for any reader who enjoys a bit of a mystery and romantic intrigue. If you’ve guessed by the copious amounts of gears on the cover that this is a steampunk genre-oriented book, you’re cleverer than me, as it took me five or so pages to realize that generally even activists in the late eighteen hundreds did not have access to pagers. (I really was ignoring that cover. I’m so sorry!) This is, alas, exactly what I mean by the complications of cover design, because right underneath the title it even helpfully says “A Steampunk Cinderella.” I’d have branded it “Brass and Glass: a Steampunk Cinderella,” all in one or two lines. I’ve got a close-cut version of the cover, which I altered myself, showing mostly elbows, clothing, and the (also geared) shoe, because I love it when we trust the audience, including in romances.
I always personally find that trusting your audience leads to a great deal more fun…and, the author does do so, trusting the audience to be able to catch up in a fun, steampunk Alternate Universe, where zeppelins and steam-driven machines, automatons, and other delightful creations are both familiar and unfamiliar at once. Allen is playful in her AU and makes it both functional and believable. You’re in her capable hands and she truly gives you a lovely story variation.
Which isn’t to say that I was prepared for when the vampires showed up.
But, again, Allen does trust her audience and does expect us to pay attention, and on a deeper level, this is why Brass Carriages is fun and why you leave yourself in her hands. A magician creates a world where you leave yourself in their hands, relax, and allow yourself to suspend belief and enjoy their creation, and that’s what is enjoyable here. You are safe to suspend your belief and can trust the author to both carry you merrily along, though the familiarity of the story is always helpful.
It is a relatively normal Cinderella, albeit with steam and gears and a few shifters and vampires as you go about your business. There’s nothing terribly shocking in the story or any massive twists that aren’t alluded to beforehand. This doesn’t detract from the well-written narrative, however, nor the excellent characterizations. Emme is delightful as an activist for the rights of an underprivileged group of citizens who are being oppressed, and she is a force to be reckoned with! Oliver is the equal and opposite force, albeit an official one, and has been sent to do that reckoning. Their ongoing rivalry is lovely and believable enough. The simpering but sneaky Lysette and nervous, pliable Madeline are interesting, as is the inclusion of a friendly vampire with a familiar name, which made me laugh out loud. The adventures are fun, and there’s a great ramping up to the final few chapters, which zooms the reading eye along nicely.
Brass Carriages: and Glass Hearts is great for anyone who wants to read intrigue and romance, but who doesn’t like to face bodice rippers with all their issues with consent (and perhaps soft porn). It’s also one that is so mild, I’d feel comfortable handing it to my preteen niece. If you want a fun beach read, this is a great option! Check out the author’s other books on similar subjects for a gentle push back to the standard fairy-tales, and a dose of both healthy and rather intersectional work of characters to help heal the problems in the world. Don’t be like me and get distracted by the cover, and instead, stay for the good writing, clever takes on characters, and excellent determination to bring fairy-tales into a fun AU where they can be free to not be Disneyfied.