Book Review and Giveaway: Steamrolled by Pauline Baird Jones

Go for a rolling ride in another delightful, action packed novel in the Project Enterprise Series.

Steamrolled

by Pauline Baird Jones

• Paperback: 454 pages
• Publisher: L & L Dreamspell (April 11, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1603184074
• ISBN-13: 978-1603184076

Genre:  Science Fiction Romance
My Rating 5.0 of 5.0

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2011

With all of time at risk, it's a bad time to fall in love...unless it's the only time... Robert Clementyne is going on a transmogrification machine hunt. He fears finding the machine will be as difficult as pronouncing the name. How can the steam-powered device perform as advertised, and how useful can any information be, coming from a steampunk themed bowling alley/museum? It's pretty crazy, but he's been there, done that, and thinks he can handle it. And then he meets the proprietor/curator...Emily Babcock. Emily grew up in crazy, still lives in it-hey, it's her freaking zip code. So no worries when Robert and his team walk into her bowling alley. The first visitors ever to her museum. But neither of them is prepared for what happens when they open the door to the past...and the future. With a side trip through Roswell...and a face-to-face meeting with an evil genius/wannabe-who is on his way to becoming evil overlord-of-everything...

Review:

This book highlights Robert Clementyne, the brother of Doc from Girl Gone Nova. Robert had been in a mental health facility on earth until Doc pulled him out and introduced some nanites to help his brain organize all the genius that he had been unable to control and express before.  Here we get to enjoy the mental conversational additions of nanites Wynken, Blynken and Nod. :-) Robert and a team from Kikk have been sent to earth to locate the transmogrification machine (from Tangled in Time.)  The team includes characters from prior books in the series: Fyn (The Key) and Carey (Tangled in Time).

We are also introduced to new characters, Ashe and Emily.  Ashe, with her sentient nanite, Lurch (once a nanite with Doc aka Morticia, resulting in Lurch’s name), is a fairly new cadet with the Time Service, designed to keep time ‘on track.’  Ashe and Lurch return from a time trip to discover the base and time seriously out of whack. Ashe is the primary hero of the final book, Kicking Ashe.

Emily is a very unusual young woman, a persona of “modified Goth mixed with Steampunk.”  She is the isolated proprietor of the museum designed around the transmogrification machine inventor’s workshop.  As a descendant of the inventor’s sister, Emily has steadfastly taken care of the museum even though there have been no visitors... until now.

But Robert’s team isn’t the only one after the machine. Dr. Smith, on orders of his ‘master’, has been sent to find the machine too. As they battle over the machine, Ashe and Lurch have their own struggles with fluctuating time.

This is another wonderful story with lots of action, intrigue, and a really evil overlord fighting with patrols of robotic-like automatrons. The author has created an imaginative, unique world and wonderfully warm, quirky characters. Once again the dialog is fun and it is delightful how Emily starts mentally thinking of Robert as “oh my darling!” (Check his last name if you don’t get this right away.)  The plot moves around a lot - past, future and time streams in between. Although this could be read alone, I think it would be much easier to follow (and more to enjoy) if you have read the prior books.

Some quotes to enjoy:

Emily had questions, but questions led to answers. Answers were a mixed bag–a baggie better kept zipped when your family inheritance could be boiled down to one word: crazy. P 41

She twisted in his hold–though not out of it he was thankful to note–bringing her mouth into a better position for kissing. ... And then she kissed him, splattering his thoughts, rather like the anomaly had tried to splatter them, but with a much better outcome. P 370.

Thank you to the author for providing another great read!

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the signed Review copy: 

1. I sent you to visit the author's website for the giveaway of THE KEY. So for this giveaway tell me why you think you would like to read this book and or series. :-) This is required for entry.

2.  For an extra entry, become a follower (GFC, Twitter, FB, email) or tell me if you are already a follower.

3. For two more entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Four total entries possible.)

THERE WILL BE ONE WINNER.

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on March 23, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries and announced on March 24 with 72 hours to complete the winners form.