Bustles and Bells: A Holiday Steampunk Anthology

by Pauline Creeden, Erin Hayes, J.A. Culican

Wishing you Steampunk’s Greetings and a Happy New Gear!

Join New York Times, USA Today, bestselling and award-winning speculative fiction authors as they celebrate the holidays this December in steampunk style. Tinsel and trains, tinkers and time-machines, garlands and gaslamps grace the stories in this limited-time anthology.

Corseted ladies and cloaked lords fill your holidays with Christmas cheer—and a touch of Yuletide magic, too—in this collection full of tales of wonder set in alternate landscapes of Victorian style and steam-powered technology.

So deck the skies with dirigibles, gather ’round the clockwork tree, and settle in with your eggnog and goggles for a steampunk celebration like never before!

Genres: Christmas, Steampunk

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 29, 2018

About the author

Pauline Creeden is an award-winning author, horse trainer, and overall book ninja. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long.

Armored Hearts, her joint effort with author Melissa Turner Lee, has been a #1 Bestseller in Christian Fantasy and been awarded the Crowned Heart for Excellence by InDtale Magazine. Her debut novel, Sanctuary, won 1st Place Christian YA Title 2013 Dante Rosetti Award and 2014 Gold Award for First Place YA Horror Novel.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This holiday boxset of short stories is a fantastic read, covering a wide range of genres with added steampunk elements. I've included individual reviews below, but I'd definitely recommend this boxset to anyone who's looking for short reads that will lift your mood and make you smile.

Individual stories:
Cog | Pauline Creeden (5*) 24/11
A great opener to the book, and a brilliant short story. I really like Cog, and I'd definitely be interested in reading about more of his exploits.
O Little Town of Bedlam | A Harker Legacy Story | Erin Hayes (4*) 24/11
I've not read any of this author's work before, but I will be after this. An extremely short story, it's well written and very intriguing - I'm very interested to find out more about the Harkers, especially with the references to known characters from traditional stories in the genre, as well as to a certain detective's address and landlady!
Caged Embers | J.A. Culican & Melle Amade (3*) 24/11
While the basis of this story was good, it was so riddled with errors that it was hard to read and very disappointing. I won't be reading any more of this series.
Unwelcome Gifts | A Heavy Metal Magic Origins Story | Margo Bond Collins (5*) 24/11
This story was full of tension, mystery and drama, keeping you hooked from beginning until the very end. It's well written and has great steampunk features throughout, plus a twist of romance and the love of a blossoming friendship between the characters. I really enjoyed it, and would definitely be interested in reading the books in the main series.
Christmas on Airship X | SJ Davis (4*) 24/11
This story is definitely of the more adult variety! Based on the theme of a woman discovering her true self and letting go, as well as a typical fairytale battle between good and evil (in this case personified by the caring, affectionate and giving woman vs the selfish, pompous and self-entitled male scientist), this is an excellent story that definitely paints very vivid pictures!
Kiss My Snowflake | Skye MacKinnon (5*) 24/11
A sweet, romantic short story full of love and Christmas cheer. Absolutely loved it.
Penny Gaff Christmas | Tales from Gear City | Eli Constant (4*) 25/11
While I liked most of this story, the events on the stage were unpleasant (and unpleasantly detailed!) and could've been avoided.
The Mechanic and the Duke | Lexi Ostrow (5*) 25/11
I liked this story as it's not a typical Victorian romance but a great story of a meeting between two independent people who are being forced together by their parents - but can they overcome their 'faults' to make a match - or find they're not faults at all?
Yuletide of Rats | Laura Greenwood (5*) 25/11
A good short story featuring Tori and her husbands, hunting a Jack the Ripper-style murderer. While it's set at Yuletide, there's certainly no Christmassy feeling until the end, but it's an excellent read, and I'd definitely recommend it to all Rats lovers!
Zombies and Zeppelins | E.B. Black (5*) 25/11
A short but sweet tale of love at Christmas in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Who knew that could be romantic?!
An Airship Carol | Katherine McIntyre (4*) 25/11
A mystery and battle between airships when bullies try to ruin everyone's Christmas
A Christmas Caper | Dana Lyons (5*) 25/11
A funny, dramatic short story about a seer and a time traveller who try to prevent the apocalypse that would be caused if Santa is kidnapped at midnight on Xmas by a man who is unhappy about something from his past. True Christmas madness!
Bells and Engineers | Leona Bushman (5*) 25/11
A short story of a fiercely independent woman and her true love
His Airship Captain | Ever Coming and Kate Richards (5*) 25/11
A short, sweet story of a misunderstanding and how it comes to be corrected.
Secrets of the Mechanical Heart | J. M. Taylor (5*) 25/11
A great final story for the boxset, and a fantastic read, full of drama, action, and a twist of romance. Loved it.

[Cailin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steampunk awesomeness!!!!

I received an ARC of this Steampunk Anthology and my review is for Yuletide of Rats by Laura Greenwood. This great story is inventive, filled with charming, memorable characters, and I enjoyed it a lot!!!!

In this installment of the Rats a murderer is terrorizing the most at-risk and destitute of the Rats. As their leader, Tori takes it upon herself, with the aid of her husbands, to solve the mystery of who the murderer is, bring them to justice, and maintain her position as leader!

Its a short story, but so much happens it feels like we got a great look into the characters lives and their steampunk world. I canNOT wait for more!!!

[Amanda Showalter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love anthologies. Little stories to sample from many different authors. I have found it helps me to find new series and authors. Loved this!

[Dawn Brower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of stories

If you like Christmas stories and steampunk then this set is for you. A variety of different stories and a good collection for the price.

[Tera Comer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful combination of stories by so many wonderfully talented authors. Some of the authors were new to me and I will be following up on their books, and some of the authors are already my favorites.
Cog - Pauline Creeden

O Little Town of Bedlam - A Harker Legacy Story - Erin Hayes

Caged Embers - J.A. Culican & Melle Amade

Unwelcome Gifts - A Heavy Metal Magic Origins Story - Margo Bond Collins
Can I say more?!?!?! I want more of this world and characters.
Christmas on Airship X - SJ Davis
Kiss My Snowflake - Skye MacKinnon
This is a continuation of Dex's story from Kiss my Corset and allows us to see Dex with her husbands at Christmas.
Penny Gaff Christmas - Tales from Gear City - Eli Constant
The Mechanic and the Duke - Lexi Ostrow
Yuletide of Rats - Laura Greenwood
Yay we get to see Tori and her husbands solve the mystery of who is killing those most at risk rats. While this story can be read as a stand alone and not lose any understanding why would you want to miss out on Tori's other stories.
Zombies and Zeppelins - E.B. Black
An Airship Carol - Katherine McIntyre
A Christmas Caper - Dana Lyons
Bells and Engineers - Leona Bushman
His Airship Captain - Ever Coming and Kate Richards
Secrets of the Mechanical Heart - J. M. Taylor

[Laura Greenwood]

My Story in the collection was Yuletide of Rats.

Rats: Tori is a series of short standalone one shot stories.
1. Ruler of Rats: books2read.com/rulerofrats
2. Collector of Rats: books2read.com/collectorofrats
3. Yuletide of Rats: books2read.com/yuletideofrats
Boxed Set: Rats: Tori: books2read.com/ratstori

You can also join my Goodreads Reader Group for new release alerts, spoiler threads, and more!
==> https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

[Richard Goodrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cog by Pauline Creeden: 5 stars
O Little Town of Bedlam: A Harker Legacy Story by Erin Hayes: 2 stars
Caged Embers by J.A. Culican & Melle Amade: 3 stars
Unwelcome Gifts: A Heavy Metal Magic Origins Story by Margo Bond Collins : 4 stars
Christmas on Airship X by S.J. Davis: 3 stars
Kiss my Snowflake: A steampunk romance (The Hybrid Chronicles) by Skye MacKinnon: 4 stars
Penny Gaff Christmas: Tales from Gear City by Eli Constant: 1 stars Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse
The Mechanic and the Duke by Lexi Ostrow: 5 stars
Yuletide of Rats by Laura Greenwood: 2 stars
Zombies and Zeppelins by E.B. Black: 2 stars
An Airship Carol by Katherine McIntyre: 5 stars
A Christmas Caper by Dana Lyons: 5 stars
Bells and Engineers by Leona Bushman: 5 stars
His Airship Captain by Ever Coming & Kate Richards: 3 stars
Secrets of the Mechanical Heart by J.M. Taylor: 4 stars

Scary. Steamy. Tear-jerker. Tragic. Twisted. Unpredictable. Wonderful characters.

Part of "Bustles and Bells: A Holiday Steampunk Anthology" borrowed via Kindle Unlimited on December 8, 2018.  This is my honest review.

[Amanda Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of stories with a steampunk theme all centered around the holidays.

O Little Town of Bedlam by Erin Hayes - This was super short and fun. I loved Erin's Harker Trilogy so I was quite excited to get this peek into the upcoming Harker Legacy series. I am intrigued of Hazel as the Harker and am looking forward to more.

Kiss My Snowflake by Skye MacKinnon - a quick read about hybrid Dex and her three men as they venture out of the city for their honeymoon. I loved them in Kiss my Corset and this built on that perfectly. There's some excitement and sweetness mixed in. I would love to see more from them or more about hybrids in this unique world

Yuletide of Rats by Laura Greenwood - I'm happy to see Tori and her husbands again, I love the world that Laura created. Tori and her men go undercover to solve a mystery this time. It's a short read but there's a lot packed in.

These can be read without having read the previous books first but I definitely recommend checking them out too

[TipseyBookReviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this Anthology because it had stories by Greenwood and Mackinnon,

Kiss My Snowflake by Skye Mackinnon
I really like Dex and her guys. I first met Dex in Kiss my Corset. In Kiss my Snowflake, Dex and her guys are going on a honeymoon to visit the guys aunt. I really liked seeing the dynamic between Dex and the aunt. I think this story can be read a stand-alone.

Yuletide of Rats by Laura Greenwood.
This story follow Ruler of Rats and Collector of Rats. I have read Ruler, but missed Collector, and while I want to go back and check out Collector, I did not feel like I was lost or missing anything in this story. Toey and her husbands are on the hunt for someone who is killing the vulnerable Rats, and some connections hit close to home. I enjoy this series, and hope we get to see more of Tori and her guys.

[Renée · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kiss My Snowflake by Skye Mackinnon
Kiss My Snowflake is the continuation of Dex’s story, following on from Kiss my Corset. This short story is a dystopian steampunk reverse harem.
This time around Dex is now married to her three masters, and they venture off on an extended honeymoon to countryside. This really is a short and sweet story, but i hope this isn’t the end of Dex’s story with her men Dan, Luke and James (fingers crossed there’s more to come).

Yuletide of Rats by Laura Greenwood
Yuletide of Rats is a great steampunk reverse harem short story, and is part of the Rats series.
This story follows Tori, as the leader of Rats she needs to go undercover to catch a murder. However her husbands - Eddy, Baxter, Harvey and Archie aren’t happy about the risk.

[Ola Adamska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kiss my Snowflake by Skye Mackinnon
This story can be read as standalone if you had not read Kiss My Corset That's not a problem - you can read it as standalone.
Dex and Her Men are going on a honeymoon. To their aunt. As always being different will be a hard case.
So sit in comfortable place and dive into this Great enjoyable read!

[Noelle Woodruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great collection of stories from some awesome authors with the steampunk vibe! Love this anthologies! I don't usually read steampunk but love this set. We get a good variety. I like that most can be read without reading previous books in the series and not give anything away many spoilers. Some even make me interested in read the series to find out what happens before.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this in return for an honest review

This was a lovely mix of festive short and slightly longer stories, reviously I wouldn't have said steampunk was one of my 'go-to' genres but after reading this anthology I will definitely pick it up more often!

I found I now have a new list of authors to look for on my next book visit

[Book Addict · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this combination of stories by so many talented authors! I loved the little of of insight and connection to some of my favourite characters. This included the exciting final short story for Tori and her husbands in Yuletide of Rats by Laura Greenwood...I will miss these guys heaps; Kiss My Snowflake by Skye MacKinnon were we get to see how Dex and coping with being the hybrid wife to her three bosses and getting to meet their Aunt and how they overcome the prejudge of others as well as so many more interesting stories. An enjoyable read by some super talented authors..highly recommended!!

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag

A couple of very good stories, some moderately good stories, and a couple of stinkers. Not bad for the price.

[Thomas C.Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read,

Able to leave if busy and able to pick up where left off without to much loss of thought. Don't like being forced to leave a long review, you like it or you don't.

[The P.Turners]

Please see blog for [K]'s review: https://thepturnersbookblog.wordpress...

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Steampunk anthology. My favourites were:

* Skye MacKinnon - Kiss My Snowflake. I am not normally one for Steampunk but I really enjoyed this book. I have not read the others in this storyline but found it easy to understand character dynamics and the story as a whole.
* Laura Greenwood - Yuletide of Rats. This is a nice short story for this series. Set after Ruler and Collector of Rats this is a good follow on. Although if you have not read them you still will understand the story and hopefully enjoy it.

The remainder I had mixed feelings about, not really my cup of tea.