Breath of Iron

In her third steampunk romance (after Touch of Steel), Cross reunites a surgeon working for the Wardens of the Realm with her one true love, a spy who turned sky pirate after she saved his life and left him. Gavin “Mac” MacRae kidnaps Dr. Evelyn Stone and takes her aboard his airship to care for Imogen, a badly injured woman he introduces as his wife. She’s actually a spy with important information. Mac’s plan to get Imogen back to safety in London is hampered by a traitor on board and a vengeful pirate who forces the ship down over Frankfurt. An attack by a lab-created beast and some reanimation of the dead further heighten the adventure. Evie and Mac’s sensual and exciting romantic reunion is threatened more by her fear than his hurt or the (never explained) false marriage to Imogen. (Aug.)