View our feature on Meljean Brook’s The Iron Duke . First in an all-new series where seductive danger and steampunk adventure abound in the gritty world of the Iron Seas. After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power-and fear-of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession. But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke. Brook jumps ship from her Guardians urban fantasy novels (Demon Blood, 2010) to a steampunk series mixing the British Regency period with the Industrial Revolution gone mad. During the celebration of the Iron Duke’s defeat of the Horde in England, a body is dropped from an airship onto his London doorstep. Detective Inspector Lady Mina Wentworth is assigned the case to find out who the dead man was and who killed him. Intrigued upon meeting her, Rhys Trahaearn, now Duke of Anglesey known as the Iron Duke, invites himself along on her investigation. So begins an adventure reminiscent of an action-packed video game complete with mechanical oddities, from metal eyes and human limbs to a killer kraken plaguing the seas. Dirigibles, blacksmith shops, contraband bazaars, and clipper ships become the backgrounds for Rhys and Mina’s blossoming love affair. With adept writing and a flair for creating believable worlds, Brook’s first in the Iron Seas series showcases her masterful storytelling. --Pat Henshaw "With The Iron Duke , Meljean Brook has brilliantly defined the new genre of Steampunk Romance. I loved it!" --Jayne Ann Krentz, New York Times bestselling author "With adept writing and a flair for creating believable worlds, Brook's first in the Iron Seas series showcases her masterful storytelling." --Booklist "...a stunning blend of steampunk setting and poignant romance - smart, sexy, breathtaking, and downright addicting." --Ilona Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of Magic Bleeds Meljean was raised in the middle of the woods, and hid under her blankets at night with fairy tales, comic books, and romances. She left the forest and went on a misguided tour through the world of accounting, banking, and a (very) brief teaching career before focusing on her first loves, reading and writing--and she realized that monsters, superheroes, and happily-ever-afters are easily found between the covers, as well as under them, so she set out to make her own.Meljean lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and daughter. London, England Mina hadn’t predicted that sugar would wreck the marchioness of Hartington’s ball; she’d thought the dancing would. Their hostess’s good humor had weathered them through the discovery that fewer than forty of her guests knew the steps, however, and they’d survived the first awkward quadrilles. But as the room grew warmer, the laughter louder, and the gossiping more vigorous, the refreshment table set the First Annual Victory Ball on a course for disaster. Which meant Mina was enjoying the event far more than she’d expected to. Not that it wasn’t as grand as everyone had said it would be. Despite the slowly increasing tension, the great ballroom had not begun to rip at the silk-papered seams; the restoration of Devonshire House had cost Hartington, and it showed. Candle-studded chandeliers displayed everyone to their best advantage. Discreet gas lamps highlighted the enormous paintings gracing the room but had not yet smudged the walls. Musicians played at the opposite end of the ballroom, and the violins did sound sweeter than the mechanical instruments Mina was accustomed to—and much sweeter than the hacking coughs from forty of the guests, all of them bounders. Two hundred years ago, when most of Europe was fleeing from the Horde’s war machines, some of the English had gone with them. But an ocean passage over the Atlantic hadn’t come cheaply, and although the families who’d abandoned England for the New World hadn’t all been aristocrats, they’d all been moneyed. After the Iron Duke had freed England from Horde control, many of them had returned to London, flaunting their titles and their gold. Now, nine years after Britain’s victory over the Horde, the aristocratic bounders had decided to hold a ball celebrating the country’s newfound freedom, though they had shed no blood to gain it. They’d charitably included all of the peers who had little to their names but their titles. At first glance, Mina could detect little distinction between the guests. The bounders spoke with flatter accents, and