Monday, December 16, 2013

Review: Chasing the Star Garden by Melanie Karsak & Giveaway

 

I started reading Chasing the Star Garden with a hope of getting my hands on something good. I wasn’t disappointed.

I am an old fan of Sherlock Holmes. I LOVE how he pieces things together, how he follows the clues and catches the bad guy in the end. Now, I am not comparing Chasing the Star Garden to Sherlock Holmes, but there is a great deal of adventure, action, love, clues and chase in this amazing book. And I loved pretty much every page.

Our main character, Lily is a young air Jockey, with a past that would turn even your hair a shade whiter. Her past has her running from everything, hiding in the mist of the opium, or the dense fog of the laudanum, but it also makes her blind to things right in front of her.

But Lily isn’t the only one running from her past. One of her lovers; Sal is also running from his own demons.

Add a quest to the equation, finding a long lost artifact - BEFORE the bad guys, airships, contests, clues to follow….

I loved reading Chasing the Star Garden. I’ve always loved the kind of books where there are little clues to follow, a mystery to solve, Sherlock Holmes was a must read when I was a child :-) Lily, Sal, Angus, Jessup, Lord Byron, Celeste; each and everyone bring something amazing to this chase.  I had a hard time putting my kindle down because the deeper I got into the story, the more captured I got. I was rooting for them to find the artifact, rooting for Sal & Lily, rooting for Lily to get herself up and out. And the end…. Phew.. Made my freaking heart leap out of my chest!!

Melanie has created a fun, sexy, adventure filled, action packed, and different steampunk story, and I will DEFINITELY be keeping an eye out for the next book; Chasing the Green Fairy when it releases next year!! Amazing job, Melanie – keep up the good work!!



An opium-addicted beauty.
An infamous poet living in self-imposed exile.
An ancient treasure about to fall into the wrong hands.
Melanie Karsak’s “Chasing the Star Garden” takes the reader on an exciting adventure from the gritty opium dens of gaslamp London to the gem colored waters of the ancient world, introducing us to Lily Stargazer, a loveable but reckless airship racer with a famous lover and a shattered past.
Lily Stargazer is having a bad day. She just lost the London leg of the 1823 Airship Grand Prix. To top it off, a harlequin fleeing from constables shoved a kaleidoscope down her pants, told her to fly to Venice, then threw himself from her airship tower. What’s a girl to do? For Lily, the answer is easy: drink absinthe and smoke opium. 

Lily’s lover, Lord Byron, encourages her to make the trip to Venice. Lily soon finds herself at the heart of an ancient mystery which has her running from her past and chasing true love and the stars along the way.




Melanie Karsak grew up in rural northwestern Pennsylvania where there was an abysmal lack of entertainment, so she turned to reading and hiking. Apparently, rambling around the woods with a head full of fantasy worlds and characters will inspire you to become an author. Be warned. Melanie wrote her first novel, a gripping piece about a 1920s stage actress, when she was 12. A steampunk connoisseur, white elephant collector, and caffeine junkie, the author now resides in Florida with her husband and two children. Melanie is an Instructor of English at Eastern Florida State College.




 
 


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