There Will Be Phlogston, vN, The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal

There Will Be Phlogiston by Alexis Hall (Prosperity #5)
Published: Riptide Publishing on 2014, eBook, 150 pages
Genres: Fiction, Sci-fi, Romance
Add to: Goodreads

An instructive story in which vice receives its just reward.
Inspired by true and scandalous tales of the Gaslight aristocracy, we present the most moral and improving tale of Lady Rosamond Wolfram.
Weep, reader, for the plight of our heroine as she descends into piteous ruin in the clutches of the notorious Phlogiston Baron, Anstruther Jones. Witness the horrors of feminine rebellion when this headstrong young lady defies her father, breaks an advantageous engagement, and slips into depravity with a social inferior. Before the last page is turned, you will have seen our heroine molested by carnival folk, snubbed at a dance, and drawn into a sinful ménage a trois by an unrepentant sodomite, the wicked and licentious Lord Mercury.
Reader, take heed. No aspect of our unfortunate heroine’s life, adventures, or conduct is at all admirable, desirable, exciting, thrilling, glamorous, or filled with heady passion and gay romance.

Desperately trying to play catch-up, as always! Here’s three tiny reviews of books I’ve read several months ago.

There Will Be Phlogston – Alexis Hall ★★★★★
I hated Byron Kae’s sister in previous books because she made her sibling’s life very unhappy, but it turns out she’s more complex than just “horrible bully.” She wants to escape her terrible parents! She feels stifled by society and its expectations! She wants to find love! And she finds it, alongside a super repressed gay guy and their boyfriend. Surprise! It’s a threesome! And way more complicated than that, of course, because Alexis Hall does nothing simple in his books. Anyway, I loved it.
vN – Madeline Ashby ★★★★★
A robot coming-of-age story with amazing characters and fantastic worldbuilding! Robot books tend to be about whether the robot counts as a person or not (if they have a soul, basically) and what it means if they do or do not. This book is about that, but it’s also about family and loyalty. And evolution! Genetics? What it means to carry the past around all the time? And lots of other great things.
The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal – KJ Charles ★★★½
Short story mystery collection about two ghost-hunters living in the Victorian era who do stupid things because they’re massively in love with each other. Tone bounces between extremes: sexy, happy, romantic, depressing, melancholic. It was quite a ride, especially since I read the whole thing in like two hours and my emotions were all over the place. Good mystery + romance + fantasy mix, as always! And bonus points for a Sherlock Holmes cameo/crossover/pastiche.