Boots for the Gentleman By Augusta Li and Eon de Beaumont

I love Dreamspinner Press.  I had the good fortune of finding their booth last year at BEA and this year I made sure to stop there again.  Everyone from Dreamspinner is as sweet as the day is long.  I received this beautiful book from them at BEA and was so excited to read it!  Boots for the Gentleman is a lovely steampunk romance.  Here's the amazing cover and the Goodreads blurb:

Hired by a mysterious faerie gentleman to steal seemingly worthless artifacts, Querrilous Knotte is seen as a traitor by the humans of Halcyon. But as long as he’s getting paid, Querry doesn’t mind. When his client makes a cryptic comment about a certain house, Querry contacts his old flame Reg—a former street rat who now works in the Royal Archives—to learn if the property contains anything of value. Though Reg has no answers for him, Querry learns there is indeed something precious in the house, something Reg is convinced will bring nothing but trouble. The armed guards that attack the thief prove Reg’s prediction true, and he can’t leave Querry to face it all alone. Not when Reg’s feelings for the man may not be as extinct as he'd thought. The trouble is, Querry's heart doesn't just belong to Reg anymore, and surprisingly, Reg’s heart no longer belongs only to Querry. In the end, it may not even matter, because if Querry, Reg, and their hearts’ desire can’t stop Lord Thimbleroy from draining Halcyon’s magic, they won’t live long enough to regret their unresolved romance.

This book was refreshing because it was so different from everything that I've been reading lately.  This book was so full of description that you really felt as if you were there.  It was lovely.  The characters are all interesting and diverse.  There's a fairy, a wizard, a thief, an orphan, a robot and some aristocrats.   The steampunk devices are nice because they are so different from other steampunk books.  The creativity is amazing.  I really liked the romance and the emotional connection between Reg and Querry.  It's so important to me that there be an emotional connection in a good romance.  It shouldn't be all physical.  The love between them is palpable.  Frolic was an intriguing character who has such a pure heart that you can't help but love him.  What a fun book!  I really enjoyed this one.

You can find out more about Augusta Li  and Eon de Beaumont and their works on their website.  You can click here to add Boots for the Gentleman to your Goodreads.  This book earns 4 Fairies for a lovely work of steampunk romance!