MECHANICAL ROSE - Nathalie Gray

Ellora's Cave – www.ellorascave.com

ISBN: 978-1-41991-626-7

May 2008

Erotic Futuristic Romance

New Gaulis; Gunn Seaside Manor; Aconia; Mechanical Rose Headquarters, Terra – Future

The population of Terra is now controlled, but the environment has yet to recover and days are gray.  The Mechanical Rose Society is a covert operation determined to prevent a return to war, which would probably mean the end of civilization.

Eleanor Cleverly is an assassin – an humane one – but efficient.  She completes her work with little fuss and much ingenuity.  Mr. Clarence, the head of Mechanical Rose, has a new job for her. 

Because he continually embarrasses his socially prominent family, Leeford Gunn, and eccentric inventor, has withdrawn to a seaside estate so he can create and tinker to his heart’s delight.  However, he only uses what he invents for good and sometimes does not see that his creations can be altered and used against mankind.

 Aloysius Spark is backing Leeford’s current project, but Leeford does not know this.  Eleanor once had a brief fling with Spark and knows that he is vicious and doesn’t have a peace-loving bone in his body. Under the guise of a distant cousin, Violet Gunn, Eleanor comes to visit Leeford and his cousin, Lily, whom Leeford calls Lady Frivolous. Max is Leeford’s friend and is the only other resident.  Her assignment is to protect both Leeford and his new invention.

Neither Eleanor nor Leeford expected to fall each other.  Leeford feels that he has nothing to offer Eleanor, and she has many secrets that she doesn’t know how to tell him.  When push comes to shove, Eleanor has her loyalties tested and has to quickly decide which way to turn.  Leeford also has hard decisions to make.

MECHANICAL ROSE is very tightly constructed, but has a whimsical feeling about it despite the danger and mayhem that creeps in.  Nathalie Gray does not tell stories in prosaic fashion but gets under her subject matter and makes the reader feel all the emotions and see society’s scars from the inside out.  Yes, there is a message.  But, it is not hammered into the reader and all the characters…even the villain, Spark…are three dimensional and seem very real.  I very much recommend this futuristic romantic thriller.

Maggie Anderson