Third Daughter (The Dharian Affairs #1) East-Indian Steampunk Fantasy Romance by Susan Kaye Quinn-release day
Third Daughter
The Dharian Affairs #1
by Susan Kaye Quinn
Genre: steampunk,fantasy, romance, adult
Release Date: December 13, 2013
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 13, 2013
The Third Daughter of the Queen wants her birthday to arrive so she’ll be free to marry for love, but rumors of a new flying weapon may force her to accept a barbarian prince’s proposal for a peace-brokering marriage. Desperate to marry the charming courtesan she loves, Aniri agrees to the prince’s proposal as a subterfuge in order to spy on him, find the weapon, and hopefully avoid both war and an arranged marriage to a man she does not love.
Third Daughter is the first book in The Dharian Affairs Trilogy (Third Daughter, Second Daughter, First Daughter). This steampunk-goes-to-Bollywood (Bollypunk!) romance takes place in an east-indian-flavored alternate world filled with skyships, saber duels, and lots of royal intrigue. And, of course, kissing.
From Chapter One, Third Daughter (The Dharian Affairs #1) – steampunk fantasy romance
The cloudless night whispered sweet promises to Aniri.
Below her stone rooftop, the shadows of the forested grounds danced in the summer’s breeze, their small rustlings calling to her like a lover. The sound was the perfect cover for escape into the darkness and the warm arms she hoped to find there. No one should notice her absence. Of all the guards, handmaidens, and many silent keepers of the royal household, none would venture up to her private observatory this late in the eve. But she still had to be careful. Even this close to her birthday, the Queen would not be forgiving if she was caught.
Aniri scanned the palace grounds to make sure it was clear of any witnesses. The manicured lawns were empty: the only sign of life came from the distant embassy windows where gas lamps flickered and soft music trilled from late-reveling partygoers. Aniri pressed the leather eyecup of her aetherscope to her face, slowly turning the brass knobs to bring the party into focus. The instrument was meant for watching the rise of the twin full moons, but it worked well enough for spying on the Samirian ambassador and her assemblage of guests.
Their shiny new automaton was thick-legged and awkward, but the Samirian tinker’s design was still clever: the steam-driven mechanical wonder actually danced, albeit just one clumsy pirouette after another. When it came to a graceless stop, the guests snapped their fingers in appreciation. The faint sound of their applause drifted over the lawn, but the party continued on. With the grounds still empty, Aniri swung her aetherscope to the forest. The broken edges of the river snaked through the darkened trees, slipped under a stone bridge, and then flowed past the red sandstone walls of the Queen’s estate. A black shape darted out from under the bridge, then disappeared into the shadows between the trees.
Time to go.
Susan Kaye Quinn grew up in California, where she wrote snippets of stories and passed them to her friends during class. Her teachers pretended not to notice and only confiscated her stories a couple times.
Susan left writing behind to pursue a bunch of engineering degrees, but she was drawn back to writing by an irresistible urge to share her stories with her niece, her kids, and all the wonderful friends she’s met along the way.
She doesn’t have to sneak her notes anymore, which is too bad.
Susan writes from the Chicago suburbs with her three boys, two cats, and one husband. Which, it turns out, is exactly as a much as she can handle.
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Blitz-wide giveaway
Prizes (pictures on Rafflecopter):
–20x “Third Daughter” mini M&M packs (US only)
–A steampunk key necklace (INTL)
–“Third Daughter” East-Indian style bridal jewelry (INT)
NOTE: The Reading Cafe is NOT responsible for the rafflecopter giveaway. If you have any questions, please contact the tour promoter.
Haven’t read too many steam punks stories or series. Congrats Susan in the new release.
Interesting premise. I have only read one other steampunk novel
Sounds like an interesting series. Though I have not read, nor do I really understand Steampunk.
Sounds like a amazing series .
Congrats on your new read.
Congrats Susan.
Congratulations to Susan Kaye Quinn on the new release.
Congrats on the release, sounds interesting!
Looks like an interesting new series. Thanks.
Thanks for the info. I haven’t had a chance to read any steampunk and if I have I didn’t recognize it as such!
Thank you, everyone, on the well wishes! And thanks to The Reading Cafe for hosting (and your tweets!).
For those unfamiliar with steampunk, it’s as much an aesthetic and a movement as a literary genre, but it’s rooted in a romantic view of the 19th Century Victorian Era. To visualize it, think of the Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr. Steampunkers love the costumes and the gadgets (cosplay – costume play – is HUGE in the Steampunk community). As for literature, the genre is wide open, with everything from strict Victorian-Era settings (almost historical in accuracy) to fantastical stories that involve post-apocalyptic Victorian settings. For my story, I’ve taken the Victorian sensibility, given it an east-Indian twist, and placed it on a fantasy world filled with royal intrigue and skyships.
It was entirely too much fun to write. 🙂