Charlotte, Duchess of Wyre has hidden on the Americus colony for seven years. But is she still safe from the wrath of the Queen. Events unfold but will the combination of scientist, a sheriff, and an assassin be enough.
An enjoyable story ( )

At its heart, Lady Doctor Wyre is a steampunk story. However, this is a steampunk set not in an alternate past, but an alternate future. (Sort-of.) It takes the history of our world, and transfers it to a matriarchal universe where countries are planets and all of history's famous men have become famous women. It's quite amusing to read about Madame President instead of Mister President, and how ships — space ships, naturally — are called "he". Joely's all about the details.

Even though I would class Lady Doctor Wyre as a steampunk, it's not your traditional steampunk. Many of the traditional elements are present, while many others are morphed into something more futuristic. This world mixes silk stockings with space ships, corsets with nanobots. The strict Society rules found in many steampunk novels are in effect, but they are entirely presided over by women, both in the political and social realms.

Lady Doctor Wyre is also a romance. Not in the "every other scene is sex" style, but in the sense that it is a character-driven, emotion-driven story with themes of love and loss. Now, if you are at all familiar with Joely's writing style, you will not be surprised to hear that there is sex in the story. Pretty darn near the beginning of it, in fact. But you will also not be surprised to hear that it is all quite believable and enjoyably written. I didn't spend a moment rolling my eyes in disbelief about any part of the story — sex scene or otherwise. As with every story she has crafted that I have read, Joely blends fantasy with reality in a completely believable and utterly enjoyable fashion.

(I received Lady Doctor Wyre as an e-book review copy from the author.) ( )

Joely Sue Burkhart has created an interesting steampunk world in outer space - very creative and fun, with Londinium and Americus as the major planets in the story. Lady Doctor Wyre is in hiding, because she holds too many secrets. Some would kill her for them, others want to force her to share them to gain power.

If that wasn't enough to keep the plot moving, she has two men in her life, one who wants her to marry him and another who needs her and haunts her in a way that she cannot dismiss. Lots of action and intrigue keep all three characters in the spotlight.

Lady Wyre is a very resourceful woman, and though both her men work to keep her safe, she's not afraid to take care of herself when she needs to. Neither man knows which of them she'll choose and they try hard to hate each other, but circumstances keep bringing them together as a team.

Fun world, great characters and lots of action with a touch of light bdsm and a heroine not afraid to be dominant. Give it a try, I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. ( )