Charlotte, Duchess of Wyre, once held the Queen’s highest confidence—and the technological secret that keeps the royal heart beating. Fearful of what atrocities that Britannia might commit with her research, Charlotte turned to the galaxy’s most infamous assassin, Lord Sigmund Regret, to stage her own death.

Even without the simplest of luxuries, seven years hiding in the Americus colony is preferable to one day in the Tower of Londinium. Until a bounty hunter’s bullet forces her to revive her research. Now the same nanobots that keep the Queen alive also run rampant in Lord Regret’s body. Making his yearly Solstice visits increasingly… intimate …and complicating her courtship with the safe and honorable Sheriff Gilead Masters.

When the Americus colony declares independence, and her humble sheriff makes a shocking confession, Charlotte has had enough. Weary of running, tired of living without tea and silks, she fires a warning shot across Britannia’s bow: cease hunting Lady Wyre, or lose the technological power the crown holds so dear.

Title: LADY DOCTOR WYRE
Author: Joely Sue Burkhart
Series: Jane Austen Space Opera, book 1
Genre: Science Fiction Romance, Futuristic Romance, Steampunk
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Year of release: 2011, March 29
Format: eBook
Source: Requested and received an e-ARC from the author for review

First line:
“I cannot marry you.” Charlotte Wilder struggled to take a deep breath through the heartache banding her chest, made even more difficult by her corset.

Memorable Scene:
- fight scene with the Raven Guards and its aftermath > can’t tell much about it because of spoilers but it the fight was breathtaking and the aftermath was tearjerking
- scene at the end with Charlotte and her two men > you all know my soft spot for ménages by now
-Not a scene but I found it awesome that the Marshalls’ names were Smith, Wesson, Colt, Gatlin and the their director’s name was Howitzer > these artillery piece association was a touch of brilliance, Joely Sue!


Charlotte Wilder faked her own death to escape her planet. She’s the former physician to the Queen of Brittannia and lost her position in society because she turned to science and military intelligence. Now both she and the man who helped her escape are in danger of being found out. Charlotte, lady Wyre, is proud, determined and extremely intelligent.

Charlotte is the character this novella revolves around. Her two men are Gilead Masters and Lord Sigmund Regret. Gil is sheriff and marshal on the planet she takes her refuge, Americus. He’s a soldier turned lawman and deeply in love with Charlotte. Sig is the man who helped her fake her death and flee from her home planet, Brittania. He’s a gunslinger and assassin, ruthless yet with a weakness for Charlotte.

One man wants to marry her, the other wants her to sail with him and hide from their/her enemies. They will both go to the ends of the universe for her and she doesn’t want to choose between them.

While reading this book I knew this was going to be a review that was going to be one of hardest reviews to write. Why? Because I love this author’s voice and works in other genres but this book just didn’t quite work for me. This was partly because of the genre. Steampunk is a new-to-me genre and going by this novella I don’t think it’s a genre that I will read many books in.

The reason I still enjoyed this book was because of Joely Sue Burkhart’s writing and style. Even in a genre where the technical, mechanical stuff (nanobots, assemblers, living organism handcuffs, life force protecting lockets, etc.) sometimes went a little over my head I still enjoyed the characterization, the plot and romantic aspects of the book. So I tried to read through the tech-y parts, even if I was sometimes puzzled by the futuristic stuff, and enjoy the, fascinating plot, the complicated romance and the characters that are intricately layered and brought together in a great way. Little by little you get to know them and their back-stories and I loved that.

With this series Joely Sue Burkhart has created an alternate world where future and history are meshed and a world where women are the leaders. This made LADY DOCTOR WYRE an interesting read which I enjoyed but I discovered the steampunk genre is not for me as I felt myself zoning out on the technology bits...Fascinating and though different from anything else I've read by Joely Sue Burkhart, I still enjoyed most part of the book.

If you are a lover of steampunk romances I really recommend this book and I do hope there will be more stories set in this world with these characters.

Favorite Quotes:
She’d reluctantly fallen in love with him and those hands, so incredibly gentle in their ruthlessly slow attack against her every resistance without ever once touching her intimately. (Charlotte about Gil)

Masters turned his head and pinned Sig in a hard glare. “Are you telling me you’d kill five hundred men? At once?”
“If I had to get through them to her, most definitely. I’d rip them apart one by one with my bare hands.”