This is a great Christmas themed anthology with a thread of steampunk tying the stories together. Each are very different romances, but all very well written with intelligent, believable characters and clever plots.

CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET
Stacey Shoeman

A very clever and talented thief, Cornelia Peabody, steals a Fabergé egg. Six months later the original custodian, professor, and part-time inventor, Roderick Coddington, tracks her down. Managing to shekel a deadly wristwatch to her, Roderick gives Cornelia seven days to steal the egg back...or like his sister, the original owner of the egg, she won't get to see Christmas morning.

Lots of twists and the clever use of steam-punk technology made this a really delightful fast paced read. The relationship development between the pair seemed natural, while the interaction and dialogue flowed naturally.

The main let down was the rather "dickens" like guilt trip. Poor hardened thief, with battered childhood, forced into a life of crime, but really has a heart of gold and once good strong man has shown her the error of her ways she wants to repent. Always annoys me having strong independent woman suddenly realise that what they’ve been missing is an honest man to guide them.

But if you can overlook this mild annoyance, and Ms Shoeman doesn't go overboard with it, this is a great light romance with airships and things that go boom.

THIS WINTER HEART
PG Forte

Ophelia Leonide is forced to turn to her estranged husband after the death of her father has left her homeless and penniless. Two problems; Dario Leonide threw her out eight years ago  after he thought she’d betrayed him, demanding she never return if she wanted him to protect her secret...and now she has another secret, their seven year old son.

This is a wonderful exploration of the effects of technology and how it can affect love.

Although I didn't like the child, Arthur, he came across as a little too fake, all the other characters were believable and developing an emotional attachment was easy.

It's a warming story, with emotional highs and lows that tug the heart strings throw a cleverly written plot that brings the story to life.

WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL
Jenny Schwartz

An Australian suffragette and heiress, Esme Smith, needs the help of a male to represent her party in the mens-only clubs where all political moving and shaking is now happening.

Stepping fresh off the boat  from America, and straight into the beautiful Esme's schemes, is the very handsome and charming Jed Reeves. A man that charming has got to be a bounder, a cad and a scoundrel...just the perfect man to go into politics really.

This is mostly a witty and fun romance, with great characters who're immensely likably, and a fun plot full of adventure twists and mystery.

However, knowing that this is a Christmas themed anthology caused a bit of confusion initially, as everyone sat around blazing fires to warm up...in Western Australia, where Christmas temperatures in the 40c are not unheard of, was very off putting. Until we were enlighten to the Mid-Winter Christmas theme.

I liked this story, the characters were great, and I always enjoy stories with strong independent woman, particularly when they’re surrounded by strong independent men who are encouraging. Although I did find Esme's social conscience preaching a little annoying at times, it did fit with the character.

This is just a great warm fuzzy romance, not particularly steamy, but darn nice and a delight to read.

FAR FROM BROKEN
JK Col

This is the darkest of the four stories, yet manages to cram so much plot and excitement into its pages.

Callie Carlise, prima ballerina and wife to Colonel Jasper Carlise, is kidnapped, tortured and left for dead, to be found by her adoring husband. Jasper will do anything to save his wife, even allow her to become a test recipient of new technology, turning her into half woman, half machine.

This is an incredibly well written story showing the struggle Callie has in accepting her new limbs, and that her husband Jasper still loves her. But it's donbe without the gnashing of teeth and wailing that you'd find in many contemporary romances, the first thing Callie does to show Jasper that she's annoyed with him for allowing this is use her new mechanical fist to punch him in the chest.

As well as the clever dialogue and well paced story of two people trying to reconnect, we've got an adventure murder mystery to solve, which adds a great new layer to the story, it's not a huge twist, but it is well played.

All the stories fit well with each other, with enough in common to allow all them to appeal to many readers, but with enough differences to allow different readers to have firm favourites.

Many novellas don’t manage to allow the reader to connect to the characters, or suffer from a lack in depth in either world building or plot development. A Clockwork Christmas has four stories that do NOT suffer from these problems and can happily be held as examples of how a good novella is written.