Review - A Clockwork Heart (The Chronicle of Light and Shadow, #2) by Liesel Schwarz

A Clockwork Heart finds our leading lady, Oracle, & Pilot Eleanor "Elle" Chance married to Hugh Marsh and even though they clearly love each other, not everything is copacetic for the crazy couple. He has given up being a Warlock and is now mortal which means he no longer answers to the Council of Warlocks who have been doing everything they can to gain control of Elle. Of course, he ends up taking a curious case and is lured into a situation where he ends up not having any control over what happens to him leaving Elle to fend for herself.

Elle still has the voices of the former Oracles telling her what to do and also warning her from time to time. She refuses to give up her freedom of being a pilot of her own fleet of dirigibles which makes for some interesting conversations in the duties of a wife to her husband. She is also still connected to the realms of Light and Shadow and for now, that connection allows the realms to remain in harmony but things are definitely going to change.

A Clockwork Heart is not a happy story nor is it filled with romance. It is dark, mysterious, and filled with lots of very serious villains like Patrice Chevalier, Clothlide (Lady In White), the Consortium, and the Council of Wizards who all want a piece of Elle for themselves.
Thankfully for Elle, she does have her allies like Nightwalker Loisa Beladodia, her father, and a myriad of others.

I was a bit annoyed at times with Elle. She had the answers to her dilemma right under her nose and she totally blew them off and then banished them without thinking about the consequences which just shows you that she has a lot of growing up to do as not only an Oracle, but as an adult as well. She makes some terrible decisions including trusting an old Fey which can only lead to very bad things happening in the future.

The ending will totally leave you breathless and reeling and not in a nice way. I sincerely hope that Sky Pirates pulls out a Houdini and wraps up each and every storyline in a way that doesn't feel rushed. I do like the steampunk aspects of this story. I do like the darker characteristics as well. I don't mind that there wasn't that much romance, but, I do want Elle to get her HEA. I would like to know, however, is this a trilogy, or will there be more books?

Author - Liesel Schwarz
Title - A Clockwork Heart
Publisher - Del Rey
Released - August 13, 2013
Genre - Historical, Steampunk
EBook 320 Pages