The Clockwork Scarab Abounds With Fake Chemistry

I picked up The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason - along with the next two books in the series - from the local library as soon as I was finished with final exams. It's rare that I pick up a book without having heard about it first on Goodreads or some other blog, but every now and then I do take a chance on things I know nothing about. While I don't have anything much against the plot, the fake chemistry slathered all over the pages of this book was quite a bother while I was reading it.

The book is about the niece of Sherlock Holmes, Mina, and the sister of Bram Stoker, Evaline, being propositioned by Irene Adler to solve a mystery, more or less, on behalf of royalty. Both are trying to prove to themselves that they can live up to their respective heritage, and also, they're not really fans of each other considering each one has what the other doesn't. And to be honest, I think I'd prefer that Mina and Evaline get together and completely forgo the terrible flirting and awkward encounters with the male characters.

I realize that I've become more perceptive about romance in novels lately, but the setups in this are truly quite awful. I'm fairly certain that every single twenty-something male character in this book is introduced with the adjective "handsome", and that gets annoying fast. Trust me, author: if you introduce a young male character to me, I'm just going to assume that he's handsome and begin shipping characters together without your use of the adjective. Also, I felt that the romantic scenarios the author created between Mina and Evaline and other male characters were really contrived, and as such, made me cringe and only dislike the romances that much more. Do we really need a guy with a Cockney accent pressing Evaline up against a wall as soon as they meet? Does Holmes have to blush any time a guy looks at her? I think not. Additionally, I'm just not fond of the idea that Mina and Holmes both need a male counterpart - Holmes with two, actually.

Surprisingly, despite this fake chemistry, by the end of this book, I had a vague interest in a male character called Inspector Grayling. He's the usual stoic dude who cannot express his feelings and ends up simply annoying Holmes, but even despite his cliché role and moments in the novel, I still kind of like him. The most annoying character is probably Dylan, who is from the future, but I'll be fine as long as Mina doesn't end up with him in the end of it all.

Normally, I would have no intention of continuing on with the series, but the mystery isn't terrible in this one. And even though I'm not aching to find out who the antagonist in this installment really is, and although I couldn't care less about the characters and their potential arcs, I might find myself trying out the second book sometime just to see what goes on with Mina and Inspector Grayling.