The Mysterious Madam Morpho Review

TITLE The Mysterious Madam Morpho (Blud #1.5)
AUTHOR Delilah S. Dawson
PUBLICATION October 2nd 2012 by Pocket Books
READ October 3-5, 2012
SOURCE Simon & Schuster for review

Taking place after Wicked as They Come, this original eBook features a mysterious lady and a reclusive mechanical genius who find love and danger in a traveling circus. An elusive woman arrives at Criminy’s doorstep with a steamer trunk, begging for a position in the caravan to perform her unique new act. She opens her trunk to reveal a menagerie of brilliantly colored butterflies. The woman, who calls herself Madam Morpho, is on the run from a dark past in London, where she was forced to leave her equipment behind and abscond with only her tiny performers. Playing a hunch, Criminy hires Madam Morpho on the spot. Taking her down to meet Mr. Murdoch, the reclusive talented engineer who keeps the carnival’s clockworks running, Criminy instructs them to work together to design and build a groundbreaking new circus for the butterflies. Amid the magical ambiance of the circus and the hint of danger from Madam Morpho’s pursuers, she and Mr. Murdoch soon find that their scientific collaboration has produced chemistry of a more romantic kind.

Having been a big fan of Dawson's Wicked as They Come, I was quick to jump at the opportunity to read this short companion novel. The cover is stunning, and I couldn't wait to travel back to the vivid world of Sang. I once again got wrapped up in the characters but did find myself longing for some more action rather than pages of descriptions.

That being said, beautiful descriptions and stunning imagery is one area where this novel flourishes, the rich descriptions get you lost in this unbelievable world, though there is such a thing as too much. At times I found myself bored of the lulls in the story, and for the amount of pages that shouldn't have really been an issue. It was once again interesting to see the setting from the eyes of an outsider as she met the stars of the show. You know right from the get-go that Imogen Morpho is trying to get away from someone or something and the build-up to the big reveal was great. We get to see more of the inner workings of the contraptions & the man behind the magic that runs this fantastic carnival and that was a welcome addition.

I enjoyed this new tale and my pining for Wicked as She Wants has reached an all time high. Chalk full of stunning imagery and a very hot scene to get your motor running, The Mysterious Madam Morpho packs a lot of punch in its mere 100 pages.

See what I thought of Wicked As They Come