Like Simple Clockwork - the new and improved blurb!

Passion and power go hand in hand with pain.

Ellie Thompson’s past has taught her to keep everyone at arm’s length. She knows she’s not normal, not with eyes that glow silver and the ability to cast spells more powerful than England has ever seen. People feel safe and comfortable with normal, and Ellie doesn’t fit their mold. She lives as an outcast on the edges of London society, working for the one man who will accept her – Jack Cross, King of Thieves.

All is not peaceful in London. The automata[1] that have kept the city running for decades have grown and developed minds of their own; they are revolting against their human masters. Before his death, Ellie’s father taught his daughter a spell that could enslave them. Only she can cast it.

But Ellie can’t draw attention to herself. Someone called the Meistr[2] is after Ellie and that spell and will do anything to get them both. Anyone – from one of the servant girls to the mysterious newcomer who has a way with the dead – could be a spy for the Meistr. Ellie feels as though she cannot trust anyone.

Bran Smith fled to England to escape and to forget. He, like Ellie, has secrets that he would prefer be kept hidden. A chance meeting on the street lands him a job working for one of the most powerful men in London. Bran has a chance to reinvent himself, and he takes it.

Ellie dislikes Bran from the moment she meets him. He knows too much about her – he knows parts of her past that she would rather stay buried. She has to hide.  And in order to disappear, you can’t be seen or known.

It’s not easy hiding when the Meistr wants you. But Ellie has to. Her life and the future of England depend on it. And Bran is the only one who can help her – if Ellie can put aside her judgments and trust him first, no matter who or what he is.

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[1] Automaton: a mechanical figure that acts on its own power, a robot. Plural: automata

[2] Meistr: Welsh for ‘Master’