3 STARS | The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross

Title: The Strange Case of Finley Jayne
Series: The Steampunk Chronicles #0.5
Author: Kady Cross
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Steampunk, Fantasy, Historical, Paranormal, Mystery
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: Kindle Edition
ASIN: B004WEKR1W
Published: May 1st, 2011
Source: Amazon
Events: Get Steampunk'd 2013 Reading Challenge
Rating: 3/5 STARS
Purchase: Amazon

Finley Jayne knows she's not 'normal.' Normal girls don't lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behavior has already cost her one job, so when she's offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience. Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined....

Finley Jayne has just been fired for punching the governess, who slapped the young son of the house and made him cry. She returns home feeling down until she is approached by Lady Morton with a job offer--be a companion for her daughter, Phoebe. Finley was suspicious and reluctant at first, but accepted the offer. She becomes friends with Phoebe and everything seems normal until the night of Phoebe's engagement party. There, Finley meets Lord Vincent, Phoebe's much older fiance. She felt suspicious about him before, but when she learns that she was hired to protect Phoebe from him, she realizes how serious things have become. Finley just needs to learn what he's up to before it's too late for Phoebe.

When reading The Girl in the Steel Corset, we know that Finley was working for Lady August-Raynes. This job with Lady Morton leads Finley to working there. She even warns Finley about Lord Felix. Which makes sense since this is the prequel to The Steampunk Chronicles.

One thing I really liked about The Strange Case of Finley Jayne was the Phoebe and Lady Morton were really accepting of Finley and her strange abilities. I bet it felt real good to be accepted like that. Lord Vincent's little scheme and reasoning for marrying Phoebe were totally creepy--in an obsessive, drowning in grief and guilt way.

It was kind of funny how Griffin, or Lord Greythorne as he's known in this novella, is like this elusive person. Every time he's around, Finley completely misses him, except the time she saw his backside as he was walking out of the chocolate shop. "I don't have a chance with him, either. All I'll have is the memory of his backside." It's almost ironic considering what happens in The Girl in the Steel Corset.

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Kady Cross is a pseudonym for USA Today bestselling author Kathryn Smith. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and a pride of cats. She likes singing with Rock Band on the 360, British guys, Vietnamese food, and makeup (she’s hopelessly addicted to YouTube makeup tutorials!). When she’s not writing Kady likes to catch up on her favorite TV shows, read a good book or make her own cosmetics.


Disclaimer: This review was originally posted in 2013 to my book blogs, Zodiac Book Reviews and A Bibliophiles Thoughts on Books.