
Title: Peppermint and Pentacles
Author: Melanie Karsak
Series: Red Cape Society #3
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Fairy tales, Retellings, Steampunk, Werewolves
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2018

I read the first chapter of this story, and then kind of put it aside – reading on Kindle Unlimited is a little bit more clunky for me. However, once I got the chance, I read this story from cover to cover. However, even in the interim, I really wanted to dive back into this story. I mean, a Christmas, steampunk red riding hood was always going to pull me in. It also builds beautifully on the stirrings of feelings in Clemeny in Alphas and Airships. I loved seeing how her feelings evolve and she begins to get used to the new status quo within the Red Cape Society.
One of my all-time favourite things about Peppermint and Pentacles is the fact that the Christmas spin on the adventures of Clemeny is Krampus. I have been absolutely fascinated by the idea and practices of Krampus since my Austrian penpal introduced me to how her village celebrates this. And this was my first ever story that features this. I honestly couldn’t get enough of the darker twist on a Christmas story. Just the kind of tale that I tend to like.
Clemeny and Edwin (Agent Hunter) spend the entirety of this story moving closer to one another. There are still frequent mentions of Sir Richard throughout, and I feel like this is going to be a bit of a future love triangle. I wonder if they are going to work out in the next books in this series. I also loved getting to spend more time with Grand-mere. It was nice to have the characters that surround Clemeny fleshed out a bit. Characters that support her brilliantly, but also make me want to dive right into these books again and again.
There is so much about this series that I’m absolutely loving. And having a Christmas-story featuring Krampus into the mix just makes it all that much better. I can’t wait to read more and more and more of Karsak’s writing. Plus, with every book, there is more world building of the darker, more mystical side of these steampunk retellings.

2 thoughts on “Peppermint and Pentacles by Melanie Karsak”