In an alternate Civil War America where magic not only exists, but is changing the world. Warlocks train as elite enforcers for the government, and there are all manner of glorious new inventions helped along by magic. Miss Emily Edwards is a witch living in rural Sierra Nevada, trying to compete against the shiny promises of mail order patent magics. Her adopted father, who taught her everything she knows, is now blind, and they’re facing starvation and possibly worse unless Emily comes up with something clever soon. In her desperation, she casts a love spell on the most prosperous settler in town, but it backfires badly, and when she finds herself with a magical stone embedded in her hand, she’s forced to leave town quickly before she’s driven out.
Reluctantly accepting the aid of the pompous and and condescending college-trained New York warlock Dreadnought Stanton (who was sent to Emily’s little town for unknown reasons), Emily finds herself pursued by several different factions of warlocks, all wanting the magical artifact she carries. They travel from San Francisco across the country, with their straits becoming more and more dire and their enemies more ruthless the closer they get to New York.
Full review on my blog.
Cannonball Read V 
While not an official member I keep my eyes out for good VFH books and this one sounds interesting. I’ve tried a few Steampunk books mostly to see what all the fuss was about. After reading 3, I still don’t know what all the fuss is about. My biggest complaint is that the Steampunk elements seem like window-dressing – you could remove it all and the book still holds up (or doesn’t as sadly has been the case). This one sounds like it’s worthy of a read because the author is actively incorporating her “alt-universe” elements into the story. Great review 🙂
Thanks. I was a bit dubious about the book at first, it’s a bit of a slow starter. But it didn’t take long before I got used to the writing style and started wanting to see how two such incredibly different characters would end up together. I’m absolutely going to be checking out more of the series. Of course, my TBR list is nearing 400 books, so it may not be right away.