Full Steam Ahead by Karen Witemeyer

From the publisher: When love simmers between a reclusive scientist and a wealthy debutante, will they abandon ship or is it full steam ahead? 

Nicole Renard returns home to Galveston, Texas, to find her father deathly ill. Though she loves him, Nicole's father has always focused on what she's not. Not male. Not married. Not able to run Renard Shipping.

Vowing to find a suitable husband to give her father the heir he desires before it's too late, Nicole sets out with the Renard family's greatest treasure as her dowry: the highly coveted Lafitte Dagger. But her father's rivals come after the dagger, forcing a change in Nicole's plans.

After a boiler explosion aboard the Louisiana nearly took his life, Darius Thornton has been a man obsessed. He will do anything to stop even one more steamship disaster. Even if it means letting a female secretary into his secluded world.

Nicole is determined not to let her odd employer scare her off with his explosive experiments, yet when respect and mutual attraction grow between them, a new fear arises. How can she acquire an heir for her father when her heart belongs to another? And when her father's rivals discover her hiding place, will she have to choose between that love and her family's legacy?
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When I first started reading the book I wasn't sure if I would get into the characters, I wasn't in a reading mood, but Karen Witemeyer quickly changed that!  Within the first two chapters I was into the story and timeline of the book.  I was invested in Nicole and Darius's stories.  

I really enjoyed learning more about the steamship disasters of the time and the boiler explosions.  The history that Karen Witemeyer included in her story drew me in and I really appreciated that she continued to share history about the boilers, even in the sweet epilogue.

Nicole was a fun and feisty character to read, and Darius was a fun eccentric character.  Both were very enjoyable to read.

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.