I have never heard this term before. But as a fan of fantasy and romance I'm interrested to hear what you find out. 

here's a link: http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/steampunk

Thanks Sarah F.

I just found a link to this place too which I've bookmarked because I think there may be a lot of my horizons expanding beyond Regencies :)

http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/2009/03/steampunk-romance-watch.html

On the link Sarah put they don't look like fantasy romance to me.  When I think of fantasy romance I think of CL Wilson or Diedre Knight's Parallel series.

I'm guessing from all I've been reading it's considered speculative fiction/alternate earth fiction so I guess it's a sub-genre of sci fi.

It's Sci Fi or fantasy in a historical setting, usually Victorian.  Steam engines.  Sort of retro Jules Verne.  It is also very popular in Japanese manga.  There are some that include romance.   But mainly not.

Lol.  I know what Steampunk art & jewelry are, but I had no idea the term was used for any fiction or romance sub-genre:P  Wikipedia says:  "Steampunk is a sub-genre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles, analog computers, or digital mechanical computers (such as Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine); these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality."  Learn something new every day, I guess:P

Katie MacAlister is going to have a steampunk novel coming out later called Steamed.

Have you read Howl's Moving Castle-it is fantasy but has a nice romance.  They made an animated movie of it which I think has the Steampunk look that is why I mentioned it.  The movie and book are slightly different but both are entertaining.

A really good book that I just finished (YA fantasy with romance) is called the Hollow Kingdom-Clare Dunkle.  About a pair of orphan sisters and their dealings with a Goblin king-really enjoyable.

Sounds like steampunk wouldn't appeal to me. 

I also don't like that word.  Steampunk...  I won't go into what it makes me think of. 

Crystal I thought the same thing-terrible name for a genre.

It came out of the cyberpunk SciFi era.  Well, the name came out of there.  With books like The Difference Engine beginning the trend.  Which makes the name make much more sense.

babsscifi - Which funny contemporary did you like?

I really liked the two books I've read by Sarah A Hoyt.  Have you tried Sharon Shinn?  Or Caroline Stevermer?  Or Lois McMaster Bujold?

The funny contemporary I liked was one of the Nerd books by Vicki Lewis Thompson.

I've only read the first of the Shakespeare books by Sarah A. Hoyt and absolutely loved it. I have her Heart of Light book which is on my next to be read pile :) I've read quite a bit of Bujold although she's not my favorite. But I'm going to definitely look up the other two authors--those names aren't familiar to me.

The Sharing Knife was the Bujold series I was thinking of.  Pulling up ideas that are fantasy with a historic feel and some romance.  Sort of steampunk without the punk.  All the ones I mentioned lean more towards fantasy than romance.

Now if you want more towards the romance and less towards the fantasy,  I'd mention Sandra Schwab, Kathrynne Kennedy, and Melissa Mayhue.

I love Lois McMaster Bujold. I recently got The Sharing Knife hardcovers for $2 bucks each brand new. I am also working on collecting the Vorkosigan series - those are sci-fi.

I've got some Sarah A. Hoyt in the TBR, maybe I'll move her up.

I've read and enjoyed both Sandra Schwab and Kathrynne Kennedy.