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Heartless Gail Carriger

No one's entirely sure what Alexia's about to give birth to, but the supernatural set fear it. The only solution to stop the vampires from killing it (and as it hasn't been born yet, Alexia) is for Lord Akeldama to adopt it. Meanwhile, a threat has been made against the Queen. Alexia's investigating (despite her enormous size) but the clues keep pointing to a dark time in pack history and the werewolves aren't happy about where she's headed. Meanwhile, something odd is going on with Madame Lefoux and something even odder is happening with Alexia's sister-- she's wearing knitwear.

This one started a bit slowly for me. I had a hard time getting into it, but about halfway though something turned for me and it ended up being my favorite in the series (so far). I really enjoy the backstory of Woolsey pack history and things that have only been hinted at are finally explained. There wasn't a lot of Ivy in this one, but when she was around, she had more than a few surprises up her sleeve, not just for the reader but for Alexia as well. I continue to enjoy her more and more. This one's a bit different in that we also occasionally get first person narration by a ghost. Lots of little things come together in this one to solve the mystery, and lots of twists and turns kept me on my toes. Like I said, it started a bit rough-- I was actually rather disappointed and bored (!) with it, but it drew me in and held me-- I never saw where it was going. Like I said, it's my favorite so far.

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Blameless (The Parasol Protectorate) Gail Carigger

This is the third installment of the Parasol Protectorate series. The second one ended on rather a large cliffhanger. Seriously, do NOT read this review if you intend to read the series but haven't yet. If you haven't read book 3 yet, proceed, if you haven't read book 2 yet, ABORT!

So, Alexia has found herself in a family way and Lord Maccon says there is no way it can be his, due to his supernatural status (ah, werewolves).  The Queen won't deal with such immorality and has dismissed Alexia from the shadow council. Her family is suitably scandalized. Lord Akeldama has very quickly left town (without even saying goodbye!) and it's clear that the rest of vampire society is trying to kill Alexia.

There's only one thing to do-- go to Italy and get to the bottom of all of this. So Alexia is off to the heart of Italy, where they despise all things supernatural (and, it turns out, preteranatural as well) but, they do manage to introduce Alexia to the glories of pesto. (Of course, it turns out that pesto is a vampire AND werewolf deterant, because vampires don't like garlic and werewolves are allergic to basil. WHO KNEW?!)

Lord Maccon is dealing with all of this by drinking himself silly leaving poor Lyall to try to keep the pack together, keep BUR together, find/rescue Alexia, and figure out WHAT exactly is going on with the vampires.

I do love this series. I love the world and the characters and the wittiness. Alexia is great with the dead-pan one-liners. It strikes the right balance between serious and zany (I mean, really-- ticking ladybugs?) As this one involved travel outside of England, we got to see how different countries react to supernaturals and different cultural attitudes on vampires, werewolves, and the Order of the Octopus.

Overall, and excellent addition to the series.

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Publisher: Orbit (March 30, 2010)
Mass Market Paperback: 374 Pages
Genre: YA Paranormal/Fantasy
Series: The Parasol Protectorate #2

From Goodreads. Alexia Tarabotti, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears - leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can.

She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

From Goodreads. Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season.

Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.

While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires -- and they're armed with pesto.

Review by Kate
The next two installments in The Parasol Protectorate series were just as magnificent as the first. Lady Maccon still finds herself in dangerous situations that revolve around her Soulless status. With the introduction of new characters and digging deeper into the ones you already know and love, fans of the series will not be disappointed!

Changeless was an adventure that captivated me from the beginning. Starting with the sudden and unexplained disappearance of her new husband, Alexia is once again thrown into a mystery of supernatural proportions. Alexia and her dearest friend Ivy are introduced to a one Madame Lefoux who is an inventor and a sharp dresser with a taste for men's wear. They travel up to Scotland, following Lord Macoon, on a dirigible where it is quite obvious that Alexia's life is in danger. In Scotland, Lord Maccon's previous pack is without an Alpha and has lost th

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Publisher: Recorded Books (June 22, 2010)
Format: Audiobook
Narrated by Emily Gray
Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
Genre: Adult Fantasy/Supernatural
Series: The Parasol Protectorate #1

From Goodreads. Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

Review by Kate
SOULLESS, by Gail Carriger, is fantastic, hilarious, romantic, and all together phenomenal book. I absolutely adored it and if you have not checked it out yet, please do!

Carriger throws you right into the middle of action when the book begins. We learn Alexia is a preternatural (a person without a soul, hence Soulless) who 'turns off' supernatural abilities when she touches a supernatural creature (vampire, werewolf, ghost, etc.). She accidentally kills a vampire and she is thrust into an investigation of missing supernaturals. The world that Carriger created was fantastic. I love the time period she chose and the inclusion of the supernatural within the society.

The characters in this book were equally fantastic. Alexia reminded me of Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice) with her intelligence, her ability to stand up for what she believes in, her wonderful sarcasm, but definitely open to having love in her life. Carriger wrote Alexia so well, I was literally laughing out loud with her thought process about her family, Lord Maccon, and general society issues. Speaking of Lord Maccon (swoon), I knew from the get-go these two would be a match made in heaven. But both are stubborn in their ways (Lord Maccon being a werewolf) and they succeeded at misinterpreting each others feelings over and over, keeping other characters and myself in suspense at the outcome of the relationship.

I loved the development of the mystery surrounding the missing supernaturals. There were moments that I gasped aloud when I figured out what was going on. Carriger truly has a talent for creating a good mystery. Overall, this was an awesome book full of hilarity, romance, and a darn good mystery, this is not one to be missed!

A note on the audiobook. Emily Gray was a pleasure to listen to. She made Alexia come to life and I felt at times she was the character. Also, her narrations of other characters, Lord Maccon in particular, were precise and fit the characters well. Gray has a new fan!

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