Heartless by Gail Carriger

Heartless
(Parasol Protectorate Book #4)
by Gail Carriger

Genre: Paranormal Romance | Fantasy | Historic

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

Through all of Lord Maccon's brooding manner, Professor Lyall's shocking revelations, Lord Akeldama's sweet talk, Felicity Loontwill's sisterly nagging, Madame Lefoux's odd experiments, and Mr. Rabiffano's (aka "Biffy") unsettling transformations, Alexia is about to pop due to the 'infant-inconvenience'. Plus, if she's is not using her "condition" to her advantage among her's husband's pack or having tea & sweets with her friend, Mrs. Ivy Tunstell, Alexia is out collecting spectral samples, investigating Kingair assassination attempts, and jaunting about on BUR business with her trusty "harmonic auditor resonance disruptor" (pg. 74) Yet, can this 'Alpha Female' handle a supernatural death treat thrown into the mix with all the daily chaos already going on in her life full of Westminster Hive and Woolsey Pack troubles?

Lady Alexia Maccon is at it again. . . being her usual nutty, obsessive, and constantly-on-the-go self but now eight months pregnant. She's back in London and spending lots of time with her yummy Alpha husband, something I sorely missed in the last couple of books. Expect lots of silly scientific references and proper Victorian-era mannerisms that really spice up Carriger's Protectorate's world as well as getting a glimpse of the newest member to the Woosley pack near the end of the book. Plus, many past characters make appearances throughout the tale and many past stories are revealed from more than one pivotal figure. Overall, good fun!

Likes: Alexia has really grown into her role as 'Alpha Female' in commanding the pack as well as being a loving wife to Connall, something that's sweet to see since witnessing her less-than-confident spinster self from Book #1

Dislikes: Ugh....Lord Akeldama PLEASE lay off some of those nick-name endearments, it's almost too sickeningly sweet!

Rating:

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*REREAD* Soulless by Gail Carriger

Soulless
(The Parasol Protectorate Book #1)
by Gail Carriger

Genre: Paranormal Romance | Fantasy | Historical

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 is being rudely attacked by a vampire to whom she has not been properly introduced! Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire, and 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? Who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

Alexia has always enjoyed the intellectual type most and even though she's considered a spinster by society, she's also a continued invite to most of the dinner parties in London due to her smart conversation. Yet, behind her interest in all things scientific, Alexia is keeping a secret that only a limited few know - she's a preternatural; known as being soulless in the supernatural society that is now accepted throughout Victorian England. Alexia's London has recently welcomed into society Vampire and Werewolves even though much of the world continues to shun them, but Alexia's kind if even rarer and feared by her new neighbors. Who comes to her aid isn't someone Alexia agrees with very much, Lord Maccon (a local powerful werewolf), and soon she finds herself fighting against something that can make many of her new enemies and friends cringe with fear and easily disappear.

This was a re-read for me, but with a twist because I got the new audio-book while on a recent road trip. I find I enjoy Book #1 best out of all three so far, since I enjoyed first learning about Alexia's supernatural society and meeting all the enticing characters. I loved Lord Maccon's rough & tough exterior and his courting manners were adorable, even though Alexia was clueless during much of it. Some of the characters who annoy me later on in the series were much more enduring in Book #1 for me as well and the audio-book version was done quite well with no overly annoying accents. Even Lord Maccon's Scottish burr was evident and fun.

Likes: Unlike many Victorian era ladies, Alexia stands out - in a good way. She sticks to the rules, but happily bends them as well to suit her needs. She's a sucker for fashion and is dearly loyal to her friends, which are two things I highly enjoy about her character.

Dislikes: I enjoyed how Alexia's spinster label didn't sidetrack her from enjoying a happy life, even though I felt she gave into it too easily - I disliked how easily she believed her Mother's complaints of having the wrong sized nose/skin color or her sister's complaints in regards to her eating habits/direct behavior. She easily lost confidence in herself, which is such a shame for a strong protagonist.

Rating:

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Blameless by Gail Carriger

Blameless
(The Parasol Protectorate Book #3)
by Gail Carriger

Genre:  Paranormal Romance | Fantasy | Historical

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.

Finding herself pregnant, without a husband by her side (Lord Maccon), without a  loyal friend near by (Lord Akeldama), and stuck within her horrendous family home again with the whole society of London ruthlessly gossiping behind her back ... Alexia almost welcomes the international adventure that occurs during Blameless.  She's on a mission to discovery the secret the vampire cults are keeping in regards to her "infant-inconvenience" destiny, while dodging death treats, imprisonment, and unexpected surprises.

If you read the series, you know they're a nice change from almost everything else out there.  Very Victorian, very scientific, and very high-brow.  Yet, it was almost too much for my taste this time.  I wanted more romance and got robotic lady bugs.  Not enough comical relief and too much Madame Lefoux.  I'm not a fan of MANY of the side characters throughout this series, thus if I get an overload of them ... I don't enjoy the story overall.  Thus, that was the problem with Blameless for me.  I couldn't connect with Alexia anywhere throughout the tale and felt the whole book was written as a rat race without a finish line.  When the ending finally does arrive, it's like BAM only four ages left.  Whaaaat?  I didn't know if I wanted more or to just be happy it was over.  Sad, but true!

Likes:  Alexia making deals with her "infant-inconvenience" to become more motherly.

Dislikes:  Lord Maccon's stubbornness didn't make him a very likable character.

Rating:

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Changeless by Gail Carriger

Changeless
(Parasol Protectorate Book #2)
by Gail Carriger

Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance

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.

Connall Maccon & Alexia Tarabotti are now Lord & Lady Woolsey and that's not the only thing that has boosted Alexia's status in society . . . she now personally works undercover for Queen Victoria, but that fact, and who she truly is, remains a secret from most. Now the independent Alexia must figure out her husband's reason behind his sudden departure to Scotland while continuing her appearance of newlywed bliss. Only the ones closest to her know her plans about looking into her husband's past, but sometimes it's the ones closest to you that you have to learn to watch out for.

It's funny. I began reading this series because I feel in love with the book cover of Soulless and it only helped that I got sucked into the story as well. This being book #2 in the series made me even happier to get lost yet again with all the characters of Gail Carriger's Victorian U.K.. Overall, it's a highly enjoyable sequel with a cliffhanger ending that I LOVED (but be warned : many fellow readers didn't) and I personally cannot wait to continue this tale into Blameless later this fall.

Likes: Yummy Lord Woosley (who's loud, messy, gorgeous, and alpha)

Dislikes: Lord Akeldama's over-the-top pet names for Alexia.

Rating:

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