Heartless (Parasol Protectorate #4) by Gail Carriger

Heartless by Gail Carriger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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?

~~~



This fourth book in the Parasol Protectorate series was not as fast paced as previous books. So it was a bit slower of a read, but a lot of interesting things happened. We learned a lot more about Alexia and her history as well as that of several of the other characters. Lot of things happened which lead to some pretty major occurrences. To top it all off along comes Prudence. Can not wait to see how the final book ties all of this up!!



View all my reviews

Blameless (Parasol Protectorate, #3) by Gail Carriger

Blameless by Gail Carriger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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.

~~~~


I can not say how much I love this series. Such a fun read. The characters are wonderful and so much happened in this book. I love Biffy and Lord Akeldama. Can not wait to read more about them in the next book. Alexia is such a wonderful character and her relationship with Lord Maccon is so much fun.

Looking forward to the next adventure that this wonderful group blunders into!



View all my reviews

Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2) by Gail Carriger

Changeless by Gail Carriger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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.

~~~~



Loving this series. While this book was not quite as entrancing as 'Soulless' it still had it's moments. I enjoyed the mystery, the introduction of new characters and the opportunity to learn a bit more about Alexis's new husband. Definitely a lot of world building in this book that hopefully leads to several more great reads.

The ending is without doubt a huge and unexpected cliffhanger that makes me want to immediately start in on the next book in the series (which I have right here fortunately).



View all my reviews

Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1) by Gail Carriger

Soulless by Gail Carriger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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?

SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

~~~



I am not really sure what I was expecting when I started this book, but it was not what I got. What a wonderfully refreshing read! I have been reading so many books lately with strong main characters, enmeshed in life and death battles with supernatural creatures, that I was totally blown away when I started reading this book. At first the writing style made me do a double take. So many intelligent words! Then we have a main character who is witty and naive? A love interest who is gruff and somewhat clueless at times.

I absolutely fell in love with this book. This is my first foray into what I believe is a form of steampunk fiction and I am hooked. My brain woke up and took notice and I want more!!



View all my reviews

On the Edge (The Edge, #1) by Ilona Andrews

On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either.

Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn’t turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off the books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power).

But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them—or they’ll devour the Edge and everyone in it.

~~~




Excellent start to a new series by an author(s) who has moved up to the top of my favorite's list.

It took me a little bit to get into the book, but that was only because I had just finished reading several books in the Kate Daniels series and I had to adjust to a new world in this book. This world is nothing like Kate's world and took me a while to adjust to. But once I did I could not stop reading. I love the way that all of the books that I have read by Ilona Andrews have a wonderful touch of humor written into them.

The main characters are fabulous and the rest of the characters are just as interesting. The story line is exciting and I can not wait to read more about the Weird, the Edge and the Broken.



View all my reviews

The Twelve Quickies of Christmas - Volume 1 by Ashleigh Raine, Lora Leigh, Shiloh Walker, Kate Douglas, Rachel Bo, R. Casteel

The Twelve Quickies of Christmas - Volume 1 by Ashleigh Raine

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


These novellas are love stories with very explicit sex scenes.

Angel in Moonlight by Ashleigh Raine
Lita is a Polgaran Pleasure Godess and she’s been given the privilege of living among humans to learn and exerience strong human emotion. She mets Ben, a man deeply retreated within himself. Lita’s love gives Ben healing, but she must leave him or she will be forced to remain earthbound forever.

Make Me Believe by Shiloh Walker
Chelly’s worst nightmare arrived with the court notice that her ex-husband wanted custody of their son. Chelly so desperately wanted the man she had dreamed of since she was a child to become real and to protect her and her son. To her shock, Nikolai is real and he’s the supreme elf of a very northern region.

Just a Little Magic by Kate Douglas
On Christmas Eve, Beth is shocked to find a man dressed in red velvet stumbling off her roof. Seems Dominc Claus has received his pink-slip and is his cousin Nick has relieved him of all Santa duties. Dom owns Rudolph Toys and is happy that he can devote his time to making toys. But it’s not just toys for children that Dom makes, as Beth is about to learn.

Ringing in the Season by Rachel Bo
Feeling disenchanted with her marriage of 17 years, Traci is happily surprised by the unusual treasure hunt her husband Rick has prepared for her. One that takes her on an erotic journey down memory lane, and to her ultimate treasure.

The Toymaker by R. Casteel
Samantha, widowed with two small children on the Missouri frontier, struggles to survive through the harsh winter. When she gives the small toymaker named, Claudius, shelter from a storm, little miracles begin to happen.

August Heat (Men of August) by Lora Leigh
Marly, Sarah and Heather want something very special for Christmas. Since they married Cade, Brock and Sam, they’ve noticed that the brothers have been healing and the nightmares have stopped. It’s time that each brother learns that they can make their own families now

~~~



I did not read the first story in this book 'August Heat' because I have not read any of the previous August brothers books so felt no need to read the conclusion to their story.

I did read the rest of the stories and have a couple of favorites.

'Make Me Believe' was probably my favorite. A wonderfully sweet Christmas story about love and acceptance.

'Just a Little Magic' was such a fun read. Loved the characters.








View all my reviews