Heartless
Heartless (The Parasol Protectorate #4)by Gail Carriger
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? (goodreads.com)
Had I not been desperately longing for this book already, I probably would have been sold just on the words "zombie porcupines".I will admit to being slightly worried that I would not enjoy this book as much as the others when I started it. I found the first couple of chapters slightly dry and I couldn't care less about pregnancy, although I have to admit that no one does pregnancy like Alexia Maccon. She is so awesome and funny. The humour and action picked up pretty quickly after my initial brow crease of worry and then the laughing out loud commenced, much to my husband's dismay I am sure. I am certain he also loves when I randomly read him passages of dialogue from the story without any context. My husband is a patient man and obviously loves me very much. Since reading these books I often refer to him as "Husband" and told him he should call me "Wife". I think it's catching on. ;)Gail Carriger must have an amazing sense of humour because these books never fail to make me laugh and entertain me so thoroughly each and every time. I am very happy that both Jenny and Kay read then posted about Soulless and encouraged me to read them. I think this is my best series discovery of the year. I am thankful that I also discovered it while I had a short time to wait between finishing the third book and the fourth being pubbed. Sadly I have to wait until MARCH 2012 for the fifth book and with the way Heartless ended I am certainly eager to see what happens in the next book. Such intrigue!A couple of things confused me during this story though, but I will not write out those questions here so I don't spoil anything. However I might have to start some discussions with friends once they have read the book. I find myself scratching my head in confusion.Another nifty thing about the series is that I have managed to hook 4 people on it after I read them. One of whom has possession of books 1-3 right now and I will have to make sure that she gets book 4 soon. I like that I am building a small army of friends who share my love of these books and might possibly help me storm Orbit to try and get Timeless out earlier than bloody March. MARCH! So rude.If you haven't yet read this series, I strongly suggest that you go out and find the first book RIGHT NOW and give it a go. Those who love all things Victorian and paranormal should certainly add the Parasol Protectorate series to their must read list. You will find them most enjoyable!The Parasol Protectorate