Book Title: Soulless
The Parasol Protectorate # 1

Such an incredibly delightful book!

Our heroine Alexia Tarabotti is a witty and capable young spinster of the aristocracy. A touch of caricature of a stubborn and rebellious young lady of the ton, so used to being disregarded by her family because of her unusual looks and ‘forthright’ manner. But you just can’t help but smirk your way through her antics.

Regardless, their presence forced her to pretend that she, too, had just discovered the dead vampire. With a resigned shrug, she screamed and collapsed into a faint.

Our hero Lord Maccon, is a rather domineering werewolf who has more than met his match. Again, we have a touch of the typical werewolf alpha character. But despite some of the predictably of the characters, there isn’t nothing predictable about the story. What we end up with is very comfortable characters that we can instantly relate to (and like), in a situation with lots of nice (and not so nice) surprises.

The two werewolves exited the duke’s town house into the black London night, one bearing the body of a dead vampire, the other, a puzzled expression.

In the side lines we have those ever efficient gentlemen, the butler Floote and the Professor Lyall, both of whom are able to manipulate these most stubborn of creatures into a wonderful story.

There are a few bits of slow down, where the jokes just don’t quite get pulled off, and the action has slowed down, so what we’re left with is filler conversation while we segue to the next neat bit of writing.

Our virginal Miss Tarabotti doesn’t get too much opportunity for tantalising innuendo, but somehow she manages to turn a prim and proper attitude into a devious undertone. However, I still fear that my mind is still filthier.

The Earl of Woolsey was indeed completely nude. He did not seem particularly perturbed by this fact, but Miss Tarabotti felt the sudden need to close her eyes tight and thing about asparagus or something equally mundane.

Sadly, in the presence of a naked Earl of Woosley, that most handsome of rugged Earls, I do not think that thinking of asparagus would assist in cooling the blood and inspiring a clear head.

Overall, this is just so much fun to read. The story really does wonderful things for your laugh line development, and the characters are all just ‘quirky’. It’s light, easy to read, and we even get a few ‘warm’ moments. It’s a perfect quick read when you just want to shut the rest of the world out and enjoy yourself.