Review - Heartless by Gail Carriger

Series: Parasol Protectorate Series #4

Genre - Paranormal Historical Fiction

Age Group: Adult/New Adult

Published: July 2011

Paperback  - 374 pgs

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Rating - 4/5

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?

After taking a short break from this series, I needed something to break a reading rut. So I went back to Gail Carriger knowing I wouldn't be able to put one of her books down.

Of course, it worked too. I picked up the fourth installment in the series and was instantly sucked back into Victorian London. I love how Carriger continues to tackle Victorian expectations with Alexia throughout this series. It has never been more prominent than in this novel where Alexia is struggling to perform her duties while heavily pregnant. Carriger also does an excellent job of staying historically accurate while removing some parts of history that were damaging to groups of people (specifically LGBTQ+). The description was just a tad deceiving, but overall I enjoyed where this story went. 

The series continues to be witty and delightful. All the characters are intelligent and even crafty in getting what they want. I absolutely delight in this. I'm shipping so many more couples than I thought I would and I love it. This installment moved the plot forward farther than the third book so I was pleasantly surprised. I was instantly ready to jump into the final book though I knew I would be devastated when this series ended. I did it anyway and that review will be coming to you soon.

Happy Reading!