Heartless by Gail Carriger

****1/2
The fourth book of the Parasol Protectorate series, with the next one due out later this year.  I enjoyed this one and feel the series has found its way back to what attracted me to Soulless in the first place.  Apologies, for spoilers, but the series does need to be read in sequence to make any sense and its difficult to give a synopsis without giving anything away to newbies! (Look away, now if you don't want to know!)
After the adventures in the last book, a very heavily pregnant Lady Alexia Maccon is back in London and for reasons, best explained in the book, it is decided that it is best for "infant-inconvenience" if she and Conall reside in Lord Akeldama's second best closet.  There's an awful lot going on...Buffy is struggling to cope with his unavoidable lifestyle change; sister Felicity has not only joined the suffragette movement, but wants to stay with the Maccons; mysterious friend Madame Lefoux is up to something and a ghostly message implies that the Queen is in danger. As muhjah, Alexia is quickly on the trail, which unearths more secrets from her husband's previous pack.  Is there enough treacle tart and tea to cope with all this?
It's great to have the series back on form and this is a brilliant, fast paced romp.  It remains witty and fun and despite my continued reservations about Madame Lefoux, worked really well.  I knew where it was heading with the vampires swarming, but think it'll be a good move for future stories as it gives greater scope for Lord Akeldama to widen his interests and may avoid the constant dashing to the country for the werewolves (which always seemed a bit pointless, plot wise).
Conall is still (in my opinion) slightly sidelined, I would like a return of how he was in the first book. I love Floote (give him an even bigger role), Lord Akeldama is fabulous and Lyall remains for me one of the most intriguing characters is thankfully developing an interesting back story. 
My only (very petty) criticism is that the person on the cover looks nothing like I imagine Alexia - what does anyone think?

Blameless by Gail Carriger

*** 1/2
Oops! As I was writing the review for #4 in the series, I realised that I'd missed this out out!  Sorry!! As it's a while since I read it (last September) apologies for being brief, but I think I need to make a small comment to cover the whole series so far...
So, a brief overview and apologies for spoilers (stop reading now if you don't want to know!)
After discovering she is pregnant Alexia's husband Conall has thrown her out, believing that as a werewolf he cannot father a child and so assumes that she has been unfaithful.  Alexia has to return to her much loathed family.  The "infant-inconvenience" is creating many problems, most importantly it is putting Alexia off her food, but more dangerously, the vampires are out to assassinate it (and her)!  After an attack from mechanical ladybirds, Madame Lefoux and Floote accompany Alexia to Italy, the birthplace of her father to discover more about being soulless.
I enjoyed this more than the previous one, but...couldn't believe that Conall would behave the way he did and the ending seemed a bit weak; I'm think Alexia needed a greater outburst of her usual forthrightness.  I'm not sure about Madame Lefoux, I still see her more as a plot device, rather than an integral part and I'm really worried that Biffy won't be as appealing, or as beautifully dressed now!
Better and still great in parts, but not up to Soulless...still!

Changless by Gail Carriger

***
Alexia has now married Lord Maccon and has become alpha female of the Woolsey Pack.  She has quickly adapted to pack life and her new role as muhjah to Queen Victoria.  However, her husband disappears and there's some sort of "weapon" that turns all the supernaturals back to human form and exorcises the ghosts.  Alexia is on the case with her entourage including friend Ivy, sister Felicity and the suspicious Madame Lefoux.  Her search to solve the mystery means a traipse up to the badly dressed backwater of Kingair Castle in Scotland and Maccon's previous pack. As the body count stacks up and her husband remains human they have to get to the bottom of it all.
I have to say I found this sequel disappointing, overall.  Although there are flashes of the wit from the previous book, particularly the name of Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings, Biffy and Lyall (although both only appear very briefly - which is a huge waste of brilliant characterisation), I got a tad bored by it all.  I think the main problem is that by marrying them off at the end of the first book, things moved on too quickly and the sparky relationship between the two was the most interesting part, which is lost as Maccon disappears for most of the first 200 pages and then is humanised!  That's the whole point of Connall, he's a WEREWOLF!!  The first book was great fun and sexy and that is sadly missing for me in this one.
Ivy remains silly, but instead of funny is slightly pathetic and Madame Lefoux is a stereotyped ambiguous spy/ally.  Okay, for fans of steampunk, there's a lot more content and fantasy mechanical creations with the Victorian version of a fax machine, an advanced parasol and the dirigibles, but I was fairly "meh" about all that and they really were vital to the plot.  As for the plot, I didn't really care what/ who the weapon was...and as for the cliffhanger ending...was it done to make us buy the next book even though this has missed the mark or simply to make us turn against Maccon?!  Is he really that stupid?  I will read the next in the series purely to see how it's all resolved and hope it gets back to the promise of Soulless with huge parts for Lyall and the amazing Biffy!

Soulless by Gail Carriger

**** 1/2
Alexia Tarrabotti is a spinster, however, she also has a dead Italian father, olive skin and a big nose, rather advanced opinions for a woman in Victorian times and she has no soul.  It is her distinct lack of soul that makes her a rarity and also leads to her accidently killing a vampire when he gets a bit peckish at a society event and the treacle tart obviously wasn't to his taste.  Lord Maccon, gorgeous but an alpha werewolf, has to investigate which leads to the discovery that although there are some new, horrifically bad mannered and terribly dressed vampires appearing, a considerable number of established vamps and werewolves have vanished.  Unfortunately for Alexia, her soulless state, which means she turns the supernatural into humans on her touch, is becoming interesting to a number of different parties who believe the mysterious happenings revolve around her.  This leads to Lord Maccon having to protect her, but who's going to protect them from each other?  This is the first book in the parasol protectorate series.
Well, this is a strange one...another recommendation from Amazon, which probably stems from my past vampire crazes and Amelia Peabody choices (more about those in other posts!).  Alexia is in many ways like Amelia, outspoken, awkward and confrontational with a large, overly attractive man (or werewolf in this case).  She also shares the same penchant for parasols to get her out of trouble!  Set in an alternative Victorian period where werewolves and vampires are part of society and have helped create the British Empire.  It comes under the steampunk genre (which I'd never heard of until this, how sheltered am I?!) but is really a mix of supernatural mystery and romance with Lord Maccon being a toothier and hairier hero than most but it works.  The events surrounding the missing supernaturals leads to Alexia and Maccon coming together, yes, they squabble but it obvious where it's all heading...even with the vague references about hedgehogs.
As a supporting character I really like Professor Lyall, the beta, with his slightly put upon, mannered world weariness...I hope there's lots more of him in the rest of the series.
It gets 4 and a half stars for being a funny, sexy read.  It's not thought provoking but Alexia is an engaging heroine and there's lots of scope for future books.