Soulless by Gail Carriger

I love the Victorian time period. Put a spunky, no nonsense, give me my treacle tart woman in that setting and I am a happy camper.

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?

I really enjoyed this book. The era is fun, the steampunk elements are interesting, and the main character is instantly likable. Right away you feel for Alexia. In a time where the most marriagable women were fair skinned, light haired and quiet, Alexia is tan with dark hair and has a boisterous personality.

Now that she is firmly on the shelf and is settled into spinterhood Alexia has to take her younger half sisters to party's and gatherings in society. At one such occasion Alexia gets into a little trouble. Enter Lord Maccon (swoon), to clean up the mess, literally. The interaction between Alexia and Lord Maccon is one of the best aspects of the book. They vex one another to no end and can barely stand to be in each others company (smirk). And so the book starts on its rollercoaster ride of ups and downs.

The secondary characters are a real treat in this novel.
Ivy, Alexia's best friend and owner of many unfortunate hats, is prim and proper and would never put a foot out of line. The complete opposite of Alexia.
Professor Lyall is Lord Maccon's second in the pack. He is quiet and spends a good deal of his time reminding Lord Maccon about social etiquette.
And last is Lord Akeldama. He is a vampire and a friend of Alexia (quite scandulous). He is also an extravagant dresser and keeps a harram of young men.

All together these wonderful characters make one of the best reads I have ever had. Thoroughly enjoyable and a must add to the already toppling over To Be Read pile.

Visit the authors webpage at...
www.gailcarriger.com

Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs

For the last ten years, shapeshifting mercenary Aralorn has led a dangerous existence — a far cry from her noble upbringing. Now she must return home under the most unfortunate circumstances. Her father, the Lyon of Lambshold, has passed away. But when Aralorn and her companion Wolf arrive, the combination of their magic uncovers something wonderful yet alarming — her father is not actually dead, but only appears so. Yet a dark mist is also very much alive within him…

The Lyon of Lambshold has been ensorcelled by the ae’Magi, who’s using him as a conduit to finally destroy Aralorn and Wolf. With her father as the pawn, can Aralorn overcome this mysterious sorcery? Or will she finally fall to the blackest of magic, losing not only her one true companion but also her life…

Patricia Briggs first drew me in with her Mercy Thompson series. I am happy to report that Urban Fantasy is not her only genre. There are certain things you come to expect from Ms. Briggs. Excellent writing, thoroughly drawn out characters, and entertaining plot. Wolfsbane had it in spades.

Wolfsbane will satisfy long time readers of Patricia Briggs and those that love fantasy as much as I do. Aralorn may not be Mercy but she is worth the read.

Visit the author's website here.

Blogger Hops November 5th-8th

First...

What are your feelings on losing followers? Have you ever stopped following a blog?

It is never fun to log onto your blog and see that there are less followers than yesterday. But I figure it comes with the territory. It just makes you appreciate the ones you have. I actually have never stopped following any blogs. I may not be the most active in leaving comments but that doesn't mean I don't stop in to see new posts. If I were to stop following a blog there would have to be a good reason to stop showing support for the blogger.

And...

I recently started doing the Hop hosted by Parajunkee!

The question posed to the featured blogger (The Bibliophilic Book Blog) was...

Who are your favorite authors?

Well, my favorite authors are:

Kim Harrison

Patricia Briggs

Ilona Andrews

Lisa Kleypas

Lili St. Crow

Melissa De La Cruz

Jacqueline Carey

Terry Goodkind

and many more!

Have a good week, Happy Reading!!!

Masques by Patricia Briggs

Wow, it's been a while since I have posted. It's a good thing this book was so good.

After an upbringing of proper behavior and opressive expectations, Aralorn fled her noble birthright for a life of adventure as a mercenary spy. Her latest mission involves spying on the increasingly powerful sorcerer Geoffrey ae'Magi. But in a war with an enemy armed with the powers of illusion, how do you know who the true enemy is- or where he will strike next?

Patricia Briggs soon became one of my favorite author's with her Mercy Thompson series. I had to see where all her writing prowess began.

In Masques we meet Aralorn, the daughter of a Lord of the realm of Reth, who should have been raised as a Lady, but but decided that wasn't for her. She travels to the country of Sianim and joins the mercenary guild and becomes a successful spy. The story starts with her on assignment and continues to follow her exploits. Along the way she meets "Wolf" who accompanies her on her journey's.

I have to say I really enjoyed reading the story of Aralorn. She is an accomplished spy, good with a staff, poor with a sword and can change her shape to look like anyone and a few choice animals. She is down to earth and has a good sense of humor. She takes others into consideration and loves finding new stories that she can share.

Her relationship with Wolf is sweet and it is fun to see the progression and interaction between the two.

The villian of the story is sufficiently evil. We get a good look at his deeds through Aralorns eyes and others. Even though we don't actually get to see much of him, he has a presence throughout the book that makes him feel like he is there.

As I said before, Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite author and more so since reading Masques. So much so I ran out after finishing to buy Wolfsbane, the second and last book in the duology.

Visit the author's website here.

Book Blogger Hop October 1st-4th

It's time for the hop! The question of the week is...

How do you spread the word about your blog?
I am a member of a few blogging websites and on facebook. But mostly by going around commenting on peoples blogs. Whenever someone leaves a comment on my blog I go to theirs and comment back. I really enjoy getting comments, so I return the favor.