Changeless by Gail Carriger

After reading Soulless, Book 1 in the Parasol Protectorate series, I simply had to pick up Book 2 and, again, I have not been disappointed. Gail Carriger has the ability to write a fantastic story that just draws you in.  (I'm already starting on book 3, Blameless.)

I am very pleased with this series. The characters are engaging and well rounded.  It's like the child of an Austen novel and insert your favorite vampire/werewolf novel here (Except that one - you know which one I mean).  I would reccommend this to anyone looking for an intelligent and fun series. 

***Note: if you have not read Soulless or Changeless, there may be spoilers in this post.  Also, the links to Changeless on Amazon contain several major spoilers***

Changeless opens with Alexia immersed in her new life as Muhjah to Queen Victoria and wife to Lord Maccon.  She has to deal with Werewolf politics and a strange type of plague of Humanity upon the Supernatural set.  Her investigation takes her to Scotland where she becomes acquainted with Lord Maccon's former pack.  Spies, assassination attempts, and a passel of bickering women follow her.

My new favorite character is Madame Lefoux.  She dresses in men's clothing, loves to tinker with technology, and has great chemistry with Alexia.  I love how, even with her association with Lord Akeldama, Alexia is completely oblivious to Madame Lefoux's attraction to her.  I kind of see her as Alexia's Q, supplying her with all sorts of fun gadgets and an interesting ally.  What I love most about her is that she refuses to play by society's rules.  Alexia doesn't care for most of the societal rules, but she is still guided by them, and while she greatly admires Madame Lefoux's practical clothing choices, I don't think she could bring herself to "cross the line" that much.

I won't spoil too much, but I just have to say that the ending broke my heart.  Throughout the entire book, we see how much Lord and Lady Maccon truly care for one another and the ending just made me weep openly.  It was quite fortunate that I was reading into the wee hours of the morning and my roommate didn't see me sobbing over the pages.