Book Review ~ Heartless

Heartless (Parasol Protectorate #4)
by Gail Carriger
published by Orbit
genre: Adult, Fantasy. Steampunk

Summary (full @Goodreads): 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....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?

My Thoughts: This book is my favorite of this series so far. It had plenty of action (and then some) along with a waddling, pregnant Alexia. Couldn't ask for more.
I said in my review of Blameless that I was curious how the end of it was going to affect Biffy. We find out in this book and it's not the best. By the end it sounds like things may be looking up for him which makes me happy since he's one of my favorites.
Alexia's investigation into who may be trying to kill the queen brought out some things about Professor Lyall that made me look at him in a different light (and it wasn't his past love). It also finally brought us the actual Parasol Protectorate. Okay, this was more for Ivy than an actual thing but I loved their code names and pledge.
Overall, I was kept guessing right up until Alexia figured out what was going on. I loved the action with the weres, vampires, and mechanical octomatons. I'm not sure how I felt about what Lord Akeldama did at the end but was glad Alexia was able to twist it somewhat so he was not the only one winning.
The birth of the baby and it's characteristics make me want a whole series just about the baby. I cannot wait to see how it plays out and what impact it has on the rest of the supernaturals.

Rating: 5