Miss AlexiaTarabotti has no soul. She lives in an alternative 19th Century where vampires, werewolves and ghosts live -nearly- side by side with daylight beings (humans). Generally, she goes unnoticed and frequently ignored as she is also a spinster whose father was Italian. Then, she is attacked by an unusually rude vampire in the library of the Snodgrove's home. She accidentally kills the vampire which brings the powerful, handsome, loud, and werewolf, Lord Conall Maccon into her story. Although he loudly argues with Alexia, he also efficiently cleans up the mess and makes it all disappear. In spite of his best efforts, Miss Tarabotti is now the central suspect of everyone (vampire queens, werewolf alphas, and strange wax creatures) as more socially gauche vampires appear and other rogue vampires and werewolves disappear.
Thinking that this novel would fall heavily in the steampunk fiction genre, I anticipated more intrigue, more gadgetry, more sci-fi. Still, I seriously enjoyed Alexia's character. Her complete loyalty to self, her curious mind, her random observations, and even her insecurities made me laugh, made me like her. The constant banter between Miss Tarabotti and Lord Macoon was charmingly written. Their lack of self awareness and control was the central propulsion of the plot. I loved it, just the way I loved Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy; Beatrice and Benedict, and Rhett and Scarlet.
If you are expecting a suspenseful, action dense novel, you may be disappointed. Part urban fantasy, part romance, part mystery, and a splash of steam punk, Soulless is an excursion into a fascinating alternative world, with delightful characters and plenty of touchy, kissy, descriptive, romance stuff. Myself, I am anxious to read the second novel, Changeless (a NY Times Best Seller).
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