Blameless

Written by Gail Carriger

Narrated by Emily Gray

Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season in the third book of the NYT bestselling Parasol Protectorate series.

Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.

While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires -- and they're armed with pesto.

Blameless is the third book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Sep 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781549140747

Gail Carriger

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger writes to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She escaped small-town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in Higher Learning. Ms Carriger then travelled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in her handbag. She now resides in the Colonies, surrounded by fantastic shoes, where she insists on tea imported directly from London. Find out more about the author at gailcarriger.com.

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This series stays lively and interesting

[kiri_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Oh these ARE fun. Ladybugs, ornithopters, and everything else!
But I am becoming very curious about the elusive Captain Featherstonehaugh who keeps getting engaged to various ladies of London.

[jennybeast · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What, didn't I review this the first time around? but it's one of the best books! Between Alexia's horrifying family, Biffy's dreadful misadventures, a stubborn insistence on referring to Templars as dressed in nightgowns, and murderous ladybugs, this installment has so much to offer. Also, excellent haranguing, and some insight into the ancient culture of preternaturals. Delightful. Excellent audiobook as well.

[wunder-62679 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good, but a bit rushed somehow. How long are we in Paris, one night and five pages? Can't wait for the series to get back to London, she seems more grounded there.

[maryellencg-894309 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love, love, love this series. I do, however, really hate the cover art for this one. She looks like her laxative just kicked in.

[narilka · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After the bombshell ending of the second book I was definitely looking forward to continuing Alexia's story. Blameless, book 3 in Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate, turned out to be just the right amount of fluffy fun I needed to get through rough week. This review contains spoilers for the previous books.

The story picks up a few days where Changeless leaves off, with a pregnant and shamed Alexia dealing with rejection by her husband. While I can understand Connall's scepticism over the situation, you'd think that the fact that Alexia's touch can turn a supernatural human might mean there's a chance he could become human enough to be able to father a child. As annoying has his reaction is it ends up being a good thing as it allows Alexia's strength of character to come shining through and her determination to understand the whole mess leads us on quite a fun journey to Italy. Homicidal mechanical ladybugs included!

The book opens with Alexia having breakfast with her horrible family, which definitely doesn't help the situation in any way. Poor Alexia! It is such a great display of Carriger's wit that I can forgive her putting Alexia into the situation on top of all the woes she's already dealing with.

I enjoyed the change of scenery and had a blast with Alexia's fraught filled travels to the continent. Separating her from Connall was a great idea as it gave other characters more page time, especially Floote, Madam Lefoux and Professor Lyall. There is so much more than just a reserved butler to Floote that I hope we get more insight into his character over the next two books. Professor Lyall has the unfortunate job of trying to keep a despairing and drunk Lord Maccon from embarrassing himself too badly. He also has a great chance to show off exactly why he is the pack beta. He'd be one heck of an alpha if he ever wanted the position! Ivy is not in the story as much which means we are subjected to a lot less descriptions of ugly hats. More of Madam Lefoux's past is revealed and her brilliance as a mechanical scientist is played up nicely. In fact I'd say that it is the secondary characters that brought the most to the story.

One of my favorite parts is that we finally see the origin of the series title, Parasol Protectorate. I love when books do that.

The story has has just the right amount of light-hearted silliness, sly wit and absurd attacks by ladybugs that I enjoyed the read immensely. I'm looking forward to seeing just how the infant-inconvenient continues to ruin Alexia's life.

[skybalon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The series continues to if not improve, continue at its current high quality level. As the series progresses the author is a little less concerned about telling a self contained story, so this book would not stand alone very well, but for anyone following the series this is well worth the read.

[linyarai · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hilarious, I think this one was my favorite of the set.

[slmr4242 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think that my difficulty with following this series is that after the novelty of the concept wore off, the story at its heart was little more complex than a romance: jilted wife with a veneer of hardness pines for her passionate beast of a husband who is stupidly wrong in his too-quick assumption. The mystery at the heart of the complexity to me, just wasn't very interesting. I love the setting, there is some very clever and amusing wordplay, and I am fond of the characters, but the supernatural elements just don't make that neat dovetail with real life elements at any point. And though I do feel a fondness for these blunt and completely unsubtle characters (and I have made what I feel are very generous allowances for werewolves, by typecast, not being subtle), at best, Connell is a caricature of a man, Alexia of a woman. That rather hurts to see.

I did like it, but I think that it will be a good deal of time before I pick up any future books in this series, if ever.

[dgrachel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I adore these books. They are fun and entertaining, and the audiobook narrator is delightful. The only thing that I didn't enjoy about this one was that it took almost the entire book to get Lord and Lady Maccon back together, and I love their interplay, but the story was still good despite their separation.

[chellebearss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I’m on quite a roll with the parasol protectorate series! I finished the third book last night and am loving it. I had to jump right into this one after a cliff hanger in the last. Thankfully Amazon is delivering me the next two books today!

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

steampunk, supernatural, werewolves, Europe, Italy, series, Parasol-Protectorate, audiobook-----
If you've been fortunate enough to have read the first two books in this series, you'll really love this one. If you haven't, you'll still enjoy it a lot, but will become obsessed with finding the others. Parallel plots are the norm here, one involving the werewolves and one on the experiences of Alexia, Mms LeFoux, and Floot at the hands of the German scientist and the Templars, not to mention the lethal mechanical ladybugs and an ornithopter. The entire Parasol Protectorate series is great fun!
Emily Gray is fantastic as narrator!

[ayanami_faerudo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As I said, terribly practical woman. Up and went to find proof to slap her husband's face with.

Not near enough groveling there, Maccon.

[stige_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Adore these books. They're fun, witty and clearly written by someone who loves language.

[she_climber · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

These damn books. Why do I love them so? So silly. I mean really? Vampires, Werewolves? Now Templars? Didn't we do all this already with Twilight and Dan Brown? But I'm hooked.

I missed the interaction between the Lord and Lady in this one. I liked Floote's character coming out of his shell. But I loved what happened to the yappy annoying dog the best.

Very curious to see where Biffy, Lord Akeldama, Woosley pack, and the infant-inconvenience end up so I guess I'm in for another round.

But after that I swear I'm stopping. Probably. Maybe. Yea, probably not.

[nonesuch42 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This third installment of the parasol protectorate struck an almost perdent balance of the "screen time" for all my favorite characters. Professor Lyall is so cool. Like Lupin in Harry Potter. I bet they would be friends. I also liked the glimpse we got of the Templars, and I hope the next books clear up some of the mysteries surrounding them. I liked how Lord Maccon's reaction to the revelation at the end of the last book was treated by the rest of the characters. I also thought Alexis's reaction to him pretty realistic. Now I think I'm going to go eat some pesto and research parasols with extra powers.

[myntop · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Although I had heard some people didn't like this book due to the marital conflicts it would surely entail, I found myself eagerly looking forward to find out how Lord Maccon could possibly redeem himself. I found this book to be just as entertaining as the previous two, with the right mix of mystery, humor, and romance. Following Alexia as she attempts to find a way to prove her innocence and attempts to remain angry with her husband rather than hurt was an emotional roller coaster. I was shocked at the twist with the Potentate and Biffy and am curious how that situation will spin out in the next two books.

[eire2011 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Whenever I pick up a book by Gail, I know that I'm in for a treat and random bouts of laughter. This book is one of my favorites!

Alexia and her band of loyal friends including her butler Floote return in the continued adventures of a woman who may be souless but is far from being heartless or witty.
Hurt by her husband's claim that the child isn't his, she sets out to prove him wrong and luckily has friends that are more than willing to help her. Fired from her post of mujah and kicked out of her family's home due to supposed scandal and a death threat on her head, she sets out to Italy to learn about her pregnancy and hopeful plans to prove Conall that she's never been unfaithful.
Armed with her trusty parasol, faithful butler Floote, Madame Lefoux and wit, Alexia soon learns information about her Dad, the wonders of Pesto and encounters the Templars who are their own brand of craziness and hints about her child.

I won't spoil the end so you'll have to read to find out if Lord and Lady Maccon make up and just who sent out the death threat on Alexia.

This book was full of laughs, adventure, a fascinating mix of Steampunk, the power of friendship and what a woman with determination is capable of accomplishing. I'm very much looking forward to the next book!

[altheaann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Two different people asked me about this book while I was reading it, which must indicate that the cover is attractive!

I said, in answer to their queries, something like: "Well, I'm up to the third in the series, and I've already got the next two, so yes, I would recommend them. They're good fun. It's the 19th century, there're vampires and werewolves, action and romance. I wouldn't claim they're the best books in the world, but they're good entertainment."

I wouldn't recommend starting with this one however - I think enjoyment would be greatly enhanced by getting to know the characters through the first two - without that, it might seem a little skimpy. Yes, the plot is quite silly, but there are some genuinely funny moments.

[rosa.mill · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to like this book but it was missing one of my favorite characters (Lord Akeldama) and that relationship developement that I have been looking for between Alexia and Conall. However, following Lyall was interesting and I do love Madame Lefoux and her cousin the clock maker. The German scientist was just creepy. (Female specimen, really are you serious? She should have smacked him with her parasol earlier.)

All those complaints being made, there were a lot of very funny parts and I really liked the exploration into Etruscan and Roman myths about the children of Preternaturals and Supernaturals. I will most likely give the next book a shot and if I'm still not happy with where the characters are going then I will give up.

[jaimelee77 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think this is by far the best the series has to offer, yet. Heartless will come out next summer and I look forward to learning how this story evolves. Delightfully witty and well written, you continue following Alexia Maccon (or is it Alexia Tarabotti again?) through a web of mystery to discover more about the nature of her being. She is a preternatural, a soulless creature who can negate the paranormal effects of other beings. With Lord Maccon off drowning his miseries born of his rash thinking, Alexia heads off to prove him wrong. Her adventure reveals more about her condition but again leaves more questions to be answered in the next installment. Genuinely a fantastic series and a must read for lovers of paranormal fantasy.

[a_reader_of_fictions · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For more reviews, gifs, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.

After the monumental betrayal that was the ending of the second Parasol Protectorate book, I started Blameless enraged. We’re not entirely back to being friends yet, but, damn it, even at its most infuriating this series is highly entertaining and hard to resist. I will never ever be okay with the ending to book two or entirely okay with this book because it was unnecessary all around, but whatever. This series is my crack and I cannot stop. There will be MAJOR UNTAGGED SPOILERS for book two in this review. You have been warned.

Carriger ended the second book of this series with a basically ship-destroying occurrence. Madame LeFoux informs Alexia that she’s pregnant, surprising everyone but the reader, and Conall promptly accuses her of infidelity and throws her out on her arse. It is testament both to the degree that I ship these two and to the amount I think this whole thing was out of character that I am tentatively able to accept this. Basically, I can see Conall tossing that off in his initial emotional response and then some yelling, but then Alexia would make an excellent point and they’d sex. He knows her too well to fall for this, and, in fact, he says in Blameless that he always knew and just needed time to adjust. Fuck that stupid shit. Instead, this idiotic plot point takes a whole book to resolve.

Insulted by her husband, Alexia has no recourse but to go back to her mother’s house and hang out with intellectual inferiors. Society has turned against her, and basically everything is terrible. Then it leaks to the press and she’s attacked by poisonous mechanical ladybugs. Due to the murder attempt and the shunning, she determines that she simply must head to Italy, where paranormals are not welcome, thus protecting her from the vampires. Also, there’s some thought that she might be able to learn more about her nature and that of her baby from the Knights Templar.

The madcap plot is entertaining, but also rather pointless. As is mentioned in the book, the whole thing could have been avoided has Lord Maccon not been a dipshit. All the journeying about Europe leads to no new knowledge. Yes, Alexia does learn some things while she’s traveling around, but the same information is figured out in the same timeframe back in England, because Lord Akeldama knows everything. It was ultimately a pointless, dangerous jaunt.

Blameless does benefit from a good deal less Ivy and a great deal more of Professor Lyall. I also continue to be a big fan of Genevieve Lefoux, because of course I’m going to love the crossdressing French lesbian. I’m torn on Alexia and Conall. The resolution of their argument is convincing and I’m somewhat inclined to accept it because it’s all so out of character that them talking about why he accused her makes no damn sense. It was a plot point that was clearly forced on them, and everyone’s rather shame-faced about the whole thing. I do think Alexia takes Conall back a bit too quickly, but she does at least chew him out and it could have been much worse after that last book. Oh, also, I love that Alexia calls her impending baby the “infant inconvenience.”

So yeah, I’m unwilling to give a full three stars for this, even though I have to admit I enjoyed it more than I could have thought possible after the last book. This book serves absolutely no larger plot purpose, aside from the so obvious it’s not spoilery revelation that Alexia’s baby will have powers, which could easily have been revealed in a book with an actual plot.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes series novels begin to feel the same and it is hard to distinguish one from another. I liked this story because it had a different rhythm and storyline compared to past novels In the series and it was a nice change of pace. Alexia not only has to deal with the disgrace of her husband's rejection, but has a multitude of vampire assassins after her. It makes for some exciting reading.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Blameless is the third entry in Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series and although this was a fun read, I am looking forward to a book that has Alexia and her husband, Conall actually sharing an adventure together. The sparks that fly between this couple is a huge part of what makes this series so delightful, yet in the last two books, they were mostly apart.

Of course this book had it’s moments and those moments were full of vampires, werewolves, killer ladybugs, and the Knights Templar. Lots of witty humor and side jokes, lots of action, and relatively little blood or gore to be concerned over.

Although Blameless will not be one of my favorites of this light-hearted steam punk series, I will definitely be reading on after all, there is going to be a big event upcoming in Lord and Lady Maccon’s life!

[caittilynn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great story. Lady Maccon is back and is on the run across Europe after her husband acuses her of unfaithfulness and the vampires put out a kill order for her and her unborn child. Her end goal is to get to the Templar in Italy and perhapsychological learn more about her mysterious father.

[5eva5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Having been spurned by her mercurial husband for becoming pregnant, since it is generally accepted that a werewolf can't breed, Lady Maccon heads to Italy to prove that her "infant-inconvenience" is in no way the result of infidelity on her part. This is such a fun series to relax with - it's not serious literature by any stretch, but it's wonderfully entertaining fluff. This installment is a step up from the last one, which suffered slightly from sophomoric syndrome, and with all the action and traveling, it has a lot less pawing than the previous ones, which I do appreciate. This is a delightful series to relax with after a heavier read and I'm looking forward to see what Lord and Lady Maccon get up to next.

[drled_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: Pregnancy does not become Alexia, but she carries on fighting vampires, werewolves, the Templers and, of course, her husband. More and more, she is endangered by politics and the questions surrounding her pregnancy.
Review: This book is funny, substantially more so than previous books. The intrigue and mystery are back in full force, as is the excellent writing.

[murderbydeath · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely excellent book, although probably my least favorite of the entire series. I first listened to this story on audio, and reviewed that audiobook edition more completely.

[ninelarks-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Following the surprising news that Alexia is pregnant from the past book, she is subsequently a social pariah. She finds herself cast out from the pack, disposed of her role as mujah, and living at home with her horrid family. But quickly she realizes it's not safe in London as vampires seem to be trying to kill. While that's nothing new, Alexia leaves for safety in Italy, taking Floote, Madame Lefoux, her trusty parasol, and of course, tea. There, maybe she'll find the secrets behind all of this.

I think the charm of the books is started to wear thin. I loved the first book because of that lighthearted humor in the midst of drama. I loved the idea of being concerned of one's dress while bashing someone over the head in survival. But in this book, as things start getting more dangerous, I really hate how Carriger handles the drama. Things that are actually important - Conall's anger and acceptance, forgiveness, real feelings, Biffy and that whole situation... all of it are laughed at with a foppish London dandy humor. It almost disgusts me the way important things are brushed over with such easy-joking manner.

I don't think she does major fighting scenes well either. Similar to what I was writing above - it used to be that it was possible to care about one's cravat while sticking a vampire with a pin. But that's because they were in polite society. As mass vampires start attacking, it's almost rolling-my-eyes worthy when she dodges bullets and worries about English manners.
Carriger is trying to raise the level of danger and drama, but still inject that with her witty humor. But I think she lost that balance in this book.

That might be the biggest thing I hated from this book. The fact that (spoiler) Alexia takes him back so freaking easily. So what? What happened didn't matter? All it depended on was his feelings? I can't believe it. Ugh, ugh.

Of course, some scenes are still delightful because of that serious/levity mix. Some.

This book was a bit of a travel-the-world adventure, setting the scene for future books, more so than being a delightful book on its own. The whole purpose is to find out the importance of the baby. I was interested, but not really invested. It's like we could already predict the ending before reading it.

Two and a half stars, rounded down, because it's not good enough to be three stars. And while it was a fun read at times, it really was "just okay".
Only mildly recommended for those who read the first two books. If you don't read it (and don't mind series hanging), then it's not really a big loss if you don't read it.

[mishker-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the third book in the series and may contain spoilers for the first two books!

This third installment picks up shortly after the second where Alexia finds herself cast out by her husband and in disgrace over her infant inconvenience as she so perfectly names it. When her family finds out about her so-called disgrace, they cannot abide by her in their home and cast her out once again. Alexia calls on Lord Akeldama to take her in, only to find himself and all other vampires have disappeared. To top it off, she is also being attacked by large mechanical ladybugs. Alexia and her troop, including Madame Lefaux and the sturdy Floote make their way across Europe to find out the exact nature of the infant-inconvenience.

While I enjoyed this book, it was not as good as the first two. Alexia is still wonderful and I'm glad for the return of Madame Lefaux. However, most of the book is a strange and almost unnecessary chase across several continents by vampires. I was very surprised that it took Lord Maccon so long to come to a blatant realization about Alexia's pregnancy. Although, all of the nonsense that took place at the Templar's was entertaining as well as finding out exactly what Alexia was carrying. Hopefully the next two books will pick back up.