A vampire hive descending into madness. A beautiful spy with a sparkly plan. The bodyguard who must keep them from killing each other. New York Times bestselling romantic comedy author Gail Carriger brings you a charming story of love, espionage, and Gothic makeovers set in her popular Parasolverse. SPY Dimity Plumleigh-Teignmott, code name Honey Bee, is the War Office’s best and most decorative … the War Office’s best and most decorative fixer. She’s sweet and chipper, but oddly stealthy, and surprisingly effective given the right incentives.
VERSUS KNIGHT
Sir Crispin Bontwee was knighted for his military service, but instead of retiring, he secretly went to work for the War Office. Mostly he enjoys his job, except when he must safeguard the Honey Bee.
Neither one is a vampire expert, but when the Nottingham Hive goes badly Goth, only Dimity can stop their darkness from turning bloody. And only Crispin can stop an enthusiastic Dimity from death by vampire.
In a battle for survival (and wallpaper), Dimity must learn that not all that sparkles is good, while Cris discovers he likes honey a lot more than he thought.
“This intoxicatingly witty parody will appeal to a wide cross-section of romance, fantasy and steampunk fans.” ~ Publishers Weekly, starred review (Soulless)
Spinning off from the Finishing School series, featuring deadly ladies of quality, this story stands alone, but chronologically follows Poison or Protect before the start of the Parasol Protectorate Series. It’s Cold Comfort Farm meets Queer Eye meets What We Do In The Shadows from the hilarious author of the Parasol Protectorate books, perfect for fans of Julia Quinn, Jodi Taylor, or Meljean Brook.
Delicate Sensibilities?
Contains fraternizing vampires and one very curious young lady, who asks about seduction, sometimes in detail but mostly in retrospect. May also involve excessive use of velvet, melodramatic poetry, and the strategic application of interpretive ballet.
Also by Gail Carriger set in the Parasolverse
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The Curious Case of the Werewolf that Wasn’t
The Finishing School series (start with Etiquette & Espionage)
The Delightfully Deadly novellas
The Parasol Protectorate series (start with Soulless)
The Supernatural Society novellas
The Custard Protocol series (start with Prudence)
The Claw & Courtship novellas (try How to Marry a Werewolf)
As G L Carriger
- The San Andreas Shifter series (start with The Sumage Solution)
The 5th Gender
more
This book was such a delight. Watching Dimity at work, cheerfully setting the [un]dead to rights and bringing, er, life back to dark and dangerous places kept the pages turning–especially with a worse kind of death overshadowing all. The romance between Dimity and her knight was charming, the secondary characters well drawn and engaging. Only Miss Gail can make redecorating Delightfully Deadly!
As a long time lover of all things books…I’ve read my fair share! About 200 a year. It takes a bit to be memorable to me. Every book Gail Carriger writes is an automatic buy/ read for me. Its guaranteed to be well written with explicit care and talent. Funny, sweet, witty, exceptional, original and accepting characters
This book specifically details what happens to Dimity after the Finishing School series ( by Gail Carriger of course) ends. Dimity is everything lovely, sparkly and caring. You follow dimity aka the honey bee and her safeguard Sir Crispin to fix and vampire hive in decline. They are the hives last hope…the hive just doesnt know it. There are NUMEROUS laugh out loud moments and lines in this book! Oh I cackled so much I spilled my tea.
This book is at its heart a romantic adventure as well. Very LGBTQ friendly. As with all works by this author except nothing gritty and good ending.
10/10 recommend
Also check out the Parasol Protectorate to see where the world began and the Finishing School series for a young adult read!
We finally got a Dimity book!!!
I loved Dimity in the Finishing School books and I always wondered how her story would play out since you could tell that killing was never going to be her thing. I mean she faints at the sight of blood. She was always the fixer putting things back to rights after her friends made a mess of things.
This book had me sucked in from page one. Dimity may have gone in and fixed the hive but when it came to each of the hive members she listened and supported them as they found what made them happy. Which in the end did more for them than new curtains ever could have.
I don’t want to say much more since it is a novella and I don’t want to spoil the whole story for you.
This charming, whimsical book is a through-and-through feel-good read that had me smiling from start to finish. The dry humor is to die for.
Defy or Defend is simply utterly delightful. It doesn’t get more entertaining than this. When it comes to romance, in my opinion, angst-free often means boring. But that is not the case here. The combination of eccentric characters, the importance of accessories and the gloriously witty and exaggerated British humor is nothing but absolutely charming and hilarious.
And, as is Carriger’s trademark, the side characters are as interesting as the main ones. I particularly liked Justice, an exceedingly melodramatic vampire with a fondness for billowing night-gowns. I really hope to see more of her in future installments of the series. Also, I was thrilled that both Lord Akeldama and Lord Maccon made small appearances in this read. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of those two.
Another fabulous thing about this read is that it’s absolutely not meant for bigots. It’s probably one of the aspects of her world building that I like the most. Sexual preference and gender identity aren’t factors that define someone’s worth, they’re merely viewed as facets of said person. Much like hair color or a food preference. It’s bloody refreshing is what it is.
Now, if I could have changed one thing about Defy or Defend, it would be the very inconvenient time-lapses during certain shenanigans. I mean really, when Dimity and Sir Crispin finally get it on, I’d say it’s just common courtesy to provide the details. So in that sense, I got a bit of a YA feel from this book, even though it supposedly isn’t one. On the other hand, the cooked sausage analogy more than made up for the lack of explicit detail that I’m usually rather fond of.
So in conclusion, if you’re an open-minded person of the dry humor inclination, this is a must-read. You’ll love it.
https://reflectionsofaswedishgirl.blog.se
A fun, fluffy and utterly enjoyable story that melds espionage with home renovations and saucy romance!
This is exactly what I needed.
Great characters.
Whimsey.
Political comment.
All wrapped up in a delightful story.
Gail Carriger is a marvel.
At last, fans of Gail Carriger’s Finishing School series get to see one of our favorite characters again, and Dimity as an Intelligencer does not disappoint! Set in the same world as and with the same humor as The Parasol Protectorate, our delightful agent of espionage and her assigned protector are tasked with gathering info and fixing a withering vampire hive… Before it is too late.
There are sparkles, there is fashion, there is decor, and there are plenty of people (alive and undead alike) to be managed and madeover as our heroine determines the best way to reach ALL of her goals. The hive, and Sir Crispin, are about to experience the full force of the most cheerful spy in London.
I loved Dimity in the Finishing School series and liked how, among her school peers, she was the more “normal” in that ultimately she just wanted to settle down and be an excellent hostess, with a tuppenny knight (still not entirely sure what that means, except that he’d have a title, but not necessarily high ranking) for a husband, and that’s just as viable an outcome as being a spy sneaking around the shadows. She still has that desire, but she’s spent that last 15ish years (apparently) working (for the War Office) as an agent, with her own special charms and everything she learned at school and from her friends. She’s still soft, sweet, jolly, and coming off as silly (using that to her advantage in her work).
What I love about Carriger’s Parasolverse is how she brings comedy to the vampire world, yes they can still be blood-sucking monsters, but they can also be melodramatic and funny.
The hero feels similar in multiple ways to the hero in Poison or Protect, their physical characteristics and gentle natures are both described as similar to werewolves, and both seem to have problems with floating (which is also similar to werewolves). This is not a bad thing, and they’re different enough in their characters otherwise.
Carriger puts in other cookies for readers who’ve read everything in her universe.
She mentioned in the description that there would be interpretive dance but how it came and with whom was a delight, plus how she writes the ballet shows she knows what she’s talking about.
At 30 or 31 by this point Dimity would usually be considered firmly a spinster, but that’s never referenced, I think because she’s just so “Dimity” that it’s never a consideration. I did appreciate that Dimity was “an innocent”, apparently unexperienced beyond flirting, and I think that fact was part of the reason the bed scenes seemed a bit fast.
I didn’t care so much for the intimate bed scenes, not to my taste – but I knew something of that nature was coming, Carriger’s very clear you’re going to get some of that in most of her books, has a warning in the front of the books and everything. However, some of it seemed out of character, out of place with the rest of the story, the emotions/feelings/expressions didn’t quite flow for me, into the physical scenes and language describing things. But, they were few, and perhaps less violent and less specific compared to other Carriger books, specifically Poison or Protect, which is the same series.
This book made me smile and laugh. Those are great emotions to have during the Pandemic. The heroine saved the day with organization and skill, not with brawn.
There were surprises but never too scary. Overall a great read and I was sorry to have it end.
Dimity returns to bring a little sparkle when it’s needed most. Gail Carriger continues to delight readers with this next installment of the Delightfully Deadly novella series. Readers will become smitten with Dimity all over again as she brings a glimmer of hope to a failing vampire hive. Brave (and handsome) knight at her side she is determined to finish the job. Prepare yourself for laughter, witt, and an insatiable craving for tea while enjoying Defy or Defend. This dazzling addition to Parasol Protectorate universe is everything fans have been waiting for and more.
What a fitting tale for Dimity!! Quite a lovely foray back into the Parasolverse!
Definitely recommend this book for fans of The Finishing School series!!
A charming spinoff from her (YA) Finishing School series. This one features Dimity, Sophronia’s best friend. Loved the premise and the sweet relationship she has with her protector. He was a true gentleman in behavior and demeanor. I know I can count on a satisfying read when I pick up one of Ms Carriger’s books.
I adored Dimity in the Finishing School series and here we see her, all grown up and plying her intelligencer skills! It is a delight to see her busily redecorating a rundown hive house and managing all the vampires within with consummate ease. And I love that in the epilogue, we discover how Dimity finally overcomes her fainting over the sight of blood. A perfectly lovely book; one I know I shall reread repeatedly!