A sexy assassin, a sexy Scottish spy, and two lobsters attend a Victorian house party.New York Times bestselling comedy of manners author Gail Carriger brings you a charming story of love and espionage set in her popular Parasolverse. ASSASSINLady Preshea Villentia, the Mourning Star, has four dead husbands and a nasty reputation. Fortunately, she looks fabulous in black. What society doesn’t … reputation. Fortunately, she looks fabulous in black. What society doesn’t know is that all her husbands were marked for death by Preshea’s employer. And Preshea has one final assignment.
VERSUS SCOTSMAN
It was supposed to be easy, a house party with minimal bloodshed. Preshea hadn’t anticipated Captain Gavin Ruthven – massive, Scottish, quietly irresistible, and… working for the enemy.
In a battle of wits, Preshea may risk her own heart – a terrifying prospect, as she never knew she had one.
”This intoxicatingly witty parody will appeal to a wide cross-section of romance, fantasy and steampunk fans.” ~ Publishers Weekly, starred review (Soulless)
May contain plaid, gentlemen eating dainty tea sandwiches, and the strategic application of leather gloves. Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Outlander in this seductive story from the author of the Parasol Protectorate books. Perfect for fans of Ilona Andrews, Lindsay Buroker, or Diana Gabaldon.
From the author of the Finishing School series, featuring deadly ladies of quality, this story stands alone but you can find out what happened to the next generation in Reticence or read the next in the series Defy or defend.
Delicate Sensibilities?
Contains men pleasing women, and ladies who know what they want and ask for it, sometimes in detail. If you like that kind of thing, you’ll also enjoy How to Marry a Werewolf.
Also by Gail Carriger set in the Parasolverse
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
As G L Carriger
The San Andreas Shifter series (start with The Sumage Solution)
The 5th Gender
more
The second half of this novella was so fun and steamy!
Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger
Delightfully Deadly book 1. Best read after the Finishing School series. Historical steampunk romance.
Preshea is an undercover assassin. Sure, she has buried four husbands, but society in general is not aware that those four were targeted specifically by her employer. Her current mission should be easy but meeting Gavin has her questioning her own feelings. Who knew she had feelings?
This story is ten years after the Finishing school series where Preshea wasn’t a likable character. Learning about her past and how she was forced into her situation gives her some sympathy. Gavin is a surprise and novelty to Preshea and as their relationship progresses, we cheer them both on to a hea.
Entertaining, engaging and precious.
I listened to an audiobook narrated by Suzanne Lavington who did a fantastic job with voice variations and emotional inflection.
Let me start by saying that this is an Adult book and definitely dives into sexy times.
Now with that disclaimer out of the way, I loved this novella. Gail took a character that was in the finishing school series that I didn’t really care about and made me like her. Preshea was a fixture in the finishing school series; however, I always found her annoying and I am sure that I would not have picked up this book had it not been for this read-along. I am so happy that I did! I really hope we get more Delightfully Deadly novellas in the future.
Meh, this read like a standard historical romance, nothing innovative at all despite Preshea being an assassin because that didn’t really come into play. Yes, homosexuality is brought up which tends not to be in mainstream romance, but it’s just given lip service here (literally according to Gavin). If I hadn’t read Carriger’s other work I’d probably have rated this even lower, but because I have so much backstory I was able to finish it.
Quite frankly, I felt no passion between the characters nor any tension that being in the presence of an assassin must surely bring.
Glad I got it from the library.
I am a newcomer to Gail Carriger’s Parasolverse but, based on the strength of Poison or Protect (the first Delightfully Deadly novella), it is somewhere I intend to spend a great deal of time in the future.
This was a book that captured me from the first page. The language of the telling, full of wit and whimsy, is absolutely spectacular. It was clear, early on, that this was to be more of a romance and novel of manners than I had anticipated, but I was smiling too much to second-guess myself. Lady Preshea Villentia, the Mourning Star, is a character of darkness and mystery who immediately captured my attention. I took a little longer to warm up to Captain Gavin Ruthven, who seemed a bit too calm and perfectly polite, but the more I understood of his character, the more I found myself being drawn into the potential for a relationship.
And, let’s be honest – vampire and werewolves, airships and assassins aside – this is a book where relationships are the primary attraction. The romance lurking beneath the mystery is a slow-burning one, taking a long time to get to anything even approaching familiarity, but the characters are so strong and so deep that you don’t begrudge them that time. And when sparks do ultimately fly, the language so exquisitely captures all aspects of Lady Villentia that you have to admire how perfectly Gail Carriger pulls it off.
Then the tingling exploded and she was soaring. Splintering and fracturing and spinning as if drunk on champagne and dancing a waltz and perfectly executing a killing blow . . . all at the same time.
The primary attraction for me, however, is the nature of that romance. Gavin is a man without much romantic experience, but what he does know is that he prefers to be the submissive partner in a female-led relationship. Preshea is a cold, jaded woman, hurt too many times by the arrogant, violent, controlling men, leaving Gavin the challenge of breaking through, showing her that love can be different, and teaching her to take the same lead in romance that she does in society, culture, and the art of assassination. As he tells her (and I love this line):
“For me, it is about your pleasure. I dinna know the right way of saying it, but I wish it to be for you. This, me, everything.”
Everything about this book just worked for me. The narrative is delightful, the dialogue razor sharp, and the action – for there is a assassination attempt and a daring rescue – is thrilling. For a book I entered into with entirely unrealistic expectations, this was a sheer reading pleasure.