Poison and Protect by Gail Carriger

September 25, 2018     erinthebooknut     Book review

Poison and Protect by Gail CarrigerPoison or Protect (Delightfully Deadly, #1) by Gail Carriger
Published by Gail Carriger on June 21, 2016
Goodreads


London’s most scandalous lady assassin versus one very hot Highlander.

Lady Preshea Villentia, the Mourning Star, has four dead husbands and a nasty 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.

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.

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger presents a charming love story set in her popular steampunk Parasolverse. May contain plaid, appearances from favorite characters, and the strategic application of leather gloves.

The Delightfully Deadly novellas stand alone and may be read in any order.

Delicate Sensibilities?

Contains men pleasing women, and ladies who know what they want and ask for it, sometimes in detail.

4 Nuts

Ooooh giiiiirrrrl , get you some Scottish soldier.

I’m going to only say this once: POISON AND PROTECT is NOT a YA novel. Yes it is about Presha from FINISHING SCHOOL. Yes the cover sort of looks like those. NO it is not for teens (unless they are at a point where they can handle stories with overt sexy times. That’s between them and their parents).

This book takes place 10 years after the events of FINISHING SCHOOL, and around 10 years before PARASOL PROTECTORATE. By this point Presha is an adult, a successful intelligencer, and a black widow. If you have the misfortune to marry Presha Buss (5 times widowed) you’ll most likely end up dead.

Unless, I suppose, you’re a sexy Scottish soldier. Does Miss Gail have a thing for Scotsmen? I think the answer may be in the affirmative. And truly, I cannot blame her. Give me a sexy man with a Scottish brogue any day.

But this novella is not just a sexual romp. Oh no, Presha is on a mission. A little heartbreaking, a little bodyguarding, you know the usual. Except Presha is more used to the poison side of intelligencing than the protecting sort. And there’s that distracting Scotsman to worry about. But she takes it in stride and performs admirably.

This book is a lot of fun. The sneaking and spying of FINISHING SCHOOL with the adult themes and interests of PARASOL PROTECTORATE. You get your intrigue AND your sexy times. What could be better?

The audiobook was superbly done, as professional and well edited as any traditionally published audiobook would be. This, like any other of Carriger’s novellas is a self publisher work but don’t let that fool you into thinking it is any less wonderful than any of her other books. Miss Carriger is talent defined, in any and all forms of publishing.

The best part is that this book is no one off. Another Delightfully Deadly book is rumored to be coming within the next year or so and I couldn’t be happier. More Parasolverse is always welcome!

I recommend this book for all older fans of the Parasolverse who don’t mind a bit of steam. As for teens, this is only for the very mature and I wouldn’t feel comfortable directly recommending it to anyone under 17 (even though I read much worse by the time I was 15, but every teen is different). Know what you or your teen can handle.

What’s your favorite novella of all time? Share yours in the comments below.

From my shelf to yours,

Erin

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.