How to Marry a Werewolf

At the top of the list of things I never knew I wanted to do, but now know how to do, is how to marry a werewolf. I'd like to formally thank Gail Carriger and her Claws and Courtship series (book the first!) for being so instructional. 

I know it wasn't on my Books of May squee post, but Kristina saved the day by identifying the gap in my book list and helping me get my priorities right. And since she said she was reading it and I'm a sucker for virtual book club, I stopped right where I was in my other books to get in sync. (This is where I pat myself on the back because I managed to stop in the middle of holy-shit-Jem-is-awesome-when-he's-mad Clockwork Prince swooning to jump back into the Para-verse. Restraint was involved, which we all know is not my strong point when a plot manages to gain momentum.)

I want to come out strong and say that the one-night sacrifice was worth it. I enjoyed this novella muchly. 

Aside from the Supernatural Society and Delightfully Deadly Novellas (of which there is really only one, but the series name being plural leads me to believe that someday there will be many), which are all perfect, I've found some of Gail's other novellas to be mixed bag. The best of the lot are based in a universe that I'd die to live in (oxymorons be damned), a place where vampires are dandified spies in garish waistcoats, the alpha of the local wolf pack is a gay hatmaker named Biffy, and it's perfectly acceptable to send your daughter to an airborne spy finishing school where “young ladies of quality are taught to finish everything – and everyone – as needed." Yeah, so much of that. But a few of them (particularly the early ones and the precursor to The Sumage Solution) have been rushed or too shallow for me. While I'm all for shorter fiction... and I know that many of these stories are amuse bouches to more fully fleshed out books, your idea has to match the tiny package that you're looking to shove it into. Ya know?

This one did. Major Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings has always been an annoying character for me. He is no longer. Now he makes sense and the world of Biffy, Lyall, and the London Pack feels fully realized to me. Now I know why he hates the adorable brats that were thrust upon the household in Romancing the Werewolf. It makes sense! And now, by way of the series title, I have hope that we're gonna pair off more of the pack. That should be tons of fun. #booksquee

I won't ruin the fun by actually talking about how one lands a tall, handsome, growly monster with trust issues, but I will tell you that it features references to "geologically ignorant vampires" and protecting your virtue from "nefarious rock infiltrations." That's good shit.

On a related note, my mom is self-identifying as a geologically ignorant vampire on Facebook

I'm very much looking forward to seeing what happens in Gail's brain next. She's a delight. And in honor of... um... honoring Gail, and because I flubbed a Marco Polo on this a few nights back, I give thee a rank order list of all of my favorite Gail series (with notes)!

1. Parasol Protectorate - THE. BEST. Ugly parasols being used as weapons, a heroine with a huge nose and the most delightfully caustic wit, dandified vampires, reluctant alley trysts, and general mayhem caused by gender-bending hat makers.
2. Finishing School - YA goes skyward with this set of prequels to The Parasol Protectorate. See aforementioned references to finishing school for the darker set.
3. Delightfully Deadly Novella(s) - Follows characters from Finishing School into their adult lives. People die in the same room as witty banter. It's brilliant.
4. Supernatural Society Novellas - We're gonna give this one high marks because they're LGBT and because of ALL THE BIFFY AND LYALL. (Sorry not sorry for screaming.) I can't describe the awesome of seeing those two shack up and being all furry and adorable.
5. Claws and Courtship - Very good, but MCCoCC has to take a back seat to B&L.
6. Custard Protocol - Points for the awesome series name, but points subtracted for the hot mess that was book 2. I like that it follows Prudence, the wayward daughter of Alexia, Conall, and Lord Akeldama... I like that there there is yet another cheeky Frenchperson doing mechanical things. I like that there's tea... but as I said, a mess of a plot is a mess of a plot. And the Indian plot was a mess! Looking forward to seeing if the next book in the series pulls it back up to scratch.
7. San Andreas Shifters - Modern, which isn't bad. SF-based, which makes me happy because we lay claim to the best city on earth. Just gonna come out and say it though... There was too much sex in this book. And, it’s a cardinal sin to have another Biffy (who isn't a hatmaker in Victorian London) at the heart of the series. It turns out you can have too many Biffys. And too much random new terminology in 100 pages, Gail. You gotta break us in slow. On the other hand, now that I understand what a Sumage is, and that this Biffy is a burly motorcycle beta and not a lithe, cultured alpha, I think I'll enjoy book two. 
8. Miscellaneous novellas - I was extremely meh on Fairy Debt and the others. Worth a read to clamp down on that OCD, but they don't hold the same place in my heart.

And there you go. I won't tell you how to marry a werewolf, because it's in print and it’s a fun time that you should experience yourself. Collect them all! But I will let you know if I ever get to use this knowledge in real life.