Soulless by Gail Carriger

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Soulless makes me giggle when I think about it. I really have no way to categorize this book, because it's nearly a smut book but just doesn't quite reach that level. I suspect that the lack of heaving bosoms and pulsing members is what prevents it from being what I consider straight-out smut.

The premise of the book is quite interesting, though just another drop in the well of books about vampires and werewolves. The added twist to this particular story is that in addition to the supernatural, there is also the preternatural, ie, those without souls.

The main character, Alexia Tarabotti, just happens to be such a preternatural. While perfectly normal looking (well, unattractive, according to standards of the day), the 26-year-old spinster (this is 19th-century London, after all) can negate the supernatural powers of werewolves and vampires with a single touch. Her inquisitive, obstinate nature and preternatural status constantly put Alexia in compromising and potentially dangerous situations, which tend to lead to Lord Conall Maccon, alpha werewolf of the local pack and head of BUR (a government agency that supervises the supernaturals) being called in.

Alexia and Conall irritate each other to no end, so there's the sexual tension...

With a little steampunk thrown in for fun, Soulless is a fun, guilty-pleasure type of novel. You read it not for any type of edification, but because you like vampires, werewolves, and a little bit of pinch and tickle and don't mind wasting a few hours of your day.