Does Steampunk have a soul, or is it Soulless?

Probably a few weeks back I bought this book, though at the time it was less because it was Steampunky, and more that I just thought it sounded interesting. However, it is quite a great example of modern Steampunk fiction.

Set in an alternate Victorian era England, where vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are integrated into society, we meet our protagonist: Alexia Tarabotti. Alexia is not your common Victorian woman; she is a 25 year old spinster, who is in possession of an overly large nose (due to her Italian father) and a rather prickly attitude. Of course, she does have one other unique characteristic: she has no soul. Being Soulless, she has the ability to negate the powers of supernatural creatures by touching them. This talent come in particularly handy when a vampire tries to attack her at a party. She is forced to kill the vampire with her ever-present parasol. 

Thus begins a mystery that leads Alexia to places she never dreamed of going, most notably into the company of the Scottish Alpha wolf: Lord Maccon. Alexia and Lord Maccon are of each other's acquaintance, mainly because of an incident involving a hedgehog. Although Alexia does not get along with Lord Maccon, there is a certain amount of chemistry between them. This lends the book enough romance to make it interesting, but not so much that it takes over the story.

With some fantastical Steampunk inventions, very proper manners, and lots of tea, Soulless quickly became one of my favorite books. Read it if you like paranormal romance mysteries, or read it because you like Steampunk. Or you can be like me and read it because of the tagline: "A novel of werewolves, vampires, and parasols." Parasols make almost anything worth reading.