Review: Romancing the Werewolf

Romancing the Werewolf by Gail Carriger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fans of Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series have been waiting for one story to play out for a very long time. With the glimpses given in The Custard Protocol, we only grew more desperate. Finally, the second of the novellas in the Supernatural Society series have given us what we have all be waiting for. You guessed it – we finally got our Lyall and Biffy story.

I doubt I need to explain how excited I’ve been waiting to grab this one. I know I’m not alone in shipping the werewolves. In fact, I’m sure if you asked any Gail Carriger fan what story they were most excited for they would respond with Romancing the Werewolf. There’s been so much build up for this one, it feels as though we’ve been waiting an eternity. To finally dive into it – well, it made me a very happy fan indeed.

Although I did enjoy this one, I will say I was a little bit let down by it. It was enjoyable, I cannot deny that, but I had been expecting a wee bit more from it. I think I’d hyped it up so much in my mind that I was never going to be as happy with it as I was expecting. If I’m being brutally honest, this one wasn’t quite a full four-star rating. However, it was so close I had to round it up – as I said, I think part of my disappointment was through building it up so much in my mind.

One thing you should know before going into this is that despite being labelled as a standalone novel, you will not understand a lot of the references unless you’re up to date with the Parasol Protectorate universe. You can dive into this one if you like, but I thought I would warn you – there are plenty of references to other events, things are built upon what we have already come to know throughout the books in the universe.

The story itself, has a solid start and end point, though. It gives us an entertaining story, one that sucks you into the universe and gives you an entertaining tale. I feel as though the romance took a backseat, though. I went in expecting a story of feels for Lyall and Biffy, yet their romance seemed to take a backseat to the mystery that occurred throughout. I cannot deny that it was an interesting little mystery, but I had been wanting more of the romance between the duo.

Overall, this was an enjoyable little tale to give fans more of the characters they love, but it wasn’t quite all I had been hoping for. Nevertheless, it had all you can expect from Gail Carriger – great characters, a bit of romance, steampunk London, a unique insight into the supernatural, and plenty of humour.

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