How to Marry a Werewolf by Gail Carriger

How to Marry a Werewolf by Gail Carriger is a stand-alone novella set in her much loved parasol historical urban fantasy world. It’s set some time during the Custard Protocol series, but can be read independently of all the other stories, providing only minor spoilers due to being set in the future relative to Parasol Protectorate series.

Guilty of an indiscretion? Time to marry a werewolf.

WEREWOLVES

The monsters left Faith ruined in the eyes of society, so now they’re her only option. Rejected by her family, Faith crosses the Atlantic, looking for a marriage of convenience and revenge.

But things are done differently in London. Werewolves are civilized. At least they pretend to be.

AMERICANS

Backward heathens with no culture, Major Channing has never had time for any of them. But there’s something special about Faith. Channing finds himself fighting to prove himself and defend his species. But this werewolf has good reason not to trust human women.

Even if they learn to love, can either of them forgive?

I picked up this novella to read, after buying it a few months ago when it first came out, because I was in the mood for something relaxing and fun after finishing my previous book and not being in the mood to start the one I’d planned to read next. This was an excellent choice. As I have come to expect from this author, How To Marry a Werewolf was a delightful read that mixed humour and more serious moments.

The two main characters are Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings — the gamma of the London werewolf pack — and Faith, an American cast out by her family and sent to London. While Channing has appeared in many other books, we never learnt much of his back story at all, and that’s something which comes out in this book. Faith, as a completely new character, brings in some American culture (they are less accepting of immortals across the pond and her parents very much for that mould) as well as her own baggage. The suspense between the characters’ backgrounds and their slightly unconventional courtship (and the frequent appearances of Biffy and Lyall) made for a very entertaining read.

I highly recommend this book to fans of Gail Carriger’s other books. For readers unfamiliar with the series, this is a good book to get a taste of her style without any vital spoilers for any other books.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: May 2018, self-published
Series: Yes, same world as her other books, but stands alone
Format read: ePub
Source: Purchased from Kobo (I think)