We last left Lady Alexia Maccon inwardly distraught and fleeing Scotland because her husband turned into a veritable arse at the end of Changeless. It turns out that Alexia is pregnant. Not particularly a big deal when you consider that she is married, but apparently supernaturals are unable to produce offspring. Lord Conall Maccon flew off the handle, instantly believing that Alexia had cheated on him, and called her all kinds of hurtful names.

Blameless is focused on finding out how Alexia and Conall were able to produce offspring. Okay, we know how. Rather, I should say why. Alexia is not particularly happy with the “infant inconvenience” as it cost her her husband, but she wants to find proof that Conall is the father. She has already been cast out by Conall and seeing as her family does not want her and Lord Akeldama and all his drones have disappeared, Alexia decides to go to Italy. Her father was Italian and a preternatural; maybe she can find answers there.

Luckily, Professor Lyall, Floote, and Madame Lefoux believe Alexia and she allies with them. Floote and Madame Lefoux accompany Alexia on the journey to Italy while Professor Lyall stays behind to nurse an inebriated Lord Maccon and take over pack and BUR business since Conall is out of commission and the Gamma, Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings, has disappeared. Consequently, Professor Lyall is one stressed werewolf. He also tries to figure out the mystery behind Lord Akeldama’s disappearance along with all of his drones.

Poor Alexia. I really did feel bad for her. I guess it is good that being preternatural allows her to put logic and practicality above her emotions or she may very well have completely fallen apart (and she still had her moments).

Sorry if I run on like a broken recorded, I just thought I would bring this up. Due to reading some of the other reviews, I was frankly put off a bit about buying this. I went ahead and did so and I am very glad I did. It is a solid addition to the story and the characters. It shows some interesting aspects of the larger world. I also did not have as much trouble with the section of the book others seem to have so much problems with. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I will not go into details but I will say this to other readers of the series who may have been put off as I was: the characters reactions were within acceptable boundaries. While the main character has gone through a lot, she also has several key pieces of evidence before the end with which to judge a certain individual (if that is too arcane, someone she is married to — simpler?). There is a buildup, and Alexia was looking for signs (and more importantly, “getting” them) well before his arrival. Frankly, I’d make the Scottish oaf eat it on toast in every argument for another decade or two; but that is a separate issue and one we may or may not see develop in forthcoming books.

One of the things that the author has to do in this series which is extremely difficult is to keep a certain werecreature from spoiling the menace that our heroine faces. Alexia has to be threatened, or there is no story. Alexia also happens to be married to someone who would be able to protect her from just about anything. So the authors has to go through intricate steps to isolate the heroine from her protector and maintain the threat level for story purposes. In this light, the plot developments central to this book were satisfactory. Yes there are other ways to manage this isolation, and the author is very capable, but if she has several more books in her for Alexia (and I hope she does) we will see those others come up in time as well (I’d say about… yeah, every book). And given the demands of fiction, they will have to be humdingers every one or readers will express disappointment. I heartily suggest anyone who may have been put off by some reviews to take the plunge.