Soulless was... interesting. I had a hard time connecting with Alexia as a character. I'm so used to reading a first person perspective (prevelent in UFs) that this third person narrative seemed overly formal and distant to me. I understand why the author chose it, Victorian times are very formal - reserved even, but for the first 50 or so pages I just didn't really care about the book at all or any of the people in it. 
 The juxtaposition of Victorian times/3rd person pov and the humourous tone just didn't sit well with me for some reason. Maybe because I expected a slightly more serious tone when it would have been appropriate ... and it just wasn't there. The opening scene was humorous/light hearted. I'm sure a lot of people thought it was great. I just thought it was kind of stupid. :-S I felt that way about most of the humor in the novel. I've read humorous light-hearted books before, and I've enjoyed them, but when there is a serious moment, I expect it to be taken seriously. In Soulless, a serious moment is call for Alexia to say something totally inappropriate, like comment about the wonderful weather they'd been having. While the book did finally manage to make me grin a few times, I never once really laughed out loud. 
 Other things I didn't like: Stock characters. 
 Ivy Hisselpenny: I can't tell you how many times it is mentioned in the book that Ivy can't dress herself with appropriately matching colors, and that she has horrible taste in hats. Actually, its the only thing that I can tell you about Ivy because its pretty much the only thing that defines her personality. Ivy is Alexia's "best friend". 
 Lord Akeldama: This vampire takes his fashion seriously, and everything else comes after. All his "drones" (blood donors) are men and its very clear he's gay. In most books it feels like gays are always portrayed as the fashionista. I'm sure there are plenty of gay folks out there that couldn't care less about the fashion world. I dub this: cliche. Plus, the whole "frivilous" front/serious center of Lord Akeldama was also cliche. As if anyone would believe that vampire was ACTUALLY that silly. He was old... obviously he knew how to survive. Gah! Oh, and at the end, when his drone Biffy, or Jiffy, or whatever, was doing Alexia's hair, I was like: Oh, really???? A guy in Victorian times would know how to dress a woman's hair in a complicated updo? Gah! Anyway... 
 Lord Maccon: The sexy alpha werewolf. He's tough, he's sexy, he gives orders. Oh and he's Scottish. Ya, ken? Cliche. 
 Floote the butler/Professor Lyall the werewolf: Same competent get-things-done kind of character. 
 Anyway, for all my bitching and moaning above the book was not a total flop. The author can string words together nicely. The plot was semi-interesting. I'd probably give book 2 from this series a shot and go in with a different mindset about the whole thing. Still, I wouldn't have much hope for much better than I read this time.