Thursday, February 26, 2015

Book Review: Hearts at Stake


Title - Hearts at Stake
Author - Alyxandra Harvey
Series - Drake Chronicles #1
Genre - YA Paranormal Vampires
Published - December 22nd 2009
Publisher - Bloomburg Publishing
Format - Kindle

Synopsis
The Drakes are rather different to your usual neighbors. They are vampires and some of the members of the family date back to the twelfth century. One of the children, Solange, is the only born female vampire known and, as such, she poses a direct threat to the vampire queen. Her best friend Lucy is human, and when Solange is kidnapped, Lucy and Solange's brother, Nicholas, set out to save her. Lucy soon discovers that she would like to be more than just friends with Nicholas. But how does one go about dating a vampire? Meanwhile, Solange finds an unlikely ally in Kieran, a vampire slayer on the hunt for his father's killer. 

Teaser 
I stopped abruptly and lifted my chin, trying to pretend my shoulder blades weren’t pressing into the log wall and I had nowhere to go.
“What?”
He was close enough that his legs practically brushed mine.
He was close enough, in point of fact, to kiss.
I was instantly horrified the thought had even crossed my mind.

Review
The Drakes are an old family of vampires so no tea parties or picnic’s on the agenda with them unless you’re Solange. The last remaining child who hasn’t turned into a vampire yet but with her fast approaching sweet sixteenth that’s about to change. Lucy is Solange’s best friend who also happens to be human but she knows all about the Drakes having grown up with them. As Solange’s upcoming change starts looming the prophecy about her existence comes into play. Attacked by vampires wanting to love on Solange and hunters wanting revenge when Lucy sneaks Solange out to attempt a night at normal things start to change.
  
Solange receives requests for meetings from family that they don’t see till after the change even the queen has put in a request for a visit neither she can ignore. While her meeting with family is odd it does provide her with a way to survive the change that’s about to start however she may just have to use her advantage to save someone else. As if Solange doesn’t have enough to worry about with the change she ends up kidnapped and Lucy sets out to find her because that’s what you do for your best friend. Will Lucy be able to get to Solange before it’s too late? What about Kieran the vampire hunter who tried to get her before?

We have to main character it bounces between the two Solange our future vampire and Lucy her human best friend both of them I enjoyed. I liked the way they pair off it’s almost as if they complement each other personality wise which I liked right away. However Lucy was my favorite maybe it’s because she has a crush on Nicholas and she made me smile not as serious as Solange is. I wasn’t sure about Kieran but as the book progressed he grew on me and I see a lot of potential for him in the next book.

I’ve had this one on my kindle for far too long with every intention of reading it just never got around to it. Last week a fellow blogger buddy of mine Stormi @ Books, Movies, Review! Oh my!  told me how much she loved the Drakes so I decided I needed to check it out and I’m glad I did.  What I expected was your typical teenage vampire novel what I was a pleasant surprise the vampires are unique they aren’t your sparkly vampires either. The concept for the Drakes is captivating it’s an interesting unique spin on vampires that I very much enjoyed. The author has one of those writing styles that just flows it’s a well written story even though we have two points of view, it just flows together perfectly. The characters are great I enjoyed both of the MC and was able to connect with each of them in a different way. Hearts at Stake is a fast paced novel that mixes mystery in with a paranormal romance story that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. I found that I had a hard time putting the book down and now all I can think about is what’s going to happen next for Lucy and Nicholas. It’s been a while since I enjoyed a vampire romance like I did this one and already I have the second book on my kindle waiting. Looking forward to exploring more of the girls world and seeing how it will play out.

1 comment:

  1. I am really glad you liked it! You will like the second one I am sure, each book explores the vampires and the different types of vamps so it was really interesting in learning about. I need to read the novellas cause I miss my Drakes! :)

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