Review: Bleeding Hearts by Alyxandra Harvey
From Hicklebee’s: As vampires from all over the world descend on the Drake farm for the Blood Moon gathering, security is ramped up. Lucy has been temporarily banned, for her own safety—and to allow Solange some time to adjust to her new existence. But their enemies realize how much Lucy means to the family, and plan to abduct her to use her for leverage against the new royal family. Instead, Lucy’s cousin Christabel is kidnapped by mistake—and Connor Drake immediately heads off in pursuit, but isn’t in time to prevent Christabel’s infection by the Hel Blar. He can’t save her human life, but he can still try to save her new vampire life, and is willing to put his own life on the line for the girl he has grown to care so much about. Can he save Christabel, the Blood Moon, and his mother’s newly forged Vampire Alliance?
I think I have reviewed every book Alyxandra Harvey has ever had published here on this blog. She has a style that I just adore to pieces and I can tear through one of her works in small time and be completely satisfied. Bleeding Hearts is classic Drake Chronicles through and through, I loved it to pieces.
Possibly the most fun part for me in this story was Cristabel. She is Lucy’s cousin and it was fun to read the stark differences between her and Lucy. While Lucy is full of pop culture and pizzaz, Christabel is more into dead poets and darkness. I loved her immediately.
Bleeding Hearts also gives us insight into a Drake brother we haven’t learned a whole lot about. Connor may not take the title of favorite Drake boy in my book but he is a close second. He’s techy and funny and completely loyal to his family and friends. All great traits.
The Drake’s lives haven’t calmed down at all, in fact their situation is probably more hectic than ever. There is a special vampire get together and Lucy is all but banned from being around the family. She’s training with Hunter and the Helios Ra and trying to hide all the crazy supernatural stuff from her cousin at the same time.
Solange in this book was strange. There wasn’t much on her but what we did see was her going through some major vamp-y crises and I am more than anxious to see what is up with her in the next book.
The romance between Connor and Christabel wasn’t the normal flowery Drake Bro kind. It developed in its own new way and I enjoyed watching them fall for each other quite a bit.
If you love The Drake Chronicles I urge you to pick this volume up and if you haven’t read any of the books start with Hearts at Stake which was an absolute riot.
Review: Out for Blood by Alyxandra Harvey
Goodreads: Hunter Wild is the youngest in a long line of elite vampire hunters, a legacy that is both a blessing and a curse at the secret Helios-Ra Academy, where she excels at just about everything. Thanks to her friendship with Kieran Black, Hunter receives a special invitation to attend the coronation of Helena Drake, and for the first time, she sees the difference between vampires that must be hunted and vampires that can become friends—or even more. When students at the academy fall victim to a mysterious illness, Hunter suspects they are under attack from within. She will need someone she can trust to help her save the future of Helios-Ra . . . help that shockingly comes in the form of Quinn Drake, a drop-dead gorgeous vampire. Who said senior year would be easy.
I have been reading Harvey’s books since her first in the Drake Chronicles titled Hearts at Stake. I immediately fell in love with Harvey’s quirky characters and fast moving prose. Out for Blood is no exception. With each addition to this series you learn so much more about the rich culture of both the vampire world and the slayer world of the Helios-Ra.
Hunter is a darn good character and very likable to boot. She is smart, and as always in Alyxandra’s books she is hilariously laugh out loud funny. She does not resent her legacy as almost vampire slayer royalty. She embraces but no matter what she has been taught Hunter always does what she thinks is right. To get a taste how bad-ass Hunter is, here is a quote from pgs 63 & 130 of the ARC:
She was right. But that was only because I’d been five years old when Grandpa had started my training. When I’d thought there were monsters under my bed, he taught me how to do a proper sweep to get rid of them.
“Are you ever going to shut up?” I snapped, fear and irritation filled me in equal measures. “This isn’t your monologue, Hamlet. It’s the battle scene, in case you’ve forgotten.”
His eyes narrowed so fast they nearly sparked. They were the color of honey on fire. One of the others growled like an animal. low in his throat. It made all the hairs on my arms stand straight up.
I was going to die for making fun of Shakespeare.
My English Lit professor would be so proud.
Quinn doesn’t take my place as favorite brother but he is a well fleshed out great character. I love the way his mind works and his playboy ways.
As always in the Drake Chronicles a love story is in the air, and again as always that is not the main arc of the plot. The Helios-Ra and vampire royalty must work together to find out what has the blue tinged beast Helblar vampires working on a much more sophisticated level than their normal ways of doing things based on animal instincts.
This book is fun fast paced and a great read of anyone who loves sarcasm humor and thrills.
Why Teens Will Love It:
Harvey breathes new life into vampire myth giving teen readers a dose of vamp lore they may otherwise not read. In addition to that the girls in these books are all very smart, savvy and can take care of themselves, great role model potential. The boys are hot and funny and the plot is relate-able on a teen level even though the book is based in lore.
Why Adults Will Love It:
Adults will love the Drake Chronicles for the same reasons I do. Fun and interesting characters doing great things in a fast paced lore filled modern world. These books are reminiscent of the tomes we read in high-school and have definitely been bumped up to 21st century standards.
Bloomsbury is offering a copy to a lucky reader of this blog. Just comment below and tell me why you want to read Out for Blood!
- Check out Haunting Violet, Alyx’s new book!
- Like the publisher on Facebook to win cool stuff!
- you can add yourself to the Drake Chronicles Facebook.
- Alyxandra has a page on Facebook as well!
- You can check out trailers, videos and lots of cool stuff on the Bloomsbury Youtube.
I received this book from the publisher for the purpose of writing this review.
Review: Hearts at Stake (My Love Lies Bleeding) The Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey
Alyxandra Harvey has made quite a fan out of me with her first book in The Drake Chronicles. A big thanks to Amy for the recommendation. The two main characters Lucy (Lucky) and Solange are as different as night and day but somehow their best friendship makes total sense. Solange is a vampire princess born to a prestigious family that dates back to Eleanor of Aquitaine. Solange doesn’t really want to turn at her sixteenth birthday, nor does she want the crown that comes along with her transformation. Evil hordes of pretender queens to the throne and her minions try to thwart Solange in every effort she makes even though she has a total lack of interest in the crown. Just her being alive is enough to send the vampires into a frenzy.
Lucy has hippy parents and a love for ice cream not made with tofu. She is sassy and brilliant and like Solange a very well thought out character you immediately love. Even with all her bravado Lucy is not afraid to say when she is scared. Being human around a bunch of vampires at times can be a scary experience. Lucy has a dialogue that had me laughing out loud through out the book and her love interest was a great addition to the chaos surrounded her and her friends lives at that moment.
This book has loads of amazing characters. Solange’s family unit, Lucy, even the bad guys have style. Hearts at Stake is a silly fun read. Some of my favorite quotes from the book:
But not right now, right now I could indulge in a moment of triumph. But only a moment.
Because it was just one of those days.
This is better than some old fat guy. Now gimme.
If you love fun vampire fiction, then please give this book a chance! I cannot wait for the next in the series.
