Book: Hearts At Stake (The Drake Chronicles) by Alyxandra Harvey

Release date: December 22, 2009

Publisher: Walker Books

From: Publisher

Summary:
On Solange’s sixteenth birthday, she is going to wake up dead. As if that’s not bad enough, she also has to outwit her seven overprotective older brothers, avoid the politics involved with being the only daughter born to an ancient vampire dynasty, and elude Kieran Black—agent of an anti-vampire league who is searching for his father’s killer and is intent on staking Solange and her entire family.

Luckily she has her own secret weapon—her human best friend Lucy—who is willing to defend Solange’s right to a normal life, whether she’s being smothered by her well-intentioned brothers or abducted by a power-hungry queen. Two unlikely alliances are formed in a race to save Solange’s eternal life—Lucy and Solange’s brother Nicholas, and Solange and Kieran Black—in a dual romance that is guaranteed to jump start any romance-lover’s heart.

Even fans of the genre who’ve seen it all will find a fresh read with kick-butt characters and family dynamics that ring true for all brothers and sisters—vampire or otherwise.

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Kait Rose

Hearts At Stake by Alyxandra Harvey

December 27, 2009 • 5 stars, debut, paranormal, review, series • 4 Comments

Book: Hearts At Stake (The Drake Chronicles) by Alyxandra Harvey

Release date: December 22, 2009

Publisher: Walker Books

From: Publisher

Summary:
On Solange’s sixteenth birthday, she is going to wake up dead. As if that’s not bad enough, she also has to outwit her seven overprotective older brothers, avoid the politics involved with being the only daughter born to an ancient vampire dynasty, and elude Kieran Black—agent of an anti-vampire league who is searching for his father’s killer and is intent on staking Solange and her entire family.

Luckily she has her own secret weapon—her human best friend Lucy—who is willing to defend Solange’s right to a normal life, whether she’s being smothered by her well-intentioned brothers or abducted by a power-hungry queen. Two unlikely alliances are formed in a race to save Solange’s eternal life—Lucy and Solange’s brother Nicholas, and Solange and Kieran Black—in a dual romance that is guaranteed to jump start any romance-lover’s heart.

Even fans of the genre who’ve seen it all will find a fresh read with kick-butt characters and family dynamics that ring true for all brothers and sisters—vampire or otherwise.

*****

Alyxandra Harvery’s Drake Chronicles is going to be a great new vampire series. I can already tell that it’s going to be popular with any paranormal fans. I don’t usually like vampire books but this is one that I will make an exception for.

Hearts At Stake is the story of the youngest Drake, Solange. She is also the only vampire girl to be born in the past 800 years. Not only does that cause some worries about her bloodchange, it also causes some worries with the current vampire queen. It makes for quite the birthday celebration.

The book is actually told from both Solange’s point-of-view and her human best friend Lucy’s. Lucy is human but she had been friends with the Drake family since she was little. She is a kick butt teenager who is not afraid to fight for Solange’s safety, even when it causes some problems with Solange’s 7 older brothers. Lucy even seems to like causing problems with one certain brother.

The plot of Hearts At Stake is a little different than most recent vampire books. It wasn’t nearly as cheesy as some of the books that have been popular lately. I liked that it was a more unique story about vampires that I wasn’t able to predict from the very first page. =]

There were a ton of characters in Hearts At Stake but it wasn’t overwhelming. All the members of the Drake family were great. All of the brothers had unique personalities but they all shared one thing: they were very protective of their little sister. It was the same with their parents. I loved them all.

Overall, Hearts At Stake was a very enjoyable read. It was full of humor, romance, intrigue, and some awesome fight scenes! If you are a fan of the vampire genre then add this one to your list.

Writing: 9/10

Characters: 9/10

Plot: 10/10

Ending: 9/10

Originality: 9/10

Overall: 46/50=A-

Cover: 9/10=A-

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