Hearts at Stake {book review} * * * 3/4

Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey

(Also by the title My Love Lies Bleeding)

- YA, paranormal, romance -

reviewed by Tara SG

purchased eBook via Amazon.com

Book Order (Drake Chronicles)

1. Hearts at Stake * * * 3/4
2. Blood Feud
3. Out for Blood (Dec 21, 2010)
4. Untitled (Nov 2011)

Links

Author’s Website : www.alyxandraharvey.com

Amazon : hardcover / paperback ($4.00) / eBook ($7.79)

Add To Your GoodReads TBR List

This book in 6 words:

captivating YA romance – multiple unanswered questions

Why did I read this? And am I glad I did?

This is a series I have heard about for a while and just didn’t get around to reading (I feel like I say this A LOT). I’m glad I read it. It was the perfect escapist light YA I was looking for. The romance was sweet and at least one of the couples was believable. The story was a unique twist on vampires and the action was well-paced. I felt like there were a few little things I wanted answered that weren’t important to the overall story (I’m thinking these will be brought up in later books).

I’ll be reading the rest of the series.

I’ve read and will be reviewing the second book soon, but wanted to add that it seems like the future books are little less light and the action was kicked up a notch (which I liked).

Brief 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.

Lucy 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.

- via author’s website

Plot/Pacing/Writing Style

The story had me hooked from the first few pages and while I had to put it down for a few hours for work I picked it up and finished it as soon as I got home. I thought the mystery was a little predictable, but there was enough going on that you weren’t bored.

The switching of POVs between Solange and Lucy was well-done. I felt like we got a better understanding of the story without it being confusing.

Characters

The characters were my favorite part of this story. Well, Lucy and Nicholas were at least. Lucy is hilarious. I really enjoyed her sense of humor and her loyalty to the Drake family. Nicholas was older-brother-annoying and sweetly protective. I loved watching them argue and even more so loved watching them realize how much they liked each other. Because they had known each other for so long their relationship felt believable and I really, really hope to see more of them in the future.

Solange wasn’t terrible. I liked her and deeply felt sorry for her situation. And while Kieran wasn’t bad either, I felt like they fell in “love” WAY too fast. As in barely spent a few days together. I’m still looking forward to seeing more of them in the future.

Recommendations

If you enjoy paranormal YA, then I would recommend this series. If you don’t read a lot of YA, then this might not be the series for you.