Today we hear from new Bookbabbler Pamela…

Bleeding Hearts (The Drake Chronicles) by Alyxandra Harvey 

Lucy’s cousin Christabel has come to live in Violet Hill, and adjusting to the difference between life in a small mountain town and her home in the city is difficult. The strict curfew that Lucy’s parents enforce is hard to respect. Surely something really dangerous couldn’t possibly happen in this tiny town. But Christabel starts to notice some mysterious happenings, and it seems like Lucy, her boyfriend Nicholas and his brother Connor are all in on a secret that Christabel doesn’t understand – one that seems deadly serious. Although she won’t admit it, Christabel would love to be in on any secret with Connor Drake. When Christabel is kidnapped by the ruthless Hel-Blar vampires, Lucy and Connor finally fill her in on all the undead drama. Together, they must find a way to stamp out the Hel-Blar for good.

Bleeding Hearts was an exciting, full of action, hilarious and totally swoon-worthy read.

The story follows Lucy Hamilton and her involvement with the charismatic and drop-dead-gorgeous Drake brothers. Best friend to their sister, Solange, and girlfriend to Nicholas, Lucy is the ultimate insider to all things Drake. Or at least she used to be. Since Solange’s change, Lucy has been feeling more and more left out. Good thing for her Nicholas is a heck of a good distraction.

When Lucy’s cousin, Christabel, comes to town, Lucy tries to protect her from the things that go bump in the night in Violet Hill. It isn’t long before Christabel would like to bump into Connor Drake. Mistaken for Lucy, Christabel is kidnapped and thrown into a political war between the vampires. Good thing for Christabel, she has a good-looking Drake familiar with her scent.

I absolutely loved Bleeding Hearts. It was laugh-out-loud funny, with the banter (especially Lucy’s) flying fast and fierce. The action was intense, plenty of fight scenes to increase the tension. Lucy and Nicholas’s, and also Connor and Christabel’s romance, was a perfect contrast for all the fighting and staking – beautiful interludes that were tender and sweet. And hot.

Bleeding Hearts was an awesome instalment in the Drake novels, but also read easily as a standalone novel. One thing is for certain, I can’t wait for the next one.

Full stars for this one.

Thanks, Pamela, and thanks to Bloomsbury Children’s Books for sending us a copy to review. Out at the start of October, pre order it here now for an early discount…

And again from Anna…

Blood Feud – Alyxandra Harvey

It has been centuries since Isabeau St. Croix survived the French Revolution. Now she’s made her way back to the living and must face the ultimate test by confronting the evil British lord who turned her into a vampire and left her buried for two hundred years. That’s if she can control her affection for Logan Drake, a vampire whose bite is as sweet as the revenge she seeks…

I enjoyed this book although I did have a few issues with it. It’s not as exciting or gripping as My Love Lies Bleeding and it took me quite a lot longer to read. My Love Lies Bleeding was new and had a sort of sparkle. I felt this magic was sort of missing in its sequel. It was still a fun read but it didn’t have that same punch that I anticipated, having read the previous story.

I do love Harvey’s writing style though and this was certainly a plus. She has a style that is lovely to read even if the content isn’t what I would associate with her best. I felt there were too many characters and they weren’t introduced properly as they were in the previous story. I prefer to have fewer characters that I can get to know well, but perhaps that’s just me.

Nevertheless I do think that Blood Feud had some superb things to offer and as a fan of historical books, I liked that Harvey had written in historical sections relating to Isabeau’s human life. This really did interest me and was probably what I liked most about the novel. I also liked how there were new protagonists as even though I really liked Lucy and Solange (protagonists in My Love Lies Bleeding), it was good to get alternative perspectives.

Overall I did enjoy the book, it wasn’t what I expected and maybe I expected too much but if you have read My Love Lies Bleeding it’s probably worth a read. I’ll definitely be reading Out for Blood though as I’m sure Harvey has more to give. 6/10

Thanks, Anna, and thanks again to Bloomsbury for the review copy. The next book in the Drake Chronicles is Out for Blood, out November, and we’ll be bringing you our review of it soon..

Today we hear from Bookbabbler Anna..

My Love Lies Bleeding – Alyxandra Harvey

The Drakes are rather different to your usual neighbours. 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.

My Love Lies Bleeding tells the tale of a family of vampires and the youngest of the family, Solange, on her journey towards her change to a full vampire which will take place on her sixteenth birthday. The chapters alternate between Solange and her best friend, a human, Lucy who shares the Drake family’s struggles as they are shunned by certain people in their area. What is so important about Solange though is that she is the first female born vampire and as a result is prophesised to become Queen. The action arises due to this prophecy, with the current Queen, Natasha, not wanting to give up her crown. This provides drama as many are desperate to get rid of Solange so that Natasha can keep the title.

Even though the vampire genre isn’t normally my first pick when I walk into a bookshop, when Bookbabblers recommended this book to me I knew I had to give it a try. I’m so glad I did. It’s gripping and the pages flew by. The mix of action, danger and romance is perfectly balanced and although at times I felt anxious for the characters I trusted Alyxandra Harvey that I would be satisfied with the ending. I was.

There are a lot of characters in this book but surprisingly this didn’t matter too much. Harvey introduced them carefully and I knew who she was referring to most of the time, be it Helena (the mother of the Drake children) or Kieran (a vampire slayer on the hunt for his father’s killer).  I was also a big fan of Nicholas, Solange’s brother, who ends up being perhaps more than just a friend to Lucy as they search together to find Solange.

One slight problem with it I felt was the two groups Helios-Ra and Hel-Blar. One of these is a group fighting vampires (HR) and the other being a group of erratic and dangerous vampires (HB). I felt the names were a tad too similar and not explained well enough to avoid confusion.

There has been some negativity towards this book and I don’t really agree with it. Maybe that’s because I’ve not explored the genre as fully as others may have but if you do like Historical fiction with vampires and a touch of romance try it. I wasn’t disappointed. 8/10

Thanks, Anna, and thanks to Bloomsbury Children’s books for sending us a copy. Look out for our review of the next book in the Drake Chronicles, Blood Feud, later today.