Solange and Lucy are the best of friends. The two couldn’t be more different. Solange, well…she is the only girl in a long line of born vampires. Her 16th birthday is approaching and causing all types of trouble for the vampire community. She is part of a prophesy that says a female born Drake will become queen. Lady Natasha, the currently reigning queen isn’t too happy about it. To make a bad situation worse, she is putto off pheromones that make other male vampires fall in love with her. All of the increased vampire activity has attracted the Helios-Ra, a human order of vampire slayers. Kieran, a new member of Helios seems to have taken a special interest in Solange and her family seeing as how they are accused of killing his father. Despite their differences there seems to be a strange camaraderie between him and Solange.
Lucy is the kick butt, rebellious, only child of hippies. Lucy finds the whole vampire world normal, having practically grown up with the Drake family. The family even jokes that she might make a better vampire than Solange. Solange is her best friend and she loves her to death. Lucy will do anything to protect her even if it means teaming up with Solange’s pesky, annoying, youngest brother Nick. Lucy and Nick will have the time of their lives keeping Solange safe until her vampiric blood change.
Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey is book 1 in The Drake Chronicles. The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Solange and Lucy. I’m normally not a fan of this, but the author clearly labels the sections with whose viewpoint is. The transitions flow smoothly and really work for the book. I have to admit, I preferred Lucy’s point of view and story over Solange’s. I just found her spunky irreverent attitude more entertaining. The chemistry between her and Nick was also more developed. The book overall was really good. I could have done with a few more pages at the end to flesh everything out. I liked Lucy and Solange so much that I was a little disappointed to learn that the other books in The Drake chronicles follow the other members of the Drake family. This was a cute, short, hilarious, and romantic read. I really enjoyed it. I give this book a 4 STAR rating. ***Hearts at Stake Extras***
Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey is book 1 of The Drake Chronicles, contains approximately 256 pages, and was published on December 22, 2009 by Walker Books for Young Readers. The next books available are Blood Feud (book 2) and Out For Blood (book 3) are now available.
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