After reading one vampire book I decided to keep to the theme and pick up another and boy am I glad I did. Hearts at Stake aka My Love Lies Bleeding was one action packed story that I couldn't just get enough of. Lucky me I have the next two books in the Drake Chronicles to keep me satisfied. Hearts at Stake is another vampire book with its own unique quality and history. There are the regular vampires who are made, a self proclaimed vampire queen and court, rogue vampires that answer to no one, and then you have the Drakes. One of the oldest families with the rare ability to have human children who turn on their 16th birthday. And even better is they now have the first daughter born who is supposed to fulfill a prophecy to take the crown, something Solange and the rest of the Drake family want nothing to do with, instead loving the solitude and peace from being exiled. Solange's birthday is right around the corner and ever hunter and vampire is coming out to try to get a piece of her, either to kill to keep the crown with Lady Natasha or to court to gain the Drake name and future vampire babies. With all the threats Solange is basically a prisoner in her own home and even her best friend, Lucy is finding it harder to cheer her up. Both girls were my favorite in the story. Lucy may be human but she has been trained just like all the other Drakes and she was always fearless. Solange showed much strength as well the closer it came to her birthday. You do meet each of the family including the 7 brothers but Nicholas was featured the most, being the most protective of both girls and slowly acting on feelings for Lucy.So much action happens even with most of the story taking place in one spot. A bounty has been set on all the Drakes drawing everyone out, putting Solange in more danger than ever. With the bloodchange comes weakness and fatigue so many times Solange was caught in the arms of a trap. There were so many good and bad guys and sides being crossed that you didn't know what was going to happen next. I actually thought this book could be much longer with the ending happening a lil more quickly than I liked. I'm not sure if the whole storyline continues into the next book or if we get a new story all together but I do hope to see plenty more of Solange, Lucy, Nicholas, and see more of the other brothers and family members of the Drakes. I can't even tell you how long I've had this book on my TBR list, and I wish I got to it sooner. I enjoyed getting to know the Drake family and their history. Its new and interesting and I loved the characters in the book. Solange right now is giving off scents that are making all these males want her. Well there will be none of that and right now she just needs to focus on her birthday coming, where she will become a full vampire. Things are going okay, except that Solange is giving off a scent that is attracting a lot of males and she does not enjoy this attention. Plus there is this prophecy and they all think its about her and Solange doesnt care for it, wether it is about her or not. She never wanted to be a princess or anything. She is just worried about making through the transition and thats it. As if being out isnt dangerous enough for Solange, it has gotten to the point where she can't leave her house. After Kieran got onto the property and caused a bunch of problems. Apparently someone broke the treaty and that isn't true. There is a bounty out for the family and Kieran wants to kill the one who killed his parent. Yup, all this just makes Solange's parents more cautions and doesn't want Solange out of the house. As the book goes on, you just get addicted and I couldn't put it down! I can't believe I waited so long to get to this book and will def be reading the next books soon. I give it 5 stars!
What do You think about Hearts At Stake (2009)?
Not a bad read. Glad to have finally gotten around to reading this.
—Alistya
