Hearts at Stake (Drake Chronicles, Book 1) (edition 2009)

Publishers Weekly
Harvey's debut, launching the Drake Chronicles, is a refreshing take on the familiar teenage vampire drama. Solange Drake, the first girl to be born of vampire parents in 900-odd years, has led a mostly normal life. But as Solange's 16th birthday nears, so does the fulfillment of her genetic destiny: biological transformation into a vampire. And not just any vampire, but a long-prophesized queen. Though Solange is more interested in being a normal teenager with her best friend, Lucy (the girls alternately provide the story's narration), the ruling vampire queen and a human council of vampire hunters feel otherwise. A series of attacks on the Drake family breaks long-established peace treaties and exposes a hidden web of love, hate, and politics. Harvey builds an engaging world of vampire cultures balanced with a smart mix of darkness and humor (“Everyone basically thought of me as a vampire broodmare, meant to give birth to lots of little royal vampire babies,” Solange observes). Though the Romeo-esque enemy love interest for Solange is predictable, an emphasis on family and friendship sets this story apart. Ages 12–up ( )

Fun, quick read. I don't know what it was about the romance between Lucy & Nicholaus, but I found it totally addicting! Some of the vampire history/lore could have been developed better. ( )

This book was lot of fun to read and I can already tell it's a series that will be at the top of my fave list. The characters are diverse and interesting, the plot was quickly paced, full of action, romance and humor to lighten up the darker moments.
The story is told in alternating POV's between Solange, a living vampire and her best friend Lucy, who has grown up knowing the Drake family secrets and is just as much a part of the family. Both girls offer unique views to the story and this is one time when I really enjoyed reading from two perspectives.
The characters each get enough face time for you to get a vibe for who they are and where they stand in the story but without and an actual listing of their traits. Harvey seems to do that with everything, she slides the information in so subtly that everything maintains a natural flow. She doesn't break off into rants of background and character building it's just there.
The mythology is original, and an awesome spin on vampires I haven't seen. The Drake family even have their own history different from most other vampire clans in the story. Basically this book was flippin amazing. I did some digging and found the series is set for 6 books, Yay! So bring on the Drake brothers because I am in love ;) ( )

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 ( )

HEARTS AT STAKE, by Alyxandra Harvey, was a fresh and modern retelling of the story of Snow White, but with a *fang*tastic twist. This dual narrator book tells the story of Solage and her change into a vampire along with her best-human-friend, Lucy.

This book was truly a great read. Harvey created a new history of vampires that was interesting and captivating. I liked reading this book with two narrators because they were totally different. Although most of the time I preferred to read Lucy's chapters versus Solage's. Lucy was fiesty, cheeky, and quite enjoyable to read. Plus there was the added benefit of the blooming romance between her and Nicholas. Their passionate outbursts to each other only made their sweet moments more swoon-worthy. Solage was a bit whiney at times and her changing did nothing to improve her unremarkable personality. But I did like the whole damsel-in-distress circumstance with the gorgeous and mysterious Kieran Black.

I highly enjoyed the background that Harvey created for these characters. She was very in-depth, although sometimes too much so. I found myself having to flip back and forth to distinguish the different types of vampires apart. But other than that I liked reading about the Drakes and their ancestry.

This book stands apart from other young-adult vampire books. The new lineage and history of these vampires living together and fighting humans will definitely sink its teeth into you. ( )