Blood Feud - Review

Blood Feud

By: Alyxandra Harvey

Published: July 1, 2010 by Walker Children's

269 pages

Source: Personal Kindle Library

(Goodreads / Amazon)

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

The clans are gathering for Helena's royal coronation as the next vampire queen, and new alliances are beginning to form now that the old rifts of Lady Natasha's reign have started to heal. But with a new common enemy, Leander Montmarte—a vicious leader who hopes to force Solange to marry him and usurp the power of the throne for himself—the clans must stand together to preserve the peace he threatens to destroy.

This second adventure in the Drake Chronicles—told from both Logan's and Isabeau's perspectives—has all the same butt-kicking action, heart-pounding romances and snarky humor that readers loved in Hearts at Stake, as well as exciting new revelations about the vampire dynasties to keep readers coming back for more.

As the first book in this series, book 2 is fun and entertaining and has a little bit of action too.  Being such a short book, its a fairly fast and easy read.  I did have a couple of dislikes.  I felt like the main characters, Logan and Isabeau, and their love story is rushed through and all of a sudden they fall for each other.  There is no real build up or deep connection to their affection to one another.  It wasn't enough to really pull me in and therefore took me longer to read than this short of a book should've taken.

Favorite quotes:

"...she had lived on a grand family estate in the countryside.  The house had marble floors and silk settees and dusty vineyards..." (this setting had me immediately picturing Pride & Prejudice and other books from that time frame - LOVE!)

"Manual labor was brutal on the wardrobe."

"A couple passed by, intertwined.  They paused, kissing passionately." ... "The man looked as if he was trying to eat that lady's face.  It didn't look comfortable at all.  He should eat some supper if he was that hungry."

"I might wear frock coats and recite poetry better than sports stats but I knew the rules: you fought, you survived."

"She was totally made for me."

"She was a little bit like a wild animal, untamed, unbroken, and as untethered as a hawk in the sky.  I wouldn't want her to be anything else."

"I can't exactly wave a magic wand over you.  I'm not Harry Potter."

"He was right.  Insufferable, but right."

"...I'd carried him around and let him hurt me over and over again." ..."And it was the only part of this whole mess...that I could control." (side bar: I related to this quote because we tend to do this when we feel wronged by someone.  We want to maintain control so we carry around the hate and anger, allowing that person who wronged us to continue to hurt us.  We think it hurts them in some way to hold on to that hate but in reality the other person doesn't think twice about it and all it does is make us bitter and eat us up."

"You are...Stubborn and secretive and independent to a fault, but precious."

I give this book 3 stars.