My Love Lies Bleeding (The Drake Chronicles) by Alyxandra Harvey

My Love Lies Bleeding is the first in The Drake Chronicle series. It tells the story of Solange, who is the only female vampire ever born, and her best friend Lucy – a human. Solange is approaching her sixteen birthday, and with that her transformation into a vampire. As the only female vampire born, not initiated, Solange is in great danger from all the other vampires, despite the efforts of her family, the Drakes. Her family includes seven sexy brothers, her strong parents and several other relatives. One brother in particular, Nicholas, is the romantic focus of this story for Lucy.

This novel changes perspective between Solange and Lucy, as the danger creeps ever closer and lives are hung in the balance. It is the characters in this novel that make it such a good read. Lucy is just… well, normal. She is funny, slightly weird, with a refreshing personality, and her relationship with Nicholas, Solange and the whole Drake family is brilliant. Solange’s mum is another favourite character of mine, because she is so fierce and dedicated to her family. 

The novel is short and straight to the point; with only 256 pages, the action never stops, and you are thrown into the middle of it from the start. I laughed, nearly cried, wanted to join in with the Drake’s training – it is a quick read that will make you want more.

This novel is a must read for all the fantasy lovers out there. I say fantasy, instead of vampires, because it is such a unique take that it doesn’t compare to the others. The book and series is refreshing. The rest of the series (four books so far, but more on the way) follow different Drake brothers through their adventures, with each one getting more exciting. I personally prefer this first book to the rest, purely because you hear from Lucy’s perspective.

The Lucky One

You have probably heard of the new film release called The Lucky One. Yes, the one with Zac Efron. This is based on the book by Nicholas Sparks (same title). If you haven’t watched the film yet, start reading the book version now! If you have watched the film already, read the book! Even if you didn’t like the film, give the book a go as it is definitely worth the read.

I haven’t seen the film yet, but I am desperate to watch it as I loved the book. The film versions of Nicholas Sparks’ other novels have been successful and stuck to the books, so hopefully this will be like reading the book in two hours. I recommend reading the book first though! No film can include all the details of a book, so you will be missing out!

If you have watched the film version, please leave a comment saying what you thought of it!

I have previously posted a recommendation of Nicholas Sparks’ novels, which included The Lucky One. Here is what I said about it:

The Lucky One

This novel is about a man who, during the war, finds a photo of a beautiful girl. After the owner of the photo is not found he decides to hold on to it, and luckily too because it saves his life. The girl is his lucky charm, and he wants to say thank you. He goes on a search for this girl in the photo, and when he sees a “help wanted” sign where she works, he thinks this is the perfect way to repay her. As you can see through me recounting the story after so long, it does stick with you (as with all his novels), and is heart warming to read.

See the full post: http://refreshingreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/i-recommend-nicholas-sparks.html