ARC Review: Love Me, Love Me Not by Alyxandra Harvey

Title: Love Me, Love Me Not
Author: Alyxandra Harvey
Publication: February 22nd 2016 by Entangled: Crave
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo
Rating: 3/5

  

Dating isn’t easy when you’re in the middle of a blood feud.

Anastasia Vila’s family can turn into swans, but just once she’d like them to turn into responsible adults.

After hundreds of years, they still cling to the blood feud with the Renard family. No one remembers how it started in the first place—but foxes and swans just don’t get along.

Vilas can only transform into their swan shape after they have fallen in love for the first time, but between balancing schoolwork, family obligations, and the escalating blood feud, Ana’s got no time for love. The only thing keeping her sane is her best friend, Pierce Kent.

But when Pierce kisses Ana, everything changes.

Is what Pierce feels for her real, or a byproduct of her magic? Can she risk everything for her best friend? And when the family feud spirals out of control, Ana must stop the fight before it takes away everything she loves.

Including, maybe...Pierce.

This Entangled Teen Crave book contains language, violence, and lots of kissing. Warning: it might induce strong feelings of undeniable attraction for your best friend.

Anastasia 'Ana' Vila comes from a family that can turn into swans. Before a Vila can turn into a swan they have to fall in love first, which is Ana's main problem. Between school, obligations to her family and the feud they have with the Renard family, how can she find the time to fall in love? Luckily Ana's best friend Pierce is around. Only Pierce is in love with her, which she has been pretty much blind to, until Pierce kisses her and everything changes.

I really did like Love Me, Love Me Not. As I said before the characters were all great. The main characters especially were great to read about. Pierce was my favorite, mainly because he's a big reader and I liked that for a change, the guy was in love with the girl and not the other way around. 

This story is a Romeo and Juliet retelling. There are lots of hints to Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare and what not. So I had expected Pierce to be from the Renard family, except he wasn't. So, I don't know... maybe that's part of the reason why I didn't fully connect to the story. Also, the whole magic and swans things confused me a little and was glossed over too fast. I also wanted to learn more about the Renards.

Luckily, I've always liked Alyxandra Harvey's books. She has real talent to write strong characters, especially the females. I've also always liked how she writes her male characters as well. So it's not surprising that it was the same with this book. 

Love Me, Love Me Not was definitely a story that I liked. The characters were my favorite thing in it — they were all really great. I just couldn't feel a real connection to the story in general. 

       About the Author:

       Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Alyxandra Harvey lives in a stone Victorian house in Ontario, Canada with a few resident ghosts who are allowed to stay as long as they keep company manners. She loves medieval dresses, used to be able to recite all of The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson, and has been accused, more than once, of being born in the wrong century. She believes this to be mostly true except for the fact that she really likes running water, women’s rights, and ice cream.

Among her favourite books are ‘The Wood Wife’ by Terri Windling, ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, and of course, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennet is her hero because she’s smart and sassy, and Mr. Darcy is, well, yum.

Aside from the ghosts, she also lives with husband and their dogs. She likes cinnamon lattes, tattoos and books.

Release Day Book Blitz: Red by Alyxandra Harvey + Giveaway (INT)

Click here to see my review of Red

Red by Alyxandra Harvey 

Release Date: March 2015

Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Bad girls burn hot…

Red is the color of Kia Alcott's hair.
It's her temper, which blazes hot and always gets Kia into way too much trouble.
And it's the color of fire. Fires that Kia can start…just by thinking about them.

When her latest “episode” gets her kicked out of school, Kia is shipped off to her grandmother, who works for the wealthy Blackwoods. It's an estate shrouded in secrets, surrounded by rules, and presided over by a family that is far from normal…including the gorgeous and insolent Ethan Blackwood.

Ethan knows far more about the dangers of the forest surrounding the estate than Kia can ever imagine. For this forest has teeth, and Ethan is charged with protecting the outside world from its vicious mysteries.

But inside, even the most vibrant shade of red doesn't stand a chance against the dark secrets of the Blackwood family… 

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Excerpt:

The tower room had an iron gate, like something out of a horror movie. It was open at the moment, but I could see the impressive locks even from here.

I wondered what could possibly need to be contained that carefully. Besides me. A tiny shiver danced over the back of my neck as I peered inside.

Spears with decorative beaded bands, arrows, and swords, were all lined up with military, rather than museum, precision. And a lot of stuffed animal heads. There was a stag with chunks of turquoise stones for eyes, a crane standing on a log, a white bull with gold horns, and a horse head with a horn attached to its forehead to make it look like a unicorn.

Rich people were weird.

I was stepping inside when a hand closed tightly around my arm, jerking me to a stop. I shouted something that was definitely not ladylike enough for this house. My pulse thumped in my ears.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” the person said.

He flexed his hands suddenly, the way people do when they’ve touched something too hot. He wore a silver ring on his thumb. I tried to concentrate on that instead of the spark of panic smoldering in my belly. Burning down a private museum seemed like a really bad introduction to my new life.

Had he seen the tiny spark that ate a hole in my sleeve? I rubbed it, making sure it wouldn’t flare up again. I wasn’t even sure if it was a new spark or a burn from an old one.

I’d learned I didn’t need kindling—, I was kindling.

My palms itched painfully. I shoved the guy to distract him from the heat coming off of me. “Who the hell are you?”

“Ethan,” he replied.

Ethan Blackwood. Of course. Way to make a first impression.

“You must be Abby’s granddaughter.” He was standing very close. And I’d just known he’d be gorgeous. I assumed he’d have better manners, though. Possibly no one else noticed with that ridiculously beautiful face. His hair was blond, his cheekbones deadly. He was lean and muscular, like someone who knew exactly what his body was capable of. And I was thinking way too much about this.

“Get out of here,” he said softly, intently. His mouth was distracting; it belonged to a villain in a movie full of secrets and temptation. “Now.”

I was suddenly embarrassed, as if he could read my mind. A little more aggressive misdirection couldn’t hurt. “Have you considered taking up yoga?” I asked with patently false sweetness. “You’re a little tense.”

“Just go,” he said. “You—”

“Ethan!” Holden Blackwood interrupted us, sounding shocked and annoyed. “Leave the poor girl alone.”

A muscle leapt in Ethan’s jaw as he clenched it. He didn’t look at his father, just kept staring at me. “Ethan!” Holden repeated, annoyance hardening to anger.

Ethan shoved past me so suddenly I toppled into the door frame. I heard his footsteps stomp down the hall and then the slamming of his bedroom door. “I apologize for my son.” Holden sighed. “I fear I’ve spoiled him.”

Yeah, I couldn’t exactly picture Ethan with an after-school job. Speaking of which, I was going to have to get one as soon as possible. Abby wasn’t the type to give out an allowance, even if she’d been able to afford it. I shrugged awkwardly at Ethan’s dad. “It’s fine.”

“It certainly is not, but it’s gracious of you to say so.” I couldn’t think of a person more opposite to Abby than Holden Blackwood. Or more opposite to my dad, come to think of it. He screamed sophistication and wealth. The Alcotts just screamed. “Perhaps you’ll do him good, Kia.”

I nearly snorted. He smiled briefly. “Sorry,” I said, motioning to the trophy room before I opened my big mouth and told him I didn’t do miracles and his brat of a son was beyond my help.

About the Author

Alyxandra Harvey lives in a stone Victorian house in Ontario, Canada with a few resident ghosts who are allowed to stay as long as they keep company manners. She loves medieval dresses, used to be able to recite all of The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson, and has been accused, more than once, of being born in the wrong century. She believes this to be mostly true except for the fact that she really likes running water, women’s rights, and ice cream.

Among her favourite books are ‘The Wood Wife’ by Terri Windling, ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, and of course, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennet is her hero because she’s smart and sassy, and Mr. Darcy is, well, yum.

Aside from the ghosts, she also lives with husband and their dogs. She likes cinnamon lattes, tattoos and books.

Author Links:

   




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Review: Red by Alyxandra Harvey

Title: Red
Author: Alyxandra Harvey
Publication: March 10th 2015 by Entangled Teen
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal 
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
Rating: 4/5

 

Bad girls burn hot…

Red is the color of Kia Alcott's hair.
It's her temper, which blazes hot and always gets Kia into way too much trouble.
And it's the color of fire. Fires that Kia can start…just by thinking about them.
When her latest “episode” gets her kicked out of school, Kia is shipped off to her grandmother, who works for the wealthy Blackwoods. It's an estate shrouded in secrets, surrounded by rules, and presided over by a family that is far from normal…including the gorgeous and insolent Ethan Blackwood.

Ethan knows far more about the dangers of the forest surrounding the estate than Kia can ever imagine. For this forest has teeth, and Ethan is charged with protecting the outside world from its vicious mysteries.

But inside, even the most vibrant shade of red doesn't stand a chance against the dark secrets of the Blackwood family…

It's been two years since I read a book written by Alyxandra Harvey. I've always been a huge fan of hers but due to to many other books her books that I still have to read got put aside for a while. So I'm so glad I got to read this new book of hers because it reminded me of how much I adore her books. And I couldn't get over how good this book was. It might not quite be five stars but it's absolutely a solid four stars for me!

After Kia Alcott gets expelled from her school for starting a fire and burning her best friend, her father —not knowing his daughter did it with her mind by accident —sends Kia away to live with her grandmother who lives and works for the Blackwoods at a huge estate. The closer Kia gets to Ethan Blackwood the more freaky things start happening. It's then that Kia starts to unravel the secrets of the estate, the cabal that Ethan unwillingly is a part of and the surrounding woods. 

Alyxandra Harvey always has a knack for writing awesome female characters. Kia is no exception. She's snarky, fun to read about and wants to find out what's going on + she's a freaking firestarter. Can't get more badass than that! 

Ethan was also a great character to read about. Him and Kia have both alternating points of few. I must admit I wasn't into Ethan's POV right away. I mean, it was interesting to get inside his head and read about the world he grew up in but initially I just wanted to keep reading about Kia. But I got over that soon enough, the more I found out about him, his friend and the cabal.

A huge part of why I loved this book was that it had a lot of different supernatural creatures. It's kind of hard to say more about these particular creatures without giving too much away but they play a integral part in the story and they really fascinated me, even though what was done to them was really wrong.

The romance between Kia and Ethan was really well-written. There's definitely no insta-love whatsoever. At first Kia even thought Ethan was stuck-up because of his wealth and Ethan did pretend to not like her at first. But slowly they grew towards each other and I just thought it was a really sweet love that was blossoming even though both Kia as Ethan quite had some baggage. I think they were pretty perfect for each other. 

All in all, Red by Alyxandra Harvey was a fun and enjoyable read. It had humor, a lot of action, amusing characters and sweet romance. I also liked how the end was pretty well wrapped up. Certainly not a bad start for getting back to reading this author's book after two whole years.

Quotes:

She tilted her head, suddenly looking amused. "You're like Bruce Wayne." I blinked, confused. She blinked back. "That's just sad," she said when I didn't look any more enlightened. "Batman," she explained. "Millionaire hot guy by day, vigilante by night?" "You think I'm hot?"

"Shit, Ethan. You can't go alone."
I tossed her a cocky grin. "Relax, sweetheart, this is what I'm trained for."
She threw a snowball at my head. "Call me sweetheart again. I dare you."

About the Author:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Alyxandra Harvey lives in a stone Victorian house in Ontario, Canada with a few resident ghosts who are allowed to stay as long as they keep company manners. She loves medieval dresses, used to be able to recite all of The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson, and has been accused, more than once, of being born in the wrong century. She believes this to be mostly true except for the fact that she really likes running water, women’s rights, and ice cream.

Among her favourite books are ‘The Wood Wife’ by Terri Windling, ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, and of course, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennet is her hero because she’s smart and sassy, and Mr. Darcy is, well, yum.

Aside from the ghosts, she also lives with husband and their dogs. She likes cinnamon lattes, tattoos and books.

Review: Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey

Title: Blood Moon
Author: Alyxandra Harvey
Series: The Drake Chronicles #5
Publication: June 19th 2012 by MPS
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal Romance
Format: Paperback, 298 pages
Source: Purchase from The Book Depository
Cover Rating: 5/5
Content Rating: 3/5
First Sentence: "You tried to eat your boyfriend's face?"

~Synopsis~

When the vampire tribes convene for the rare Blood Moon ceremonies, Solange's fight with her feral nature, a mysterious stranger, and forbidden magic put all of the Drakes in terrible danger.
The Drake brothers have been raised knowing it is their responsibility to protect their younger sister at all cotsts. But when Nicholas is caught between saving his sister, Solange, or his girlfriend, Lucy, whom will he choose?

My thoughts:
Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey is the 5th book in Alyxandra Harvey's amazing vampire series, The Drake Chronicles. As always the book was cute, funny and full of nail biting danger.

The POVs of this instalment in the series were from Lucy, Solange, Nicholas and Kieran.
The book starts right after the cliffhanger we were forced to endure from Bleeding Hearts. (I really hate cliffhanger's I do. Evil things they are.) 
The vampire tribes are coming together for the blood moon ceremonies. Lucy is struggling to make her enrollment in the Helios-Ra high school working while still being able to see her boyfriend Nicholas and his family. Solange is fighting more than ever against her blood lust and fails miserably. Nicholas is facing his own issues with choosing between his sister and his girlfriend when he gets kidnapped. And Kieran is going true a rough patch when he and Solange break up. Adding the mysterious Constantine and the creepy voice in Solanges head and the book is full of turns and twist you don't really expect.
My favorite POV was Lucy's because as always she's so funny and never backs down from anything. I love her relationship with Nicholas. They are just so cute! Nicholas's POV I also loved. I love how he's so protective about Lucy and his family. He's also very brave in the book, especially when he was kidnapped. He never stopped fighting and even tried to stop the baddies from hurting others. It's no secret that I was never a huge fan of Solange. And in this book she's just plain scary. I know that it's all because of that voice in her head but really, she makes stupid decisions. And I just don't like her personally at all. Kieran is one of my favorite characters of the Helios-Ra hunters. I hate how Solange has hurt him and I do hope they make up at some point because they are good together. Kieran is what Solange needs.
When the voice in Solange's head or Viola how we come to know it, takes Solange over, (Which I had seen coming from miles away!) the shit really hit the fan. She's now queen instead of Solange's mother Helena and made Nicholas go all dark on us and bite Lucy! I have no idea what was happening and was just freaking out at the end. What a ending! 

I gave Blood Moon 3 stars but that doesn't mean it was a bad book. I just didn't like it as much as the other books in the series, which I all gave 5 stars. So it was a little disappointing for me personally. The thing I think pushed the book down was Solange and her weirdness. If it was only Lucy and Nicholas I would've probably loved it. Or you know a POV with Quinn. Because he's my favorite Drake brother. I want to know how he and Hunter are doing together. *sigh*
The thing I think saved the book from being only 2 stars is Alyxandra Harvey's wonderful writing and her ability to turn every book she writes into a cute, funny and nail biting, amazing story. I love all the Drake brothers from Sebastian to Nicholas. They're all so hot and cute and just amazing. Everyone must get to know them!
The Drake Chronicles is a must for readers who like an original twist on the vampire genre. 

Favorite Quotes:

With her long dark hair and green eyes, she was pretty as a doll. You know, the kind of doll that came to life at night to kill monsters.

“Oh Crap," Connor muttered. "She's going Darth Vader on us.”

Gotta love Connor. :') 

About the author:

Alyxandra Harvey lives in a stone Victorian house in Ontario, Canada
 with a few resident ghosts who are allowed to stay as long they keep company manners. She loves medieval dresses, used to be able to recite all of The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson, and has been accused, more than once, of being born in the wrong century. She believes this to be mostly true except for the fact that she really likes running water, women’s rights, and ice cream.

Among her favourite books are 'The Wood Wife' by terri Windling, 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte, and of course, 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennet is her hero because she’s smart and sassy, and Mr. Darcy is, well, yum. Aside from the ghosts, she also lives with three dogs and her husband.

Find Alyxandra on: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads

Also by Alyxandra Harvey:

• The Drake Chronicles: Hearts at Stake (or Love Lies Bleeding)
• The Drake Chronicles: Blood Feud
• The Drake Chronicles: Out for Blood
• The Drake Chronicles: Bleeding Hearts

• Ruling Passion, which uncludes Hearts at Stake, Blood Feud, and Out for Blood

• Haunting Violet
• Stolen Away

And the passion continues, with three original e-novellas featuring your favorite characters from the Drake Chronicles...

• Corsets and Crossbows
• A Killer First Date
• A Field Guide to Vampires: Annotated by Lucy Hamilton