“Never let a pixie kiss you. Ever.” This is the number one rule to remember when dealing with pixies.  Captivate by Carrie Jones picks up where Need ends, with Zara and her friends controlling the pixie population. But a sudden spike in the pixie population along with the appearance of a possible new pixie king make Zara question exactly what it is they are trying to accomplish by capturing the pixie population.

Born a half-pixie, Zara and her were boyfriend Nick have defeated the King of the Pixies who also happens to be Zara’s father.  Zara has turned her attention to patrolling with Nick and drafting a book on pixies with Devyn.  When things start spiraling out of control Zara is approached by Astley, a possible new pixie king who promises her that he can help her control the pixies and fix what has gone wrong.  Zara knows that you can’t trust a pixie but then the unthinkable happens and Zara has to decide whether trusting Astley is the only way to save her friends, but will it mean losing her humanity?

I read this book without having read the first one (which I definitely will do) and as a stand alone book it was great.  I do want to go back and read about how Nick and Zara met but this book was great to see their relationship progress, and to see it progress the way a teenage relationship should.  Zara’s heart and willingness to question why things are a certain way keeps the book intriguing as you discover along with Zara what they are doing by capturing the pixies.  One of my favorite scenes is where Zara kidnaps her father and drives him out into the middle of nowhere to question him, Zara’s attempt to be tough and strong while trying not to feel bad for him was a great example of how Zara feels torn between the different worlds she inhabits.  The world that Jones has created with Pixies and Weres is intriguing but the story left a lot of things open and I can’t wait to read the third book Entice when it comes out in December.

Read excerpts from both books at Need Pixies.com

Rating: 1

Title: Captivate

Author: Carrie Jones

Format: Hardbound, Paperback, ebook, audio

Page Nos.: 288

ISBN: 978-1599903422

Publisher: Bloomsbury Teen

Release Date: January 2010

Available for purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Reviewer: Jessica

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.

Can love triumph over revenge when the revenge is sought because your vampire sire left you buried in a coffin for over two hundred years? Blood Fued by Alyxandra Harvey is the second book in The Drake Chronicles series and continues where Hearts at Stake left off.  With the death of the vampire queen, things at the vampire court are a bit tense as new alliances are being formed. Isabeau St. Croix has been sent to the court as the representative of the Hounds, a group of vampires viewed by most of the court as being wild and superstitious.  Isabeau, in addition to representing the Hounds, has her own agenda with a plan to seek revenge against Greyhaven, Montmarte’s top lieutenant.

Logan Drake, one of the sons of the new vampire queen, has been assigned as Isabeau’s guide at the court.  As Isabeau and Logan begin to get to know each other, the Court is attacked and they must help each other out against the common enemy.

Isabeau is originally from the French Court during the French Revolution, having survived the horrors of seeing her parents decapitated by the guillotine, she travels to London to be with her family where she is transformed into a vampire by a guest at a ball.  Isabeau was thought to be dead so her family buried her and her sire left her alone in her coffin, where she remained for over 200 years until the Hounds’ hounds scented her and dug her out.  Isabeau is a strong character, not only being trapped in the coffin, but having to quickly adjust to life in the 21st Century.  As the Court is attacked, Logan and Isabeau are a good balance for each other, Logan’s suave charm with Isabeau’s wild attitude as a member of a  tribal vampire group.  It was nice to be able to see Lucy and Solange from the first book for a little bit, and I enjoyed this continuation of the series and of the Drake brothers.

The first book in the series was part of the Pajama Chat Readers online book club and you can listen to me discuss the book with two other fabulous ladies here.

The Drake Chronicles Website covers all things Drake related.

The Drake Chronicles Reading Order:

Hearts at Stake

Blood Fued

Rating:

Title: Blood Feud

Author: Alyxandra Harvey

Format: Paperback

Page Nos.: 272

ISBN: 978-0-8027-2096-2

Publisher: Bloomsbury Teens

Release Date: July 2010

Available for purchase: Bookstores, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble

Reviewer: Jessica

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.

Today only you can download a free copy of Alyxandra Harvey’s My Love Lies Bleeding at Bloomsbury here.  My Love Lies Bleeding was the England title for American titled Hearts at Stake.

I was a panelist discussing the first book in the series Hearts at Stake with the Pajama Chat Readers. You can listen to our conversation about this great book here.

From the Publisher:

The Drakes are rather different to your usual neighbours. They are vampires and some of the members of the family date back to the twelfth century. One of the children, Solange, is the only born female vampire known and, as such, she poses a direct threat to the vampire queen.

Her best friend Lucy is human, and when Solange is kidnapped Lucy and Solange’s brother, Nicholas, set out to save her. Lucy soon discovers that she would like to be more than just friends with Nicholas. But how does one go about dating a vampire?

Meanwhile, Solange finds an unlikely ally in Kieran, a vampire slayer on the hunt for his father’s killer . . .