The Drakes and friends will be tested when an infestation of deadly vampires threatens Violet Hill Lucy’s cousin Christabel has come to live in Violet Hill, and adjusting to the difference between life in a small mountain town and her home in the city is difficult enough. The strict curfew that Lucy’s parents enforce is the worst part. Something really dangerous couldn’t possibly happen in this tiny town. But Christabel has noticed some mysterious happenings, and it seems like Lucy, her boyfriend Nicholas and his brother Connor are all in on a secret that Christabel doesn’t understand—one that seems deadly serious. Although she won’t admit it, Christabel would love to be in on any secret with Connor Drake. But when she is kidnapped by tthe ruthless Hel-Blar vampires, Christabel must cause more and more trouble in Violet Hill, Lucy and Connor finally fill Christabel in on all the undead drama. Together, they must find a way to stamp out the Hel-Blar for good.
Right from the start the Drake Chronicles have had a hold on me, there is something about the way Alyxandra can create a climax that rises and fades like the tide and is on going through out the books. I found this book, the forth in the series, slightly different to the others. For one it is mostly from the point of view outside of the Drake Family, yet there effect on the storyline and characters throughout is still apparent. As Lucy one of the main characters and Christabel another, Lucy's cousin, it allows a deeper connection for the reader with the character as they are 'normal' human beings, with human characteristics and behaviours. Further as being such a lover of books, and for many of you I'm sure this applies too, that I was able to relate to Christabel's character on a higher level because of her love for literature and how that shapes the kind of person she is. This absorbed me even more into the world of the Drake Chronicles and into the lives of those in Violet Hill.
I also found that Connor's character showing more in this book was great as it shows that even boys with a soft heart and love for intellectual things can be strong and charming. It shows that a girl can fall in love with what is inside of a guy rather than what they let show on the surface.
I found that Bleeding Hearts is less about romance than the others and more about action, but only slightly as there is a growing love there beneath the surface. At first these differences in the book threw me off, but the action drew me in, as a lover of action films books being able to provide that kind of thrill and the feeling of actually being there is a step better.
The problems that the all the characters have to face in the Drake Chronicles seems to be increasing with each book, so that they are not individual problems anymore but ones that involve the whole community of characters as a whole.
Finally, I'm just going to say I'm so glad I have the next addition of the Drake series on my shelf as the ending was one that made me gape at the page, it was something that ran in the shadows during the storyline and only jumps out at the very end with no real warning, the book has no ending but a dreadful beginning.
