Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey

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Alyxandra Harvey's site
Series: Drake Chronicles #2
Review for previous books: My Love Lies Bleeding
Copy obtained: gift (family)
Rating: 3.5/5

'Conversation halted abruptly. They all turned to stare at us as if we were poisonous mushrooms suddenly growing in a manicured garden. They were pale and perfect, with gleaming teeth and hard eyes.'

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

I really loved book one of this series, My Love Lies Bleeding (Hearts at Stake in the US), so despite this one being about different characters I was still really excited to read it. But I didn't end up enjoying it as much. Isabeau was met right at the end of My Love Lies Bleeding and takes center stage here. Like book 1 it's written with two different points of view, one being Isabeau, and the other Logan Drake. I loved all of Logan's POV, I really enjoyed getting to know him better. And when Isabeau's POV was in the present, I really enjoyed her as well.

But part of the story is Isabeau's past. There I had trouble. I have no problem admitting to the fact that I'm not a big historical fan, in fact it's something I rarely read. I don't think there was anything wrong with the writing of those past sections, or that they were particularly slow. They were fairly important to the overall plot, but I found them slow reading and they didn't really hold my interest. There was the odd good moment in them, but mostly I found myself wanting to get back to the present time and what was actually going on for Isabeau and Logan.

Aside from that, I did enjoy the story. I liked Isabeau and I found her to be a well drawn character, as was Logan. They certainly had chemistry together and I liked seeing the developments and changes through both of them as the story unfolded. But I think I was looking for more of Lucy's craziness (My Love Lies Bleeding) rather than the more centered, focused, quieter Isabeau. That didn't help my enjoyment of the book and it did take me a little while to warm to Isabeau and really like the story.

Plot wise it develops nicely, involving Isabeau's thirst for revenge while continuing the issues the Drake's have been facing, namely Solange being a target for the other powerful vampires around. I liked getting to see some of the characters through different eyes as well, noticing things that Lucy and Solange (narrators of My Love Lies Bleeding) didn't show. Overall I still liked this book, particularly Logan's parts and towards the end where things got a lot more intense, but I think a lot more of book 1. I'm sure there are plenty who think the opposite though. This one just didn't fully work for me. Really looking forward to book 3 and the rest of the series though!