Alyxandra Harvey

Fun!

Packed full of starting situations that has unlikely heroes, feisty women hiding secrets, those with nothing left to lose, and some very bad villains.
I cheered for Lady Tessa Kilkenny and the man she’d come to be attached to, Roark Noble, Earl of Dartmoor—‘the Beast of Dartmoor.’
When Tessa’s dowry had been stolen by her cousin, the dastardly George Kilkenny, Viscount Raleigh, (whom Roark describes as a ‘right tosser’ and Tessa calls a ‘greedy rat b…… ’; when Tessa’s friend Deidre and her baby die abandoned in an alleyway due to the promises and then repudiation by Lord Tewksbury; well it’s no wonder Tessa lost her temper and dunked the Lord’s head into a punch bowel at a ball. This earned Tessa the nomenclature of Punch Bowl Ophelia by the ton. She’s scorned and disparaged by them, cast out.
Tessa purchases the dilapidated Magpie House to keep a roof over the heads of the women who have been abused, abandoned, sent off by their families, or need shelter from gossip.
To make ends meet Tessa takes up highway robbery. Comes a moment in time when she steals the coach of a Lord, not just any Lord but the Earl of Dartmoor’s. Her excuse is valid. Her cousin Marigold is about to give birth in a lilac bush!
I cheered at the the tale of these two well matched persons. I cheered when the villains got their comeuppance. I cheered when the abused and frightened women stood up against the more powerful persons searching for them!
A marriage of convenience trope that definitely is no inconvenience at all! The attraction between the two is palpable and leaps off the page at you.
A somewhat raunchy and amusing read !(when not serious about the perils confronted by women of all classes at these times).

A Dragonblade Flame ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.… (mer)

I originally bought Haunting Violet when it first came out (way back in 2011... my gosh, it has been a long time). It ended up on my shelf and floated around for years, and I mean YEARS. I've been staring at this book for most of 2019 knowing full well I wanted to read it. Buuuuut... I know Alyxandra Harvey is one of my favourite authors, so I figured I'd have to find a time to sit down and binge read the whole darn book. And I did!

I finally picked this book up, knowing full well I'd love it. I have a special place in my heart for Alyxandra Harvey. Her Drake chronicles/series was one of the original series that got me into my crazy reading habit. I fell in love with Quinn and Solange and all of their wacky family and friends. So, it's only fitting that I continue to fall in love with Alyxandra's books (they are just a little harder to come across now - there's too many books to read). It's especially harder since the book store that introduced me to her (and pimped her books out BIG TIME) went out of business around 2012. So, there's that.

Anywho - Haunting Violet. This book is a lovely stand alone novel that really should be a series. Violet lives in the past (I want to say Renaissance-esque era. Back when ladies wore corsets, gloves and had to be married off) and with a Mother who fakes seances. Then, suddenly, one day Violet starts seeing ghosts! A lovely, young, ghost lady appears out of nowhere and leads Violet to become a sleuth. Someone has murdered this girl, and Violet will find out too! Along the way we meet her friend Elizabeth, her love interest Collin, her other love interest Xavier, the dead girl's living twin and many other suspicious characters. Xavier chases after Violet's hand in marriage, Collin also tries to woo her despite not being from an esteemed family and it's your typical 2011/2012 young adult novel (in my humble opinion).

Side note: Violet's mother is a complete psychopath. I've seen other reviewers relate her to Mother Gothel and OMG yes. She's absolutely evil and nuts. I absolutely hate books with mothers like that, but I'm sure women like that exist. She infuriated me! Yet there's no epic payoff for her (there kind of is, but not enough if you ask me!).

These sort of books are my FAVOURITES. There's lots of tropes - love triangle, best friend turned romance, murder mystery, and exciting descriptions of locations and outfits. The book was a little predictable, but I also read WAY to many murder mysteries and young adult novels for my own good.

The writing style is what kept me hooked. Alyxandra's writing style is fast paced, descriptive and enchanting. I felt myself getting lost and addicted to her words, and I hardly noticed the time flying by. Suddenly a 300 page book was done! It was slightly annoying since I do love a good Alyxandra Harvey book.

My biggest negative for this book is how it was presented on the web. Everywhere says this book is apart of a series, but I have never seen a sequel. I'm assuming it has something to do with the publishers, which is a real shame. I'd love to see this book turn into a series because it was enchanting! I'd like to see more crazy heists and murder mysteries set in the past. Collin and Violet are also too darn cute to not continue!

Overall, this is another lovely YA to add to your shelf. Necromancy, ghosts, paranormal, romance and drama flood the pages (pun intended... there's a drowning in the book, FYI). The book is light, easy to read, fast paced and marvelous! It's also a PG rated book, so if you're looking for a good novel to start your pre-teens or teens in, this book could be it!

Five out of five stars! Give me more Alyxandra Harvey STAT!
… (mer)

Alyxandra Harvey has a hit with the Drake Chronicles.

Bleeding Hearts is the fourth novel in the Drake Chronicles (one of my many vampire-based book obsessions). Each book follows one of the Drake children and their adventures and romances. Each book seems to get better compared to the last - in character development, plot and story lines and the romances. It was really nice to see Alyxandra Harvey grow with each book that came out. Knowing that this series came to an end was truly heart breaking, even if this series came to a perfect end.

This book changes point of views throughout, which can be distracting if you aren't paying attention but I think it adds more to this novel. I liked seeing the different angles of the plot from each of the characters!

This wasn't my favourite book in the series (in fact, it was my least favourite) but it was still an excellent addition. Everyone has their favourite character (*cough* Quinn *cough*) and Conor and Christabel just weren't my favourite. They are still funny, fantastic and nerdy characters in this star line-up cast of characters and their story is absolutely delightful! They just don't measure up in my eyes to some of the others.

There are many nerdy references in here, and that touched my nerdy heart. It's always fun when you can actually understand the references - Star Wars, Firefly, etc.

Overall, this book is a recommended read from me. It's a cute, romantic vampire novel in an absolutely adorable series that I was and am still obsessed with. Hopefully in the near future I pick up Alyxandra's new books!

Five out of five stars.… (mer)

Thank you, NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing, for the chance to read and review the ARC for The Duchess Games by Alyxandra Harvey!

I'm so happy to have been introduced to this author! The book was fun, fast-paced, and all the characters were likable! While we can sort of tell who the next book will be about, I honestly won't say no to reading a part two with any of the other characters.

The chemistry between Callum and Cat was electric and kept me hooked from the start. I enjoyed their tension-filled encounters, filled with witty banter and hidden desires. The author did a fantastic job of building their relationship.

You don't get a lot of Regency romance novels with so many animals and so many badly behaved animals at that! I'm trying to understand why because Sir Bartholomew and Percival were incredible! Or maybe that's because I like pets with a lot of personality i.e. will keep you in line!

I wish we had more details on Callum and Cat from when they were younger; that would have added a lot to the book. And I would have liked to know more about Cat and Viola's family. They don't exactly speak like their father was a fisherman and adding something about their family would have helped me really get into the book!

Even then, I leave this book with 4 stars and a promise to keep an eye out for the books in this series!… (mer)