Review: Stolen Away - Alyxandra Harvey

Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey, published by Bloomsbury on 5th January 2012

Goodreads synopsis:
For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed. Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won't comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds.

The only one who can break his stranglehold on the Faery court is his wife. . . Eloise's aunt Antonia. Using Eloise to lure Antonia, Strahan captures his wife, desperate to end the only threat to his reign. Now Eloise must become the rescuer. Together with her best friends Jo and Devin, she must forge alliances with other Fae, including a gorgeous protector named Lucas, and Strahan's mysterious son, Eldric—who may or may not betray them.

Review:

It’s official! Alyxandra Harvey can do it all!  After having successfully written about the world of vampires and ghosts, she’s now moved onto a new subject, faeries, weaving a captivating story of love and danger amidst the faerie realm.  I found myself totally immersed in ‘Stolen Away’ from the moment that Lucas appears on the scene with his sword by his side and kneels at the feet of the main protagonist Eloise.  He has vowed to protect her against the danger posed by Lord Strahan, the faerie king, who wants to use Eloise as a pawn in his battle to hold onto his crown.

There’s romance aplenty between Eloise and Lucas, but also some hot and sizzling moments between Eloise’s best-friend Jo and Eldric, the dark and handsome stranger that arrives on the scene to sweep Jo off her feet. I absolutely adored the relationship between the latter pairing as Eldric set my heart aflutter too.  Everyone loves a bad boy!  He’s quite an enigmatic figure and so at the beginning of the book it’s impossible to know whether or not he can be trusted but as his character is gradually developed we learn more about him and his own family history.  I loved the way that he seemed as drawn to Jo as she was to him, like a magnetic force which is out of their control and he always appeared just when she needed him. There are plenty of hot kisses between them and an undeniable spark in the air whenever they're together.  My only complaint was that I wanted to read more about them and I have my fingers firmly crossed that we may just see a sequel about them in the future. 

Eloise and Jo are joined by their other best friend Devin who is right there by their side throughout the events of the story.  Their friendship is rock solid and I liked the fact that even when they didn't necessarily agree with each others opinions or choices, they were always there to back each other up.   

I love the writing style of Alyxandra Harvey and the way she paints such vivid pictures of people and places that I always feel completely transported into the story.  'Stolen Away' is no exception with wonderful descriptions particularly of the fae, including Isadora, the no-nonsense and feisty flower fairy, as well as the wasp and hornet riding fae who manage to be both endearing and fierce at the same time.  There are also some fabulous passages conjuring up images of the realm of the fae which appears to be deeply magical as well as incredibly dangerous.

Harvey had me hook, line and sinker, captivating me completely with her tale of blossoming love amidst the world of the fae.  This is another brilliant book by my favourite YA Queen and I look forward to seeing what subject she'll turn her hand to next!