Review Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

384 pages
Published in 2010
by Beth Fantaskey

"Imagine my shock at finding my future wife-my 'princess'-knee-deep in animal waste, barking at me from across a barn and then attempting to stab me in the foot with a farm implement, like a demented stable hand"




SYNOPSIS:


Jessica is a typical teenager living in a small town. This high school senior’s life gets turned upside down when her parents host an exchange student Lucius Vladescu. Jessica quickly realizes something is off with her darkly hot houseguest when he starts claiming that she is actually a Romanian vampire princess. If this wasn’t strange enough Lucius reveals that he is her long-lost fiancé. Jessica must deal with her true family heritage while trying to figure out her future.

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REVIEW:


Jessica finds out that she is a Romanian vampire princess who was betrothed as a baby to Lucius and that he has come to honor this pact. The betrothal must take place or a full out war between the two main vampire families-Lucius’ and Jessica’s- will begin. Jessica understandably is not terribly thrilled with the idea of marrying a complete stranger who also happens to be a vampire, no matter how hot he is. Lucius begins to court Jessica which means experiencing teenage life. This is where the humor comes into the story. I thought this story had equal parts romance and humor, and in my opinion that is hard to find. Jessica was leading a pretty average life in a small town, having self doubts and crushing on the local all on around nice guy, but once Lucius shows up normal pretty much takes a back seat. Lucius is what you expect in a vampire-tall, dark, mysterious, and hot. Add in the fact that he is from Romania and he is pretty much a vampire cliché but I honestly didn’t mind, the character was well written practically making him jump out off the pages. I must admit I developed a crush on Lucius :)  he managed to make pretentious and stuffy seem incredibly hot. I loved his humor in the letters he sent back home describing the life of an American high school student. I cannot say enough about the humor in this story. I laughed out loud a few times reading this story, which can be a bit of a nuisance when reading in public.


The humor continues throughout the story but the romance tromps the second part of the tale. I was really rooting for Lucius and Jessica. I loved their chemistry and the fact that the romance was sort of a tug of war game throughout the book. First Lucius wants Jessica but she doesn’t want him and when she finally wants him he doesn’t want her, it was a great way to keep the reader interested. This is a coming of age story of the paranormal genre. As Jessica learns more about her vampire heritage and ultimately more about herself she gains confidence and begins to accept herself. Even the secondary characters were well written especially Jessica’s Romanian uncle Dorin.


So should you read it?

If you are looking for a paranormal romance that makes you laugh out loud then I say yes. I was actually thrown by the title of the book I didn’t realize at first that this was a paranormal romance book. I thought it was more of a humorous book minus the romance. But I am glad that I decided to try it. Although the humor is strong it does not overtake the romance. There is still drama and enough action to satisfy romance lovers. The chemistry between Jessica and Lucius, even when they are fighting-or maybe I should say especially when they are fighting- sizzles. Overall this was a highly enjoyable book and you also get a bonus in the book!  A sneak peak at Beth Fantaskey’s new book Jekel Loves Hyde.

My rating ♥ ♥ ♥ = really liked it