BOOK REVIEW - JESSICA'S GUIDE TO DATING ON THE DARK SIDE by BETH FANTASKEY - JESSICA SERIES # 1

By: Beth Fantaskey
Published By: Harcourt
Released: Available Now
Details: Paperback , 351 Pages

RATING: 5 STARS!!!
I STAYED UP ALL NIGHT!!!

Book Blurb : Taken from Goodreads

The undead can really screw up your senior year . . .

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war — and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.

BOOK REVIEW:

This was a surprising read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am eagerly awaiting book  #2, 'Jessica's Guide to Ruling On The Dark Side'. I think the book blurb personally made me think it was quite a young read but it is an awesome read for all ages. I must be honest and say I don't think the cover grabbed me either. Maybe a more haunting Romanianesq style. Regardless this book is a funny, smexi, chivalrous read.


Jessica Parkwood adopted, mathlete aka Antanasia Dragomir, Vampire Princess ( who knew?? she didn't) is a 17 year old with spunk. In walks Lucius Vladescu a Vampire Prince from Romania on a mission and Jessica/Antanasia's life all of a sudden has become very confusing.


Beth Fantaskey has written this book with such humour and feeling for poor Lucius and his mission . I especially liked his letters to Uncle Vasile in his POV. Such funny dialogue about adjusting to life outside Romania and his take on Jessica's life and American teens. I had to like Frank Dorman aka the moronic bully as he was such a moron.  Faith Crosse your bitchy/manipulative character , she played true to form. Jake Zinn aka 'peasant/squatty Zinn' is the human love interest of Jessica, her guy she has had her eye on until Lucius announces to her and her family that he has arrived  and they are to be married when she turns 18 as  this had been decreed since their births.  Melinda aka Mindy is bff to Jessica and even Mindy has a hard time with  understanding what is going on with her friend but Uncle Dorin will swoop in from nowhere..well Romania to be exact and help Jessica . I loved Jessica's vegan /environmental, loving/quirky adoptive Parents.


I love the Guide that Lucius gives Jessica, "Growing up Undead: A Teen Vampire's Guide To Dating Health and Emotions". The guide contained some funny chapters.


As the reader we slowly watch Lucius slide into American Teen lifestyle . Lucius realises things aren't going to be so black and white as he had thought.  Uncle Vasile/Elders had a few thoughts of their own to painfully put forward. All the while Jessica is trying to understand , sometimes stubbornly ,what is happening to her and her feelings for both Jake and Lucius.


I found this book really flowed well from start to finish, I would read it again in a heart beat and am looking forward to reading,  'Jekel Loves Hyde' another book by Beth Fantaskey. Do yourself a favour and have a read of this book, I'm uber glad I did.


The dialogue makes for such a great read that I had to put some quotes in.


SPOILER ALERT PAST THIS POINT...BUT YOU KNOW YOU WANNA READ THOSE QUOTES:D

FAVE QUOTES:



His gaze followed my fingers, and I thought maybe he was revolted by the fact that I was bleeding. Yet I swore I saw something quite different than disgust in those black eyes...And then he ran his tongue slowly across his lower lip. 


"You will come into your true nature, "Lucius promised. "You are coming of age right now. And when I bite you for the first time, then you will be a vampire. I've brought you a book- a guide, so to speak- which will explain everything-"


"And the consequences of refusing us a favor....well , let's just say that people everywhere tend to stick their necks out for us."


"You'd be surprised how often disgust turns to lust."


"Holy shit."
Lucius closed the door behind us. 'Well, that's a pleasant reaction. Very ladylike."


His voice had changed suddenly. Grown even lower and more throaty. There was a quality in it I'd never heard before but instinctively recognized. Sexual power. Lust. Desire. An edgy , angry, frustrated desire.


Lucius's arm slipped around my back, and he brushed my lips again, less gently this time. Even his mouth was hard. But I wanted to taste more. "Like this, Antanasia,"he murmured. "This is how it should be...not nice..."


Lucius slid his hand up to my neck, circling the nape with his fingers, his thumb stroking the hollow of my throat. 'Let me kiss you, Antanasia...really kiss you...as you should be kissed."
"Please , Lucius..."Was I  begging or protesting?
"You belong with me, " he said softly. "With our kind...You know you do...Stop fighting it...Stop fighting me..."


A smile flitted across his lips. "Intercourse is a fleeting pleasure, indeed. Undeniably an intimate act. Not to be dismissed - or missed, for that matter. Indeed, crucial for procreation, beyond its other obvious virtues."


The smile faded. "But sharing one's blood with another: exposing one's most vulnerable place, where the pulse beats just below the skin, and trusting your partner to satisfy without subduing...It makes sex seem almost insignificant by comparison. An unequal act - male to female. But blood..blood can be shared as true equals."


"You are like a living Chopin nocturne. A soft, yet stirring harmony meant to be enjoyed at night..."


Lucius opened his mouth slightly, and I felt the faintest touch of his fangs caressing my skin, just above the spot where my blood pulsed strongest. 



BONUS READ GO TO:     http://bethfantaskey.com/wedding/wedding-chapt1.html

Read Beth Fantaskeys online 'The Wedding of Antanasia Jessica Packwood and Lucius Valeriu Vladescu'. 22 chapters of gorgeous dialogue. It's a MUST to read before book 2 , 'Jessica's Guide To Ruling On The Dark Side'.


What a gorgeous little read. I have just finished it and if you loved Lucius and Jessica before,  you will melt when you read this little novella. Beth has written a wonderful little addition to 'Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side'. I could easily have seen it as part of the book, but it's online for reading.


I love the Twilight series of books deeply, but Beth Fantaskey has something special here with 'Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side' followed by 'The Wedding of Antanasia Jessica Packwood and Lucius Valeriu Vladescu'...(rather large mouthful these titles). It's left me wanting more, rather impatiently too..LOL!! This is the little bridge/novella you need to cross/ read before bk #2 releases. Don't miss reading it, it's free at above link.
 
 
 
 

Michelle

JESSICA'S GUIDE TO DATING ON THE DARK SIDE by BETH FANTASKEY - CHAPTER 1 EXCERPT

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!
Excerpt taken from Beth Fantaskey's site:
http://bethfantaskey.com/guide.html

Excerpt:

Chapter 1


The first time I saw him, a heavy, gray fog clung to the cornfields, tails of mist slithering between the dying stalks. It was a dreary early morning right after Labor Day, and I was waiting for the school bus, just minding my own business, standing at the end of the dirt lane that connected my family’s farmhouse to the main road into town.


I was thinking about how many times I’d probably waited for that bus over the course of a dozen years, killing time like any mathlete would, by doing the calculations in my head, when I noticed him.


And suddenly that familiar stretch of blacktop seemed awfully desolate.


He was standing under a massive beech tree across the road from me, his arms crossed over his chest. The tree’s low, gnarled branches twisted down around him, nearly concealing him in limbs and leaves and shadows. But it was obvious that he was tall and wearing a long, dark coat, almost like a cloak.


My chest clenched, and I swallowed hard. Who stands under a tree at the crack of dawn, in the middle of nowhere, wearing a black cloak? He must have realized I’d spotted him, because he shifted a little, like he was deciding whether to leave. Or maybe cross the road.


It had never struck me how vulnerable I’d been all those mornings I’d waited out there alone, but the realization hit me hard then.


I glanced down the road, heart thudding. Where was the stupid bus? And why did my dad have to be so big on mass transit, anyhow? Why couldn’t I own a car, like practically every other senior? But no, I had to “share the ride” to save the environment. When I was abducted by the menacing guy under the tree, Dad would probably insist my face only appear on recycled milk cartons…


In the precious split second I wasted being angry at my father, the stranger really did move in my direction, stepping out from under the tree, and I could have sworn – just as the bus, thank God, crested the rise about 50 yards down the road – I could have sworn I heard him say, “Antanasia.”


My old name… The name I’d been given at birth, in Eastern Europe, before I’d been adopted and brought to America, re-christened Jessica Packwood…


Or maybe I was hearing things, because the word was drowned out by the sound of tires hissing on wet pavement, grinding gears, and the whoosh of the doors as the driver, old Mr. Dilly, swung them open for me. Wonderful, wonderful bus number 23. I’d never been so happy to climb on board.


With his usual grunted “Mornin’, Jess,” Mr. Dilly put the bus in gear, and I stumbled down the aisle, searching for an empty seat or a friendly face among the half-groggy riders. It sucked sometimes, living in rural Pennsylvania. The town kids were probably still sleeping, safe and sound in their beds.


Locating a spot at the very back of the bus, I plopped down with a rush of relief. Maybe I’d over reacted. Maybe my imagination had run wild, or too many episodes of America’s Most Wanted had messed with my head. Or maybe the stranger really had meant me harm… Twisting around, I peered out the rear window, and my heart sank.


He was still there, but in the road now, booted feet planted on either side of the double yellow line, arms still crossed, watching the bus drive away. Watching me.


“Antanasia…”


Had I really heard him call me by that long-forgotten name?


And if he knew that obscure fact, what else did the dark stranger, receding in the mist, know about my past?


More to the point, what did he want with me in the present?

Michelle