Search - Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Reviewed by Karin Librarian for TeensReadToo.com

Jessica has always known she is adopted. Her parents, the Packwoods, have told her the story of how they, as anthropologists, were studying her family in Romania when they were attacked. Jessica's birth parents begged the Packwoods to take their daughter to safety. Eventually, Jessica's birth parents and many others of her family are killed and the Packwoods return to the United States with a new baby.

Jessica hates the story. She hates the fact that her parents were the kind of freaks that anthropologists wanted to study in the first place and how her birth name sounds so ethnic and strange. Antanasia - what kind of name is that?

Jessica starts to get a little freaked out when she sees a strange and mysterious guy watching her from afar. At the same time, she starts hearing her birth name whispered in the air. Antanasia... When the same strange and mysterious guy shows up at school, she doesn't know what to think. It turns out he is an exchange student named Lucius Vladescu. When Jessica points him out to her mother and tells her how he gives off a weird vibe, she doesn't seem too surprised to see him. Jessica's mother even invites him home for dinner to talk.

All of this happens within the first 17 pages of the book.

Jessica (Antanasia) is a Romanian vampire princess who was betrothed to Lucius when they were born. The promise of their marriage has held their two clans, the Dragomirs and the Vladescus, in a tentative peace for years. If the wedding doesn't take place, there will be a large-scale war which will most likely lead to the destruction of the Dragomirs.

Jessica has a difficult time believing any of this. She has a hard time believing anything that can't be explained logically. Lucius attempts to win her over, while Jessica attempts to live her life like normal - pretending she isn't a vampire princess.

Both Jessica and Lucius go through major changes in the novel. They have time to examine their true feelings about family and duty. Beth Fantaskey does an excellent job keeping the reader guessing until the very end. You will constantly be reassessing your opinion about how the story will end. Personally, I found myself getting very nervous as I was getting toward the end of the book and I still thought there was so much that needed to happen.

Luckily, Fantaskey does a brilliant job tying up loose ends. JESSICA'S GUIDE TO DATING ON THE DARK SIDE could easily be the beginning of a series (I don't know if there will be a sequel or not), but it can also work as a great stand-alone novel.

JESSICA'S GUIDE TO DATING ON THE DARK SIDE has become one of my new favorite young adult vampire novels. I know I'll be reading it again.

Its very hard to review a book this good without a bunch of spoilers, but here goes:

It is rare one comes across a gem in a used bookstore in like new condition. Origionally purchased for a swap, I took a peek at the first chapter to see if it was worth reading.

What I got when I opened the book was a tender love story, laced with humor and danger, and got sucked into a storey that was un-put-down-able. Fans of Twilight are sure to eat this story up in a heartbeat. The only thing wrong with this book was that it ended.

Jessica is just your average teen, living her average life... a mathlete, riding horses, and has her eye on a nice average boy named Jake. Her world is turned upside down with the arrival of Lucious Vladescu, a tall dark handsome boy from Romania who claimes to be a vampire prince. If THAT wasnt wierd enough, Lucious tries to court Jessica, explaining that she is his rival clans' decendant princess, and they are destined to marry in order to bring peace to the 2 clans. Jessica is extremely reluctant to this idea, and after a series of crazy events, she realises her love for him... only its too late. Lucious has a new girlfriend and he decides to dishonor the pact. Jessica finally decides to fight for what she wants in order to save Lucious, herself, and her clan.

What a wonderful story. The characters felt so real and the words flowed off the pages effortlessly. Im xcited to read about the wedding on the authors website, and look forward to the next installment when Jessica Rules the Darkside.....

I desperately needed something out of my norm to read, i was in a rut. Vampires are not my usual genre nor the first thing i'd turn to. But the cover on this first pulled me in and then i checked out the first few pages. I know it says for "young adult" but it should say "young adult and older". Now i am hooked. It is an endearing suspensefull love story (something else i don't usually like to read). I liked this author, she is smooth smooth smooth, she knew just when to throw in a twist or turn that was unexpected, it wasn't all blood dripping and mushy. All in all i got more than i wanted with this read. It was classy, a fun time, a new author i'm wanting to read more from. A great story and i now find i like some vampire reads alot more. They're not all boring. This would make a great series, i would follow it.

I wasnt sure at first if I was going to like this one. Man, I really liked it :-) I even debated keeping it for my collection - but, I decided to share with the next person. Enjoy


There is a follow-up mini story on the authors website. I wont give any spoilers, but read it! You wont be disappointed.

I loved this book! When reading YA, I tend to find myself hoping that it would be more adult (i.e. a bit steamier). Some YA books are steamier than others. I found that the romance and the love between the two characters made it strong enough alone, that there didn’t need to be a bunch of make-out scenes for me. I thought it was perfect.

Needless to say, I am anticipating the sequel “Jessica Rules the Dark Side”. Although it will not be released until early 2012, fans of Jessica and Lucius can get their fix by reading “The Wedding of Anastasia Jessica Packwood and Lucius Valeriu Vladescu” on Beth Fantaskey’s page (http://www.bethfantaskey.com/wedding/wedding-chapt1.html)

I certainly recommend YA lovers (especially those who love vampires) to read this book. It was a very cute, couldn’t-put-down teen novel! :)