Book Review: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (Jessica, #1) by Beth Fantaskey.

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.


Review:

Temperamental vampire romance series with potential.  Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is the first novel in the Jessica series by Beth Fantaskey.  Before purchasing this book I had read very mixed reviews, but when I found a bargain copy on Amazon I couldn't help my curiosity.  After completing JGtDotDS, I can now understand the mixed reviews.  This was a book that had me rolling my eyes in some parts and addictively reading late into the night in others.  I had a difficult time deciding if I loved or hated the characters.  Jessica and Lucious change so drastically that, by the time I reached the final page, it almost seemed as though I were reading about entirely different characters.  Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side begins with a fun, often humorous, high school vampire story, but becomes a dark, dramatic tale of paranormal romance.  This shift from light to dark, young to more mature, makes reviews and recommendations difficult.  I am curious to see what direction this series will take with book two and, though I did sigh at times, I have every intention of reading Jessica Rules on the Dark Side.  I really do have to find out what happens next!

I recommend Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (Jessica, #1) to readers of paranormal romance, young adult, urban fantasy, and especially to fans of romantic vampire fiction.  Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side may appeal to fans of Laney: The Brookehaven Vampires by Joann Martin Sowles, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey, and The Hollow by Jessica Verday.

Sensitive reader warning: some violence toward animals, sexual situations

Source: This book was purchased by E.J. for review.


Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side on Amazon.
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side on Goodreads.

Book Review: Jekel Loves Hyde

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey.

Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents rules;especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father's office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she's tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be the key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.  To improve her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen's sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill's accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything, even Tristen's love just for the thrill of being . . . bad.

Review:

The word is about, there's something evolving
Whatever may come, the world keeps revolving
They say the next big thing is here
That the revolution's near
But to me it seems quite clear
That it's all just a little bit of history repeating 

-Propellerheads

It's all just a little bit of history repeating...  What if the story of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson were true?  What if the formula that Doctor Jekel created really worked and altered the course of the Jekel and Hyde families forever?  This is the basis for Jekel Loves Hyde and Fantaskey, author of Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, does a fabulous job of reeling the reader in from the very first page.  Jill Jekel and Tristen Hyde's lives are about to take a bizarre turn, but they are both so filled with realistic flaws and feelings that the entire scenario feels utterly believable.  Jekel Love Hyde will take you on a thrilling ride of danger and young romance.  A suspenseful paranormal read that young adult paranormal romance fans will drink up like the elixir within its pages.  A heady draught both bitter and sweet.

I recommend Jekel Loves Hyde to readers of young adult, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, paranormal mysteries, and especially to fans of paranormal suspense.  Jekel Loves Hyde may appeal to fans of The Hollow by Jessica Verday and Nevermore by Kelly Creagh.

Sensitive reader warning: mild violence, sexual situations.

Source: This book was purchased by E.J. for review.


Jekel Loves Hyde on Amazon.
Jekel Loves Hyde on Goodreads.