Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

by Beth Fantaskey

     Jessica's Guide is yet another in the huge glut of vampire books following the popularity of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.  In it, Jessica is a normal teen, adopted by her parents from Eastern Europe when she was a small child. When Lucius Vladescu, a vampire prince, arrives to claim Jessica as his vampire princess bride and carry out the pact made years before, Jessica realizes her senior year is not likely to go as planned.  Lucius is quite handsome, but completely arrogant and overbearing.  And he finds Jessica common and unappealing.  Although the plot premise has potential, I found it just didn't quite live up to the promise.  The book has a bantering tone some of the time that indicates the author was after a light-hearted comedy.  But as the story progresses, it gets darker and more intense.  The reader is left with ambiguous feelings.  Jessica is no Bella and Lucius is no Edward, but still this is a mostly entertaining read for those who can't get enough of vampires.

            ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams