Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

This is the first novel in the Jessica series by Beth Fantaskey.

Getting through high school is enough for Jessica Packwood since she has two of her very own bullies at school.

But when a foreign "exchange student" comes into town from Romania and claims he's betrothed to Jessica? Yeah that might be going over the top for her.

Lucius is a vampire prince of the Vladescu vampire clan. Jessica was adopted after her parents and Lucius's parents were killed, but Jessica was born as Antanasia Dragomir, the princess vampire of the Dragomir clan.

At first Jessica denied everything Lucius stated. She was not royalty, she was not a vampire, and she was not going to marry Lucius - no matter what betrothal was made when she was an infant.

Then something changed in Jessica... She started getting a hunger for blood. And when she was angry or upset, she could feel her fangs trying to come out. Then her appearance started to change, transforming her from the original looking American teenager to a woman who knew her mind, and looked confident in her choices.

Unfortunately, when Jessica realized that Lucius was telling the truth, and she started to have feelings for him, he gave up on them. He stopped pursuing Jessica and started to act like a teenager with no rules.

After officially giving up on the merger between the Vladescu and Dragomir clan wedding, Lucius gave up on everything else. He became the dark vampire that his clan is well known for.

Jessica was not willing to give up, though. She gave Lucius the ultimate decision, that could end with Jessica's death. If there was any part of Lucius that loved her, it could mean a marriage but if he really is the dark, brutal vampire he wants Jessica to think, she could die by the one she loves.

Read Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey to find out what happens!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Lately I've been vampired out and I've stayed away from vampire books. I really enjoyed this one, though! I liked the royalty spin to the vampire clan and the fact that if Jessica and Lucius didn't get married, their families would be in a war to the death.

I also really liked that throughout the novel the reader was able to see some of Lucius's thoughts when he wrote letters to his uncle in Romania. He basically complained about Jessica thwarting his advances, but he also admired her ability to stick with her decision.

It was entertaining to see Jessica change her mind about Lucius. He grew on her, though, and when he started seeing Faith, that was when the possessive side of Jessica came out, making her realize that Lucius was hers.

There is a sequel to this book, which I will review later when I get it. I'm very interested to see what will happen between Jessica and Lucius.

For anyone who likes vampires or hard-to-get relationships, this would be a great read for you. However, if you're tired of vampire stories, I would say hold off on this so you can fully appreciate the storyline without cringing at the word vampire.