Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

No. of pages: 354
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: 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: When Lucius Vladescu, a Romanian vampire prince, suddenly turns up one day telling Jessica they've been betrothed since birth, she thinks he's absolutely nuts. That is until her teeth begin to hurt and she starts to crave blood, but after months of being rejected, is it too late to convince Lucius that she believes him and wants to be with him after all?

This was a quick and easy read, with an interesting approach to the vampire phenomenon that seems to be taking over the YA market these days. The characters of Jess and Lucius were fun to read about and Jess especially was written quite realistically. I liked the Romanian royalty aspect of the story, and thought that was something a bit different, as was Fantaskey's take on vampirism. There's a great streak of humour throughout the book too, in the form of Lucius' sarcastic letters back home to his uncle, I thought they were a nice touch, and helped to lighten the story. I did think it was wrapped up slightly too fast at the end though, but overall it doesn't detract too much from the book as a whole, especially as there are extra chapters on the author's website for you to read once you're done with the book. I'm definitely going to be reading more from this author. Recommended for fans of YA books, and books of the vampire persuasion.