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

Genre: Young Adult

Sub Genre: Paranormal Romance; Vampires, High School

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Back Cover: Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. Enter a bizarre new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu who claims Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth and he’s her long-lost fiancé. He’s arrogant, officious, embarrassingly overprotective, and, well, incredibly hot. Armed with a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica tries to imagine the transition from an average American teenager to a glam European vampire princess. But just when things start to heat up with Lucius, a devious cheerleader sets her sights on him. Soon Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war – and save Lucius’s soul from eternal damnation. All of which leaves her to wonder: Wouldn’t life be easier if she could just fall for a nice moral boy?

Jess is a no nonsense kind of girl, your typical mathlete. She believes in logical explanations for everything. And doesn’t believe in things that go bump in the night. Even when they arrive at her door claiming to be her fiancé. Lucius who has been raised knowing who and what he is arrives to charm and claim his fiancé but finds her not inclined with the idea of him. I have to say that this story had a great plot. I really felt bad for Lucius. He just has a hard time till the end. I’d love to know what was going through his mind in some of the scenes. I found this story very enjoyable with great characters and a story that you couldn’t wait to see what was to happen. I look forward to reading the next book, Jessica Rules the Dark Side.

Publisher: Harcourt Children’s Books

ISBN: 0547259409

Pages: 384

Series: Jessica

Volume: 1

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Genre: Young Adult

Sub Genre: Paranormal Romance; High School, Science

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Back Cover: 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.

This is one of those books that takes from a classic novel of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but with one big twist. Jill has lost her father and found that her college money is gone. While Tristen is dealing with his own beast. The two come together to try and win both from the beast and a scholarship. The story is so inventive, with characters that are so endearing. This is a dark tale but at the same time very romantic. It’s a book that mixes classic writing and science to make such a brilliant tale. I really enjoyed this story and as this is the second that I have read by Beth Fantaskey so I will be watching out for other books by her.

Publisher: Harcourt Children's

ISBN: 0152063900

Pages: 288

Series:

Volume: