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

Synopsis: Marrying a vampire definitely doesn't fit in to 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 fiance. 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 Jessica has never been kissed--how can she possibly commit herself to a long-term relationship? Or an eternal relationship, for that matter?

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I loved loved LOVED this book! It's cute, it's heart-wrenching, and it's comedic! Jessica is a relative character with relative problems. She's insecure, she has boy problems and she's still trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to be. And then Lucius comes into the picture, and she's thrown into a whole different world. She now has to deal with the fact that she's a vampire (although she really doesn't believe Lucius AT ALL) and she's living with her fiance by birth. Um, drama much?

Jessica's best friend Mindy is adorable and funny, same with Jessica. Mindy tries too hard sometimes, and she pushed Jessica to break out of her shell while Jessica is trying to fit in more than she is to stick out. Jessica's a math nerd who thinks that there is no such thing as fairy tales, while Mindy begs to differ. Jessica also has a crush on Jake, a boy in her town. This pushes her relationship with Lucius, who is shown in the first chapter but comes up much more later on in the book, toward the extreme edge.

This was an adorable read that I (can not say it enough) loved. It went a little slow at the beginning and it took Jessica awhile to accept who she was, but by the end I was on the edge of my seat, cheering on Jessica and Lucius. They had a strange relationship at first, full of uncertainties and instability, but they eventually grew into a friendship. Towards the end of the book, but mostly the end of the middle, I screamed at Lucius, getting very, very angry with him. But he straitened out by the end, and I was singing his praises. Jessica grew up so much emotionally throughout the book, and I really felt for her. She was confused, growing up like a normal teenager, and she had her vampirism thrown upon her unexpectedly. But she straitens out and soon, she learns to love herself more than she ever had.

Fantaskey was fantastic! Her writing was light or heavy in the right parts and she added the right amount of humor to Jessica's story. She made side characters show up, but she mostly focused on Jessica and Lucius's growing relationship. It was cute and hilarious and I loved how Jessica looked at life. She was sarcastic, but serious. Fantaskey has written a fun read that gave me lots of laughs and 'aww's'.