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

4.0

Jessica Packwood is not your normal vampire. In fact, she didn't even know she was one until this strange guy wearing a velvet coat showed up claiming that she was his vampire princess. Now even her parents are saying that she is a vampire. Well, her adoptive parents. Jessica was adopted by the Packwoods shortly after she was born and her parents were killed. It turned out they were killed by a mob trying to rid the town of vampires.

Now Jessica not only has to deal with school and the many bullies that torment her there, she has to keep Lucius from killing those bullies. He is determined to protect her from everything and in the process he plans to get her to agree to honor the pact of their two families.

When Lucius and Jessica finally start to get to know each other, Lucius realizes that Jessica is not fit to be queen. She will be eaten alive by all the other bloodthirsty vampires and Lucius is beginning to suspect that he can't allow her to do that. As Jessica begins to get attached to Lucius others begin to get in the way. Will Lucius and Jessica be able to work around others standing in the way of their true feelings for each other?

I seem to be on a bit of a paranormal kick lately and this was another one that didn't disappoint. Going into the book I was a little worried that it was going to be another cheesy vampire love story with no plot but I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was there a good plot, there were some amazing characters.

Lucius and Jessica were so well developed. I felt like I could really understand what Jessica and Lucius were going through. The letters that Lucius wrote to his uncle showed a lot of what he was feeling. They really helped the story develop into a two-sided story and not just all of Jessica's feelings.

I was a little disappointed that the background characters were not very well developed but it wasn't like they really needed to be. I just wanted a little bit more about them and their relationships with Jessica and Lucius. The only other thing that I really wanted to know more about was Lucius' family. The letters that Lucius sent to his uncle, Vasile, show a little depth into their relationship but I really wanted to know more about their struggle.

Overall I was very pleased with this book. I found it a very easy, cute book that told a very different vampire story than usual.