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

From the jacket:

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 fiance. 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 Jessica 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 it just be easier to fall for a nice mortal boy?

My Thoughts:

I thought this novel was a lot of fun. There were many puns on American lifestyle and humor dispersed throughout the novel which I think made it very different from the usual "very serious" vampire novels. Instead of the girl wanting to be changed for the love of her life, the guy was chasing her-and he was mannerly, decent, AND hot.

This was just an enjoyable read that I think fans and despisers of vampire novels with eat up! I would definitely read this again. The romance was steamy, the vampire lore wasn't over the top, and in the end it was about a boy (well, a man actually) and a girl falling in love. And both of them being stubborn about it!

Great read. I highly recommend it!

Rating: 4.5

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Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey
Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey

Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey

On Solange’s sixteenth birthday, she is going to wake up dead. As if that’s not bad enough, she also has to outwit her seven overprotective older brothers, avoid the politics involved with being the only daughter born to an ancient vampire dynasty, and elude Kieran Black—agent of an anti-vampire league who is searching for his father’s killer and is intent on staking Solange and her entire family.

Luckily she has her own secret weapon—her human best friend Lucy—who is willing to defend Solange’s right to a normal life, whether she’s being smothered by her well-intentioned brothers or abducted by a power-hungry queen. Two unlikely alliances are formed in a race to save Solange’s eternal life—Lucy and Solange’s brother Nicholas, and Solange and Kieran Black—in a dual romance that is guaranteed to jump start any romance-lover’s heart.

I really got into this novel. It was action-packed and full of the kind of romance that I love. Lucy is suck a kick butt character, I loved everything about her. She was sassy, opinionated, and unique. She had a temper yet carried around a pink rhinestone stake. I wish she were my best friend! Alas, she is not, rather Solange's. Solange was an equally distinct character but completely opposite. She's solitary but still as strong. She liked to wear cargo pants instead of skirts. These two characters and their friendship were what made this novel so special.

Something else that was great was how different this vampire lore was from other contemporary novels out there (again, no sparkly vampires). Actually, it is as close to what you and I know vampires to be: can't go out in sunlight, stake through the heart, etc...but with the addition of different clans of vampires each having their own history and method of "being a vampire". The lore was intriguing yet still familiar enough to appreciate.

Lastly, ah, I love love. Nicholas and Lucy made my heart flutter (perhaps I am a sap). They were snappy and rough with each other yet tender. Their banter, I think, made their developing relationship so interesting and fun. Kieran and Solange's romance developed much later but there was instant attraction. Their relationship developed, I think, more out of the hatred between vampires and Helios-Ra (vampire hunters) more than anything, which also makes their romance special, too.

I would reccommend this to anyone who wants to depart from the usual lusty and flaky vampire tales. This one has beautiful, subtle romance, a lot of history, and a lot of action.

Rating: 4.5

Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block

Something is happening to Charlotte Emerson. Like the fires that are ravaging the hills of Los Angeles, it consumes her from the inside out. But whether it is her eternal loneliness, the memory of her brother, the return of her first love, or the brooding, magnetic Jared-she cannot say. What if it's something more...

Something to do with the sudden tear in her perfect nails. The heat she feels when she's with Jared. The blood rushing once again to her cheeks and throughout her veins.

For Charlotte is a vampire, witness to almost a century's worth of death and destruction. But not since she was a human girl has mortality touched her.

First, can we admire the cover? This is the sexiest cover I think I've ever seen. I couldn't stop staring at it. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it just for the sheer fact of it's aesthetics. I love how the candy is bleeding. And her lips are perfect! So gorgeous.

Now onto the novel itself. This was a beautiful book to read. It was as if I was reading poetry, her writing was so flowing and smooth. I wish I could see the world the way Francesca Lia Block sees it. She has this way of making ordinary things sound extravagant and extravagant things sound so tempting and other worldly, irresistible.

Charlotte, our narrator, is perfect, which actually, is really annoying but because Block's writing is so flawless and inviting I enjoyed Charlotte's story. I also love how this is a vampire story that doesn't revolve around biting and blood. It's about humanness and what it's like when it seems lost and how to find it.

All her characters seem pretty simple but alight with the glow of her words and descriptions (I really can't say enough how beautifully she writes, I'm completely envious). However, there were some small things that didn't sit right with me. Actions and emotions that seemed a little too intense for the situation which threw off the experience for me sometimes-pulled me out of the world. But other than that I loved it! Block combines reality and vampires to make a world that's both hard to escape and hard to tell when through reading whether it was real or fiction.

Rating: 4.0