Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

By: Beth Fantaskey

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Author Beth Fantaskey injects a little humor into the vampire romance genre with this critically acclaimed debut novel. High school senior Jessica Packwood is a down-to-earth mathlete who's not sure what her future holds. What she definitely doesn't see coming is foreign exchange student - and vampire - Lucius Vladescu showing up at her door. According to Lucius, Jessica is actually vampire royalty, and they've been betrothed to one another since infancy.

©2009 Beth Fantaskey (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"The romance sizzles, the plot develops ingeniously and suspensefully, and the satire sings." ( Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Surprisingly Fun!

Okay, I’m almost ashamed to admit that I enjoyed this much more than I should’ve. It’s an easy, at times silly and way over-the-top, and even satirical(?) take on the whole young girl meets dreamy vampire trope, but it was well done in that sense and very entertaining if you don’t try to take it too seriously. I actually didn’t want to put it down!

Of course all our characters could’ve been fleshed out more and their development and motivations could’ve been better..well..developed, but for what it is, it’s fun and a good listen as is.

The narrators, especially Katherine Kellgren, did a good job with bringing the fun and over-the-top atmosphere to the story. Where she lacked in giving some of the characters distinct voices, she made up for in acting out the various emotions in Jessica’s inner-monologues, which was fantastic! One of the best narrations, in that respect, I’ve ever heard. And I also enjoyed the narration of Lucius by the other narrator (forgive me, I don’t have his name in front of me). He does an amazing job bringing his letters to life and giving this character a lot more depth than he would have otherwise.

Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys a fun listen/read in the YA paranormal, vampire, comedic/satirical, romance genres. And although I got it through the Audible Escape membership, I think it’d be worth a credit.

You get what you expect

I wanted an uncomplicated story, and this fit the bill.
I rather liked that Lucius' dark side has some genuine darkness and not purely teen angst.

fun but corny

fun but corny. more of a romance than a suspense novel. great performance by the readers.

great book

loved it!!!
such a great story and plot, the ending had the best twist to it!

amazing

loved love book so so much going to start the next one cant with hope it's as good as this one

My Thoughts

LOVED THIS BOOK!! Like some other people I thought it was going to be just another twilight, but I was SO WRONG!!!
It did not take me long at all to get swept away by the characters and their pulse pounding emotions... there are too many
oh my gosh and inside melty moments to pick just one but the moment at the dance when Luscious held Anastasia so close, both of them being swept away by passion and him nearly biting her!!! oohhh HOT!!

More Than a Simple Teenage Romance

The thing I liked most about this book, is that it was much more than a simple teenage vampire romance. At first, the story runs a predictable course, the tone is lighthearted with a sprinkling of humor. Jessica is at first very skeptical about Lucius' story that they are betrothed vampires who need to wed to ensure peace for their warring clans. She wants to date another boy and tries to resist her attraction to Lucius. I enjoyed the interaction between Jessica and Lucius. Jessica was a down to earth farm girl, who in the end becomes the self confident and beautiful vampire princess she was destined to become. And Lucius, who at first seemed a bit arrogant, proved he could also be noble. This story definitely takes some twists and turns that I did not see coming. I won't ruin the surprise, but there were times when I wanted to shake both Lucius and Jessica. Their inability to tell each other the truth both frustrated me and also kept me from putting this book down. The second half of this book takes a darker turn, and then it gets even darker still. This is a romantic story about honor and duty. But it is also a story about what lengths people will go to in order to prove their love, and to protect the ones they love. A really good read that is hard to put down!

officially prepared for dark side dating

This book was entertaining and a good romance. I really loved it, and how it ended. I wanted the characters to unite a tad more passionately and I would like a bit of aftermath, but it was a good story. The narration seemed awkward at first; it seems that this narrator annunciates sarcastic tone emphatically in places where it would be enough to read more conversationally. If you listen, you'll see what I'm talking about... but you get over it after a while.

Very Disappointing

I feel like this book pretty much covered all the bases of a crappy vampire book. Petty high school drama? Check. Weak and naive main character that thinks the first time she falls in love with a stranger is magic and forever? Check. Even the narration was poor, with the voice actor forgetting when or when not to add a Romanian accent.

The only reason I read/finished the book was because I've had it over a year and wanted to get some money's worth but it still feels mostly like a waste of time. I ended up listening at 1.5/1.75 speed just to choke through the ending, thinking maybe it'll get better but no luck there.

The book is packed with cheap and disappointingly predictable cliches and the only benefit I might get out of this book is knowing not to select another by this author or narrator.

Cute and Funny

This was not like I expected it to be. It ended up being really funny and cute. I absolutely loved it and did not want to stop listening.