Ms. Dickinson's Purple and Gold Pick of the Week: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

In celebration of Halloween next Monday, we restocked out displays with a variety of spooky, scary, and supernatural books.  Vampires have surged in popularity as supernatural creatures/romantic leads of choice in the last few years so it only seemed appropriate for this week's Pick to feature them--however, this particular vampire tale stands out somewhat from the abundance of romances about the tall, dark, and fanged.  Jessica Packwood had very simple goals for her senior year of high school in rural Pennsylvannia: do well at her mathlete competitions, practice riding her horse for 4-H, and maybe even get a date with cute and very nice farmer Jake.  But suddenly Jessica's simple plans are thrown totally out of whack by the appearance of gorgeous European exchange student Lucius Vladescu.  Lucius may be hot but he is also obviously insane: he sweeps into school and informs Jessica that she is in fact a Romanian vampire princess and he is in betrothed vampire prince.  As if such craziness weren't enough, her vegan anthropologist parents (who adopted her from Romania as a child) say that he's telling the truth.  But Jessica has always depended on logic--and vampires simply aren't logical.  By the time she's convinced that her whole family and Lucius haven't lost their minds and that she might in fact be a vampire princess in waiting, it might be too late. 

Although I have now read my fair share of vampire-related romances, they have never been my favorite supernatural creatures.  However, Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is not your average love story with bite and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading it.  While the love-hate, bickering romance between Jessica and Lucius drew me in quickly, the story is not only about their relationship with eachother.  Instead, the novel focuses on Jessica's  and Lucius's developments of individual adult identities, separate from the past or other peoples' expectations.  Plus, the great drama is balanced by a decent dose of humour, which is a nice change from many paranormal romances. 

So for a spooky and romantic read with a bit of bite this Halloween weekend, check out Beth Fantaskey's Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, on display in our fiction section along with a bunch of other scary and supernatural books!  The sequel, Jessica Rules the Dark Side comes out in January 2012.