Jessica Rules the Dark Side [Kindle Edition]

Beth Fantaskey (Author)

Book Description

The highly anticipated sequel to Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

It’s one thing to find out you’re a vampire princess. It’s a whole other thing to actually rule. Newly married Jessica Packwood is having a hard enough time feeling regal with her husband, Lucius, at her side. But when evidence in the murder of a powerful elder points to Lucius, sending him into solitary confinement, Jessica is suddenly on her own. Determined to clear her husband’s name, Jessica launches into a full-scale investigation, but hallucinations and nightmares of betrayal keep getting in her way. Jessica knows that with no blood to drink, Lucius’s time is running out. Can she figure out who the real killer is—and whom she can trust—before it’s too late?

Exclusive e-book content includes twenty-one additional chapters that tell all the details of the beautiful and romantic wedding of Jessica and Lucius that takes place in the time between Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side and Jessica Rules the Dark Side.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

While Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (2009) was a lighthearted vampire rom com, this sequel focuses more on action. Eighteen-year-old Jess Packwood, née vampire princess Antanasia Dragomir, is now living in Romania with her husband, Lucius. They try to bring new ways to the vampire court, but when Lucius is accused of murdering his rival, Jess is left to navigate vampire politics with the aid of his surfer vampire cousin and her best friend, Mindy. The feminist element from the first book is missing here, but Fantaskey’s grasp of teen obsessions and realistic dialogue will keep readers satisfied. Grades 8-12. --Debbie Carton

Review

"Fantaskey’s grasp of teen obsessions and realistic dialogue will keep readers satisfied."--Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 541 KB
• Print Length: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1 edition (January 10, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005MZN23A
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,474 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I Really Liked This Book December 12, 2011

By Dianne E. Socci-Tetro TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is the second book in a trilogy and I recommend strongly that you do not try to read this as a standalone book. To understand what is going on in Jessica Rules... I truly think you need to read Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side plus I think you will really enjoy the first book!

Now that Jessica is married she is trying to settle down in the castle in Romania and before she can find her niche, her husband is accused of murdering one of the Elder Vampires. Jessica hasn't made a very good Princess up until now, but her anger eventually gets the best of her and she learns what she has to do to become the regal Princess we always knew she could be. Thankfully in Jessica's time of need Mindy and her hair salon on wheels enters the picture and plays a big part in helping Jessica to become the strong young woman and Monarch we knew she could be.

This book has an excellent mystery going on and while I admit that I did suspect someone right off the bat, it really floored me when a secondary suspect comes into the picture. This was an excellent way to misdirect on the part of the author.

The secondary story that follows Lucius's best friend Raniero and Jessica's best friend is priceless. I would love to see a series or at least one standalone book devoted to them. I mean a surfer Vamp? How funny is that?!

This book has well fleshed out characters a great story line, is romantic but not overly-saccharine sweet and I loved the way the narrative played between each character. With each chapter (and they are very short chapters) written in a different persons point of view, it kept the story fresh for me.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Loved it just as much as the first book! January 10, 2012

By Amanda Welling

Format:Hardcover

First Impressions: I adored Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side and I was screaming with joy when I found out I would be able to review this sequel! The first book was one of my favorites of the year when it was released and I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. I love the cover art on both books, too! I actually didn't realize there was going to be a second book until I was creeping around on the author's website one day and BINGO! There it was! I'll even admit I was a little scared to read this book because so often the sequels are never quite as good as the original.

First 50 Pages: One of the first things that I noticed with this book is that it was immediately much darker and less teenagerish then the first book. In the first book, there was so fluff and I couldn't really find that in this book. Everything is much more serious this time around. It's in Jessica's hands to save her husband from his execution, so there was a level of suspense right from the start which I really enjoyed. A woman that has to save a man? That's a big change from other books with similar plot lines! I love strong, dependable female characters!

Plot and Characters: There are alternating Point of Views in this book between Jessica and Mindy, a feature that I really enjoy, but not everyone will. As for the plot, Jessica has to be able to stand on her own two feet and adjust to live as a ruler of vampires. In the first novel, as the reader we are left with many unanswered questions and this book fills in those gaps. Once again, Jessica does a complete transformation throughout this book that I just loved reading about.

There were a few differences that I noticed between this book and the first. For one, there isn't as much romance as the first book. I'm okay with that, even though the romance in the first was one of my favorite things. There is a good explanation why the romance was sizzled down, since you know, it is really hard to have romance when one character is imprisoned for a good part of the book. When you do find the romance, it's electric! You know how people say that with time, the heart yearns more? That's a pretty good way of describing it. I love the romance between Jessica and Lucius, although I'll admit, it is rather odd to find a married couple in a young adult novel!

It was also really nice to hear more from Mindy and Raniero in this book. Their POV's were also added into the mix, and while I didn't care too much for Mindy in the first book, I actually liked her character in this one. They are more of a side plot then an actual part of the storyline but I don't think that they detracted me in any way from the main storyline. I enjoyed their parts on this book and their romance made up the slight lack of romance between the main characters. I thought they were very interesting!

Final Thoughts: This book didn't disappoint me at all. It is on par with the first novel and I may have even liked it a bit more because of its darker themes. It felt like an exchange. While the first book was loaded with romance, it didn't have much suspense and action. While the second book doesn't have a ton of romance, it makes up for it with suspense and action. I think Beth did a great job with this book and I can't wait until I see what she comes up with next!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Eh, this could have been so much better! November 29, 2011

By YA book lover

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This could have been so, so much better if the story had a different focus!

There is a reason why romance novels end with a wedding, sometimes followed by a few pages of honeymoon shmexing (don't expect it in "Jessica Rules the Dark Side," it's a very young YA novel). When the lovers are bound together for eternity, when there are no more misunderstandings and tension, how do you continue writing about this couple and keep things hot and dynamic between them? Only a few authors can pull off a relationship that is as exiting post marriage as it was during the dating phase. Unfortunately, Beth Fantaskey is not one of those authors.

As you probably remember, "Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side" ended with Jessica turning vamp and then marrying Lucius in a series of extras posted on Beth Fantaskey's website. So, they have their HEA, what is next?

Next is a conflict related to some conspiracy to keep Lucius from his rightful throne and Jessica's problems with accepting her new royal status. The whole affair is pretty tepid and frigid, if you ask me. The mystery is very one-dimensional, with hardly any suspense. And the hotness of Jessica/Lucius antagonistic flirting is, as expected, gone.

What lightens up this otherwise dull and slightly angsty sequel is a secondary romance between Jessica's best friend from Pennsylvania Mindy and Lucius' cousin Raniero, delivered via 2 additional POVs. Their story should have been the focus of the followup to Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side.

Although Mindy sounds surprisingly hick-ish in this novel, Raniero compensates for her deficiencies with his amusing Buddhist/hobo/surfer attitude. These two have chemistry, they provide comedic relief, they are interesting. Jessica's and Lucius's problems should have been secondary to Mindy/Raniero romance.

I wish someone had given Fantaskey the advise to write a companion novel about Mindy and Raniero rather than a direct sequel to "Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side." But alas, nobody did. Very unfortunate indeed. Give this book a go only if you are willing to be bored and skim over all Lucius/Jessica parts to get to more enjoyable Mindy/Raniero scenes. At least this was much better than "Jekel Loves Hyde."

More About the Author

I'm the author of Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, Jessica Rules the Dark Side, and Jekel Loves Hyde. I was raised and still live in rural Pennsylvania, a place that features prominently in my books. (There's nothing unusual about getting stuck in Amish buggy "traffic" where I live.)
I've been a burger-slinger at a diner called "Diffy's," a teenage tax collector, a journalist, and now a part-time professor at Susquehanna University. But my most fun job is "YA author," because I get to interact with so many interesting readers.
Thanks for looking me up here on Amazon!