How Can You Kill the Buzz?!

There are enough mysteries about high school without adding murder to the list. When Millie stumbles upon a body, she becomes embroiled in murder mystery she never wanted to be in the middle of in the first place... especially because the victim had direct ties to her father. In Beth Fantaskey's Buzz Kill, the sleuthing rivals Nancy Drew!

Millie Ostermeyer lives with her father. She loves her father, but as the Assistant Coach of a big high school football team, his time is generally consumed by the goings-on of the sport. She has worried about him since her mother passed away, but he isn't exactly an open book, so she gives him his space. When her father's nemesis, the head Coach Killdare, is found dead on campus, Millie is not only traumatized since she was the one who found the body- she is worried that all the signs point to her father as being the one with real motive to do away with the jerky head coach.

Millie's unlikely partner-in-crime, the new and mysterious football star who doesn't seem to fit the mold of typical high school star athlete, helps her to uncover some of the secrets Killdare kept from everyone around him. The further she digs, the clearer it becomes that this murder is more mysterious than she ever thought it could be. Unfortunately, her father is still in the crosshairs of both the local police department and Millie's own nemesis, her arch-enemy on the school paper, is hellbent on making her father look guilty. She has to get to the bottom of the story and quickly if she has any hope of saving her father's reputation... and keeping him out of jail!

I loved Fantaskey's Jessica series. I hated the cover, and I thought the title was a total cheese-fest, but the characters were really fun and unique, and I loved the story itself! I mean, laugh-out-loud kind of awesomeness! So, I was thrilled to see her come out with something that had a great premise, a good title, and a far better cover (although it does feel a little hokey). But, my experience with her writing said I was going to like this story, and I really did! I have to say, however, it was certainly a little campy at times, and I think the campiest parts were with Millie. She was less unique than the characters in the Jessica series, and a little more of a "type," but I still liked her. Chase, however, was my favorite part of this story. There was a boy with a past that I couldn't wait to learn about. He did not fit any stereotype, and I was intrigued from the moment Millie laid eyes on him. Even Millie's dad and Killdare were great characters. She just wasn't as awesome for me as they were, which was a little hard since the book was about her!

The good part was the plot and the pacing was a lot of fun. It was just mysterious enough to hold your attention without being silly or too predictable. There was a lot at stake for Millie, and she took her job of sleuthing very, very seriously. In fact, you are going to see some references to Nancy Drew, which I appreciated because it pointed out the elephant in the room. Everything about the story felt very Nancy Drew, so it was important to acknowledge that fact rather than pretend it didn't exist. Overall, this book continues my love for Fantaskey, even though Millie wasn't my favorite character ever, and I will keep an eye out for this author's next project!

Jessica Got a Little Darker

The first book in Fantaskey's series had a ridiculous title and an awful cover. So why did I read it? Not quite sure, but I am glad I did. It was hilarious. It was a serious story peppered with the rantings of a persnickety vampire prince who just wanted his betrothed to come back to Romania with him and rule. What he didn't expect before he came for her was a vegan who worked on her family's small town farm and only dreamed of going to college- not becoming a vampire princess and settling a centuries old feud. After absolutely adoring Lucius' hilarious ramblings about lentils in the first book, I was looking for more of the same from Jessica Rules the Dark Side.


Jessica, who is known as Anastasia now that she is a vampire princess, loves Lucius, but hates Romania. The other vampires think she is weak, she only has one friend, and she can't even order food from the kitchen because she can't speak Romanian. To top off the horrible experience, she knows her inability to be the ruthless princess makes her husband vulnerable with the rest of the vampires he is trying to rule. When one of the vampire elders is murdered, Anastasia takes the advice of her friend and suggests all the vampires produce their stakes to catch the murderer. What she doesn't expect is that Lucius' stake is covered in the murdered vampires blood, but he swears he did not kill the man. Anastasia believes him, but the Elders insist he is locked in the dungeon until he can go to trial... without the blood he needs to survive. Now Anastasia must solve the murder to exonerate her husband, but with the return of old friends and the revelations of many secrets, she isn't sure she can be the princess (soon to be queen) Lucius wants her to be. If she can't, her husband's life ill be over.


I was a little surprised when I first read this book and saw just how dark it was. Don't get me wrong, it was a really good story, but compared to the light-hearted wit from Lucius in the first book, this one was much more serious. There were occasional moments of levity, but I definitely missed the Lucius you fell in love with in the first book. This story dealt much more with Jessica/Anastasia and her crippling fear of being the princess she needed to be. In fact, I was a little annoyed with her at times. At one point, her husband is locked, starving, down in the dungeon and she is lying in her bed feeling sorry for herself. I wanted to scream: "Get out of bed you twit! Take care of business!" Eventually she did rise to the occasion and take charge, but it was frustrating to watch her flounder so much.


While the main characters were the focus in the first book, they faded into the background with this one. The supporting characters, like Lucius' childhood friend and Anastasia's friend Mindy from home, made up a lot of the meat of the story. Luckily, it was an interesting part of the story, and Mindy's fun take on the situation was a welcomed touch. This story is appropriate for a wide range of ages and will still hold the attention of anyone who liked the first story (as long as they could ignore the silly title). It is a good, easy read for any struggling reader to be successful with. 

Dracula meets Princess Diaries

You know the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover"? Well don't judge this book by its cover or its ridiculous title because you won't be sorry if you pick this gem up (which you might not do with a silly title like Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side). While Beth Fantaskey might not have chosen the best title for a great story like this, she sure knows how to write!

Jessica is a normal, everyday senior at Woodrow Wilson High School. She thinks about colleges, boys, friends, and parents, until Lucius Vladescu shows up at her high school. Lucius is an exchange student from Romania who seems intent on gaining Jessica for his own, but there is more to the story. It turns out Lucius is a vampire prince, as is Jessica (princess), and they were betrothed to one another before they were born in order to bring peace to two warring clans of vampires. Jessica's adoptive parents were entrusted with her safety when the villagers attacked her clan and killed her birth parents. Now Jessica is supposed to return to Romania as Lucius's queen. The only problem? She thinks they are all nuts! Vampires?! There is no such thing as vampires!

Lucius refuses to give up (and knows his uncle will not be happy if he returns without Jessica) so he decides to stay in town and win her over. Of course, his over-privileged, vampire life doesn't compare to Jessica's life on her vegetarian parents' farm. He feels assaulted by their obsession with lentils, is horrified (and disposes of) their collection of international folk art (in particular the dolls... he really hates the dolls), and is forced to play basketball, although he insists on doing so in leather loafers. Lucius is so annoyed by having to endure life in Jessica's home and town he can barely stick it out. When she starts dating a local boy, Lucius can barely contain his irritation, but when other kids in school start to suspect something is up with Lucius, and by default, Jessica, the situation quickly escalates to a dangerous one. Lucius's dangerous, sinister uncles come into town to force the engagement along and the townsfolk are coming dangerously close to the truth. Jessica just wants to be a normal girl, but it looks like the lives of her people she can barely accept exist are hung in the balance of her decision.

This book is so easily underestimated by that ridiculous title and cover that I am concerned it won't get the attention it deserves. The story was hilarious (I mean laugh out loud, adore Lucius and his cantankerousness completely), the writing was really good, and the characters were great. This is one of those books that really takes you by surprise! Lucius's character is the best part of the book. His correspondence with his uncles back in Romania will literally keep you in hysterics. I can't describe him accurately enough to do him justice- you just have to read the book and see how funny he truly is (watch out for the two page long tirade about the lentils!)!

The writing is moderate and the situations are not too mature for your average middle to high school student. Like I said, the cover and title are going to sadly scare away a lot of kids and adults who would otherwise love this book, so be sure to read it and spread the word (or bully them into reading it if you must- whatever works!). It is a story you will love and wish there was more of (please Ms. Fantaskey- write a sequel!!). The first part of the story is very funny, very humorous, but the second part of the story gets very serious as the danger of the situation unfolds. This is a great book, in fact one of the best I have read in a long time. So go ahead- read it, and I dare you to try and NOT love Lucuis!