Beth Fantaskey | Marie Lamba, author

First, some quick updates:

*Drawn ebook is still on sale for just $0.99…but for a limited time…links are here.

**Also, through Valentines Day, you can enter to win all of my books signed, plus chocolates, plus have a chance at a grand prize…entering is as easy as leaving a comment: click The Valentine Blog Hop for the details.

AND NOW: News from the road…

The Drawn Blog Ghost Tour road, that is.

This week I’m criss-crossing the globe…I’ve packed my wrinkle free clothes, my passport and my writing journal… Well, okay, since this is a BLOG tour after all, maybe I haven’t packed anything. Maybe I haven’t left the country. MAYBE I’m sitting in my studio in my jammies all week long.

So? I’m STILL crossing the globe on this week’s tour, making not one but TWO stops in Australia, then racing back to the U.S. for the balance of this week.

But can’t we imagine that this author is wandering through cyberspace, a fashionable carry-on over one shoulder, and a well-read copy of Drawn under the other? We envision this author as unstoppable. Her business-like heels click clack through the world’s airports.

Her passionate mission? To spread the word about Drawn, her new paranormal novel about a timeless love between teen artist Michelle, and Christopher, the medieval ghost with a sketchy past… Our world-traveling author won’t rest until everyone knows it’s gotten amazing reviews, like last week’s rave from The Author Chronicles, who said “If you’re looking for a book with an engaging protagonist, captivating plot, and paranormal twist, this is for you. Just make sure to clear your calendar first, because once you start, you won’t want to put it down!”

Our jet-setting author wants people to realize that if they like Twilight, Hush Hush and books by Beth Fantaskey, that they will fall in love with Drawn…

Our trail blazing writer wants…well, she wants to get out of her jammies and into real clothes at some time this week, but never mind that. On to this weeks highlights (the fourth week of the tour!), brought to you by the fabulous book bloggers on the Drawn Blog Ghost Tour!:

February 6th: That’s today! Say a hearty g’day to our down-under blogger Novels on the Run as they host my guest post “Any Time but the Present.” I share why I think time travel is so seductive, plus some tasty excerpts from Drawn.

February 7th: Still in awesome Australia is blogger Agrippina Legit, who will feature a review of Drawn and an interview with me with that “Land Down Under” spin.

February 8th: We zoom back to the U.S. where The Cozy Reader posts her review of Drawn plus my guest blog “Writing Magic,” where I share some of my own techniques for writing believable fantasy scenes…with examples from Drawn.

February 9th: Take a walk on the dark side at Lucas Mangum’s Dark Dimensions blog, where he’ll post his review of Drawn plus run an interview with me exploring the fascination with darkness and the paranormal…and the darkness that winds through Drawn.

February 10th: Twimom101 features a quirky Top 10 Q&A with me. I reveal some stuff… Er, hope I didn’t embarrass myself? If I do, please tell me!

As with any of these posts, leave comments and I’ll be sure to comment back. See how dedicated I am? Even with ALL of this travelling. Even with spending all day in my fuzzy slippers…er, I mean, my business-like heels…

Ah the glamour of being an author on tour! Truly, there’s nothing like it…

To catch up on any of the fun you missed in the past few weeks on the tour (from authentic ghost photos, to reviews and interviews and posts that are illuminating and/or bizarre) just click here or on the Drawn Blog Ghost Tour tab at the top of my website at any time, and follow the links.

Bon voyage!

***UPDATE: My paranormal YA novel DRAWN is now out in paperback and ebook…If you like TWILIGHT and HUSH HUSH and books by Beth Fantaskey, then you’ll love DRAWN, the paranormal novel filled with forbidden love…and rich with believable characters. For more info about DRAWN click here!***

REVIEW: You know that obnoxious cocky guy? The one that is cute and he knows it? The one that can’t help but make you laugh even though you really don’t plan on giving him the satisfaction of doing so? Well, now imagine that this guy is European royalty, and that he shows up in your small Pennsylvanian town. Oh, and he’s a vampire. Let’s add to that…It turns out you are a vampire too, but you didn’t know it. And you were betrothed at birth to said arrogant vampire royalty dude.

Well, that is the entertaining premise of Beth Fantaskey’s debut young adult novel Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). I know. More vampires. But like Suck it Up by Brian Meehl (you can check out my review of that by clicking here), Fantaskey fully embraces the ridiculousness of the situation to make us laugh out loud frequently.

Throughout the novel there is the enjoyable banter of anger laced with attraction between Jessica and the imperious Lucius. Well done throughout the book. But the parts that I most enjoyed were the moments when Lucius comments on American teen life, and even gets involved in it. One of my favorite moments occurs when he’s writing to his very scary uncle back at the homeland about his progress in sealing the deal with Jessica. If the wedding between him and Jessica doesn’t occur, then the two ruling vampire families will go to war and most will be killed. No pressure, eh? Anyway, Lucius concludes his rather solemn letter with

Your nephew, duty bound,
Lucius Vladescu
P.S. I’ve been recruited for basketball. The coach thinks I might start!

It’s that type of humor that will have you flipping the pages and thoroughly enjoying this book. I loved the spoofy wit surrounding the book Lucius gives Jessica to help her deal with her changes as she becomes a vampire – Growing up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions. The guide has chapters like: “Your Changing Body.” Too funny.

The novel is full of flirty fun and moments of danger, but my favorite parts are when Lucius is looking down his nose at us all. “And do not even speak to me of ‘Jell-O’ and ‘sloppy joes.'”

So check this book out and enjoy. You’ll find it a great summer read.