"Cute YA paranormal romance"

Oregonian teenager Francesca only wants to be normal, but that is difficult when you are six feet tall, bigger than most males in the school, and can read minds by touching objects. Making it more difficult to be a norm is her recently divorced mother, a witch who has dragged Fran to Hungary on a traveling show tour filled with freaks and geeks.

Fran is almost run over by a motorcycle. The driver is a hunk who is actually taller than her, which is what freaks her out. She does not blink when she learns he is Benedikt Czerny, a Czech Moravian Dark One over three centuries old. As she suffers from a crush over the geriatric vampire who does not look a day over his early twenties, he believes she is the one who will save his soul. Of course when it comes to battling a demon, Benedikt thinks Fran and his sister should stay home while he fights alone; he obviously does not understand an American Amazonian princess who is prepared to kick demon butt and his if necessary between their kisses.

The cast whether they are normals, supernatural, or hybrid in-betweeners seem genuine so that the audience receives a delightful young adult fantasy. The story line grips the audience from the moment a lamenting Fran, the poster girl for teen angst, meets Benedikt, the centerfold of vampires; and never slows down until the final altercation with the demon that will open the Moravian's eyes (not his fangs). Fans will appreciate this fine amusing yet suspenseful tale of vampires, witches, and demons, oh my.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted December 31, 2004