This is the second summer, and the summer before the girls' senior year.Eliza- her family is making more money now, and she is trying to find a job at a new club. she and jeremy broke up because of the distance, but she is looking forward to seeing him again. it is also revealed that during the winter break in palm's beach she hooked up with ryan. Jacqui knows, but eliza is dreading telling mara. Eliza is absent for much of this book because since she is working at the club and not au pairing she does not hang out with the other au pairs. She brings jeremy to meet her family but they disapprove. he starts to ignore her so she hooks up with ryan more. sugar and poppy tell her that mara knows about ryan so she doesn't feel guilty. Mara finds out, and eliza tells ryan that she loves jeremy and she can't be with him anymore.Mara- she is going to work for the perry's again. She also did not go and work for them during winter vacation because she had recently broken up with ryan because she felt like she didn't fit in with his world. she becomes more and more popular and starts getting free clothing. she also starts dating garrett a very wealthy man in the hamptons. This makes ryan jealous. she starts slacking on her duties as an au pair. Mara's sister also visits during the summer. after an earring scandal she is forced to return all of the clothing she borrowed. Garrett breaks up with her. She apologizes to her friends, and her and ryan get back together as a hurricane arrives.Jacqui- She swares of boys for the whole summer which means nothing happened between her and kit since last summer. She likes the new au pair phillipe and they hook up a couple times but anna says the only way jacqui can stay with them in new york is if she stays away from phillipe. Jacqui is a better au pair this summer. She hangs out with kit during the hurricane, and starts to have feelings for him. She finds out that Dr. Abraham and Phillipe were selling drugs. Review: this was a good sequel to the first book, but I did have a few qualms. I hated how easily ryan was forgiven for hooking up with eliza. It seemed like the author was blaming mara because during the apologizing we never see ryan apologize for his actions. He was the one that hooked up with another girl leading mara to stay with garrett. I also really hated ryan this book. It seemed like he didn't really care about mara because he was willing to stay with eliza even though she didn't love him. He just seemed like he didn't really care one way or the other in some parts and like he was really in love in other parts. Just very confusing!!!
Oh, Melissa. After reading and enjoying the first cliché but pretty good book within the series, I was eager to grab the rest of the books. I got to this one, the second book in line and I was pretty disappointed at first. Whilst the cliché storylines and characters were bearable in the first book, in this one they just didn't cut the mustard. Exhibit A: the new French Au Pair. Very stereotypical and a super lame character that pretty much served no purpose and did no justice for Jackie's storyline at all. I found myself almost glossing over Jackie's parts in this book every time they were coupled with that awful French guy. However, there was a silver lining. Mara's storyline was very interesting, her new found Hamptons lifestyle and making her way to some fame was very interesting to read. But the real MVP was Eliza. From the rich, spoiled girl who'd wear shoes no less than $400 that we saw in the first book, has now become humbled and love-smitten and also within her own drama. Eliza's storyline really just made this book so much more worth the read. The children were basically nonexistant in this book, whereas in the first book it was more about this kids, it's not about them at all in this book and they're hardly mentioned. Aside from that you can expect your usual run-of-the-mill mention of designer clothing that is hard to imagine (I had to sit with google open to even understand what half the clothes were), celebrity name-drops and yet another cliché rich guy scenario. If you can stomach it all, go ahead and read it. Let's hope the third one is better, Melissa.
What do You think about Skinny-Dipping (2006)?
3.5 stars.I thought this novel was better than the first. There were a few slow parts at the beginning and I contemplated abandoning the book, but I'm really glad I didn't. I found Jacqui and Eliza to be much more likeable. Many reviewers have complained about Mara in this book. I do agree that the fame went to her head and her behaviour was out of line; yet I still liked her throughout it as I could see how she got caught up - she's naive and wants to be liked. Overall, this was a fun, fluffy read that actually got rather addictive near the end. I look forward to the next novel in the series and hope it is as enjoyable as this installment in the series.
—Kristen
Mara, Jacqui & Eliza are back in the Hamptons for the summer.Mara & Jacqui will be working as Au Pairs for the Perry's again. (view spoiler)[Which will be awkward since Mara broke up with Ryan but is still in love with hi) (hide spoiler)]
—Aisling
I have nothing bad to say about the second book to the Au Pairs series. I didn't think it could be better than the first, but it definitely was. Surprisingly Eliza was my favourite character in this book, unlike the first where Mara was my favourite. Eliza really changed and now she isn't some spoiled rich kid who gets everything she wants. Mara on the other hand made me want to rip my hair out who seemed to turn into the biggest B over night. Jac still kind of annoys me, but the three of them together with all their different personalties make their friendship more interesting I think. So, yeah this was such a good book, I've never read something so fast, like I'll be reading it and be on page 10 and then I'll look down at the number and all of a sudden I'm on page 100. I literally can't put these books down, it's insannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne.
—Alexandra
