Customer Reviews

Skinny-dipping (Au Pairs)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Well, I was a big fan of the first book, The Au Pairs. This book does indeed develop deeper into Mara and Jaqui's character. Eliza, the ex-It girl, has rented a little cottage for the summer. Her family is doing better and instead of working as an au-pair for the Perry Family, she worked at an upcoming hot club called Seventh Circle. Mara is now the It-girl since dating Ryan Perry. Jaqui is focused on her job because she wants to stay in New York the year and finish school up there and hopefully go to NYU. Her plan worked, up until she met the new au pair, the hot French Phillepe. Read the book to find out more. This book is so totally awesome!!!!

This book is great to entertain yourself in a boring weekend, it really gets a hold on you.
I read the first one also, which I liked better; I think you could see more clearly the way in which three different teenagers, coming from three very different places get together in a place that consists in a material world. Comparing the two books, you could simply say that the first one is a little more realistic.
At the end of the first book, the three au pairs end up being great friends with new plans and expectations for their next meeting, but things will change faster than they think, and when they come back to The Hanptons there will be more conflics, more drama,and much more complications with the girls' characters and the way they react to the never-endless chaos in which the people from The Hamptons live.

by: Carla R.

SKINNY-DIPPING brings poor Mara, rich then poor Eliza, and Brazilian Jacqui back to the Hamptons for another summer of adventures. Fans of last year's THE AU PAIRS have been waiting for the hinted-at sequel where Mara, Eliza and Jacqui were supposed to go on a tropical winter break with the Perry family. For some reason, that idea was abandoned, and there is only brief mention of Eliza and Jacqui's winter with the Perrys, where Eliza and Ryan Perry were up to no good while Mara was away. That's just the beginning of the changes for this summer.

Eliza gets a job with a hot club instead of working with the Perry children, and a new au pair, Philippe, moves into the quarters with Mara and Jacqui. Philippe is as handsome as he is mysterious, and Jacqui tries to overcome an attraction to him.

Mara is still recovering from breaking up with Ryan by partying too much and dating Mr. Shallow and Wrong. She loves all the attention her uber-it self is getting from photographers and designers, but Eliza and Jacqui are growing tired of her.

Eliza never sees Jeremy while he is busy at his finance job, and ends up spending too much time with Ryan again. Her job is hard work --- catering to spoiled Hamptonites is not the glamorous status return she was hoping for.

Readers will enjoy the references to the latest designer duds and party trends, but the Hamptons is a small place and it will be interesting to see in future books what changes await these girls after they are college-bound and on breaks.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

Sorry. I was not in the least interested in the people and context of this story. It was more a list of tradenames of shopping articles which brainless rich girls were seeking to own.

I read the first and had to buy this one. Its easy reading and she describes everything really good. It definately is juicier! I would love to move to the Hamptons to see what she is talking about and/or even be an au pair. She is a great author i just pretty much bought all her books. im 22 and enjoy reading this on the beach and when im home too!!!!

This is the second book in the Au Pairs series. Although aimed at teen audiences, I am an adult and I enjoyed this book (as I did the first one).

The writing is fun and the storyline kind of plays into everyone's fantasy of getting away from it all for the summer and to play in the Hamptons. Meet rich people and do exciting things that we would not normally get a chance to do.

Having said this, if you are the type who needs to have a strong, solid, realistic storyline than DO NOT purchase this book. The Mara character especially is so unrealistic (everything she does is picture worthy and oh so, perfect) that you will want to gag.

However, if you don't mind this than go ahead and read this one. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope that there is a part trois sometime down the road.

I really loved the book. It was a fun and easy read with believable characters. If your looking for something light and funny then this is the book for you.

Just-turned-seventeen, Eliza Thompson, isn't even a legal adult, yet she has already ruled the celebutante scene, and lost her It Girl status, something even the biggest celebs haven't managed to do. But it's not something she's proud of. In fact, it's not something that was even her fault. After living the sweet life for sixteen years of her life, Eliza's father was finally caught embezzling money from his company, sending the Thompson family into a tizzy that left them broke, and forced to leave their privileged life on the Upper East Side for a more humble existence in...Buffalo. But Eliza managed to reclaim her title slightly last summer, when she worked for the Perry family as an au pair, alongside two very different - yet very gorgeous - girls. The summer wouldn't have been a complete bust if it weren't for the Perry twins - Sugar and Poppy - who did everything in their power to let everyone know that Eliza was no longer one of the privileged. In fact, she had now been reduced to "hired help" status. This summer, however, is guaranteed to be better. Her parents managed to scrape together enough rent money for a place in Westhampton, and instead of chasing four little ankle-biters around all summer, Eliza has taken on a job with Seventh Circle - the soon-to-be hottest club in the Hamptons. Eliza can imagine that she'll be rubbing elbows with the rich and famous, and just knows that she'll be able to reclaim her It Girl status. But just a few nights of work let her see that catering to the whims of celebrities isn't as easy as she originally thought. In fact, it can be downright more difficult than being a nanny - if that's even possible. But that's certainly not the worst of it. Eliza's bank account is quickly dwindling down, her credit card is maxed out, and, adding insult to injury, the Perry's gardener, Jeremy, whom she fell madly in love with last summer, has taken on an internship with a conservative firm, and is suddenly walking around in a suit, and acting completely...different. Now Eliza is finding it difficult to figure out whether or not their budding romance will be able to last, or if they'll be forced to break-up fast.

As for It Girls...shy, small-town honey, Mara Waters, is the last girl anyone thought would take the Hamptons by storm. But last year, after beginning a relationship with the handsome, drool-worthy Ryan Perry, Mara was suddenly splashed on the cover of newspapers across the country, and even landed in Page Six various times. But then she did the unthinkable and dumped Ryan, feeling as if she wasn't good enough for him. This summer, however, between chasing around the Perry kids, and working on her tan, Mara is determined to reclaim her man. What she doesn't know, is that over winter break, Eliza and Ryan spent some time hooking up in Palm Beach, which could instantly spell disaster in both her relationship with Ryan, and her friendship with Eliza. When she arrives back in the Hamptons and sees a new girl hanging all over Ryan, however, Mara does the unthinkable: she begins using uber-rich Garrett Reynolds as her own personal boy toy to make Ryan jealous. The only thing her relationship with Garrett manages to do, however, is land her in the pages of Us Weekly to Page Six, once again, comparing her to party girl Tara Reid. Mara is usually such a responsible girl, but the Hamptons, and a broken heart seem to be taking their toll on her psyche, landing her in hot water in the press, and with the people she truly cares about. She'd love to just go back to being herself, but the delicious sample clothes that are poring in from designers all over the world for her to wear are calling her name, just screaming to be worn in front of the cameras. It doesn't hurt much that the gifts Garrett is lavishing her with are more than enough to pay for her entire college education, and leave Ryan in a disgruntled huff.

Then there's Jacqui Velasco. The Brazilian bombshell with a Sports Illustrated-worthy body has always loved the male species. But after having her heart broken by "her Luca" last summer, Jacqui has resolved to do the unthinkable - write off boys. She's under the impression that boys are the reason for her failing grades, and bad relations with many of the people around her, and is convinced that by kissing them goodbye - at least for a little while - she'll be able to pull up her GPA, and keep from having her heart stomped on. As much as Jacqui loves her home in Brazil, she wants nothing more than to stay in New York City for her senior year, attending Stuyvesant, then moving on to NYU. Mara may have been the responsible one last summer, but this summer, that responsibility has fallen upon Jacqui's shoulders. With Mara out partying and drinking every night, Jacqui has begun taking care of the Perry rascals solely, and doesn't mind it a bit. But when she meets Philippe, the handsome tennis player from France who happens to be taking Eliza's spot as the third Perry au pair, Jacqui has a tough time keeping her eyes - and hands - from wandering. And begins to question her pledge to avoid boys at all costs. After all, summer is a time for love, and Jacqui plans on enjoying a romance with the yummy Philippe - even if it costs her, her job.

Melissa de la Cruz's first Au Pair effort, THE AU PAIRS, was not only scandalous enough, but the absolute perfect springboard for a series that would blend summer romance, summer jobs, power, privilege, and money all into one neat little package. With the release of SKINNY-DIPPING, de la Cruz manages to to illustrate that spectacularly. While THE AU PAIRS gave readers background on the main characters - Jacqui, Mara, and Eliza - SKINNY-DIPPING brings us even deeper into the world of Hamptons royalty, and what it takes to stay on top as an It Girl. Mara takes on a totally different persona within the pages of SKINNY-DIPPING, morphing from a sweet, small-town girl, into a dancing-on-top-of-tables, drinking-til-the-wee-hours-of-the-morning, Paris Hilton clone, who isn't against ditching her old friends who loved her last summer, for new friends who can get her into the hottest clubs, and shower her with amazing gifts. Her new attitude makes her slightly unlikable; while, at the same time, keeps the reader fixated on her character, as she stumbles through an array of bizarre, and un-Mara-like antics. Jacqui, on the other hand, seems much more mellow than she was in THE AU PAIRS, spending more time with her charges, and studying her SAT textbook. Her fire is still burning brightly, but she's more bombshell-turned-brainiac than wild child ready to take the world by storm. Her tumultuous relationship - or lack thereof - with the slightly sketchy Philippe is truly the only thing reminiscent of the Jacqui from THE AU PAIRS. Yet, even with her new persona, Jacqui is as addicting, and lovable, as ever. Eliza has managed to stay the same since last summer, except for the fact that she's slightly more humble than she previously was. She's still uptight, kind of a control freak, and totally obsessed with reclaiming her title as Hamptons It Girl, but she has one of the - seemingly - coolest jobs ever, which totally makes up for it. The only thing questionable about her is the fact that she insists that she's in love with Jeremy, yet hooks up with Ryan, making her seem emotionally and romantically confused - which is actually quite relatable for teenage girls. The fact that the three girls aren't all working together, and have changed so much over the past year does take-away from the storyline to a certain extent. Gone are the thousand-dollar shopping sprees, girl talk over ten-dollar lattes, and tanning sessions under the steamy sun. In fact, the girls hardly ever even hang out with one another throughout SKINNY-DIPPING, opting to do their own thing. Yet each one of them is so entertaining that the reader is hardly bothered by this new format. After all, there's always next summer for rekindling old friendships - and relationships. A sequel sure to spice up your summer!

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

i was a huge fan of the first au pairs book, and this one is better, i think. it delves deeper into mara's and eliza's characters and really lets you know where they're coming from and why they do the things they do. i wont give anything away, but if you liked the first one, you'll adore this one. hope this helps!!