Sun-kissed (Au Pairs) [Hardcover]

Melissa de la Cruz (Author)

Book Description

Series: Au Pairs | Publication Date: May 23, 2006

Be careful or you'll get burned.

The three hottest au pairs in history are back, and this time they're ready to rule the Hamptons. Mara has all the VIPs in the hottest clubs hanging on her every word. Eliza's family is back from financial ruin; and she's got the platinum charge cards to prove it. Jacqui is newly single and ready for some steamy summer hook-ups. The girls seem to have it all this summer...but looks, as we all know, can be deceiving.

Mara's living every girl's dream: playing house with her boyfriend, Ryan Perry, on his parents' luxury yacht while writing a column about night-life in the Hamptons. With a press pass to every hot event, Mara's ready to hit the red carpet and scoop even the most seasoned journalists. If only she could get a pass from Ryan, who just wants her to stay home and cuddle.

Last summer's "No boys!" mantra is a distant memory for Jacqui. While the new au pair, Shannon, handles the Perry kids, Jacqui searches for some serious fun. And she doesn't have to look far: Three dot.com boy millionaires have moved in next door and are more than happy to compete for her affections. Thus Jacqui's new mantra is, "Why have just one when you can have them all?"

Eliza and Jeremy are in total relationship bliss. She's decided to take the next step with Jeremy and nothing's going to stop her this time. Unfortunately, what she thought would be a cakewalk internship for a famous fashion designer turns out to be more hours of hard labor than she, or her relationship, are ready for. Too bad Jeremy won't stop questioning her work ethic long enough for Eliza to get back in the mood.

The Au Pairs: Sun-kissed. Because it's soooo much more than just a job.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–Eliza, Mara, and Jacqui are back in a third installment in the series. Jacqui continues to be an au pair for the spoiled Perry children and faces the additional task of trying to hold together her employers' tumultuous marriage in the hopes of keeping her job. She also finds herself part of a complicated foursome as three vastly different but equally dazzling young Internet moguls move in next door and attempt to woo her. Eliza has high hopes for becoming the next big thing in fashion by working for Mikael Lappin, a washed-up designer attempting a comeback. Her dreams are interrupted, however, when Mikael's assistant, who happens to be her boyfriend's ex, sabotages her and gets her fired. Mara finds herself deep in drama as well, as her plans for a relaxing summer with on-again fling Ryan Perry are dashed, as she is always on the go in her new job as junior journalist with Hamptons magazine. As always, the girls' foibles are fun but trite. Just like the young starlets they are modeled after, the Au Pairs are fad characters who will soon be forgotten.–Jane Cronkhite, Cuyahoga County Public Library, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Melissa de la Cruz is the author of the novel Cat's Meow and the co-author of How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less. Her work has been translated into several languages. She writes regularly for Marie Claire, Gotham, Hamptons, and Lifetime magazines and has contributed to the New York Times, Glamour, Allure, and McSweeney's. She recently moved from New York City and now lives in Los Angeles with her husband. She has never dared use her cell phone on the Hampton Jitney. This is not her dog.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; First Edition edition (May 23, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416917462
• ISBN-13: 978-1416917465
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,549,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat.

Her books for adults include the novel Cat's Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.

She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney's, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.

Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!).

She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Really Good Book, June 27, 2006

By 

C. Jackson "cecebookworm" (OH, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sun-kissed (Au Pairs) (Hardcover)

Well, It's really hard for me to say whether or not it was worse then the other two in the series (Au Pairs, Skinny-Dipping), but but it was amazingly intersting and fun to read.
The book is about three girls who come back for their third summer in the Hamptons. Jacqui is still an Au Pair for the Perry's, Eliza lands a job as an interen for a famous designer but ends up designing some clothes along the way, and Mara is staying with Ryan on his yacht! TOGETHER!
Of course, their are some problems that develop with the three girls. The Perry Parents are fighting and Mr. Perry files a divorce with Anna (his wife). This is not going to work for Jacqui because if she can't keep this job, then she can't go to school in New York!
Eliza gets fired from her designing job (You'll see why), gets a new job at a crappy lunch resturant, fights with her boyfriend Jeremy because he used to date her evil ex-coworker.
Mara's boyfriend Ryan doesn't understand how important Mara's job is to her. He wants her to stay home with him and have fun all day. Mara's extremly upset because she got accepted into a good school in New York that has a great writing program, but she finds out she acepted into Darthmouth, the school that Ryan goes to, and she doesnt want to tell him that she thinks that she should go to the school in New York (I think it's Columbia). Read to find out what happens!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fair, June 7, 2006

By 

Tina "Tina" (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sun-kissed (Au Pairs) (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed the other books in the series, if, as I had previously stated, you were ready to suspend your disbelief.

I found this one very hard to get through. I think the problem is that the storyline felt forced. The author was attempting to show that each of the au pairs had individual lives, while at the same time, trying to write stories showing them together.

It did not work. I think what worked so well in the first books was the fact that the au pairs were always basically together - since they all worked together. Now, the cuteness has been lost and I frankly found myself not caring about any of them.

I think its time to retire this series.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Should've Stopped After Two, July 23, 2006

By 

Julie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sun-kissed (Au Pairs) (Hardcover)

Ms. de la Cruz's writing was flawless as usual, but the content was a disappointment compared to the first two in the series. I know that you have to read these knowing they're unbelievable, but this one went too far in my opinion. Mara somehow manages to be one of the best writers for a magazine and gets published in a big name paper; three incredibly cute and successful guys all want to be with Jackie; and Eliza starts her own fashion line--complete with a show--and the press comes to see it. Oh, and the girls throw a huge party for Anna and Kevin so they won't get a divorce. And Jacqui uses Anna's ATM account without any trouble at all. It was just too much.

Also, whereas with the last two books I felt like there was a nice progression through time, this one was different. It seemed like the summer went by without anything really happening. Mara and Ryan live on a boat together. All Ryan does is surf and Mara puts out amazing articles. The only conflict was that Ryan wanted Mara to be with him more often. He ends up coming off as some weak pansy. Jacqui just goes on dates with the boys next door and has trouble deciding which one is for her. The kids are hardly mentioned. There's a new Au-Pair whose only purpose in the book is to hack into computers because she's a smart Asian. The series should not have been entitled Au-Pairs since the third book had nothing do with it.

My main problem with the book is that there were only the big events that were covered, so it felt like I only got to see what they were doing every three weeks or so. To be perfectly honest, there just wasn't much of a plot. It was still an entertaining read, but I was disappointed after the first two were so great. Ms. de la Cruz said she might write a fourth, so I'm hoping it will be better, and a little more believable--like the first two.