The Sweet Life #1: An E-Serial (Sweet Valley Confidential) [Kindle Edition]

Francine Pascal (Author)

Book Description

For Jessica and Elizabeth, the sweet life begins at 30…

From Francine Pascal, creator of the bestselling Sweet Valley High series and author of the NY Times bestselling Sweet Valley Confidential, comes the continuing adventures of beautiful blonde twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield in an exciting new six-part e-serial, The Sweet Life.

The first novella-length episode - The Sweet Life - begins three years after the events of Sweet Valley Confidential; Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are back in Sweet Valley and inseparable once more. Things are looking up for both twins: Elizabeth is a star reporter at the LA Tribune with a popular blog, and Jessica’s PR career is on the fast-track. But while the professional lives of the Wakefield sisters are secure, their personal lives may be in jeopardy. Jessica, now a mother, finds that managing parenthood, marriage, and a job is harder than she expected, while Elizabeth and Bruce must face a scandal that could strengthen their bond…or tear them apart for ever.

Meanwhile, life goes on in Sweet Valley. Families are made, hearts are broken, and…Lila Fowler is a reality TV star? Some things never change.

The Sweet Life takes Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield through a new chapter in their well-chronicled and beloved fictional lives. This dramatic first installment and cliff-hanger ending will leave readers breathless for the next episode.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

FRANCINE PASCAL is the creator of the world of Sweet Valley and is one of the most popular fiction writers of all time. As a theater lover and Tony voter, Ms. Pascal is on the Advisory Board of the American Theatre Wing. Her favorite sport is a monthly poker game. She lives in New York City and France.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1
 
 
“They’re ready for you,” Katy Johnson, Jessica Wakefield’s assistant/savior, said as she peeked into Jessica’s double-windowed corner office, iPad in hand. Katy was wearing one of the new red lipsticks Revlon was introducing. It showed up brilliantly against her deep brown skin.
“Come in. I’m crazed; they’re going to hate it.”
“No way,” Katy said, stepping into her boss’s office. “They’re gonna love it. They so love everything you do. Did you forget you’re the resident genius?”
“Yeah, right. As long as you don’t tell.”
Jessica was convinced that she would drown under everything if it weren’t for Katy. Six-foot-tall Katy, who claimed Watusi somewhere in her background, came closer than anyone else to knowing how vulnerable Jessica really was. What she didn’t know was how much Jessica worried that if ever Katy left, she’d write a tell-all book about her, and everyone would know that half the time the Queen of Green was scared shitless and had no clue what she was actually doing.
The meeting today was for her to present her latest project. This time for Revlon. They’d just started a new line of green cosmetics, and she’d been tapped to do the big intro gala. Everyone, all the big shots, was waiting in the meeting room for the Jessica Show.
In three years, from part-time assistant to nobody, Jessica had become a vice president of the My Face Is Green marketing company, now renamed VertPlus.net.
It was a green marketing and promotion company owned by George Fowler, her best friend Lila’s father. Originally based in Sweet Valley, but now with offices in Chicago and New York, as well, the company specialized in introducing new green cosmetics for the popular market. It was a little idea Mr. Fowler had hit on at the right time and place and that in the last five years had exploded onto the national consciousness.
Right from her first week there—actually, from her first day—Jessica knew the job was made for her. It was as if she had the idea gene. Ideas just popped up naturally, practically jumping out of her head.
And the weird thing was, she was usually right. Like the first campaign she did for Almay. She did a whole big splash costume party in L.A., and every local magazine and newspaper covered it. Even some national media ran stories.
It all started with a face mask she found made out of seaweed. She made it the center of the promotion and threw a fabulous Marie Antoinette–themed, seaweed-masked ball that everyone had just loved.
The mask even sort of worked. Well, it was no worse than most of the cure-all creams out there. Whatever. It earned her the title Queen of Green. Perfect.
Besides her anxiety about the possible tell-all, Jessica worried that whatever magic genius she seemed to have would one day vanish into the same place it came from—nowhere.
Right now was no time to worry about that. She had her first Revlon presentation today. And it was far-out.
Katy said she loved it, but Katy could be far-out, too.
A touch of panic hit Jessica as she rolled up the new Revlon invitation layout, rubber-banded it, and stuck it in the corner of her fake-fur laptop case (made specially for her), which was jammed full with papers already. She grabbed more papers and stuffed them in alongside, and then, holding the bag right at the edge of her desk, swept myriad makeup samples from every corner of the glass top of her personally designed desk, where the only thing you could ever find were your feet underneath it, into the overflowing bag. Not everything she got from her idea gene was perfect.
“Do you need all that?” Katy asked.
“I’m cutting out right from the meeting. I am so going to be late, Todd will kill me.”
Katy handed her a large envelope. “The photos?”
“Oh, God, I’m such a wreck, I would have forgotten.”
Together she and Katy walked down the hall toward the meeting room, shoulders back, heads high—very high in Katy’s case—trying to look invincible.
The meeting was in the grand conference room and was packed with everyone from the top execs of VertPlus.net to the heads of Revlon’s marketing department. No one wanted to miss a Queen of Green presentation.
As prearranged, Katy stood in the back.
Jessica knew that not everyone loved her. There was some serious jealousy, especially from the original marketing side. They had been swept aside by Jessica’s new promotion group and sorely resented it. Especially Tracy Courtright, an elegant middle-aged woman who had been with the company since it first started. As the former top dog in marketing, she was devastated to find that her work now consisted mainly of carrying out Jessica’s ideas.
The minute Jessica walked into the meeting room, the enthusiasm could be felt. She was, after all, Jessica, the star.
But a star can fall. And Tracy Courtright was ready to give her the necessary shove at the first opportunity.
Michael Wilson, the executive vice president of the Sweet Valley office, introduced Jessica.
She stood up and looked around, confident and comfortable as the beautiful blond-haired prom queen she had always been. All jitters vanished; this was her territory.
Jessica wasted no time. “Simply put, I’m taking the green out of Sissyland, Organicville, and Priustown, and from now on, it’s gonna be down and dirty!”
She didn’t have to wait long for the approval response; it came instantly in big smiles and enthusiastic head nodding. They liked it. Better than that, they loved it. Now she turned directly to Reggie Weiner, the head of marketing for Revlon.
“I’m calling it MeanGreen and it’s going to be all those fabulous off-the-charts colors your people have come up with. For anyone who hasn’t seen them yet, they’re twice the depth of what’s out there now. Like reds that stop just short of black and pinks that are so bright they’re electric.”
There were even more smiles. Especially from the Revlon group.
“I’ve added a little contribution that you might find interesting. Whatever you’re wearing on your lips is also your eyeliner.”
“Ugh.” Tracy Courtright practically jumped out of her chair. “Red eyes?”
“I know the eyeliner part sounds scary, but I promise it’s not. It’s totally subtle. Just a hint of a connection. But the lips and the nails—they are definitely scary.”
She could see that some in her audience were a little put off by the eyeliner idea, but Jessica wasn’t worried. Geniuses are allowed to take that extra leap sometimes. She could lose the eyeliner easily because the pièce de résistance was her gala idea. That was the Jessica touch they were all waiting for.
“I just want you to take a look at the costumes for the MeanGreen gala.”
Jessica picked up the large envelope next to her chair. She opened it and slid out the photographs. She kept one and started handing out the others.
“There will be fifteen models. This is the first one,” she said, holding up a picture of a stunning model dressed completely in green paint.
Before anyone else could respond, from her positioned place in the back of the room, Katy jumped in. “It’s totally fantastic!”
Everyone turned. “If you didn’t see the zippers,” she continued, “and the flowers on the thongs, you would swear it was paint on naked skin.”
“It really does look like she’s naked,” one of the Revlon people added.
A murmur of agreement went through the audience.
“Absolutely,” someone else said.
“She is,” said Jessica.
“No way.” Back to Katy in the back with her important line. “I can see the whole zipper down her side. And the thongs with the flowers…” And then, as if she had just caught on, “Oh, my God, I can’t believe it!”
“You better believe it.” Jessica gave the punch line: “Trompe l’oeil.”
Jaws dropped. “The thongs and the zippers are painted on. The models will actually be totally nude under the paint. A definite knockout when the media finds out, which I’ll make sure they do. But not till the end.”
By now everyone was craning to catch a glimpse of the pictures. It was a sensation. Neighbors were poking neighbors to make sure everyone got it, and then someone in the back suspiciously close to Katy (maybe it even was Katy) started to clap. And everyone picked it up. Almost everyone.
“I’m not sure we can do such a thing. I mean, after all, naked? Revlon?” Tracy looked to Weiner, expecting support, but all she got was an Obama “Yes, we can.”
Michael Wilson stood up. “Brilliant! This could be bigger than the mask gala. Thank you, Jessica, and your fabulous team.” He motioned in the direction of the seven-man promotion section, thereby closing out any further objections.
Tracy Courtright was on her feet again. “We just had a gala. I think we used that up.”
Jessica was ready. “This isn’t just a gala. It’s a dinner at Vert Farmhouse with chef Jean Pierre, and everything on the menu is sustainable, homegrown organic from their own acreage—”
“Not exactly earthshaking. Organic food.”
“—and an outdoor concert with a hot live band that is still a secret.” Jessica pulled that out of nowhere. Well, Liam O’Connor, her movie star friend, would help. Whatever. For the moment, it shut up Madame Courtright. But from experience she knew it was only momentary.
“Thank you, everybody,” Jessica said. “I would love to stay and listen to more, but I really am late.” She scooped up her laptop bag and...

Product Details

• File Size: 289 KB
• Print Length: 131 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1250023882
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (July 15, 2012)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006ZLAFXU
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,300 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Total trash....and I LOVED it! September 2, 2012

By Melissa Niksic VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

FYI, this is a review of "The Sweet Life: 1 - 6," not just the first installment, because I read them all back-to-back and cannot be bothered to write reviews for all six. That being said...

...I grew up on all things Sweet Valley High. I know so much about the Wakefield twins that I am practically the third sister. I SO looked forward to "Sweet Valley Confidential" last year, and that book was so horrifically bad I almost could not believe it was for real. Yet I still read "The Sweet Life" because I just cannot say no to anything remotely Elizabeth and Jessica related. And...I loved it. Loved it, loved it, LOVED IT! I could not put the book down. Is it a poorly written piece of crap that makes the original "Sweet Valley High" books seem like Henry James masterpieces? Well, yeah. But this book is much improved over the last one in that the author actually seemed to take the time to review the old books that bear her name, and thus "The Sweet Life" doesn't contain the many, MANY character inaccuracies that filled "Sweet Valley Confidential." That made things a lot more bearable right from the start. Yes, there are still some things I do not agree with, though I have had a year to get used to these insane plotlines, including (warning, many spoilers ahead!!!) that Jessica and Todd are not only a couple now, but they have married and procreated. Elizabeth is with Bruce Patman, of all people, and Steven Wakefield is GAY (I will never accept that one, sorry). Still, all that aside, I was totally swept up in the book, which is more dramatic than a soap opera. There are affairs and fake pregnancies and real pregnancies and baby-nappings and attempted rapes and ALLEGED attempted rapes, and numerous descriptions of Bruce Patman's, ahem, private area, and Lila Fowler stars on a show called "True Housewives of New Jersey" which is probably the most hilarious things ever, and I LOVED it.

Make no mistake about it that this is a very poorly written book. Francine Pascal never actually wrote any of the original "Sweet Valley High" books herself (she was the "creator," whatever that means). Her lack of writing experience shows...this books makes Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series look Pulitzer Prize-worthy. Still, fans of the original "Sweet Valley High" series will love it. This is pure trash for adult women who loved the tween series, and I cannot get enough of it. I wish these books would come out once a month like the old ones used to. What a great treat for us grown women who still love us some SVH drama! Now I just wish Ann M. Martin would jump on the bandwagon and write some smut about the adult members of The Baby-Sitters Club livin' the high life in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. That would be the bomb-diggity. ;)

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A more authentic return to Sweet Valley!! July 15, 2012

By Yolanda S. Bean VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Having read Sweet Valley books for what feels like my entire life - from the Kids series, to the the Twins series, through all the high school and university books, I had a lot of anticipation when I first heard about this six part serial! The inconsistencies and outright strange shifts in characters that appeared in Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later dampened some of my initial excitement, but I have to say this book felt like the authors wrote it almost in direct response to the many negative reviews that Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later garnered. And one Amazon review for Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later is titled "Francine Pascal still hates fat people" and for the first time, a character who is a size twelve is introduced as not needing to lose an ounce. The laziness in editing that was so rampant disappeared, and errors were corrected (like Lila's dad regained his rightful first name on the very first page) throughout. Obviously, there are five more to go, but I hope that this same attention to detail is shown throughout!

Unfortunately, Ken Matthews is a shadow of the character he once was - perhaps pro-football has led to so many concussions that he literally is no longer himself... But there is hope for his redemption at the end of the book... Elizabeth still doesn't feel quite herself, either - some very shady journalism and outright lies were pretty shocking. And Todd Wilkins is supposed to be retro, so it is odd that Jessica and Elizabeth both are surprised by his old-fashioned ideas about family. There are some purposeful reminders of the original series, which is nice (the lavaliere necklaces!), and the book ends with the traditional lead-ups to the next installment, making it all in all a much more satisfying return to the wonderful world of Sweet Valley.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars You Can't Go Home Again July 29, 2012

By Jenna Brennan

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

As I understand it, this edition encompasses all six books. As such, here is my review of the six edition series as a WHOLE. It includes a lot of the material I included in the review I wrote for the first portion of the serial, with some added commentary. I do expect to publish separate reviews for each of the six novellas. This review is for the entire mini-series. I hope you enjoy!

You Can't Go Home Again

I am a major Sweet Valley fan from way back (think 1988 and no I am not revealing my age here) and when I found out about Sweet Valley Confidential and the ensuing six part miniseries, I was beyond excited... despite how weird my friends and family find it, I never stopped reading Sweet Valley, from the time I was 10 until it's sad ending in 2002. That's 20 or so years of Sweet Valley so the promised update on the lives of the twins was, for me, a present of EPIC proportions. Unfortunately, these books failed to live up to my expectations. As soon as I cracked the page of Confidential, to find former virgin-for-life Lizzie bawling during sex (oh, btw, this proves Pascal totally watches Grey's Anatomy) I realized this was not going to be the Sweet Valley I remembered. The miniseries does a slightly better job, but overall I found this return to my idealistic youth a sad disappointment and a shadow of its former glory.

It's three years after the events of Confidential and Elizabeth and Jessica are back to being best friends and living in good old Sweet Valley Heights, which has become a suburb of Los Angeles. Jess is still married to Todd, with a two year old child, and Lizzie is (gasp!) living in sin with her lover/boyfriend, Bruce Patman. Life is relatively calm and happy for the twins and friends, though resentment is brewing in the Wakefield/Wilkins home. Boring, conservative Todd can't stand it that his beautiful, successful wife is managing to be both a successful advertising executive AND a great mom to little Jake. Jessica's reluctance to leave her job and stay at home with the baby causes trouble for the happy couple. But scandal and intrigue REALLY erupt when Jessica suspects Todd of sleeping with a coworker, and Bruce is accused of raping one of his interns. Elizabeth's initial refusal to believe in his potential guilt made me giggle a bit... did she simply forget when he once tried to force himself on her? Apparently not. She DOES remember that night and that memory, coupled with the media's mud-slinging, and Bruce's inability to remember the events of the night in question, shake Lizzie's once solid confidence in her man. Will they weather this storm and stay together or will Lizzie lose her faith in the man she loves and lose him forever? Will Jessica be able to forgive Todd for his liaison with another woman? And can Todd forgive Jess for a similar betrayal? The answers will astound you. Scandalous!

Another thing I really liked was the attempts at continuity, like Lila's immediate reaction to the alleged rape, when she remembers John Pfeiffer's attack on her at Miller's Point in high school. It seems the new writer got her hands on a copy of the Sweet Valley Bible and (in the words of Jessica "you know, like, actually memorized it." Or at least read the series, before taking on this job. Speaking of which, could any Sweet Valley fan be luckier than to land a ghost writing job on this series? I would have so. much. fun with that.

But anyway. The book has a lot of problems. It doesn't feel like Sweet Valley should. It doesn't come close to resembling the world we 30-Something fans grew to love. For one thing, the F-word is thrown around a lot and despite the fact that these girls are now 30, foul language, much like graffiti and fat people, are not supposed to exist in this world. I also understand that people grow and change, but moralistic Elizabeth as a shady journalist that lies and cheats to get the story is not something I can wrap my head around. And... I know I should have gotten over it by now since Sweet Valley Confidential was published almost a year ago and I've had ample time to process it. But... Jess and Todd. JessandTodd, ToddandJess=TLA? I still don't buy it. Those two always hated each other, and not in the "we secretly wanna do the horizontal mamba" kind of way. Jess considered him totally dullsville and Todd thought her a selfish shrew. Putting those two together for the sake of drama literally smacks of an author looking for an easy way to stir up trouble and hurt Elizabeth. There must be a ton of other ways to accomplish the same ends without a ridiculous plot contrivance that makes absolutely no sense. If I wasn't OCD enough to need all the gritty details, I'd simply skip the parts about them. Sadly, Sweet Valley has always had me twisted around it's beachy little Pleasantville-like finger , and I can't seem to tear my eyes away from the page. Even when it's a TRAIN WRECK of a story, as most of this is truly is. Speaking of, I'm amazed the world of Sweet Valley never did a story like that...but between all the shipwrecks, plane crashes, earthquakes (two, wait no THREE of them!) and crazed murderer's on the loose, I guess they thought they had enough disasters to contend with.

However, if there is one thing that does make sense to me, it's Lila Fowler as a True Housewife of Sweet Valley. (I guess they couldn't call it Real Housewives due to stupid trademark laws.) Lila is truly fabulous and sensational and I can TOTALLY see her diva-ing it up on reality TV; reveling in the attention and fab swag afforded her by the producers.

Unfortunately, the fabulous Lila we all remember as the foil to Jessica's antics has become less of a foil and more of a, well, flat out bitch. The scheming tricks she pulls on her husband (Ken Matthews!) throughout the series really don't seem Lila's style. First of all, Lila is far too much of a snob to marry a lowly, new money FOOTBALL player. Especially one she went to high school with, momentarily dated, and then dumped because of his crush on the French teacher, Ms. Dalton. But what I really fail to believe is that she'd even let Ken touch the tip of one of her Christian Louboutins, much less put his hands all over her perfectly toned and waxed body. It just doesn't ring true, especially when you consider her first marriage was to an Italian count. The Contessa Fowler deigning to lower herself to a sweaty, muscle-head, who she clearly realises has muscles where his brain is supposed to be? I don't think so. The Lila I know would either be married to someone with the last name of Patman or Kennedy... or finding herself another royal to up her blue-blood ante - perhaps a prince this time? Princess Lila certainly has a ring to it.

Second, Lila has way too much class to slut it up and fake a pregnancy just to keep her dimwitted second string husband, whose head has taken way too many tackles. No real love (or even chemistry) is ever shown between these two, nor is a back story ever given that gives us a reason for us to root for them in the first place. No mention is ever made of the fact that Ken dated not just Jessica, but BOTH twins in high school, and if there is one thing I know about Lila Fowler, it's that she does not take anyone's sloppy seconds.

And speaking of sloppy seconds - what's with all the partner switching in this series (and it's predecessors?) Let's take a look at all the incestuous facts, shall we?

Todd dated both Wakefield twins AND shared an illicit kiss with Lila in high school. Ken also dated both twins in high school, disappeared during the college years, and somehow ended up marrying Lila Fowler, the widow of an Italian count, who also dated Steven Wakefield (as did one of her best friends, Cara.) Bruce not only played dated Jessica in high school, but he also slept with Annie Whitman in the back of 1Bruce1 and got all hot and heavy with Lila in University... oh and let's not forget his attempt to date rape poor Lizzie, who was suffering the personality altering effects of a hit on the head. Despite this, he somehow ends up falling in love with Elizabeth who returns his affection. As a sexual assault survivor, this story line positively INFURIATED me, as it not only tolerates but GLORIFIES the coupling of a victim and her attacker. To forgive him is one thing, but to let him ever touch her again is positively disgusting. Also I can't help but say this... I totally resent the implication (given in Confidential) that the relationship between Lila and Bruce in SVU was nothing more than a fling. I do realize that this series cleared up a lot of canonical mistakes, but it did not make mention of this particular one, so my rant remains. Excuse me, but Lila and Bruce were the longest running and most stable couple in Sweet Valley University. The two richest, brattiest, most selfish characters decided to give up MONEY for each other, vowing to live in poverty if that's what it took to prove to their parents that their love was real. I am sorry, Ms. Pascal, but that is not a fling that is a relationship that SHOULD have led to marriage - even if it ended in divorce. Alas, Bruce falls in love with Elizabeth (because who doesn't, right?)who eventually returns his affections. And then he somehow, out of the blue ends up with (view spoiler) at the end of this series? DoubleU. Tee. Eff.

And then there is Aaron who was Jessica's first kiss and occasional, casual date in high school... and now he's happily married to her brother?!?! Steven Wakefield, the straightest whitest most conservative character in the series? I AM SO CONFUSED. Please note: I have no problem with gay people whatsoever; in fact, 90% of the performing arts school I went to was at least bi and most of these people were my friends... Read more ›

More About the Author

Francine Pascal is the creator of the Sweet Valley High series and one of the world's most popular fiction writers for teenagers and the author of several bestselling novels, My Mother Was Never A Kid (Hanging out with Cici), My First Love and Other Disasters, as well as the series Fearless. Her adult novels include, Save Johanna! and If Wishes Were Horses (La Villa) and the non-fiction, The Strange Case of Patty Hearst. Pascal is on the Advisory Board of The American Theatre Wing. Her favorite sport is a monthly poker game. She lives in New York City and France.