Review Detail

This is the kind of story you dont want to read if you happen to be a parent looking for a babysitter, but the parents in The Au Pairs arent exactly your typical, every day parents anyway. Its not your average family that can afford to pay a total of $30,000 for three girls to care for their four children during one wild summer in the Hamptons.

These arent three typical girls either. Eliza came from the same world as the Perrys, but her father had been caught in the middle of some accounting irregularities and her life had gone from ritzy glitzy rich to plain middle class. Shes dying to get back in with the friends that she used to have, even though they dont know what her current situation is.

Mara, on the other hand, is a small town girl who gets lost pretty much as soon as she makes it to New York City. By the time she gets to the Hamptons, shes been peed on by a frou-frou dog named Muffy and insulted by Eliza. Shes also leaving behind her boyfriend Jim.

Jacqui is a sexy Brazilian on a search for true love. Shed met Luca while he was backpacking across the country and her only lead (she doesnt even have a last name) is that his family has a summer home in the Hamptons.

The three girls have little in common and only Mara has much interest in watching the kids, who are a hyperactive bunch (though strangely unspoiled). By the end of the summer, everything that you can imagine (and much more) has happened and all their lives are changed forever.

In the same vein as Gossip Girl, though with a little more heart, tween and teen girls will enjoy this story of debauchery, romance, glamour. Youll root for Mara, and even for Eliza and Jacqui (even when you want to smack a little sense in them). A perfect read when youre feeling your own life could use a little shot of decadence.