The Au Pairs

Reader reviewed by the book muncher

Eliza is used to the glamorous life, but hasnt lived it since her father lost his fortune. Jacqui is the girl who uses the guys to get what she wants and can get whatever guy she wants. Mara is the good girl from a town in the middle of nowhere. All three have landed summer jobs as au pairs working for the Perry family.

But the hardest part about working in the Hamptons during the summer is the distractions such as the hot boys and the wild parties. Eliza will do almost anything to get back to the top of the social scene. Jacqui is looking for the boy who seemed unaffected by her beauty. Mara is stuck with all the work.

Through the ups and downs or their rocky friendships and love lives, a strong friendship forms between these girls. I liked this book as a fun summer read and I recommend it to girls who love the A-List, Gossip Girl, and Clique series.

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

There is more than enough name-dropping in THE AU PAIRS to satisfy the cravings of any reader. However, this series by Melissa de la Cruz stands out from other, similar series because of its character development.

Eliza, Mara, and Jacqui are three girls who are going to be au pairs for a rich familys four young children during their summer stay in the Hamptons. Eliza was once the NYC It girl, before her family lost their fortune and they had to relocate to (bleeech!) Buffalo. Therefore, this summer is her glorious return&only made not-so-glorious as she realizes shes working class and struggles to hide her financial status from her old friends.

Mara is the small-town girl with big-town looks. She came to the Hamptons to actually work to save money for college and doesnt realize until later that shes totally Hamptons material. In the meantime, Mara struggles to figure out her relationship with her boyfriend, Jim, as well as deal with her feelings for her bosses son, the hot and nice Ryan.

Jacqui is a Brazilian bombshell who only came to the States to search for her true love, Luca, whom she met when he spent his spring break backpacking in South America. Jacqui finds him, all right, but hes not the sweetheart he had been over spring break, and Jacqui seems to lose her purpose for being an au pair at all.

This is a really fun read, great for anyone who wonders about the summer lives of the rich and privileged. The characters arent exactly lovable, and even sweet, kind Mara becomes corrupted after ten weeks, but there are more than enough hot, sweet guys and shopping sprees to get lost in.

Reader reviewed by Ronni

The AuPairs is about three young women who are taking care of a group of rambunctious, rich children. The story takes place in the Hamptons, an area famous for its wealthy and famous summer occupants.

Eliza is a former IT girl, and is in for a rude awakening when she realizes her new station as a worker rather than a reveler. Mara is small town and innocent, a bit naive and maybe a little bit backward. Jaqui is hot and knows it. And uses it to her advantage.

You will fall in love with the characters even as you want to shake them at times.

The only thing that bothered me about the book was the name dropping and the fad references. I feel those could hurt the timeliness of the story. Will a Hummer H2 really be top of the line in ten years?

Otherwise, a fun read; and a nice peek into the lives of the rich and priviledged.