I can’t find pictures of the cover anywhere, but does Palm Beach Prep series ring a bell? I have the first three books. It’s about gals at a swanky girls prep school.

Quinn is the spunky, rock and roll scholarship kid from the wrong side of town.

Alicia is the spunky Latina, so of course she is fiery and breaks out into Spanish.

Nicole is the boring rich girl who gets turned on by riding a horse. Literally.

Esme is the blond beautiful ditsy model.

They’re all so different, but what they have in common is each other! Gag. Actually, it wasn’t so bad. In the first book, Quinn moves to town and makes enemies with Cara Knowles, who accuses her of stealing a watch. The other gals prove her innocense and become besties.

Book #2, Sealed With A Kiss, is one of my all-time favorites. Esme gets a modeling job where she models with a sixteen year old guy. They start secretly dating (um, she’s twelve, remember) and she pretends she’s sixteen. She hides it from her friends until they go to makeout point and he tries to touch her boobs. She gets upset and the gals help her break up with him. I’m gonna share something now….ready?…this book inspired my own foray into writing teen fiction. Well, this and the Hot Looks Dolls.

Each one was from a different country! Of course the Black doll was from Africa, obvs. My favorite was Chelsea, the British girl with the crimped hair. Anyhoo….

My “novel” was about a group of models who are payed by an agency to take a cruise and do a catalog shoot. There are the bitchy ones, the cool ones, and the nerdy ones (yes, nerdy models). One has a romance and the others just kind of tried on different clothes. Half the writing were detailed descriptions of outfits (I learned from the best- AMM). There. I admit it. God, it was horrible. Some of it was illustrated by me and I also went through catalogs and YM magazine and cut out pictures of the models to represent them. Oh the shame! Sorry, I trashed it long ago because I had a fear that I would be killed in a freak accident and someone would go through my belongings and find it.

Back to Palm Beach Prep for a sec. The third book was about Alicia running for president against Cara Knowles, but I did not reread it. These were well-written, and aside from the modeling business, the girls had real friendship and had fun hanging out together.

These books did feed my obsession with all things wealthy. Between these books and Pen Pal’s Palmer being from Palm Beach, I flipped out when my grandparents moved from New York to Palm Beach. Actually, it was Palm Beach County, but then I didn’t know the difference. When we went down to visit, I had a surprise. What I thought I would be seeing is their new palm-tree lined mansion, but what I got was a small condo in an over-55 community. Very quaint, but not what I thought.

Anyone read these? Please say yes so I won’t feel crazy.

Speaking of models, I was uber-model obsessed when I was younger. Modeling apparently was the most awesome and highest-reaching level of success in life. Luckily, pop culture cashed in on that. I watched House of Style on MTV religiously and learned how to make my hair into dreadlocks using a teasing comb, aquanet, and a hairdryer. And what was with the modeling shows? A concept I thought was awesome was the idea of several models living under one roof trying to make it….and tah-dah! Living Dolls, starring David Moscow, Leah Remini and Halle Berry.

The same exact concept was used but as a drama instead of sitcom for the awesome Models, Inc. Lots of pool-pushing, identical twin madness and backstabbing. Although the women didn’t really look like actual models. Oh well.

One more confession: I totally watched all of the show 8th and Ocean when it was on MTV. Same concept- models all living together. And oh the hardships!  Although it was pretty harsh when one agent kept telling this one model that she shouldn’t come in until her skin cleared up. Ouch.

Aside from the supernatural element, something that struck me about The Awakening was because it was one of the reasons I never knew what to talk to boys about (and arguably still don’t). Lemme back up.

So the basic plot: Elena is a beautiful popular blond. She meets and falls in luv with the vampire Stefan, who first notices her because he looks like his long lost love, Katherine. He was in a love triangle with Katherine with his brother Damien, who has shown up in town to make Stefan’s life hell and also to steal Elena to get back at Stefan. Blah blah blah blah vampires schmampires. Katherine tried to convince them that the three of them could be in a realtionship together until the end of time, but the brothers weren’t into the whole poyamorous thang.

It’s really hard for me to root for a heroine who is beautiful and popular. Of COURSE she is going to get the guy. maybe I am bitter, but I always prefered protagonists who were a bit on the awkward or underdog side. Actually, when Stefan first shows up in town, she asks him out but he declines and she is DEVASTATED. Like, can’t even show her face in school. Calm down, bitch, it’s called humility. But then of course she finds out later that Stefan really DID love her from the start, even before talking to her. Therefore, reinforcing that looks matter the most. He stole an apricot ribbon she wore in her hair and fondles it every night.

Elena has two best friends, Bonnie and Meredith, who seem to exist purely to be involved in Elena’s life. They come to Elena’s rescue after the aformentioned humiliation and conversations revolve around Elena’s life. None of them seem to have drama or interests. I wonder if they get sick of always talking about Elena or appearing only when Elena needs friendship. I’m often the role of the sidekick friends, so this stuck out for me.

They all live in Fells Church, Virginia. Is that supposed to be Falls Church? Nice disguising of the town, LJ.

Stefan is basically Eurotrash. He wears a leather jacket, big singlasses, and wears designer Italian shoes and drives a Ferrari. How very mid-nineties attractive. So he and Elena are so PASSIONATE about each other. THey rarely talk about anything, just spend time together and be PASSIONATE. This irked me then and irked me now. He’s a vampire! She could ask him about that, she could talk about current times, but no, they just gaze into each other’s eyes. Since books were my guide to socialness, I needed HINTS on how to talk to boys.

There’s an incident in a graveyard where some boys were traumatized by Damien but Stefan saves them, but Stefan in implicated, then at their haunted house at school, a teacher is killed by Damien and again it is pinne on Elena.

Basically, nothing much happens in he book except the PASSION.

I remember the following three books getting better…I think?