Rating: [rate 3.5]

Yale graduate Megan Smith has big plans for a career in journalism and even bigger debt: $75,000 in college loans. She grabs a job at a trashy tabloid, gets fired (small wonder: nothing can make her care which celebrity just got a nose job), and then gets an offer she just can’t refuse.

Seventeen-year-old identical twins Rose and Sage Baker are Palm Beach heiresses best known for their massive fortunes and penchant for flashing the paparazzi. Their grandmother offers to pay off Megan’s loans if she can tutor the girls and get them into Duke. But the twins aren’t about to bend their celebutante schedules to learn algebra. Megan quickly discovers that she has to know her Pucci from her Prada to reach these students. If she can look the part, maybe — just maybe — she can teach them something. What Megan could never imagine is what the whole experience was about to teach her…

So I wanted this book because I watch the TV show based on this one. It’s really more out of curiosity that I asked for this last Christmas, so I kind of had low expectations on this one.

Let me just say: it is so different from the TV show. Let me list it down (and I’ll try not to write as many spoilers as I can):

• Megan. Megan in the TV show is more uptight and more self-righteous than Megan in the book. She’s still smart, yes, but the Megan in the book seemed to care more for her money first than for the girls, whereas the TV show Megan took her responsibility seriously immediately (whoa, so many -ly’s!). I’m not so sure which Megan I like better though (and frankly, she gets on my nerves a lot of times).
• Rose and Sage. The Rose on TV seems kinder, and the Sage on TV is less wild. The twins in the book were a bit out of control from the start. And honestly, I felt like I didn’t see them that much in the book — not to many things about their school or their progress, except in the end.
• Lily. This is like, the most different one ever. Lily in the TV show is obnoxious and wild and she doesn’t have a good job. In the book, however, Lily is the nice sister, so nice that Megan kind of dislikes her but has no reason to, and she’s a well-known actress and model.
• Megan’s family. Megan had a very dysfunctional family in the TV show, while this one…it’s almost normal.
• Will. Will in the book is rich, and is close friends with the twins, but in the TV show they’re not. I find the Will in the TV show more charming though.  (Brian Hallisay! ♥ )
• Charlie. There’s no charming best friend Charlie in the novel! Instead, there’s Charma, who I didn’t really notice until she said something. Er. The loss of Charlie is saddening. I like Charlie, the best friend who’s always been there and always been in love with Megan.
• Laurel. Laurel was still as intimidating, but I kind of felt that she was younger in the novel than on TV.
• Marco. I think he’s the only consistent guy from the TV show and the novel.
• Megan is not from Palm Beach but is originally from somewhere else (I can’t remember where exactly, but I’m sure it’s not vegas), so there’s not much family stuff in the novel.
• Megan has another boyfriend at the start of the novel, who is rich, and whose parents don’t approve of her.

It’s not really disappointing as I think that the TV show and the novel are quite different and it shouldn’t really be followed that way. It’s not really a “clean” book as there’s sex and a lot of cussing and mean tricks done to Megan as well as a lot of lies, but it’s quite entertaining. Nothing too spectacular, but if you’re curious about the TV show, then you’d probably enjoy this one too.