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The Nannies #2

Friends with Benefits

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Poor girls.

Lydia is not used to working for her money. But having money? She’s used to that—and lots of it. Now that she’s in La-La Land, Lydia will do whatever it takes to maintain the L.A. lifestyle she was born to have. If it means she has to tell a few little lies to get there, well, a Hollywood girl’s gotta do what a Hollywood girl’s gotta do, right?

Rich Boys.

Being with Jonathan is playing with fuego . Everything about him spells trouble for Esme, from his trendy hybrid car to his expensive clothes to his so-called ex, Mackenzie. What’s worse is it seems that he wants to keep Esme hidden away, a secret. Doesn’t a guy who likes you want to show you off? Unless you’re just being used.

Richer Girls.

Anyone who’s anyone will be at Fab, the exclusive party that wraps up L.A.’s fashion week. That’s why Platinum—neurotic music superstar and Kiley’s new boss—is desperate to snag an invite. Kiley has the unlikely power to make it happen . . . or say good-bye to her California summer.

274 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

10 people are currently reading
181 people want to read

About the author

Melody Mayer

9 books16 followers
Raised in Bel Air, Melody Mayer is the eldest daughter of a fourth-generation Hollywood family and has outlasted countless nannies. She lives in Los Angeles.

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5 stars
82 (24%)
4 stars
113 (33%)
3 stars
104 (30%)
2 stars
30 (8%)
1 star
9 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Profile Image for Lorelei.
27 reviews9 followers
September 5, 2012
I just gotta say...WHY DID I READ THIS. I mean, really now guys, who reads a book about nannies living in LA and have this so-called rich life because they work for celebs.

Apparently I do, but yeah, this book sucked. Hard. The appropriate rating would be half a star because yeah, there were some occasional witty sections, but other than that, the plot was weak, the majority of the characters were weak, and the ending was LAME.

But I should just get to the part where I describe the book to you, but since it's so bad I'll just do the best I can.

Friends with Benefits but Melody Mayer is about these three girls that all come from different towns but all become friends through the business of nannying for the rich and famous. That's it. Oh yeah, and there is a lot of love interests and love triangles to keep it at least semi-interesting.

So, in summary, don't read this crap. Ever.

Just my opinion,

Lorelei
Profile Image for Natasha Hagen.
106 reviews7 followers
June 29, 2016
This is the second book in the series that I have read over the years. It's a good book for teenage girls. It's for the younger crowd. I cant speak to the spanish parts in the book as I do not understand or speak spanish.

3 Girls form different back grounds move into LA's rich and famous neighborhood to become nannies to the stars. They each end up with a famous family enjoying the perks of the famous life style. Being around famous people all the time makes room for sexy rich boyfriends that life the life of luxury.

These girls go on quite an adventure. I'm sure if you followed their story from the beginning of the series you can get the full background on the three girls. That's an option and I have not read the books in order myself.
Profile Image for K Stevens.
Author 4 books71 followers
November 5, 2024
This book was 274 pages of boring dribble that dragged on forever.
Profile Image for Jennifer Wardrip.
Author 5 books517 followers
November 17, 2012
Reviewed by Mechele R. Dillard for TeensReadToo.com

As THE NANNIES series rolls along, seventeen-year-old Kiley finds herself struggling to survive the craziness of being the nanny employed by rock superstar Platinum. She must hang in there, however, lest her dream "to graduate from high school in California so that she can attend Scripps Institution of Oceanography as an in-state resident" be shattered.

Kiley's friends, Lydia and Esme, are nannies for other prominent families in L.A., and each girl faces her own difficulties. Lydia was born into money, but her parents decided to move the family from their home in Texas to the Amazon basin to do missionary work when she was only eight years old. Until she moved back to the United States to live with her aunt and her girlfriend, Lydia's only knowledge of the rich, famous, and shallow came from the magazines she was able to confiscate from visitors to the bush. Now, she isn't about to let her life in the States go, no matter what she has to do to keep it.

Esme, on the other hand, has a completely different problem: She is sleeping with her boss's son. Not only does the situation put her job in jeopardy, it is also a point of constant guilt for Esme, who has a boyfriend back home. Besides, she is only the hired help: sleeping with the boss's son is a degrading road to nowhere.

Mayer occasionally tries to make the point that money isn't everything: "She was willing to work. Marym was willing to get paid for the looks that she'd done nothing to earn. There was something very unfair about it" (p. 49). Overall, however, the story is shallow, name-dropping, and requires no real thought to read. But is that a bad thing?

THE NANNIES series is not meant to be ground-breaking literature. It is written to entertain, to be fun, and to be a series of lighthearted "dirt" novels for pre-Jackie Collins fans...and I happen to love Jackie Collins. Mayer accomplishes just what she intends, and she does it well; if I were a fifteen-year-old girl, I would read this, breathless, in one sitting.
Profile Image for Andreina.
47 reviews
September 5, 2012
Well, what can I say about this book and its author? Again, this book has a lot of flaws that really ticked me off. I mean, the author lives in California, where there's a huge Mexican community, and I bet she even had a Mexican nanny, a Mexican gardener & a Mexican maid. And she couldn't find someone to help her translate whatever Esme was saying. Spanish is my first language, so I noticed all the mistakes she made. She used a translator that translated everything from English to old Spanish. With Spaniard slang and all. And if you read the first book, you'd know that Esme's parents are from Mexico. And Mexicans have a whole different slang and stuff. But, you know, it's fine, if you only speak English you won't notice it. But I expected more.

BUT . . . I really liked this book. Better than the first one. My favorite characters were Lydia & Esme. I can identify with Esme, being Latina and all. And I want to be more like Lydia, so assertive and sure of herself, quick on her feet. The book was good, a quick summer read. It was light & fluffy. The name dropping was a little annoying but it makes the reader feel like they're in the middle of Hollywood, rubbing elbows with celebrities, and hanging out with beautiful, rich people. I felt bad for Kiley and the kids she care for. It most be awful to grow with an drug addict for a mom.

I'm sorry for starting the review on a negative note. But I had to get it off my chest. This is a good book, you know, to read in between amazing books. I'm gonna continue reading the series, because I'm curious. I wanna know what happens to Esme & Junior & Jonathan. What happens to Lydia and Kiley. And the kids they care for.
Profile Image for Nancy.
57 reviews
January 28, 2010
Three girls named Kylie, Esme and Lydia go to Hollywood to work as nannies. All three girls are different in personality and sitations. Kylie works for a drunk celebrity who has two kids. She like a underwear model which later become her boyfriend. However her boss Platimun wants her to get her in the hottest party where she has the chance to go sfter Kylie's crush. Kylie has to get her to the party or get fired. Esme has a boyfriend back home but she is having affairs with her boss's son. If she gets caught she will get fired and now she feels bad dor cheating on her boyfriend. How will she deal with this. Lydia is a hollywood chick. She is the rich kind of girl and she will do anything to get it that way. This book is a very fun book to read and it talks about problems these teens have in hollywood.
Profile Image for Angelica Rosado.
8 reviews
Read
March 18, 2008
This book is great because it shows how your friendship is way more important than a relationship because when two friends get involed with eachother they begin to go through problems that didnt occur to them when they were friends only. Also, when they see they are no that close like they were when they were best friends
Profile Image for Amy.
76 reviews3 followers
Read
June 2, 2008
This book is about how this girl is a nanny and the person that she is watching the kids for is going to jail because that person did something bad. Now she don't know what to do because she don't have a job anymore and don't want to go back to her parents place. She lie to her parents that everything is going to be okay, when it's not.
Profile Image for Sara.
339 reviews
January 3, 2012

perhaps I missed that this book series iks intended for a younger crowd but I totally felt to old to read this. The Nannies had no idea who Kurt Cobain or Courtney Love are....

The book was pretty simply. I would be ok with my niece reading this when she's 15 or something.
Profile Image for EssentiallyMeagan.
511 reviews6 followers
August 1, 2012
The second book in the Nannies series...it was alright but this is a fluff novel for sure. These girls get into a lot of ridiculous situations and manage to get out of them pretty easily. A good beach read.
Profile Image for Sam.
22 reviews
July 9, 2008
Ok book.........
a little weird.
43 reviews1 follower
Read
July 28, 2008
It was a good book because you never knew if Platnuim would get caught!
25 reviews
May 14, 2009
the nanny adventures of lydia,esme and kylie continue.
6 reviews
August 24, 2009
This book is really good.But it isn't the best book i ever read. it's a book about a girl who goes through a lot of adventures in life. she is really smart and really responsible.
Profile Image for Carissa.
5 reviews
February 13, 2012
this is the second time I've tried to read this book.. its taking me forever.. but I'm determined to finish it .. its like nothing major is really happening. its kind of boring
Profile Image for Anne.
115 reviews
July 28, 2013
It was good but not my favorite. Easy to follow storyline, mostly like able characters, and some fun situations make it an easy read.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
25 reviews
July 7, 2015
It was a good book in some ways and bad in some other ways
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews

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