River Heights #15 Friends and Rivals and #16 The Jealousy Trap

In River Heights #15, Friends and Rivals, River Heights High School will soon have its own television news show.  Brittany has her heart set on being hostess, while Samantha tries out as a joke.  Sam's audition goes better than expected, and soon, Sam and Brittany are the two finalists for the job.

Terry D'Amato feels out of place around her friends who have boyfriends, so Terry makes up a fake boyfriend.  The problem is that Ellen and Karen want to meet him and plan a party.  What will Terry do?

On page 5, Samantha rides the bus.  As she thinks of clubs she can join, "the smelly bus" lumbers towards the school.

This is a good book.

In River Heights #16, The Jealousy Trap, Robin has found a new friend, Katie Foxx, who is a swimmer at a rival school.  Katie claims that she isn't swimming very well, and Robin coaches her instead of practicing for the upcoming meet. Lacey tries to tell Robin what Katie is doing, but Robin won't listen.

Overweight Phyllis Bouchard is asked on dates by both Hal Evans and Wayne Yeats.  Phyllis is flattered, but she doesn't realize that the two boys have made a bet.  The boy who isn't chosen by Phyllis owes the other one $50.

Since this is the last book in the series, the last page does not have a next-book blurb.  Each subplot is wrapped up by the end of the story.  I think if the series would have continued that we might have learned more about Phyllis.  At least her subplot is resolved in this book, although I would have liked to have read more about her.

This is a very good book.

The River Heights series is very good, particularly the second half.  The first few books, especially Nikki's stories, are rather stupid and are a bit like Merivale Mall,which is a very cheesy series.  The last part of the River Heights series imitates the Sweet Valley High series quite well.  Each of the later River Heights books centers around different characters, which makes the stories much more interesting.

Remember, these aren't Nancy Drew books even though Nancy Drew is mentioned on the covers.  Most Nancy Drew fans will not like this series.  This series is for those who enjoy teen romance books like Sweet Valley High.