Happily ever after Book

So we begin the book with Elizabeth and Jessica trapped in the dungeon. If only they could stay there forever. Prince Laurent is still moping about because his parents are in the age of Shakespeare and convinced that he must marry Antonia, the terrible countess's daughter. Naturally, he still loves Elizabeth, because who doesn't? Barf. With the help of the children that they are babysitting, the twins break out of the dungeon. But then they have to go on the run and find Jacques so that he can confess his crimes and the twins can be proven innocent. Prince Laurent makes the deal with his father that he will marry Antonia if the countess does not press charges on the twins. But Elizabeth doesn't know that this is the reason he is still going through with the marriage, so she wrongly assumes that he no longer loves her.

Now when I say "love" I'm using that term very loosely, because Laurent and Elizabeth have only known each other about a week. Although this miniseries is supposed to take place over the course of the entire summer. Anyway, so Elizabeth finally finds out that Laurent was just trying to protect her and he calls off the marriage to Antonio once the twins show up with Jacques, since he was only agreeing to the marriage so that the twins would not be prosecuted. But then the countess tries to threaten Elizabeth with some mumbo-jumbo and she gets her to leave France on the first train out, and she's even going to just leave Jessica there for the rest of the summer because of all this nonsense. But since this is a Sweet Valley book, Prince Laurent finds out that Elizabeth is running away, and he rides up to the train on a white horse and stops the train and then asks Elizabeth to marry him in front of everyone on the train.

He immediately tells her, though, that she can think about it and she doesn't have to answer right away. Even though these books would be significantly more interesting if Elizabeth did accept the proposal, she obviously doesn't. She tells him he will always be her knight in shining armor but she cannot go through with the marriage. It might be like the second smartest thing she's ever done, because she's only 16 years old and to even think about marriage at that age is just beyond ridiculous because she still a child.

Then we have the whole boring plot with Jessica and her "boyfriend" Jacques. So Jacques confesses the truth to Jessica about being a thief, but he wraps it in this sob story package that is perfect for an American reality TV show. Jessica forgives him because she Jessica, and then Jessica asks Laurent if he can help Jacques escape the dungeon he has now been thrown in. He says that he will do what he can if the opportunity presents itself. But then Jacques's father comes to Laurent in the middle of the night and nearly gives him a heart attack, and then he tells the same sob story to Laurent, and Laurent agrees to cause a spectacle so that Jacques and his father can get away. But! Not before Jacques leaves a love note for Jessica on the bed. The biggest twist of this book is that Jessica wasn't even pissed when she read the note. Normally somebody not saying goodbye to her, especially someone she's "so in love with" would send her into a rage fit.

But the best scene of the book has to be the very end, when Elizabeth and Todd are reunited. She somehow still has a righteous indignation that he broke up with her at the beginning of the summer even though his prediction that she would find another boyfriend while away from him was completely accurate. But they forgive each other even though Todd could do so much better, and they promise to be together forever until four books from now when Devon Whitelaw comes into town and Elizabeth forgets her own name.

Quotes:

"What would [Jessica] do if Elizabeth began to act
impulsively? It was an outrageous thought. Jessica was the impulsive one!"

God forbid these twins contain multitudes. Only static characters around Sweet Valley!

"[Jessica] wanted to scratch his eyes out, or pull his hair, or... something, anything to make him feel as much pain as she was suffering."

Jessica Wakefield: martyr.

"Nothing has ever hurt this bad, Elizabeth thought, shifting in her seat as if changing positions would ease the pain she felt."

Really Liz? Not even when your sister spiked your punch and you accidentally killed her boyfriend while drunk driving and then she pretended like she had nothing to do with it for about three months?

"No one had ever made her feel so cherished."

Wow, Todd. Sucker. (She's talking about Laurent here).