Long Distance Love (Sweet Dreams Series #44)

There is something inexplicably appealing about "Long Distance Love" - perhaps merely the fact that the plot is not immediately predictable, or perhaps the fact that for once the ending gets things just right without being maudlin or didactic. Unlike so many other books in this series, this one is, actually and undeniably, a love story. The story centers on Pam Gray (or Pamela Grey, as the back cover so lovingly addresses her), a small town hoops star with Ivy League aspirations who decides to ditch her senior year in Hickville to attend the prestigious Busby Academy in order to improve her chances of getting into Princeton. Unfortunately, that means leaving behind Bobby Miller, her volatile two-years-and-running squeeze who has decided to nix college in favor of following his passion of working as an auto mechanic in Hickville. Naturally (and much to the chagrin of Bobby), Pam gets swept up in the excitement of her new ritzy school chums and finds herself the center of attention in a social whirlwind of potential love interests, including her new BFF's older brother, Jeff Leeds, a current sophomore at Princeton. The novel expertly handles Pam's navigation through the social landscape, showing with painful realism her struggle of being torn between her old life and her new one. Even to the final page, the conflicts seem fresh and unfeigned and the resolution endearingly genuine.