Title: Will Work For Prom Dress
Author: Aimee Ferris  [facebook]
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Egmont USA
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Parental Advisory: vandalism
Teachable Moments: honesty, loyalty, peer pressure, responsibility

“As the other designers continued to choose Anne’s waif-like look over my. ahem, sturdier build, Zander stuck by me.  And, occasionally, into me.  But the prick of fitting pins was part of life as a model.  We had settled into a comfortable Wednesday night friendship.  He’d play with fabric and the physical likes of his garment I’d redraw the blobs in his sketchbook to resemble whatever he was actually working on.  During the week he’d use my sketches to practice his own drawing skills.  So it wasn’t really like cheating or anything.”

Summary (from publisher):
Frozen pizza topper.  Dinner theater murder victim.  Quigley Johnson agreed to a job as part of her best friend Anne’s plan for prom, but this is ridiculous!  Senior year’s been hard enough for her.  Her dream school says her portfolio “lacks focus,” and her classmate David the self-proclaimed “Art King,” has made keeping her miserable his personal mission.

So when Anne announces that they are going to be models for a fashion design course, the humiliation could not be greater — until everyone wants to use Anne.  Everyone except Zander.

he’s hot, he’s funny, and every outfit he creates seems made for Quigley.  Could he be perfect date material. or is he too good to be True?  Will Quigley get her dream prom, or is she in for another humiliating disaster?

Opinion:
Cute.fun.fluffy.

Well, wait, there’s a touch of angst.  Not the uber crazymaking angst that some books have but rather a touch of drama to mix things up.  We don’t want to be *too* happy do we?

The premise behind Will Work For Prom Dress is quite simple.  Girl wants to get pretty dress for prom, girl takes on job to pay for said dress, various high-jinx are had, girl finds herself in romantic situations, angst occurs, and then finally resolution to it all is found.  See?  Pretty straight-forward right?

What makes this story a fun read is that even though the situations in aren’t entirely unique to the genre the characters are fun to love and hate.  Quigley is the every girl, she’s not some super rich fashionista mean girl.  She’s a girl who struggles with her weight, isn’t the strongest student and hasn’t been the object of affection with very many boys.  This endeared her to me and with out a doubt made her more accessible and relatable.  Quigley isn’t traveling the high school halls alone she’s got the companionship of her typically flighty BFF Anna.  This is a girl who loves to flit from boy to boy, isn’t a stranger to causing trouble, and has plenty of selfish attitude to go around.  But underneath it all she’s a scared and emotional girl who’s acting out as she struggles with personal issues at home.  Together the girls are, pardon the cliche, sugar and spice.

Now, let’s talk boys!  David, the self-proclaimed “Art King”, is the obnoxiously selfish jerk who likes to push everyone’s buttons.  Particularly Quigleys.  Though she attempts to keep a wide berth when he shows short-lived glimpses of humanity she falls for some of his charms.  Have no fear, he is still, for all intents and purposes, the ultimate foe.  On the other hand there is Zander, the sweet-natured generous boy who likes Quigley for who she is.  He takes an instant liking to her and stands by her through most anything in the hopes of making her his.  He’s dependable, romantic (but not schmoopy) and is just an all around great guy.

Oh, and there’s a guy called T-Shirt.  I won’t try to explain….you should experience it for yourself!

At any rate, all of these characters (along with assorted parents and teachers) come together as part of the grand plan for Quigley and Anna to not only get to the prom with awesome dates but awesome dresses.

Plot-wise there is a pretty decent love triangle between David/Quigley/Zander that had me wondering at times who she would ultimately choose.  There was also a good sub-plot with Anna and her family that facilitated progression of Quigley’s story quite well.   Finally there was a portion of the story that focused on taking responsibility for your actions and learning to live with the consequences of actions (both your own and those of others).

If you’re into romantic contemporary reads that have a dose of conflict and fun characters than Will Work For Prom Dress should certainly make it’s way on to your list.  It was a good book, I liked it, you should check it out!