Beach Blondes & Spring Fling -review

Beach Blondes is a book about a girl named Summer from Minnesota who goes down to Florida to stay with her cousin for the summer before her last year of high school.  On her flight she meets a woman who does a tarot card reading & tells Summer that she will meet 3 guys, one is a mystery, one is dangerous, & one is the right one.  Chaos ensues as she tries to determine which one is which.  This was an enjoyable book, a slight deviation from what I normally read as it was about 17 year olds rather than adults.

After I finished reading Beach Blondes I realized there were more books in the series, so I picked up 'Tan Lines' which is about the second summer, but as I started reading the book, it kept referring to things that had happened over Spring Break.  I realized I had the 'Spring Break' book, so I checked it out.  Here's where I started getting confused.  According to the publishing dates, the order is:
1. Beach Blondes (1995)
2. Tan Lines (1996)
3. Spring Break (1996)
4. Sun-Kissed Christmas (2010)

I don't have the Christmas book, but the Spring Break book refers to things that happened over Christmas, so I assume she decided to go back later & write those books to fill in what had happened.


When I was reading Spring Break there were several pop-culture references that didn't line up with the publishing dates.  The book was first published in 1996, then re-published in 2010.  They listed several bands which had not formed yet in 1996, & they referred to Heath Ledger having died.  What I don't understand is why the author felt the need to try to update some of these notes in the book.  The new bands & references didn't mesh well with the other things happening in the book, & it made me not enjoy it as much.  True, the book itself never states what year it is, but usually a publishing date will let you know that the book is written about that year or earlier.  I probably would have enjoyed these books better if I read them before they were re-published & had things changed.