Amazon Prime’s new show Elle takes us back into Elle Woods’ world. Set in 1995, Elle is navigating the chaotic world of high school with tricky friendships, fashion don’ts, and forbidden romance.

If after finishing Elle, you’re craving more storylines of teenage triumph, powerful girls and women, or people just trying to figure life out the best way they can, then this list is for you. From teenage student council presidents to aspiring screenwriters, these books have everything you could want.  

Honorable Mention – Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown

We can’t talk about Elle without suggesting the original. Elle Woods seems to have everything a girl could want. She’s the president of her sorority, graduating from California University, and about to become Mrs. Warner Huntington III. Except instead of getting engaged, Elle gets dumped because Warner wants someone more “serious” as he heads to Stanford Law. Instead of getting down on herself, Elle gets busy and works her way into an admission into Stanford Law—“What, like it’s hard?” Now she has to make her way through law school and win Warner back.

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Charity Trickett Is Not So Glamorous by Christine Stringer

In 1997, Charity Trickett moves to Los Angeles to serve as an assistant on one of the biggest blockbuster films of the year. What she learns is that Hollywood is not all red carpets and Rodeo Drive, it’s a cutthroat industry but Charity is determined to make it as a screenwriter and producer. Working harder than ever, she impresses the top executives at Canopy Studios but this win is threatened by two-faced coworkers, a dwindling bank account, love gone wrong, a potential multi-million dollar mistake, and an FBI investigation. Charity’s resolve and friendliness leads her towards true friends and artists. If she can manage to steer clear of any more problems, Hollywood might work out for Charity.

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The Partner Plot by Kristina Forest

As a celebrity stylist, Violet Greene is extremely successful, traveling the world and doing what she loves. After a very public breakup six months ago, Violet is still recovering. Xavier Wright is a high school teacher and basketball coach who rarely leaves his hometown so what are the chances that he runs into his ex-girlfriend Violet, who he thought he was going to marry, while on vacation in Las Vegas. After their surprise fades, they decide to live it up in Vegas together, recklessly partying. Maybe a little too reckless… as they wake up together in bed, wearing wedding rings. Rather than rushing to an annulment, they both agree that their careers would benefit from being married. They decide to fake marital bliss but how long can you fake something that was once real?

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Honestly I’m Totally Faking It by Amanda Gambill

Rachel is a little bit down-on-her-luck but she is still an optimist. Though she is an assistant to other assistants, she sleeps on her ex boyfriend’s couch, and she is hiding a secret past, she still thinks life is pretty decent. When she meets Pres, an aspiring politician, things change for better and for worse. Rachel is going viral for something called “boobgate”. Pres’s PR person thinks they should capitalize on their fame from going viral. Pres wants to win the election and Rachel wants to keep her job so they go along with it. Going along with it means Pres and Rachel are fake dating for publicity but maybe something fake can turn into something real.

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Courtroom Drama by Neely Tubati

Described as Legally Blonde meets Real Housewives, Sydney Parks is excited when she gets called for jury duty. She’s even more excited when she finds out Margot Kitsch, an OG cast member of the hit reality show Authentic Moms of Malibu is on Trial. She was arrested after the untimely death of her cast member husband and Sydney gets to be on the jury. However, Sydney learns pretty quick that being on the jury is not like a legal show or reality TV. Things get even weirder for Sydney when she finds out her childhood best friend, Damon, who she hasn’t spoken to in ten years is also on the jury. As the trial goes on, there’s a lot more to this case than Sydney thought and old feelings for Damon are resurfacing. They are teetering on the line of the court’s fraternization rules. Perhaps even more complicated is reconnecting means they have to face the complicated reasons their friendship fell apart. Can Sydney manage the drama in and out of the courtroom?

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Not Here to Stay Friends by Kaitlyn Hill

Sloane McKinney is ready to finally be a main character this summer. She will be spending it in Los Angeles with her best friend, Liam Daniels. She’s shocked to find out that Liam has had a glow up since the last time she saw him. Surely a little attraction won’t get in the way of enjoying their platonic reunion this summer, right? There’s a twist when Liam has to help with his producer dad’s new teen dating reality show, Aspen Woods’s Future Leading Lady. The show needs one more contestant and Sloane is perfect to fill the spot. The problem is Sloane does end up falling for someone but it’s not Aspen Woods like it’s supposed to be—it’s her best friend.

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Betting on You by Lynn Painter

Bailey met Charlie on a flight to Omaha after her parent’s divorce. Charlie’s unnecessary comments pushed Bailey over the edge during this emotional time. Luckily she never has to see him again or so she thinks. A year later, they are both working at a hotel waterpark. However, instead of dreading when she sees Charlie, she looks forward to it. They become good friends, gossiping about their coworkers and hanging out. They specifically make a bet about two cozy coworkers. Bailey thinks boys and girls can be just friends but Charlie disagrees. All the while, Charlie has growing feelings for Bailey that he’s hiding. What doesn’t help is that the pair begins to fake date because of Bailey’s family drama. Pretty soon Bailey is falling for Charlie but he has a secret about another bet he made that involves Bailey. Will their fake dating become real or will Charlie’s secret ruin things before they can start?

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Blaine for the Win by Robbie Couch

In this Legally Blonde retelling, Blaine Bowers might just have it all his junior year of high school. He has a great boyfriend, an amazing job as a muralist for different Chicago businesses, a loving family, and genuine friends. He’s convinced life is about to get even better and that his boyfriend, the popular senior student council president, Joey is going to invite him to Cabo San Lucas for spring break. Instead on their one year anniversary, Joey breaks up with Blaine in public. Joey says he needs to start dating more serious guys and Blaine is just too carefree. Blaine is determined to prove Joey wrong and prove that he can be serious so he decides to run for senior student council president. What starts as a way to win his boyfriend back turns into a real campaign for Blaine with the help of his friends.

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The Sticky Note Manifesto of Aisha Agarwal by Ambika Vohra

“How have you gotten out of your comfort zone?” — That’s the question that Aisha Agarwal has to answer for her Stanford application but this academically focused student doesn’t know how to answer it. Aisha thinks that her life might be getting more interesting when her crush, Brian, asks her to their winter formal but he stands her up. Then a banged up Volkswagen pulls up with a very cute driver apologizing for being late. Aisha has never seen him before but this could lead to the perfect essay topic so she hops in. Luckily Quentin Santos is not an ax murderer but he is bad at math. They make a deal that she will be his math tutor and he will be her life tutor, giving her a series of dares on sticky notes to help Aisha write her essay and become more confident. When these dares turn her life upside down, she feels far from successful but can she really be successful if she isn’t being herself?

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