Veronica Hastings (Book Character)

Veronica Hastings is Spencer and Melissa's mother. She was married to their father Peter Hastings but divorced him after she found out about his affair with Jessica DiLaurentis and his children of that union, Alison and Courtney DiLaurentis. She is now enagaged to Nicholas Pennythistle.

Physical Appearance
Veronica Hastings has highlighted ash blonde hair and blue eyes. She doesn't dress too extravagantly but she does like to show off her wealth in an elegant manner. She has her hair styled daily by a highly demanded stylist called Uri.

Biography
Veronica met Peter in Yale Law School, though she always told her children they met at Martha's Vineyard. She was intending to practice law herself, but she found out she was pregnant with Melissa just after her first year of graduate school. Peter's mother demanded they get married, and Veronica never did get to go back to law school again, though it was her initial intention. She could not get pregnant again because she would be risking her health, so she and Peter found a surrogate named Olivia Caldwell to carry Spencer to term for them. Though Spencer shares some physical similarities with Olivia -most notably their green eyes- she is still the biological child of Veronica since she supplied her egg to Olivia.

Veronica is often uptight and obsessed with keeping up appearances. She will often correct her children if they do something socially inappropriate (such as Spencer eating mussels with her hands) and bustle about to plan various parties and charity events. She does not seem to have an actual job, as she is often visiting her horses, playing tennis with other high society wives, and maintaining her physical appearance. This is apparently a major source for the way she treats her daughters. Veronica is especially cold to Spencer at various points throughout the series, most notably after Spencer is caught with Melissa's boyfriend Wren Kim and when she gives up her chance to win the Golden Orchid. She later admitted to Spencer that she often pushed them to succeed because of how her pregnancy with Melissa sidelined her entire graduate experience. She notes, "I pushed you too hard in school and that pushed you away. With Melissa, it was easier. There were fewer standouts in her grade."

After learning about Peter's infidelity and illegitamite children, Veronica divorces him. She is certainly surpised when she finds out, but not too much, angrily saying "I knew it. I asked you a million times, but you always said it wasn't true." She promptly kicks him out of their home, and he finds a townhouse nearby to reside in. She is currently dating a wealthy property developer in Rosewood named Nicholas Pennythistle. He is set to move into the Hastings household.