Paperback Crush by Gabrielle Moss

I have written previously about the importance of Sweet Dreams romances and the Sweet Valley High series in my reading history (here, here, here). I make no secret of my devotion to these books, and somewhere along the way, Grab the Lapels recommended Paperback Crush by Gabrielle Moss to me.

This book is a place of understanding. A place where you can sit down, get comfortable, and talk about…that time Jessica Wakefield accidentally joined a cult while she was at the mall. Here you’re among friends.

I didn’t doubt I was among friends, but Moss confirmed it with this –

I could lose myself in the neon-tinted pop culture of my youth, with all its pointless catfights and ice-blue prom dresses*. I may have learned to read from educator-approved picture books about poky puppies and purple crayons, but I learned to become a reader from Sweet Valley High. In 1989, I begged my parents to buy me #32, The New Jessica, because I thought the girls on the cover had pretty hair. Little did I know that I’d be injecting the adventures of those pretty-haired Wakefield twins directly into my veins for the next four years.

And I was the same (but in 1985). I knew when the next installment was due, and would tear down to Angus & Robertson in Camberwell as soon as school finished to buy it. My obsession lasted at least two years. Continue reading

Sweet Dreams are made of very crappy, really wonderful teen romances

top-ten-sweet-dreams-romances

The eighties bring to mind all sorts of ace things for me but when I think about what I was reading, it was all about the Wakefield twins* and Sweet Dreams.

I’m not afraid to admit that I still have a vast (complete) collection of Sweet Dreams books. I know the stories were all the same, I know they were lame, but there must have been something in them that made me anticipate the new release each month.

I haven’t re-read any of my Sweet Dreams favourites. Why not? A combination of fear of disappointment (all the same, all lame) and the fact that reading about Elizabeth Wakefield having an orgasm has scarred me for life. I can never un-read that.

So instead, I’ll indulge with a walk down memory lane and list my top ten Sweet Dreams romances – Continue reading