This time warp is going way, way, waaaaaay back.
A common question I get asked is, “What was the first romance book you ever read?”
To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure I remember the specific book. I discovered the genre at a very young age … it all started out rather innocent and eventually progressed to the more erotic romance of today.
One of the first romantic series I read was Sweet Valley High. Do you remember those? Or am I dating myself? They were sweet and funny and mysterious and very, over-the-top dramatic … and I loved them all. I think I read over 70 of them before I finally decided to move on to other, more mature options (I’ll talk about those next week).
Let’s take a little trip down memory lane with some of my favorite installments from the series, shall we?
Double Love is the very first book in the series. I will never forget this one! It had such an impact on my young mind. Jessica was such a bully and sweet Elizabeth was too nice for her own good. Confession: I read this book 3 times back to back before I could afford to buy the next one in the series (with my babysitting money) and I spent countless hours staring at the cover. Yes – I was a dork. Still am. LOL!
Well, doesn’t the title of this one just say it all? Book 5 wasn’t quite as naughty as it would lead you to believe … but holy cow! It sure seemed salacious. Just look at the guy on that cover! He has a mustache for goodness sake!
Book 12 was the first one to make me cry. Yes, I think I can blame my addiction to tear-jerkers on big brother, Steven Wakefield and this sad, sad story. I still love books that make me cry …Â Damn you, Sweet Valley High for turning me into an emotional junkie!
Oh the drama! Book 49 captured my attention with the cover. Yes, cover lust has always been an issue for me. That boy is super cute – even if he is just a drawing (I always imagined that the cover art was based off of real life people). The story to this one was ridiculous … which made it absolutely perfect.
Ummm … hello? Did you read that title? Book 54Â really needs no further explanation. I will readily admit that this is where my love for more erotic *cough, threesomes, cough* stories derived. Even though this book is totally innocent (like the rest of the series) … it was the suggestion that triggered my dirty mind.
The Super Editions! Who could ever forget those? What made them so super? Well, besides being a little longer … not much! The stories were really kind of the same as all the others as far as I can remember … but they were still fun to collect!
There were a ton of other titles that I really enjoyed … but like I mentioned before … I read over 70 of them! We could be here all day, reminiscing. In reality a lot of these stories were like a public service campaign. Great examples of the things not to do & how making bad decisions can lead to trouble. I’m afraid they may have backfired though … my main take-away from this series was :
bad girls have more fun (and more boyfriends)
I’ve been a dirty, smutty romance reader ever since!
Join me next week … I’ll be jumping back to look at my first “grown-up” romantic read.
OMG, SWH was one of my first romance series too! Seeing this post has brought back some great memories! Yes, I think being naughty was more fun and brought a boon of boyfriends was my takeaway too. Hence all my marvelous book boyfriends. LOL.
My BBF list is loooong & ever changing. LOL! thanks for sharing the memories <3
OMG! I loved this series too! Blast from the past!!!
It made such a big impact! xoxo
My sister loved Sweet Valley High, I was more into Sweet Dreams. These were my first romance reads. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hmmm … I’ve seen those Sweet Dreams books, but they just weren’t popular here (at least not in my small circle at that time). But, they don’t have any boys on the covers, so I don’t think I would have chosen them any way. LOL!!! I’m kidding – I’m sure they were great. Thanks for sharing, Stacey <3