Ten-Boy Summer

Sweet Dreams

by Janet Quin Harkin

Jill's vacation gets off to a wild start when her best friend, Toni, thinks up a contest - who can be the first to date ten new boys! It seems like a great solution to a boring summer until the girls get into a big fight over one of the boys. Suddenly the friendly competition turns into all-out war. When Jill meets Date Number Three and she knows she's in love. And Craig likes her too - in fact, he wants her all to himself. But he doesn't know about the contest, and Jill's afraid to tell him. If she drops out of the contest, Jill won't be able to face her best friend. If she doesn't she'll lose the boy she loves.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Young Adult Contemporary, Fiction, Young Adult Romance, Teen

164 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Rachel Holtzclaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

so i finished this dumpster fire! let's talk about that!

(obviously, i didn't go into this thinking this book would be good. it was published in 1982, and it was obviously a very niche thing. anyway, away we gooooo!)

let's start off by establishing that every character in this book is terrible. jill, our protagonist, is entitled, selfish, and a brat. toni, her bff, is a literal sociopath. A. LITERAL. SOCIOPATH. and we're supposed to think that jill is boring when toni is TRULY OUT HERE FORCING HER TO DO SOME SORT OF WEIRD SOCIAL EXPERIMENT?? OKAY, JANET QUIN-HARKIN!!!

i also want to discuss craig, the alleged dream boat. jill complained that every guy was boring and to be frank i didn't see what set craig apart from the others. (craig, who just happens to be a model, which literally made me laugh out loud.) craig didn't even appear until OVER halfway through the book, and therefore, i knew nothing about him. why should i care? oh, that's right, i don't care. silly me!

reading this was fun, because it was garbage. thank u for ur time. sorry if this is anyone's favorite book but uh.... please read literally anything else and i think your mind will quickly be changed.

[✰ BJ's Book Blog ✰Janeane ✰ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book as I was helping a friend clean out their spare room. I had this book aboit 30 years ago, so of course i had to read it.

Oh my, how pure these stories were hahaha.

My tastes have definitely matured- and gotten a hell of a lot dirtier!

A real blast from the past

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a day when I read books from the "Sweet Dreams Series" in between books about serial killers. This one is about two best friends who have a contest to see who will be the first to kiss ten boys during their summer vacation. This approach to dating seemed trampy to my Catholic self at the time but, on reflection, may have been better than my "marry the first boy you kiss" approach.

[Ami Blackwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I revisited this book for a book challenge prompt for sentimental reasons. My 13yo self was beaming! This was the first YA book I remember reading as a teen. I loved it all over again despite some cringe moments that were definitely a product of another era. Lighthearted and fun!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and innocent, surprisingly well written with some genuinely funny moments. Much better than I expected.

[Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wouldn't have read this if I knew there was sequel books that break up the couple of this book, for me it makes this book meaningless, like why am I reading a romance of 2 characters falling in love just for them to be broken up a book later? If I wanted that I would read soap opera series. I like happily ever after endings which is why i read books like this to begin with so this book is not for me and has affected the rating. Craig was what I liked most in this book and the sequel books ruin this so I regret reading this. This is why books and movies almost should never have sequels lol. I now know why I was hesitant reading this in the first place what with "Ten- Boy" being in the title like um a bit much I would say and finding out "The Great Boy Chase" was a sequel as well as the "On Our Own"....clearly none of these girls should be in a relationship since they find it hard to stick to one guy. Even the first sequel to this, she goes on holiday for a few weeks and can't even stay faithful to her boyfriend she is supposed to love? depressing portrayal of these characters.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this one. It's my second book in the Sweet Dreams series. I liked the different and non-conventional storyline, and also the characters, especially the dreamy Mr. X (wink). The plot is paced nicely, and it's quite versatile. One minute you will smile while you're reading, and the next moment, your heart might ache a little. That's what I experienced anyway. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an entertaining and innocent read.

[KylieAtkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this an average 3 but among Sweet Dreams books this is closer to a 4. It's one of the better ones as far as the main character is concerned. Not too annoying/dumb/bitchy.
It could have been titled Ten-job Summer as her and her best friend had nearly that many jobs throughout the book. I do like Janet Quinn-Harkin's sense of humour, I actually had a few laugh-out-loud moments.

[Vickie Swartz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rereading books of my youth

[Sarai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis (taken from http://sweetdreamsseries.com):
Jill's vacation gets off to a wild start when her best friend, Toni, thinks up a contest - who can be the first to date ten new boys! It seems like a great solution to a boring summer until the girls get into a big fight over one of the boys. Suddenly the friendly competition turns into all-out war. When Jill meets Date Number Three and she knows she's in love. And Craig likes her too - in fact, he wants her all to himself. But he doesn't know about the contest, and Jill's afraid to tell him. If she drops out of the contest, Jill won't be able to face her best friend. If she doesn't she'll lose the boy she loves.

Janet Quin Harkin also writes murder mysteries under the name Rhys Bowen.

Visit Toni and Jill in later books The Great Boy Chase, and the On Our Own college series.

[Jamie Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun for a quick re-read. I used to get a pound of my Nan for pocket money and get one of these books for 75p. Good times lol.

Jill and her friend Toni, make a pact to have a not- boring summer, then a bet - the first to date ten boys over the summer is the winner.

They fall out when Jill meets a boy she really likes - but Toni won 't call off the bet and leaves Jill facing a choice between her boyfriend and her best friend.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una historia corta pero divertida, con toda la frescura de la juventud

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well. With a title like that, how could you go wrong?!

My soul, it burns.