Sweet Valley High: Jessica's Secret Diary Volume III

Jessica's been out on a few dates with this guy Michael at the same time that she dates some other guys. She loves that he's tall, on the basketball team, and is crazy about her, but she just isn't the kind of girl who settles down with any one guy. Things are fine up until they go out again and she reminds him of their upcoming date to the big dance.

Michael uses this excuse to tell her that she can have every Friday and Saturday night for all he's concerned. He is so crazy about her that he doesn't want to see anyone else and suggests that they go steady. Jessica tells him that she wants to keep doing what they've been doing, but it isn't enough for him anymore. It's all or nothing. When she turns him down, he ends things completely.

The twins have Maria, Enid, Amy, and Lila over to the house, which seems like an odd mixture to me. Since they all have boyfriends, they kind of gang up on Jessica about how settling down isn't necessarily bad. Jess points out all the reasons why relationships suck but they all laugh it off.

After realizing that every member of every team now has a girlfriend and she can't find a date for the dance, she stays home with her parents. Ned springs tickets to some fancy show on Alice, and she suggests that Jess watch a movie that she rented. While watching the credits, she sees a special dedication from director Charles Sampson to her, which leads to her reading through her old diaries.

This book covers a lot of the Sam books and starts with Cara and Steven planning to elope. Instead of going through all those books, I'll just cover the "new" story introduced in this one.

While out one day, Jessica meets a hot guy in a hot car. He introduces himself as Charles Sampson. He's the son of a famous director, the brother of a famous actress, and wants to make a movie too. Charles saw Jessica on that lame soap opera and though she was perfect for the main character of Blythe in his movie. Blythe is some random girl trapped between being a woman and a teenager who meets an older man and becomes Bonnie to his Clyde.

Jessica is super excited about starring in a movie, but then she remembers what happened with Sam and how he warned her that if Hollywood went to her head again, he'd leave her. She keeps juggling meetings with Charles and dates with Sam, and she lies to Sam a lot about where she's been. At one point, she and Charles kiss, which leads her to tell him that she won't be in the movie.

But, Charles really needs her help. He is super close to getting the money he needs, and he needs her to wow a famous producer. She blows off Sam to go with him to an investment meeting. The producer loves her so much that he agrees to give Charles the rest of the money. Jess then decides that she'll be in the movie.

On the way back to Sweet Valley, his car dies and they end up on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, he has snacks for them and a heavy flannel shirt she can wear. They make a fire and sit and talk for hours. Charles makes a move on her again and admits that he's in love with her. She backs out, saying that she can't do that to Sam again. Charles promises that he can put his feelings aside for the sake of the movie, but she turns him down again.

Jess and Sam have plans the next day, and Sam seems really quiet. He finally tells her that he brought her breakfast that morning to make up for their latest fight, but he saw her getting out of a car with another man. When she tries to explain, he cuts her out and says that as long as she loves him, he can forgive and forget about what he saw. Better yet, they can just move on.

After reading everything, Jessica closes the books and cries a little. She thinks about how much Sam meant to her in the past and how she never really got over him. No matter what she does, she knows that she'll always carry a little piece of him with her. Aww.

*Doesn't Amy have shorter hair, like a bob? Jessica describes her as having long blond hair when she gets out of the pool.

*Charles is apparently 25, which makes this book so freaking creepy. First of all, he doesn't know her address, so he just drives around Sweet Valley in the hopes of finding her. When he does, he actually just calls her over to his car. He's literally nine years older than her and thinks it's appropriate to kiss her.

*Jessica says that she knew going over to some strange man's car was wrong but that it didn't matter because he was cute. How did we not get a book about her getting snatched off the street?

*Charles takes her to a couple of fancy Hollywood parties, and she never bothers telling her parents where she's going. Please see my above comment. Also, some super famous actor gushes over her because he watched her on the soap opera.

*I love how she keeps claiming that she loves Sam, even when she's lying to him and kissing another guy. You would think that at some point these girls would realize that none of what they do equals love.