SOAP SUBSTITUTES

Back in my 1980s teen years, the love of my life was author Sidney Sheldon. I wanted to be him when I grew up. (I still want to be him when I grow up, but the enhanced e-book version of him.)

Alas, Mr. Sheldon would, at best, turn out a novel every two years or so. That wasn't nearly enough to feed my eight books a week (the maximum our local library would allow per check-out) habit.

So I had to make due with others who wrote in the glitz/glamour/melodrama/as close as you could get to a soap without a TV set genre.

I read some Judith Krantz, some Jeffrey Archer, some Colleen McCollough, some Belva Plain (if they made mini-series from it in the 80s, I gave it a shot.) I also read Ruth Harris.

Ruth Harris wrote books with titles like Love & Money, Decades, Modern Women, Husbands & Lovers and The Last Romantics.

They all spanned multiple years and featured an assortment of characters, some rich, some poor but determined not to stay that way, who we got to watch grow up, become romantically entangled with each other, and cross paths in expected - and unexpected - ways, all while wearing fabulous clothes, eating rich foods and having great sex.

Seriously. What's not to like?

The good news is, Ruth Harris has made her books, long out of print, available on Kindle.

The even better news? They're only $.99 cents each!

I've spent the last week gorging on 1980s opulence, decadence, and soapiness. And now so can you! I've listed all the available titles below, in order of my personal preference...