WHO WANTS TO BE A GROWN UP?

My answer to the above is no, not really.Grown ups have too many problems; boring problems. A Monday Musing question was posed - which do you prefer: Adult -or- Young Adult books? Or, both? Why? As most of you know, I write contemporary romance - for adults because sometimes my characters can get a little too naughty to be able to label them Young Adult. I must adhere to the guidelines. No naughty stuff before 18, please {even though we all know 18's and under, especially in this day and age tend to have 'fun'.}
Are the adult storylines too predicatable? Shitty ex husbands, no money, job loss, memory loss, you name it loss.. I suppose they are but then, isn't this what our readers of romance expect? People like to feel safe. I think this can be said for any genre. I love psycological thrillers, detective and lawyer stories but - hey - it does tend to be the same old. As someone once said, there are no new stories, just a retelling of old. As authors we strive to make our interpretation as unique as we can. Even Shakespeare 'stole' Romeo and Juliet but, boy, did he make it his own.
Oh but I do love the passion of the YA heroine.There is more scope for the imagination. Feelings are raw, perhaps more honest. Angst is always at its most angsiest when felt by teenagers. The joy and pain of first love, when the world can can crashing down because of something as trivial as a new crop of spots just before that all important first date. Being the eternal teenager, I love these tales of first love. I think this is where The Twilight saga excels. I felt Bella's pain. Excessive, maybe, but so real. Who doesn't recall feeling that sense of abject dispair?
Of course, in the 'grown up' world, our characters are expected to follow the current fashion for being strong and and sensible. I think this is why I prefer to make my heroines young, late teens or early twenties and always inexperienced in love. This is where my older and not always wiser hero comes in, helping them to grow and become aware of their sexuality. It's more fun.
Saying that'adult' books can be fun. Check out Jilly Cooper's Bella, Harriet, Emma. You will see what I mean

Viv