After Sweet Valley. (Francine Pascal's latest novel, 'If Wishes Were Horses,' will be published by Crown Publishing Group) (Brief Article)

The Crown catalogue describes Francine Pascal's forthcoming adult novel, If Wishes Were Horses. . . (Jan.), as a "wild and passionate" love story about a woman's struggle to find herself after her husband's death, likening the book to "A Year in Provence if Peter Mayle had fallen down a rabbit hole." If it's not clear what that comparison means, or whether it's a compliment, remember that Francine Pascal is the extremely successful creator of Bantam's teen romance series Sweet Valley High and its prequel spinoffs--Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley Kids, the standalone Sweet Valley Saga books and the forthcoming series, to debut in October for the junior high and high school …