Hollywood Wives

May 15, 2001
Those who have read a Jackie Collins novel know the guilty pleasure of wasting time on plots that are as thin as some Hollywood actresses. The characters lack any recognizable dimension, too. Still, like a good comic book, this "next generation" sequel to " Holly"wood Wives makes readers turn the pages. For those who don't remember, or never knew, the last generation was strictly wives--women whose money and power came solely through their rich Hollywood husbands. Now at least some of these women are making it on their own. Lissa Roman is a megastar who is about to become an ex-wife once she finds her layabout husband cheating. B-actress Taylor Singer has married a much-beloved, Oscar-winning producer-director, which is what she wants to be. Nicci Stone is Lissa's 19-year-old daughter. She's engaged but to the wrong movie-making brother. As in most of Collins' books, episodic happenings and lots of backstory are tied together by an overriding plot propelled by a bad guy. In this case, it's a lowlife who's out to kidnap Nicci. It's a good thing Collins' books are so forgettable; otherwise, readers might have the sneaking suspicion they've read all this before. On the other hand, nothing screams "summer reading" like a novel with these three words somewhere on the spine: " Hollywood, Wives, "and " Collins."(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)