Dream in Color

Darlene Johnson. Villard Books, $13.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-375-75841-6

A woman in a loveless marriage retreats into an elaborate fantasy world in Darlene Johnson's previously self-published Dream in Color. Victoria and Gerald Jordan married because she was pregnant; now their daughter is five years old, the marriage is in a shambles and Victoria suspects he's having an affair. She copes by inventing two dream lovers: James, a 17-year-old high school student, and Michael, a white rock star. The former ""affair"" is mostly platonic, while the latter contains all manner of fireworks a wedding, drug addiction, betrayal though neither really makes any sense. While slightly more imaginative than similar romances, the fantasy gimmick seems like an effort to distract readers from the lack of plot.

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