Conglomerate

""I feel like I'm in a soap opera,'' says Jennifer Wallack, a beautiful, bereaved widow in this lackluster novel, which isn't nearly as riveting as the average soap. Its heroine is gorgeous but tough, independent but vulnerable Sidney Howe, the head of corporate relations for International Tompion. Sidney takes it upon herself to discover who killed Jennifer's husband and who is sabotaging her beloved company. Not surprisingly, she uncovers a web of intrigue leading from New York boardrooms to Georgia to Paris as she follows the trail of billionaire Constantine Kaluste. Also predictably, Sidney lands in the arms of Mr. Right, who was in front of her nose all along. Jenrette wrote My Capitol Secrets, an expose of her ex-husband's involvement in ABSCAM; her first novel is strictly standard, with trite dialogue and one-dimensional characters. (April 15)