Promises

Blending stories about three plucky heroines, Stone (Roommates ; Bel Air) fashions an entertaining, if essentially vacuous contemporary romance. When beautiful former model Larisa leaves her violent, wealthy husband Julian, she finds shelter with her former college roommate Elizabeth, a talented San Francisco surgeon. Elizabeth is in love with her colleague Nicholas, but he is hiding dark secrets. Another college acquaintance, dress designer Christine, is struggling to remake her life in the wake of her husband's death. As Elizabeth fights to prove that their love can overcome Nick's unhappy past, her friend Stephen woos Christine, and Peter, a warm and caring architect, helps Larisa find herself again. Several crises threaten everyone's happiness, including a life-or-death decision involving Nick's young son (Stone's background as a physician provides authentic material here), and a shared connection to Julian that prompts him to try to destroy Peter and Larisa. Stone's prose is never more than pedestrian and often is melodramatic and overwrought, and her plot leans heavily on misunderstandings and coincidences. But her formulaic fiction has the slick tension that will please fans. 75,000 first printing; $75,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Feb.)