Temptation

Energetic and broadly comic, this cautionary fable features a woman of the '90s caught in a classic dilemma: how to sever a fiendish alliance. Freelance journalist and single mother Rachel Swann is stressed because her ex-husband, about to remarry, is fighting for custody of their young daughter. Other areas of her life are equally unsatisfying: her articles for a slick magazine are basically fluff; a romance has just soured. Giddy with champagne while covering her latest assignment--an opening at the Met featuring a tiny country that still practices voodoo--Rachel stumbles into a facsimile temple and fervently states that she would give anything to have three wishes granted, one for herself and one for each of her two eccentric sisters. The maxim ``be careful what you wish for because you just might get it'' flits through her mind, and proves prescient as she and her sisters are suddenly caught up in situations so apparently logical and yet so bizarre that Rachel is forced to consult a psychic, who proves to be unusually astute. This hardcover debut from the author of more than 30 novels is upbeat, holds nothing sacred and is ingenuously appealing. (May)