Danger Zones

Journalist Gini Hunter returns to England from the mountains of Bosnia only to plunge into a murderous jungle of high-fashion and drugs as Beauman, bestselling author of Destiny and Lovers and Liars, liberally applies the melodramatic glitter. Both the heart and the womb are danger zones in this romantic thriller. Gini loves war photographer Pascal Lamartine, who loves her--yet resists fathering the child she longs to conceive. Enter imperious green-eyed editor Rowland McGuire, who struggles to resist the appeal of hauntingly intense Gini. The couple sizzle with a delicious tension that other characters respect and the reader laps up. But clever Beauman makes us yearn for Rowland to see the homey charms of Gini's pal Lindsay Drummond, smart fashion editor and terrific single mom. It's Lindsay who stitches together the mystery shrouding fragile fashion genius Maria Cazares, her formidable partner, Jean Lazare, and a deadly drug pusher named Star, whose psychotic rage culminates in a tense hostage crisis. Lindsay's ultimate role, however, is to deliver a sisterly wink from author to reader. Although she tells Rowland she's deep into an Updike novel, the book atop her pile is a soothing airport romance with deft plot and big emotions, if graceless style. It's an apt overview of Beauman's own novel, whose sharp details, appealing characters and nonstop action make up for some unwieldy sentences and stark pronouncements on gender. (May)