Scruples Two

Picking up on Oscar night, where Krantz's 1977 blockbuster first novel left off, this sequel is long on background filler, short on suspense, rarely exciting or even steamy. Wealthy and gorgeous Billy Ikehorn has a secret, but when her movie producer husband Vito Orsini's never-before-mentioned teenage daughter shows up, Billy's secret, and her marriage, become irrelevant. She mothers Gigi, starting her off, naturally, with an expensive new haircut and wardrobe. Meanwhile, Billy's Beverly Hills-based designer clothes store, Scruples, is so successful she opens new branches. Then a tragedy involving her key staff sends the distraught Billy fleeing to Paris, where she has an affair with a sculptor. Gigi moves to New York, lives with lingerie model Sasha (the ``Great Slut'') Nevsky, and falls for Sasha's brother Zach. Ultimately, Billy realizes that having scads of money doesn't buy happiness (though it does make it possible to dine in five-star restaurants, live in groovy houses, wear fabulous clothes, stay forever young-looking, and finance your own business venture to design less expensive clothes for average-income folks--``Scruples Two''). Perhaps in ``Scruples Three'' Billy will donate excess clothing to the homeless. 500,000 first printing; $500,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection. ( June )