Brokenhearted

Weber's third novel (after The Playgroup ) is a facilely written romance that excels in witty dialogue and elicits a tear or two during its intriguing but ultimately implausible plot. When her husband, an author who had written a bestseller on organ transplants, suffers fatal injuries in an auto accident on their honeymoon, Andrea Pearce allows his heart to go to 45-year-old Hank Corman, a Hartford, Conn., insurance agency owner. After the transplant, adhering to Jewish tradition that Hank's diseased heart be given burial, Margo Corman asks that it be interred with the body of John Malcolm Pearce. The grateful Cormans befriend Andrea, unaware that, unhinged by grief, she has convinced herself that her husband lives on in Hank Corman's body. Meanwhile, Hank himself comes to lust for young, rich, beautiful Andrea, especially since Margo takes on the character of a strict nanny, obsessed with ensuring Hank's health by confining his diet to boringly nutritious food. Weber indulges in too many soap opera twists, damaging credibility by the novel's conclusion. Still, she is a capable writer who spins an involving narrative. Literary Guild alternate. (Mar.)