Dangerous Kiss

Lucky's back--and the myriad fans of the Santangelo novels (most recently, Vendetta) will be glued to the page. Once again, Lucky has the weight of the world on her gorgeous shoulders. Again, she triumphs in love and business, with enough violence in her wake to make Mickey Spillane shudder. Daughter of mobster Gino, whose Las Vegas empire was her proving ground in previous novels, Lucky's a chip off the headstrong block. She's Lennie Golden's hot, adoring wife (as long as she doesn't have to make lunch), a doting mom (who frequently packs the kids off for the weekend) and a major Hollywood player as the head of Panther Studios--until she abruptly decides to sell. Most of her ardor and energy, though, go into troubleshooting for her large, biracial, multinational clan, including her black half-brother, Steven, a handsome lawyer whose actress wife, Mary Lou, is killed during a carjacking (Lennie's at the wheel), and her goddaughter, Brigette, supermodel and ultra-rich Greek shipping heiress who falls prey to a no-account count and is forcibly addicted to heroin while pregnant. As Lennie battles depression, Lucky struggles with the attentions of director Alex Woods, who never lets her forget the night they shared while Lennie was sweating a prequel kidnapping ordeal in an Italian cave. (Collins doesn't shortchange the new reader on back story.) Fierce monogamist Lucky excuses her own slip (she'd thought Lennie was dead) but has a hard time forgiving Lennie when his Sicilian rescuer, bosomy Claudia, appears with a hearing-impaired five-year-old son who's a Lennie look-alike. Claudia conveniently dies saving Lennie's life once more, for Collins shares Lucky's ruthlessness with people in her way. Believable? Not for a minute. Entertaining? Of course. Agent, Morton Janklow. Literary Guild and Doubleday main selections; author tour. (June)