From Publishers WeeklyThis engaging sequel begins where Beaches left off, several weeks after actress Cee Cee Bloom's best friend Roberta has died and left her young daughter, Nina, in Cee Cee's enthusiastic and loving (though uneven) care. For the next seven years, the two create a marriage of opposites. Cee Cee adopts mothering with her usual gaudy vitality as Nina tries to overcome her revulsion for Cee Cee's disorderly lifestyle, which includes workaholic compulsions, affairs with unsuitable men and career ups and downs. Along the way, each learns about life from the other. Throughout the narrative ominous foreshadowing creates such a heavy-handed buildup that the denouement--successful tearjerker that it is--comes as something of a let-down. Dart has an excellent ear for Cee Cee's voice, though Nina's is less effective; she is made to utter some lines that even a precocious eight-year-old couldn't muster. But despite a concept that at times seems forced, the novel is essentially generous and vividly readable. $75,000 ad/promo. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A hard-driving movie executive, a beloved soap opera diva, a screenwriter nominated for an Oscar, and a well-known actress married to TV's King of Late Night. Four friends who have led charmed Hollywood lives facing middle age. They have always shared a "Girl's Night Out", but suddenly it becomes a painful vigil as three of the women watch their friend fight for her life in an intensive care unit. She has been attacked by a stalker who is obsessed with all four women. Will the bonds of friendship that have linked them together for years enable them to survive this chilling night?From Publishers WeeklyThe author of Beaches has recycled her bestselling blend of show business and devoted friends tested by tragedy into an involving story of contemporary Hollywood. Best friends since their college days 30 years past, soap opera seductress Jan O'Malley, former sitcom star Marly Bennett, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Rose Morris and studio executive Ellen Bass must face facts: they've now reached the age where their "drug of choice has become estrogen." Confronted with her TV character's possible extinction, Jan is renegotiating her contract with barracuda-like producers, while Marly is auditioning for antacid commercials. Rose's agent wants to find her a "young" writing partner, and Ellen is fighting a losing war with a pack of sexually harassing studio honchos. When Jan is shot by a mysterious intruder, the other three investigate old lovers, old friends and old secrets until they discover her attacker's identity. Dart's snappily paced tale is spiced with spot-on doses of black humor, while her insights into female friendships, as always, ring reassuringly true. Even a cliched and familiar conclusion should do nothing to hinder fans' enjoyment. Film rights to Bette Midler's All Girl Productions; author tour. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalLacking the pathos of Beaches-despite the soon-to-be-orphaned child of a friend- this novel mixes the "friends since college theme" with some limp elements of the psychological thriller. Here, the friends are four Hollywood players (two actresses, a writer, a producer) fast approaching obsolescence as they near fifty. As they grapple with the dog-eat-dog Hollywood world, falling faces, and encroaching flab, the four contemplate their pasts and try to come to terms with their presents. The shooting of their soap opera friend, Jan, by a thwarted actress from their college days grounds them once again in the things that matter in life. Schmaltzy, yes, but fans may want this novel directed at the "Fear of Fifty" crowd.--Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly The author of Beaches explores the emotional turmoil faced by single, surrogate and gay parents in this hilarious, warmhearted novel. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal With humor and poignancy, Dart probes the challenge of child rearing in the 1990s by depicting a group of nontraditional parents. At age 50, Rick, a single movie producer and avowed Casanova combatting a midlife crisis, decides to adopt a baby. Ruthie and Shelley, a successful comedy-writing team, resolve to create a child even though he is gay and she is straight. Lainie and Mitch, owners of a chic California clothing boutique, contract with a surrogate mother to produce their child. These parents form the Stork Club led by Barbara, the child psychologist who guides the group as they struggle to make their atypical family circumstances work. The author of Beaches and three other novels, Dart proves she knows how to gild the literary lily by creating a singularly good popular novel. Highly recommended for fiction collections.**

Iris Rainer Dart, bestselling author of BEACHES, brings you a hilarious, semiautobiographical story about a wary thirty-seven-year-old lady and a gorgeous younger man who's stealing her heart.