I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12549040

I sometimes read what I call "airplane reading" or "escape reading". I might even refer to it as "junk reading". This book, however, is fully deserving of that title.

It was written in the 1990s but that doesn't excuse Krantz's lack of awareness of certain issues. Most upsetting to me, of course, were the animal issues.

The story is about several models and model managers, so of course we know it will include fashion tidbits. The models and others in this case wear fur, leather, silk, sheepskin. I may have missed the snakeskin and crocodile, but I"m sure they would wear those skins as well if there were sufficiently fashionable. They eat the usual run of beef, chicken, fish, and also foie gras and veal. Nobody gives a damn about what those animals go through to grace their bodies or fill their stomachs. Obviously I do.

That aspect of the book irritated me hugely. But a quick hint about the storyline and what else pissed me off:

Frankie Severino is second-in-command at a small model management agency. She works closely with Justine, who owns the company. Of late Justine has been receiving letters and other signs of affection from her father, Jacques Necker. Trouble is, Justine grew up as the sole daughter of her mother and never knew her father. It was only when she was dying that her mother told her the name of her father. Because he had run out on Justine's mother when she became pregnant all those years ago, Frankie is not well-disposed to him and does not want anything to do with him.

Over the years Necker has accumulated a great deal of wealth and he decides on a complex scheme to bring his daughter to see him in Paris. She's onto him, though, and avoids the trap. However, three of her models, accompanied by Frankie, head for Paris to work the runway for a show financed by Necker.

So we have four young attractive women in Paris. And we have Justine back in NYC coping with a broken furnace and an attractive repairman.

Love breaks out all over the place. There are other side issues, of course, but the main theme seems to be that we need romantic love to make our lives complete.

It's pathetic. The whole book runs on a 1950s axis.

I hope that the next person who reads it agrees with at least some of my positions. How can you ignore it all? ( )

Maybe all "chick-lit" is like this and I'm just not familiar, but this was terrible. It was flighty and confusing, the characters didn't stand out, and it was simply ridiculous in the way these strong, independent women gave up their lives within an hour of meeting a man. I was not impressed. ( )

really couldn't get into this book ( )

I like a good trashy novel as well as anyone, but this didn't do it for me. Models, fashion, love, lust and family issues converge in Paris. Not her best. ( )

Passion...Scandal...Glamour...Some things are always in style.