Clay Bowen is a successful Hollywood television producer with several cleverly disguised rehashes of established hits to his credit. He is also a self-centered, womanizing schemer who has been married to former prima ballerina, Laura Hays, for almost twenty years - although they have been separated for most of that time. Laura had retired from the dance world to have her daughter - the elusive and secretive Nina - then turned to drugs and developed an eating disorder. Clay, having been totally alienated by his wife's clinginess and drug addiction, begins a relationship with best-selling author, Susan Josephs, writer of a book on spousal abuse.

Throughout their 17 years together, Clay constantly demeans Susan - stealing the rights to her New York magazine cover stories, and eventually ousting her from his Beverly Hills bungalow in favor of Bambi Green, a young, hopeful television ingenue searching for her big break.

This book is the story of how the lives of these four women - Laura, Nina, Susan and Bambi - with all their dreams of love and success, are totally intertwined with a charismatic womanizer whom they all mistakenly believe they need in their lives. I really loved this book because it showed just how Clay's separate relationships with all his women worked, or were dysfunctional to them all. I give this book an A+! and look forward to reading another book by Rona Jaffe very soon. ( )

I noted inside the front cover of the book that I'd read it, but have no memory of the plot. ( )