I can't close out the dumb-ass romance reviews without including the queen od them: Jackie Collins. She wasn't in that volume of introductory chapters, but I got hold of one of her novels and was not impressed.
This is the author's controversial debut novel, which was published in 1968, and was made into a move a decade later. Unlike Jackie herself and her sister Joan, for that matter, this aged badly. The movie bore little resemblance to the novel. Neither of them was very good, being one-dimensional and very flat, but the novel benefited from being banned in a couple of countries in the southern hemisphere, so there you go. If it were submitted for publication today, no one would be interested in it.
The story is of advertising executive David Cooper, who is tired of his wife Linda, but unwilling to divorce her, so he cheats on her, most recently with a juvenile spoiled-brat Claudia Parker. He's talking crazy about marriage while she's talking of a career in modeling or acting or both. Linda inevitably discovers the affair and sues for divorce. David ends up living with Claudia and predictably realizing what a serious mistake he's made. By then it's too late because Linda is dating Jay Grossman, who is a Hollywood film producer. David ends up impregnating his secretary. That's it! That's the whole story!
Rest assured, I didn't make it that far; I made it as far as chapter four, where a drunk Linda is raped by this random guy Paul that she hooked-up with, and I quit right there. Hollywood was apparently unable to make anything out of it either, so they spiced it up a bit at the same time as they toned it down. In the movie, Linda's affair is with hot young divo (a male diva) with the ridiculous name of Gem Gemini, and her husband ends up shooting him if I recall. Equally predictable and uninspiring. I cannot commend this for anything except being a doorstop. Another author I can strike off my list - permanently.
