Flavor of the Month

by Olivia Goldsmith

  But in other ways, Michael’s instincts sucked. It took him more than fifty years to marry and to father a child, and he was had twice. Of course, before he got divorced, Michael McLain was claiming his wife Adrienne was a virgin he met at her convent-school graduation. I scouted down Mrs. Godowski, and a couple of six-packs unloaded a lot of resentments. We had the story on Mrs. McLain, but I never used it against Michael. It was only when Melvin Belli took on the case for Adrienne that Michael himself began squawking. Because, as I always say, community-property laws can surely make strange bedfellows. Michael needed everyone to know that his wife had been a whore before he met her. Even Michael McLain knows it’s better to look like a woman’s dupe than to be poor. It seems that Adrienne had an affair with A. Joel Grossman the whole time she was married to Michael. The child, apparently, was A. Joel’s. Since the divorce, he and Adrienne are living together on Michael’s money, and A. Joel is teaching film courses at Cal State.

  Crystal Plenum dumped Sy. Then, by luck, she got a hot tittle script from some indie and her last picture, River Road, had legs as good as her own. She’s back on top. They say she’s a shoo-in for the Oscar.

  Les Merchant watched his network slip back to number three; then he watched as the stockholders allowed him to be replaced. Bob LeVine was dumped from International, but his son, Seymore, was the money behind River Road, and he’s moved into the big time on his own.

  Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. There was no one connected with the Three for the Road debacle who was willing to admit it. And just last month poor Marty came out of the hospital, only to go into retirement.

  Benny Eggs finally caught up with Paulie Grasso. Or perhaps I should say Paulie’s gambling did. He’s living in Seattle or a city a lot like it and was willing to talk to me for what he once would have called “chump change.”

  Monica Flanders died in her sleep, but not before a bitter proxy fight had ousted her son Hyram from Flanders Cosmetics. By the way, Monica looked terrific at her funeral.

  April is doing fine. Anyone who reads the trades knows that. She gave me several interviews, now that she’s the new queen of the studio. As the new president of International, she’s redecorated Bob LeVine’s old office in a masculine maroon color.

  And Sam Shields? What happened to him? Well, he made two flops, but it looks like his latest is going to be a hit. At least, that’s the word on the street. And you’ve probably read that he and April are about to become engaged. A real love match.

  Anyway, the last bits and pieces of the story I got from my husband. Yes, that is one more piece of gossip for you. Consider it a wedding gift from my new husband and me to you. Not that the public is very interested in the private life of writers, even one such as I. But I did get married, at this late date. When I met Dobe Samuels, I knew he was one of a kind. And so, in a way, am I. Reader, I married him. And he was worth waiting for. Sometime just before you read this, in a very private ceremony, I became Mrs. Dobe Samuels.

  Brewster Moore and his wife attended. He has never spoken to me about any of this, and once the book is published I will welcome the opportunity to see if he has any comments to make. But his wife told me more than a few things. Mary Jane likes her privacy, and she says she has plenty of it in Honduras, except when her adopted son, Raoul, is home with his friends from school. But she was willing to talk, she said, to atone for her sins. And maybe because she had to talk to someone, just once, to make sense out of the whole thing.

  She and Sharleen are still close friends, though they only get to spend part of their summers together on the ranch. Sharleen doesn’t ever leave it. And I don’t think I will, either. After this book sale, Dobe and I are buying another three thousand acres. He figures if we plant two thousand trees a year, we can add more ozone to the atmosphere than all my books used up. Evening up our karma. He believes it isn’t a bad way for me to spend my declining years and my increasing wealth. And he says three thousand acres ought to hold us all.

  He also says he won’t allow reporters or celebrities on any of it.

  More from Olivia Goldsmith

  Bad Boy

  Every Sunday, best friends Tracie and Jonny meet to discuss their love lives: Tracie loves bad boys who seem too good to be true (and usually are), and Jonny foolishly falls for girls who never like him "that way." When Jonny convinces Tracie to turn him into a bad boy, she gives him a makeover, teaches him to scope out women at baggage claim, come back from a dinner date with a new girl's phone number scrawled on his hand, and always carry a motorcycle helmet—even though he doesn't ride a motorcycle.

  Jonny quickly becomes a successful heartbreaker just as Tracie discovers that she just might be head-over-heels in love with her best friend. But Tracie's current bad boy has—at last—decided he wants to settle down, her girlfriend has the hots for Jonny, and Jonny can't understand why Tracie never liked him for who he was before the leather. Bad Boy is a smart, laugh-out-loud tale of modern romance sure to keep readers everywhere in stitches.

  The Bestseller

  At Davis & Dash, one of New York's most prestigious publishing houses, five new authors will be published—but only one of them will be a bestseller. They have worked long and hard to write their novels of romance and murder, drama and love, but the story behind the stories is even more exciting. And the vicious competition to get the right agent, the perfect editor, and the choice spot on the bestseller list must be seen to be believed.

  Fashionably Late

  All of designer Karen Kahn's dreams seem to be coming true. She's been honored with the fashion industry's most coveted award, her marriage is thriving, and some very impressive money is being dangled in front of her in a proposed buyout. The only thing missing is that which she craves most—a baby. When she receives the heartbreaking news that she will never be able to have a child, it seems that although she has a designer label, she definitely doesn't have designer genes.

  Karen becomes determined to find her own biological mother—a woman she has never known. But as if the doctor's verdict has pulled a loose thread, Karen's carefully stitched Iife begins to unravel, and she suddenly finds herself on the brink of losing her company, her husband, and the only family she has ever known. Now Karen must decide which of her dreams she still wants...because keeping them alive is going to be the hardest thing she's ever had to do.

  Insiders

  Jennifer is a smart, sexy woman who has broken through the glass ceiling to become a big-time trader in the world of high finance. When her boss is caught playing fast and loose with the regulations, Jennifer agrees to take the rap. After all, her fiancé is a lawyer with the connections to get her off.

  But instead of beating the charges, she ends up in a women's prison; a world a whole lot meaner than Wall Street and where her designer clothes and fancy education count for nothing. She has to learn fast if she wants to survive. The women in the prison's top "crew" are people Jennifer would never, ever have befriended on the outside, but on the inside she soon discovers that working together is the only way out.

  Marrying Mom

  When Phyllis Geronomous decides to relocate from Florida to New York to be very (very) close to her grown children, panic erupts. She's witty, she's decisive, and she's very (very) difficult. The kids decide to take matters into their own hands, and start a search for a generous gentleman of means—regardless of criminal record—to take their mom off of their hands and out of state.

  Switcheroo

  At forty, Sylvie Schiffer has a gorgeous house, two perfect children, and a successful husband with a lucrative business—she has everything but what she wants most: passion and romance. With the twins off to college, Sylvie thinks the time for passion has arrived, only to find out her husband is already finding romance with a woman named Marla—a woman who could be her twin (give or take ten years and fifteen pounds).

  Although Mara has the best of love—romantic presents, hot sex, candlelit dinners—she lacks the one thing she
wants most: a husband of her own. Going beyond revenge, Sylvie hatches a brilliant, hilarious, and daringly outrageous scheme that just might fulfill both of their wildest dreams...or leave them with nothing but two broken hearts.

  Wish Upon a Star

  Claire takes the ferry into Manhattan every day, wishing that life could be as magical as it is in the novels she reads, and hoping she'll catch a glimpse of sexy lawyer Michael at work. One day, out of the blue, Michael offers her a trip to London, all expenses paid, and Claire's fortunes take an extraordinary about-turn.

  Crossing the Atlantic, a whole new world opens up for Claire. Finally, she can revel in all the delights London has to offer a girl with a fresh spring in her step. The streets may not be paved with gold, but they are rich with opportunity.

  But happily-ever-after isn't easy, even in fairytales...and Claire must reckon without the obstructive efforts of a very strait-laced Englishman if she is going to have the happy ending she's after.

  Young Wives

  Angela, Michelle, and Jada are all thirty-something women who appear to have lives as delicious as dessert.

  A typical New Yorker, half-Jewish, half-Italian, Angela is a lawyer married to Reid, a handsome old-money WASP. Michelle adores her childhood sweetheart husband, Frank, and the dream house he's provided for her and their two beautiful children. Jada is an African-American working mom trying to maintain a happy home, despite her husband Clinton's failing business.

  But then, like a bad soufflé, the lives of Angela, Michelle, and Jada collapse as they each discover the truth about their dirty, rotten mates. Uniting for solace and support, they draw on one another's friendship to heal their wounds. Bowed but not beaten, though, this smart, audacious trio will concoct a brilliant recipe to take back what's theirs and serve justice on their duplicitous men—and transform them from victims to victors!

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