Poor Little Bitch Girl

SUMMARY: Three twenty-something women, one hot rich guy, two mega movie stars, and a devastating murder: Poor Little Bitch Girl has it all.Denver Jones is a hotshot twenty-something attorney working in L.A. Carolyn Henderson is personal assistant to a powerful and very married Senator in Washington with whom she is having an affair. And Annabelle Maestro—daughter of two movie stars—has carved out a career for herself in New York as the madame of choice for discerning famous men. The three of them went to high school together in Beverly Hills—and although Denver and Carolyn have kept in touch, Annabelle is out on her own with her cocaine addicted boyfriend, Frankie. Then there is Bobby Santangelo Stanislopolous, the Kennedyesque son of Lucky Santangelo and deceased Greek shipping billionaire, Dimitri Stanislopolous. Bobby owns Mood, the hottest club in New York. Back in the day he went to high school with Denver, Carolyn and Annabelle. And he connected with all three of them. Frankie is his best friend. When Annabelle’s beautiful movie star mother is found shot to death in the bedroom of her Beverly Hills mansion, the five of them find themselves thrown together . . . and secrets from the past have a way of coming back to haunt everyone. . . . A new, sexy, and explosive novel from perennial bestseller Jackie Collins. From Publishers WeeklyAt 72, with 26 bestsellers under her belt, Collins (_Drop Dead Beautiful_) prowls familiar terrain with this overheated tale of the filthy rich, nasty poor, and cravenly ambitious. Collins picks up the saga of the Santangelos with spoiled-brat Annabelle Maestro, the daughter of two Tinseltown icons, who runs a high-priced call-girl ring in New York with her coke-sniffing nogoodnik boyfriend, Frankie. Annabelle's mom's murder brings the black sheep home to L.A. to mourn for a parent she never loved—and to lean on the adventurous Denver, a quick-witted, sex-starved lawyer who's defending the No. 1 suspect in the murder, Annabelle's dad, film legend Ralph Maestro. But Denver also juggles the rescue of his missing best friend, Carolyn, who's fooling around with a horn dog U.S. senator, and a few hot one-night stands. For all the convoluted connections, mismatches, and throw-away references to ripped-from-the-headlines news and celebrities, Collins is at her seasoned best with this raunchy, retro hot-sheets romance. It's men, dollface, one brassy Hollywood agent muses. They all spew forth the same tired old lines. As does Collins. And it's impossible not to fall for it. Again. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FromThe eponymous “bitch girl” of the title is Annabelle Maestro, the daughter of two famous movie stars who flees L.A. for New York to escape her indifferent parents. She hooks up with coke-addicted DJ Frankie to start a high-priced escort business. And then her mother’s murder makes headlines. Denver Jones, a beautiful, talented attorney who was briefly friendly with Annabelle, is called in when Annabelle’s father, Ralph, becomes a suspect in his wife’s death. Ralph orders Denver to fly to New York to bring Annabelle back for the funeral. In Washington, D.C., Denver’s best friend, Carolyn, is desperately trying to get a hold of her to share some exciting news: Carolyn is pregnant with the child of the married senator she works for. Denver keeps missing Carolyn’s calls because she has her hands full with Annabelle, who returns to L.A. determined to hide her secret business, and with her sights set on Bobby, the devastatingly handsome son of Lucky Santangelo, the heroine of several of Collins’ previous novels. Though the characters are frequently vapid and shallow, their over-the-top antics are undeniably scintillating. Expect plenty of demand for this page-turning sudser. --Kristine Huntley