POT OF GOLD

Another novel from the PC of Judith Michael—really a husband a wife writing team based in Aspen and Chicago, known for their popular, plumped-up category-style romances (Sleeping Beauty, A Ruling Passion, etc.). And guess what happens on page one? The hard-working, divorced, beautiful-but-unaware-of-it, 35-year-old heroine, Claire Goddard, of Danbury, Connecticut, wins $60 million in the lottery- -which poses the book's Åber-issue: Will money ruin her and her knockout 17-year-old daughter, Emma? Not surprisingly, shopping follows the windfall; indeed, Claire ``could not stop buying,'' beginning with two Mercedes, a million-dollar home, and a makeover. The new ``look'' stands her in good stead when she takes Emma on a cruise to Alaska, where the Goddard girls meet the Eiger boys. ``You're a cool breeze over the dung of the people I spend my time with,'' is how Quentin Eiger, head of a cosmetics company, romances Claire. His son, Brix, woos Emma with cocaine and an offer to be the Eiger girl, modeling a special new line of makeup called PK-20. The problem is just that PK-20 causes rashes and blindness— information the Eigers are trying to suppress. Emma will make a big mistake by confronting Brix about it, since he cares more for PK-20 than he does for her. Meanwhile, Claire figures out that Quentin is more a part of the dung heap than separate from it. Fortunately, though, there's a handsome journalist waiting in the wings to console her. This is what it is: cherry Jell-O, with a dollop of fake whipped cream in the form of awful writing. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for November)