BROKEN-HEARTED

A trendy, topical, and twisted sort of triangular love story by the author of Life Swap (1974), The Playgroup (1983), and (as Jennifer Rose) eight romances. Weber's gimmick for bringing her three anguished lovers together is surely a first: Blame it on a heart transplant. Hank and Margo Corman are a nice Jewish couple from West Hartford, struggling to keep Hank's old, injured heart pumping until a donor comes through with a new one. John and Andrea Pearce are two New York writers, John the winner of a Pulitzer Prize, married for only days when an accident on a snowy Connecticut road claims John's life. Several clays later a distraught Andrea reads in the newspaper that a 49-year-old insurance broker has just received a heart, leading her to figure out where it came from; she takes Hank an autographed copy of her late husband's work, then hears John's heart murmur to her from Hank's chest. What ensues is a disconcerting tale of obsessive attachment, with Andrea throwing herself at Hank, and Hank finding it hard to say no. Meanwhile, brave, self-sacrificing Margo cooks up low-fat yummies and waits. Trouble comes when Hank travels to New York for John's memorial service and finds himself in bed with Andrea, causing a rejection episode. Hank's heart gets sorted out in the end, though, as Andrea detaches and good old Margo pulls her ailing, errant hubby through. High concept, low content. A maudlin treatment of an important health issue, more likely to induce its own rejection episode than romantic palpitations.