THE SECOND TIME AROUND

An often amusing, always warm look at the terrors of the singles scene for a 54-year-old widow who'd been married since age 20. Otty Lippi is straightforward--she can't understand why people don't just ask each other to go to bed, if that's what they're after--and ingenuous; she opens her heart to one married man, with predictable results: son, priest, and best friend all chide her for her ""vulnerability."" She does meet some losers--a reformed alcoholic who slips backward on their first date, a guitarist who insists on singing in and translating from Spanish--but some of her encounters are downright romantic, too. And many readers will be cheered by her determination to experiment with it all, from singles bars to advertising for a man. The villain of the piece--if such he can be called--is son Rob, who seems hell-bent on limiting mom's ""fun"" just as her own father was decades before. But somehow Mom manages to kick up her heels despite his protests about everything from a facelift to finding a man in her closet (hanging a plaque). Cheering entertainment and encouragement, plus a tear or two of recognition for women who've been widowed--a plucky little volume of low-key inspiration.