Glamourpuss

Life imitates art imitating life in this slyly amusing debut about the tribulations of a soap star-``I had put a lethal dose of poison into Cyrinda's milk shake two weeks before, but the bitch had lived through it,'' confesses evil Simon Arable, main character of the soap opera Heart's Crossing, as the novel opens. In real life, Simon is Alex Young-funny, hunky, witty and gay. And thereby hangs a tale: a delicious and gossipy behind-the-scenes peek at daytime TV, a frenetic take on closet doors being involuntarily flung open, a slightly syrupy saga of Alex pining for the guy back home in Texas he can't have. Though McLaughlin's writing is occasionally flaccid and his zingers fall a bit short of their targets, his immensely likable hero will surely grab readers' funnybones and hearts-romantics in particular will root for true love to triumph. The novel's back-and-forth time frame proves somewhat confusing, though the assorted antics of castoff boyfriends, starstruck fans (both in letters and in person) and righteous zealots more than amply compensate for any minor shortcomings. (Oct.)