Love Ruins Everything

Heartbreak, romance, family and biotech intrigue combine in this spirited first novel by short-story writer Tulchinsky (In Her Nature). Young lesbian Nomi Rabinovitch is living in San Francisco when her lover unexpectedly dumps her for a burly, buzzcut man. While Nomi is recovering from her broken heart, her widowed mother calls and summons her to Toronto to attend her sudden second wedding. There, Nomi is reunited with both a long-lost crush and her beloved gay cousin, both of whom are involved in a plot to publicize ""proof"" that the American government created the AIDS virus as a biochemical weapon. Ostensibly based on the real-life theories of Alan Cantwell and Len Horowitz, the government-plot thriller aspect of this novel is intriguing (not to say disrupting, in a light romantic comedy) but too neatly resolved to provoke much suspense, and Tulchinsky adds little to the familiar turf of post-breakup soul-searching. Nonetheless, Nomi is a charming and original heroine, and Tulchinsky is at her comic best when describing Nomi's relationships with friends and family, including her earthy grandmother and uncle Solly, a lovable wiseguy on the lam. Author tour. (Mar.)