Weisberger proves she can stand on her own stilettos

By CRISTINA ROUVALIS

It lacks the punch of ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ but ‘Chasing Harry Winston’ is still a fun read.

“Chasing Harry Winston” by Lauren Weisberger (Simon Schuster, $25.95).

Just between us girls, we always figured Lauren Weisberger was a one-hit wonder.

She turned a terrible first job — assistant to high-fashion magazine priestess Anna Wintour — into gold by writing the roman a clef, “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Her mediocre writing was saved by too-juicy gossip and a fine movie starring Meryl Streep as the despotic magazine editor.

But two chick-lit books later, Weisberger seems quite capable of standing on her own stilettos.

The good news is that the writing in her latest novel is snappier than her first book, and the pacing is so brisk that the pages seem to turn themselves.

But the bad news is that there is no deliciously naughty villain, her characters are plucked out of pink central casting and the plot is hopelessly contrived.

Even so, this book breezily uses the chick-lit convention of weaving the parallel narratives of three friends.

Instead of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte, these BFFs are named Emmy, Leigh and Adriana, and they, too, are leading exciting New York City lives as they approach the milestone of 30.

Emmy is petite, prim and newly dumped. Her boyfriend has just ditched her for a 23-year-old personal trainer she paid for. She reels from the disappointment of being “that close” to the dream wedding and then the dream baby.

Leigh is an ambitious book editor at a major publishing house who is engaged to the perfect sportscaster boyfriend. At least, everyone else tells her he is perfect. But his kissing leaves her cold and she can’t help but be attracted to a cocky young writer whose work she is editing.

Why anyone falls for the anal-retentive humorless Leigh is beyond me, but she has not one, but two, great guys chasing her.

The most fun gal pal is Adriana. Think of a Latin Samantha. The knockout daughter of a Brazilian supermodel, she toys with one man after another and tries to teach her earnest friends how to create mystery with men.

Still, the 29-year-old knockout worries that her beauty may be fleeting and she should settle down with one man.

So Adriana and Emmy make a bet. Adriana vows to stick with one man for a year, while Emmy pledges to become promiscuous and sleep with as many men as she can.

It’s an absurd gimmick, but somehow it works, giving the three female characters the happy ending they deserve and you a few hours of frothy fun.

XCristina Rouvalis is a writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.