Scruples Two [Paperback]

Judith Krantz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1994

Billy Ikehorn: Meet again the magnificent owner of Scruples. Billy is imperious and stubborn, a creature of rampant sexuality, too rich, too vulnerable and far, far too impulsive. The story begins on the day after Scruples ended, the day on which Billy's husband, producer Vito Orsini, won the Oscar for Best Picture. Spider Elliot, who reigns like a pasha at Scruples, is a man who adores women and can read their minds. He is more than tough enough to stand up to Billy. Valentine O'Neill is the brilliant young designer for Scruples. As alert as a vixen, hot tempered, and thoroughly lovable, she is as difficult to pin down as a mermaid. Now Billy, Spider and Valentine have explosive unfinished business. Watch the sparks fly as this irresistible story unfolds with an enchanting new cast of characters, including Gigi (Graziella Giovanna) Orsini, Vito's daughter from an early marriage. Gigi, with her charm, independence and wild sense of humour, changes the lives of everyone who knows her. It is Billy and Gigi who together dominate the new chapter in a story millions of readers wish had never ended.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Picking up on Oscar night, where Krantz's 1977 blockbuster first novel left off, this sequel is long on background filler, short on suspense, rarely exciting or even steamy. Wealthy and gorgeous Billy Ikehorn has a secret, but when her movie producer husband Vito Orsini's never-before-mentioned teenage daughter shows up, Billy's secret, and her marriage, become irrelevant. She mothers Gigi, starting her off, naturally, with an expensive new haircut and wardrobe. Meanwhile, Billy's Beverly Hills-based designer clothes store, Scruples, is so successful she opens new branches. Then a tragedy involving her key staff sends the distraught Billy fleeing to Paris, where she has an affair with a sculptor. Gigi moves to New York, lives with lingerie model Sasha (the "Great Slut") Nevsky, and falls for Sasha's brother Zach. Ultimately, Billy realizes that having scads of money doesn't buy happiness (though it does make it possible to dine in five-star restaurants, live in groovy houses, wear fabulous clothes, stay forever young-looking, and finance your own business venture to design less expensive clothes for average-income folks--"Scruples Two"). Perhaps in "Scruples Three" Billy will donate excess clothing to the homeless. 500,000 first printing; $500,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

Krantz gives fans another dizzying spin around the glitter world of high fashion, hot sex, and Hollywood, picking up in 1978 with a pregnant Billy Ikehorn (of Scruples, 1977) the night after her new husband, Italian producer Vito Orsini, wins the Oscar (but, of course). Billy's marital bliss lasts a nanosecond before Vito cheats, she miscarries, they divorce, and Billy once again is glamorously jet-setting to New York, Hong Kong, Paris, wherever, opening namesakes of her famous boutique worldwide. We're reacquainted with the old gang, especially partners Spider Elliot and Valentine O'Neill, as Krantz interweaves their lives with those of Billy's new and ever widening circle, which now places her teenage stepdaughter Gigi (from her marriage to Vito) right in the center and ripe for picking. Billy continues to pour her passionate energy into projects--her stores, Gigi, a mansion, and a double life with sculptor Sam Jamison in Paris, and--ultimately--a mail-order boutique called Scruples Two. Meanwhile, tragedies strike, loves are won and lost, loyalties betrayed, backs bitten, and sex--always hot and sometimes kinky--is had by almost all. Krantz's all-knowing narrator, the quintessential gossip mogul who has the goods on everyone, knowing each inside out, dishes it out with such relish and appeal that it's hard not to be hooked from beginning to end, even when the designer and dominatrix references begin to grow stale. Pure, delicious fun. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for August) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books (January 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 055317505X
• ISBN-13: 978-0553175059
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,185,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hooked on Krantz, May 25, 2005

By 

Book Maven - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scruples Two (Mass Market Paperback)

I first read this book around age 15, and it has impacted my life more than a piece of commercial fiction should: so much that I studied abroad in Paris to be like Billy Ikehorn! This book is a delicious read, rife with beautiful people and amazing locations. Krantz does a wonderful job of creating believable, delightful characters, and her command of setting and plot is no less. Though a lot of people may dismiss this book (and her others, which are also wonderful) as "sex and shopping," "commerical fiction," or "an embossed cover read," Judith Krantz is a very good writer. So many commercial books are poorly written, so the plot (which may be good) drowns underneath pedantic language. Not so with Scruples Two! Krantz is a Wellesly grad, which may have something to do with that. I've given this to some of my friends and we all love it, even having been English majors who read some pretty heavy lit. Buy this book, it's sure to delight!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Takes you back to the 80's, October 23, 2002

By 

Theresa W (mi, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scruples Two (Mass Market Paperback)

This book & the one before it takes you back...they are fun reads. I enjoyed the follow up with the characters & dare to say it was just as good, if not better than the original

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The pleasure keeps on coming, December 29, 2001

By 

Mel "muffless" (Cedar Park, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scruples Two (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a huge Judith Krantz fan mostly because of this series. The characters she created in Scruples only come more alive in this book. The addition of the new charachters only make the story more interesting. Krantz has done a fabulous job of creating a sequel. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time and you won't want to put it down. Gigi will be your new best friend and you can only love Billy and Spider more after the heartache they go through. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in reading Krantz. Of course I would recommend reading the whole series from start to finish. Scruples and Scruples Two take the cake, but Lovers is also a great follow up.