Starstruck by Richie Tankersley Cusick

**This blog contains adult language.**

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!!  This is a recap blog which means I read the book and tell you everything that happens so you don't have to read it yourself.  Do NOT continue to read unless you want to know who the bad guy/girl/overused plot device is.

Tag Line: Lifestyles of the famous....and the dead.

From the Back of the Book: If looks could kill....  Miranda Peterson is thrilled to win a magazine contest to meet hunky actor Byron Slater and maybe land the part of the romantic interest in his next action-packed movie!  What could be better than a week on a glamorous estate, being fussed over by photographers, stylists and reporters?  So what if there are two other girls competing for the same part?  Byron's good looks and admiring eyes make her forget about everything else.....  But the romantic Byron is also intensely private.  Surrounded by agents, assistants, a driver and a bodyguard, the young actor is well-protected...for a reason.  Dark secrets haunt the sun-drenched estate, and they seem to wrap Byron - and anyone close to him - in a shroud of danger.  Suspicion and fear give way to the heat of Miranda's romance until a body appears in the estate's hot tub.  The acting is over and the terror has just begun.

This book was published in 1996 and this is my first reading.  My manager thought it would be a nice kind of full-circle thing to do a Cusick for my return to the blog since this blog began with a Cusick half a million years ago.  I didn't fight her too much on it.  I tend to like Cusick for the most part.  Even if her guys do get a little handsy sometimes.

We begin with our protagonist Miranda and her sister Lynn watching a movie starring Miranda's Movie Star Crush Byron Slater. Miranda is fully fan-girling out which is annoying Lynn to the max. Lynn points out that Byron is just a real person off the screen and he's not a romantic hero in real life. Miranda isn't hearing it. She thinks Byron is just like the characters he portrays in movies. Lynn rags on Miranda a bit for entering a contest to win a week with Byron and the opportunity to be in one of his movies. Miranda is a little embarrassed for entering. She hasn't even told her best friend Amy that she did.

The chapter ends with Miranda getting the news that she's won the contest and she'll be flown out to Byron's estate in California to spend the week with him and the two other finalists.

Well, I, for one, am hella surprised at this news.

Chapter two finds Miranda and Lucille (the editor of the magazine that ran the contest) on their way to Byron's estate. Travel has not gone smoothly so far but nothing can dampen Miranda's spirits. Lucille is pretty frantic because their flight was delayed and they're getting in late. The first party for the week is already underway and Miranda isn't there. She can't find the driver and they can't locate Miranda's suitcase and Lucille is working herself into a right good panic when some rando guy approaches.

He's wearing black pants cut off under the knee, a white dress shirt, red socks, orange tennis shoes and a chauffeur's hat. He has a deep tan and his sun-bleached hair flows over his shoulder blades in loose waves. He identifies himself as Nick, Byron's driver but Lucille has no idea who he is. Pete is Byron's driver. Nick says that Pete died a month ago and he urges both women to get in his car.

Seems legit.

Nah, you're fine, girls. Go on. Get in the weird guy's car.

Lucille asks Nick to get in a picture with Miranda to document the event of the driver picking her up. Miranda is hella embarrassed and all too aware of how cute Nick is and how he makes her skin tingle when he's close to her.

Nick volunteers to find Miranda's suitcase and the girls head out to the limo to wait for him. While there, Lucille suddenly remembers Byron talking about Nick once before. He and Nick have been friends for years and both went to the same acting classes. While Byron made it big and became a star, Nick floundered and failed to get any roles. Now here Nick is working for his friend as a driver.

Nick comes back outside and announces that Miranda's suitcase is officially lost. He's filed a claim and the airline will let them know if it's located. Miranda is the one who freaks out this time but Lucille calms her down. She says they can just get Miranda a new wardrobe while she's there.  Easy peasy.

Byron's house is like a palace with fountains and mini-waterfalls, towers and balconies. Miranda is so impressed that her mouth is hanging open the entire time. It's surrounded by huge iron gates and when they close behind the limo, she has a flash of apprehension. Byron's publicist Peg meets them at the door and it's clear from the start that she and Nick don't care much for each other. Miranda is scanned with a hand-held metal detector by some giant named Harley who never speaks and then Peg tells her that the party is already underway and she should go freshen up and join them.

Before anyone can really move, Byron comes in from another room. Miranda thinks he looks taller in real life and she's stunned that he's nothing like the characters he plays in the movies. He's quiet, almost sad and clearly exhausted. He says he just got in from Italy and he looks very confused to see all these people in his entryway. Peg explains that Miranda is one of the winners of the contest and it's pretty obvious that Byron has NO idea what she's talking about. He's polite but irritated.

Miranda is extremely nervous and blurts out that Byron has a long lifeline on his palm. He's curious how she knows about this and she lies and says she's a palm reader. In reality she's read one book on the subject and literally only knows about the lifeline. Byron says he'd like to hear more and asks Peg where Miranda is staying. Peg replies that the three finalists are staying out in the guest house but Byron requests that Miranda be moved into the main house instead. Peg argues that it will seem like Miranda is getting special treatment but he refuses to back down.

Nick shows Miranda upstairs and offers her a little advice on the way. He warns her that Peg is territorial when it comes to Byron. The two used to....um....play blanket bingo together and she's not going to like it if Byron starts to show an interest in Miranda. He also tells her that Byron has had a lot of girls sleep over so she shouldn't feel too special. This bristles Miranda's dander right the fuck up. She snaps at him that he's just jealous and Nick is hurt at first but then smiles and agrees that maybe he is.

Odds that Byron is a saint and Nick is just jealous: 5%

He gives her a rundown of all the people around and I have no idea if any of them are going to be important. I don't want to have to come back later and add in someone that turns out to be crucial to the plot so I guess I'll just give you a cast list right here.

Zena – Byron's stylist. In charge of the girls' makeovers and shopping spree.

Maria – head housekeeper

Paul – landscaper

Robert – Byron's agent. He's the only normal one according to Nick.

Too many characters, Cusick.

Nick shows her around her very opulent room and then tells her to ring the bell if she needs anything. She asks him where his room is and he takes her out on the balcony and points to a rooftop barely visible through some trees. He lives above the garage like the help. As he leaves, he pauses to give her one more warning. He tells her that Byron is a really great guy and a really great friend but he has some things going on in his life right now that are weighing on him and causing him not to act like himself. Then Nick leaves and she's alone.

Miranda has questions so she dashes to the door to go after him, but before she can open it she hears a heated conversation going on outside the room. Byron is pissed about the house guests. He had no idea there was a contest and no idea three strange girls would be living with him for a week. Nick tries to calm him down, telling him everything is going to be fine and not to worry. Byron hisses that he's been getting threatening notes from an obsessed fan and now three of them are living at his house. He's convinced that someone is trying to kill him.

Lucille shows up to tell Miranda that she met the other two finalists and she really hopes Miranda wins the contest. It turns out Byron is the one to pick and Lucille seems to think Miranda is more his type. They talk about Byron a bit and Lucille mentions how lonely Byron always looks to her. Miranda blows this off because how can a man that gorgeous and famous be lonely? Miranda's a bit naive, y'all, but so far she isn't annoying the crap out of me, so I'm going to let this slide.

And just for the hell of it..........

Odds of Nick being the bad guy: 35%

Odds of Peg being the bad guy: 60%

Odds of one of the finalists being the bad guy: 5%

Wouldn't it be fabulous if Miranda was the bad guy? Sigh. I wish that was this book.

Miranda and Lucille go down to the party where they meet the other two finalists. Kelly is gorgeous and tall with a perpetual pout and Jo is short and round with glasses. I think we can all tell who's not going to win right off the bat. Jo is friendly but Kelly's a bitch because the hot girl is obligated to be a bitch per the rules of Point Horror Land. She has no choice. It's in her contract.  Don't blame the playa', blame the game.

Kelly wanders off to talk to more important people and leaves Jo and Miranda to bond over plates of spiced shrimp. I'm not sure what spiced shrimp even is but I'm hungry so it sounds good. Jo confides that she didn't even enter the contest. She's not even a fan of Byron's. Her friends entered her as a joke and here she is. Miranda has a good laugh about that and decides that she and Jo are going to keep each other sane this week.

The two girls feel out of place at this big shindig and decide to slip away and walk around the grounds. Miranda notices that the place is surrounded by an electric fence and she wonders what it would be like to have to live like that. They hear something in the trees behind them and they're worried that it might be guard dogs at first but then a tiger springs out at them. Luckily this is a Point Horror book and the hero will always arrive to save the damsel so Byron appears and shoots the Tiger with a tranq.

Nick and Harley appear and it's clear the three of them have been looking for this tiger for awhile. Nick mentions how odd it is that it got out and that Max is the only one with a key. I have no idea who Max is because he wasn't in the dossier that Nick so helpfully gave us earlier. Byron angrily demands that Max be fired. He tells Harley to take Jo back to the party. Nick offers to take Miranda but Byron tells him to go fire Max instead. Nick isn't happy about that, but what can he do?

It turns out that Byron has a small zoo on his property and this pisses Miranda off way more than it reasonably should. She literally screams that animals should be left in their natural habitats and then she stomps away. Byron catches up with her and steers her down a path that leads them deeper into the trees and farther away from the house. She asks him why they aren't going back to the party and he tells her he hates parties. She stops and looks at him and says “You hate it, don't you” referring to the Hollywood life in general. He doesn't say anything for a bit and then nods.

It seems to upset him and he takes off back in the direction they came from. He gets a call as he walks and finds out that Max didn't accidentally let the tiger out because he was drunk. In fact, Max isn't even on the estate. Someone else let the tiger out and Byron is convinced it was a murder attempt.

Murder by tiger is one we haven't done on the blog I think.

Wait.

Wasn't there a stupid book about a bunch of idiot kids working at a zoo and the tigers got let out of the cage?

Seriously, Point Horror? Two books with death by tiger? This is WAY TOO MUCH.

Byron gets all tragic and tormented here and, I confess, I eat it up with a spoon. Seriously what is it with me and tragic, tormented type? Sigh. I need professional help. He sits on the ground with his head in his hands and I just want to hug him. Our protagonist, however, seems weirdly indifferent considering that Cusick keeps telling us she's the ultimate fan girl.  

After Byron's true confession that he hates being famous and he's pretty sure someone is trying to kill him, he gets super uncomfortable. He seems to remember that Miranda is pretty much a complete stranger and he tries to laugh everything off. He tells her that he'll have to pick her to win the contest now so she won't go telling his deep dark secrets to the public and that royally pisses her off. She tells him that she has integrity and that she doesn't want to win the contest OR spend any more time with him. Then she whirls around to make a dramatic exit and collides with poor Nick who almost goes sprawling on his ass.

Miranda asks Nick to take her back to the party. He directs her to a path where she proceeds to be a total bitch to him. She tells him that “they're” all alike – big egos and too much money. Nick reminds Miranda that he's extremely poor and living above a garage but she doesn't listen. She asks him how to get back to the party on her own and then dismisses him like a servant once he tells her. He is SUPER gracious about it, acting amused instead of angry and I kind of want to hug him too.

Have I EVER liked both boys in a book? Hmmmmm. Oh, Gideon and Pierce I guess even though Pierce turned out to be the bad guy. And Noel and Adam but they both turned out to be the bad guy. I sense a pattern here. I hope Nick doesn't turn out to be the bad guy.

Odds of Nick being the bad guy: 60% now damn it.

Miranda rejoins the party and gets a lecture from Lucille about holding up the photo ops. The girls pose for a few formal shots and then are told to “act natural” for some candids. Jo pulls Miranda aside to ask her what happened and Miranda tells her that Byron was a total jerk.

I must have missed that part.

Byron shows up at the party and Miranda sees how nervous he is and how uneasy he looks with all those people around him. She begins to regret acting like a raging bitch earlier. She wonders why no one else can tell how miserable Byron is as he plays his part and mingles with the crowd. Kelly does her best to wear Byron like a scarf but he shakes her off and comes over to Miranda. He apologizes for earlier even though I think she's the one who should be asking for forgiveness. 

Robert appears and he's every bit as charming as Miranda's been told. She notices that Byron only truly relaxes when Robert is around.

Odds of Robert being the bad guy: 30%

Robert and Byron have a conversation about how awful Peg is and then Robert takes off into the crowd. Byron asks the girls if they want something to drink and Miranda offers to go get something for all three of them. A weird-looking waiter bumps into her from behind and asks if she knows where Byron is. Miranda helpfully points him out. The waiter says he has a “special drink” for Byron and asks her to deliver it for him. Miranda doesn't think anything of this despite hearing more than once that someone is trying to kill Byron.

Miranda takes the drink for Byron and then one for her and Jo and then heads back. When she gets there she can't remember which one was supposed to be special for Byron so they all just take one. As she sips, the world around her starts to get fuzzy. She can hear people's voices cutting in and out and then she faints.

She comes to on a couch with Robert, Byron and Peg freaking out around her. Well, Byron and Peg are freaking out, Robert is trying to calm everyone down. Byron thinks something was wrong with Miranda's drink. Peg things Miranda was just starstruck (see what I did there????) and fainted in Byron's manly presence. Byron wants to cancel the contest, Peg says they'll be disgraced and possibly sued. It's pretty much a circus. Miranda tries several times to tell them about the waiter but no one can understand her slurred words. Peg eventually leaves to go out and smooth things over with the press and crowd.

Robert is reluctant to talk about anything in front of Miranda but Byron assures him that Miranda already knows he's being threatened. This distresses Robert who seems to think that Byron is simply paranoid. He makes a crack that they try hard to keep his mental illness from the public but it doesn't come off like a joke.

Accusing the main character of being crazy? Check.

Miranda finally manages to tell them about the waiter and they question her extensively. Byron concludes that someone tried to kill him but Robert points out that it could have been Walt. Who the hell is Walt, you ask? I have no clue. Byron is instantly angry. He can't believe Walt would try something like this and I can't either.  What the hell Walt?  This is so unlike you.  Maybe.  Who the hell knows since Cusick hasn't told us who he is?  Byron stomps out of the room to go find Walt. After he leaves, Robert tells Miranda that Walt is Byron's doctor. Byron is supposed to be on some kind of medication to help him rest because he's so stressed out and he doesn't like to take it so Walt sometimes slips it in his food and drinks without Byron's knowledge.

This sounds ethical.

Odds of Walt actually having a medical license: 10%

Also, why the hell would Walt dose Byron with a sedative when he's supposed to be smoozing it up at some party with the press all over the place. This makes no sense!!!

Robert leaves and Miranda drifts off into a drugged sleep again. She awakens some time later alone in the room. It turns out she's in Byron's private office or study or something. There's a shelf full of awards across the room and she goes to check it out before wandering over to his desk. She starts to snoop through his desk, reading his mail and looking through his things. What the hell is wrong with this girl?

She knocks a stack of fan mail off the desk and an autograph book pops out of the pile. It conveniently falls open to the proper pages and Miranda sees a threat written in dried blood.

“TO BYRON FROM YOUR STARSTRUCK FAN – IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU, NO ONE CAN.”

Inspired.

Byron comes back in and he can tell she's upset and nervous. He asks her repeatedly what's wrong and she eventually tells him that she knocked some mail off his desk and found the autograph book. He hasn't seen it yet and he gets really upset when he does. He orders her not to tell anyone about it. She agrees but asks him to talk to her. She wants to be a friend because he sure looks like he could use one.

Byron tells her that it started awhile ago. He felt like he was being followed and watched all the time. Which.....I think is how most celebrities feel. But he felt like it was sinister in some way. Then he got a phone call on his private line in the middle of the night. It was a woman but the voice was disguised. She said she was Starstruck, the only one who truly loved him. It scared him. He changed his number and tried to forget it.

Then a few weeks later he was at a cafe when the waiter approached saying a girl had called and left a message for him. The message said “Forsake all others or be starstruck.” Miranda stupidly asks if it might have been a mistake – a call for another person.

Odds of Miranda actually having a functioning brain: 7.5%

Byron says he keeps trying to tell his staff that something is really wrong but they keep telling him that he's working too hard and not taking care of himself. He feels really alone with this. Miranda points out that “Starstruck” is mostly likely on the property now. There's no way she could have gotten the autograph book in there otherwise. She might be one of his staff or even one of the contestants.

Odds of Starstruck being either Jo or Kelly: 10%

Byron resists the idea of Starstruck being one of his staff. He says he trusts them implicitly. They might not like each other or always get along, but he knows they'd never try to hurt him. Miranda urges him to call the police and report the matter but he says they'd never take him seriously because people falsely report being stalked every day.

Main Characters decide not to call the police for a lame reason? Check.

Byron is getting lost in his own head now and he starts to sound remote and numb. Miranda tells herself that he's just tired but he's clearly panicking internally and she's just too stupid to realize it. He tells her that he really needs a friend and asks her if she'll be one and she takes that as an invitation to jump his bones. He doesn't seem to mind much but before they can get too into the sucking face thing, Miranda hears a noise outside the door. Byron goes to look but no one is there.

We timehop to the next morning. Lucille comes to Miranda's room to check on her and is surprised to see her in some fancy silk pajamas. Miranda tells her that someone came to the room the evening before to get her sizes and then reappeared later with pajamas, a toothbrush, a hairbrush and some very lacy, very skimpy underwear. Lucille figures it was something Zena the stylist arranged but lacy skimpy underwear definitely sounds more like a guy thing. My odds are on Byron or Nick being the panty fairy.

As they're talking, Lucille glances out of the balcony doors and sees something red flapping in the distance. It turns out Nick is standing on the railing of his garage apartment wearing a red cape and flapping his arms to get Miranda's attention. He yells across the grounds to ask her if she wants to go on a hike later. She laughs but never really answers him.

I 💟 Nick.

Lucille gives her the schedule for the day. At noon she has aromatherapy for some reason that's just unfathomable to me. Then there's a lunch and then the makeover in the afternoon. She'll have a little free time before dinner and then there's a private screening of some movie in Byron's private theater. Sounds....private.

A maid delivers a very skimpy bikini to Miranda's room and again Lucille credits Zena when it was obviously one of the guys. Seriously.

Miranda puts the bikini on and then is surprised when Nick somehow magically appears on her balcony still wearing his cape. He looks a little gobsmacked at the sight of her in the bikini. He tells her that Kelly and Jo are already down at the pool and she decides to join them. Kelly is in an equally tiny bikini laying strategically in a lounger in case Byron comes by. Jo is in sweats eating breakfast in the shade. She and Miranda have a long conversation about how fat Jo is and then Jo goes off to play ping pong inside with Robert.

Miranda attempts to make conversation with Kelly but she's brutally rebuffed. Kelly traipses off to track down Zena to talk about wardrobe. Miranda shrugs it off and takes a dip in the pool. She's kind of floating on an inner tube and just generally relaxing when she starts to feel like someone is watching her. She looks up to see a shadow behind one of the statues. She thinks she hears the shadow whisper her name and then the statue tips and falls towards her, knocking her under the water.

That's one hell of a big statue to fall from somewhere on the perimeter of the pool and land on Miranda who is vaguely in the middle. Either that, or it's a very tiny pool.

Miranda survives, of course. She's not even really hurt. She spends about four pages agonizing over who the shadow belonged to and why the person tried to tip a statue onto her. She doesn't come up with anything, though, and she ends up returning to her room. Once she's in there she discovers that someone removed the clothes she was wearing yesterday. My guess is the maid took them to the laundry but Miranda is baffled by this. She's standing there in her bikini trying to figure out what to do when her phone rings.

It's Byron and he wants to take her on a private drive, just the two of them. She protests that she's supposed to stay with the other contestants but he persists until he wears her down. She mentions that she only has a bikini and he tells her he'll take care of it and just to meet him on the path behind the pool. No one knows he's even at the house this morning and he wants to keep it that way.

Miranda finds him waiting for her in a red Porsche convertible. He hands her a t-shirt, some gym shorts with a drawstring and a baseball cap which she puts on gratefully. He drives her up into the mountains and stops somewhere near the top. The view is breathtaking and Miranda is stunned at how silent and peaceful everything seems up here – Byron included. He gets out of the car and leads her to a cabin hidden in the trees. It's in the process of being built but she can tell it's going to be adorable. He tells her that it's his house. He and Nick are building it together.

They sit out on his back porch and talk for hours. Byron tells her what it's really like to be famous and always in the public eye and she begins to feel very protective towards him. She asks about all the women he's supposedly been involved with and he tells her it's just business. He's expected to date and date a lot but not to tie himself down to any girl because that would affect his popularity. He can't be seen as taken or his fans might stop being so devoted to him.

Byron swings an arm around Miranda's shoulders and she accuses him of putting the moves on her. She's weirdly hot and cold, this girl. One minute she wants to hug him and kiss away all his inner ouchies and the next minute she's treating him like some perv that's feeding her pretty lines to get her into bed. I'm okay with one or the other of these but both together don't make much sense.

Miranda tells him about the statue incident and he grows concerned. She plays it off as just an accident but he worries that maybe she's being targeted for spending too much time with him. She tells him he's being paranoid which makes very little sense since she was thinking all the same things a chapter ago but whatevs. Byron mentions that they're going to be late for the next activity and they both head for the car.

Byron begins to drive down the treacherous mountain. Miranda makes a joke about them making it out alive when all of a sudden, the car starts to veer out of control. The steering wheel is spinning in Byron's hands uselessly and they're headed for a cliff. Somehow Byron manages to stop the car before it slides completely over but the entire passenger side is kind of hovering over the edge. He gets out of the car and helps Miranda out the driver's side. Once they're safely on land, Byron goes back to inspect the car. He lifts the hood and it throws everything off balance enough that the car goes careening over the side and explodes.

Why would he lift the hood of a car that's halfway over a cliff?

Odds of Byron being the bad guy: 50%

They're standing there on the side of the road, Miranda hysterical and Byron paranoid when Nick drives by. He says Peg sent him to find the two of them which MAKES NO DAMN SENSE, CUSICK, because Byron told us that no one knew he was even in residence that morning and no one knew Miranda was with him and no one knew where they were going.

Byron and Miranda get in Nick's car and Nick heads back to the house. Byron tells him he thinks the car was sabotaged but Nick says he checked the car over completely that morning and it was fine. It's part of his job to check them every day. Byron thinks someone might have followed them up to the cabin and tampered with it while he and Miranda were on the back porch talking. Nick is pretty pissed that Byron went out without security.

They get back to the house and Peg is pissed that they're late and that Byron is neglecting the other two contestants. He tells her he's not in the mood for her right now and stomps off. Peg cryptically asks Nick if he took care of everything and Nick says there was nothing left to take care of. She's not appeased, though and she tells him he has to be prepared to “handle it” if it comes back up. He assures her that he is.

(((Note from future me: We never learn what this is about.  Cusick just forgets she even wrote it I think.)))

Nick takes off too and Miranda is left with Peg. Peg reminds Miranda that Byron has a lot of responsibilities and when he's late for things it could jeopardize his career. She asks Miranda to stop “distracting” Byron and Miranda flees up the stairs. She's just barely in her room when Zena knocks on the door with an armful of clothing that she's supposedly designed and sewn for Miranda in the last 12 hours. Without a fitting. This girl should totes go on Project Runway because that's some serious talent right there.

Zena talks to Miranda as they go through the clothes. Miranda asks about the Byron/Peg sitch and Zena warns her to be careful because Peg doesn't like to share. Byron is no longer bopping Peg but that doesn't necessarily mean that Peg doesn't still want to bop Byron.

Odds of Peg being Starstruck: 50%

Miranda lays down and takes a nap, only awakening when Jo comes to get her for their makeovers. Jo goes on for about three paragraphs about how hopeless it is because she's fat and fat people can never be pretty. 

 Fuck you, Cusick.

Miranda gets a “trendy new haircut” and some “gentle cosmetics” and turns into a stunner because she's our protagonist and she has to be the most beautiful always.

Someone want to clue me in on what gentle cosmetics are? Anyone? No?

Jo turns out beautiful and everyone is amazed because being fat means no amount of makeup in the world could possibly make you look good. Jo waves away the compliments saying she'll never be able to do it on her own so it hardly matters. Cusick didn't want us to actually think positively about Jo here for too long so she fixed it for us.

Zena tells the girls that she's left “festive frocks” in all of their closets for dinner. It starts promptly at 7:00 and they have a couple of hours so Zena suggests a nap. How the hell are they supposed to nap without messing up their hair and make-up? What kind of magical universe do these people exist in?

Miranda awakes after her nap in perfect condition and puts on the short, strapless black dress that Zena left her. That certainly sounds festive. She goes downstairs to find Jo in emerald green and Kelly in ice-blue. They ask her where her corsage is and say that Byron had flowers sent up to them all. Miranda goes back up to her room to look and finds a corsage box beside her bed. There's a note attached to it that says “BYRON'S HEART BELONGS TO ME” and when she opens the box, it contains a raw, bloody heart.

Peg comes looking for Miranda and Miranda quickly throws the heart away in the bathroom trash can. She tells Peg that she didn't have a corsage and Peg is pissed because Nick was the one that delivered them to everyone. Now Miranda is suspicious of Nick all over again.

Odds of Nick being Starstruck: 10% Too obvious, Miranda, love.

Peg and Miranda go out to the limo where the others are waiting. Nick is in full uniform tonight and Miranda thinks he looks “startlingly handsome”. She sarcastically thanks him for the corsage and he frowns asking her what she means. Peg yells at him for not taking one to Miranda and he sputters a bit, sure that he did. Shaken up but trying to hide it, Miranda gets into the car.

There's a huge crowd at the club when they arrive and Nick is pissed. He asks Peg who leaked Byron's plans to the press and she says she did. Publicity is always a good thing. Nick isn't happy about it at all but what can he do? Bulbs flash and people yell as the girls get out of the limo. Kelly eats it up, posing and signing autographs as if she were famous. Jo and Miranda are scared and Nick appears to shelter them and get them inside.

I 💟 Nick. Which means he's going to turn out to be an asshole after all. Sigh.

Odds of Nick being Starstruck: 60% because that's just my luck.

Zena, Robert, Harley and Byron are waiting for them in the private room of the restaurant. Miranda longs to tell Byron about the heart corsage but doesn't want to do it around so many people. Dinner begins okay. Miranda can't really concentrate on anything but no one seems to notice except Nick. He's across the table and down the way but he keeps making funny faces at her trying to bring her back out of her head. She sees Byron watching her from time to time too and he seems to be getting annoyed at Nick as if Nick's “flirting” is getting on his nerves.

Dinner finally ends and they head for the door. The crowd outside has grown and as soon as they see Byron, a riot breaks out. Everyone runs back inside, thinking they'll go around the back but the crowd has anticipated this. Everyone is instructed to run for the limo. Miranda is worried about Byron but Harley informs her that protecting Byron is his job. They head out into the terrifying crowd.

Miranda feels hands all over her. Her hair is pulled, her dress is torn and her arms are scratched. For awhile Byron and Harley are behind her and she's glad to see Harley's body is sheltering Byron from the crowd as much as possible. Then someone shoves Miranda and she stumbles off course and gets lost in the crowd. She's being pummeled all around when Nick appears and swings her up in his arms, carrying her to safety.

Seriously.

💫Swoon.💫

When she gets in the car, everyone notices that Harley and Byron aren't there. Peg wants to drive away, assuming that Byron went back inside the restaurant but Nick refuses to leave until he knows Byron is okay. The police arrive to break up the riot and Nick and Robert chance going back out into the crowd to look for the missing. It's not long before Robert returns looking solemn. Byron's been hurt and an ambulance is on the way. Harley is dead.

A moment of silence for Harley, one of Point Horror's rare actual casualties. 🙏

Peg tells Nick to take the girls home so they can go on with the rest of the evening's festivities and everyone is shocked. They can't believe she expects them to continue with the schedule when Harley is dead and no one knows how seriously Byron is injured. She tells them the contest is the most important part and Robert gets furious. He pulls her and Zena out of the limo and tells Nick that they'll take a cab to the hospital. Nick is to take the girls back to the estate and make sure they get there safely. Miranda notices how worried and sad Nick looks and she feels bad for him.

Nick drops them off and immediately leaves to go to the hospital. The girls can't decide what to do. They all want to go home but they can't leave until travel arrangements are made. They decide to go ahead and watch the movie that Peg had planned while they wait for news from the hospital. Byron isn't actually in the movie but it's one that he thinks will be a big hit and he had wanted to share it with them.

The movie is awful and they all hate it. Afterwards they sit up and try to make small talk as they continue to wait. Finally Peg comes in and tells them that Byron is fine. He's full of cuts and bruises and will be kept overnight for observation which sounds like either a head injury to me or they had to sedate him. Otherwise you don't get kept overnight for a few bruises.

WALK IT OFF!!!

Finally got to use it. 😀

Peg asks them not to talk to the press. Robert is giving a prepared statement at the gates but she's sure reporters will try to contact the girls for the inside scoop. They all agree to keep quiet for Byron's sake. Peg urges them to go up to their rooms and try to sleep. Miranda goes into her bathroom to retrieve the heart corsage and finds the trash can empty. She finds this sinister. CLEANING STAFF, BITCH. Sheesh.

Later, Miranda hears voices coming from the direction of her balcony. She's startled for a minute but then realizes the people are actually on a different balcony further down the way. She recognizes Peg and Robert's voices immediately. Peg is saying things are going to go on as planned. They are going to release a statement saying Harley had a heart attack due to the riot and that he has a family history of heart trouble. Robert is furious. Harley was stabbed and he thinks they need to tell the truth. Peg is afraid Byron will be seen as a jinx and his career will be ended.

Robert wants Peg to admit that Byron is in danger but she refuses. She says Robert's friendship with Byron is clouding his professional sense and that everything must go on as planned. Robert makes some crack about Peg earning her job on her back and the conversation pretty much disintegrates from there. It ends with Peg screaming that Byron owes everything he is to her.

Miranda has a nightmare that night that involves Byron and Harley and it's pretty standard. She hears someone whispering telling her to leave before it's too late and she wakes with a start. She can't shake the feeling that the whispering voice was real. She checks her room and the balcony but no one is there. Then she notices grass on the carpet beside her bed. She hasn't been anywhere grassy recently (EXCEPT THAT FUCKING CABIN IN THE WOODS WHERE YOU SPENT THE ENTIRE MORNING AND A HUGE CHUNK OF THE AFTERNOON) so she concludes that someone was indeed standing by her bed to whisper a warning to her in her sleep.

Sigh.

Odds of Cusick actually remembering her own damn story: 1%

The next morning, Peg feeds the contestants the heart attack story. She says that Byron has to stay in the hospital for a few more days until he can “better cope with the tragedy” which means Byron is most definitely being psych evaled. She says that Byron urged her to continue on with the week as planned which is so obviously bullshit that I can't believe anyone is believing it. Jo still wants to go home but Peg bullies her by saying that Byron would be devastated if he “ruined their fun” and that it would impede his recovery if Jo left now.

This is manipulative level expert ish right here.

Peg has a shopping spree planned for them that afternoon to take their minds of things and even Kelly seems uncomfortable with the idea of raiding Rodeo Drive over Harley's not-yet-cold body. They don't know what to do, though, so they agree. It goes okay and Miranda gets into being spoiled and pampered but by late afternoon, she's completely overwhelmed. She tells Zena that she needs to sit down and get a drink and Nick volunteers to take her to a cafe while the others continue their spree.

They sit at a table and Miranda tries to pump him for information about Byron and Harley. Nick is careful about what he says. Clearly she's been warned by Peg not to say anything she hasn't approved but he does tell Miranda that Byron felt a fan push him and then Harley fell on top of him. He warns Miranda not to get serious about a relationship with Byron because last night is what his life is like a lot of the time and Nick would hate to see Miranda be the one who got stabbed by a rabid fan. Miranda does not appreciate the warning for what it is.

Nick thinks Byron needs some time away from Hollywood. He tells her that everyone puts way too much pressure on him and that Peg never praises him – only complains about what he's doing wrong. Byron feels like he can never please her. She finds out that Byron wasn't just on a private resort vacation. He was checked into a clinic by Robert for exhaustion and stress. Peg was furious when she found out and insisted that Byron come back. Nick wants her to talk to Byron and tell him that he needs to get away from Peg in particular.

Miranda isn't sure she should be giving Byron any kind of advice. Nick reminds her of the danger Peg put him in the night before by alerting the press to his whereabouts for publicity. Then he kisses her and she sees stars.  He tells her that Byron was also stabbed just as the chapter ends.

Are any of you starting to wonder if Byron is doing all this to himself? He'd be in a perfect position to stab Harley after all. And himself if he really did get stabbed. I'm starting to feel him more as a suspect, y'all. I'm kind of equally divided between him and Peg now because I don't want it to be Nick with all my heart and soul. I 💟 Nick.

Odds of Byron stalking himself: 50%

Odds of Peg being Starstruck: 50%

Odds of me throwing this book into the fire if it turns out to be Nick: 100%

Everyone goes back to the house and Peg asks if she can talk to Miranda privately after dinner. Miranda is not the least bit suspicious which just proves how intelligent she is.

Miranda tries to have a good time at that evening's pool party and dinner but she just can't muster much enthusiasm. After dinner the group is set to go to the set of Byron's latest movie to watch a scene being filmed but Miranda decides to just stay home. Nick drives everyone else away and Miranda is left in an empty house.

Protagonist somehow ends up alone in a dark, creepy place? Check.

Protagonist who seriously needs to watch Discovery ID once in awhile? Check and double check.

Miranda gets easily spooked in the empty house and begins to wish that she'd stayed with the group. She keeps hearing sounds she can't explain away like footsteps and doors closing.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, THE MAN HAS A CLEANING STAFF!!!! YOU'VE MET THE HEAD HOUSEKEEPER. YOU'VE SEEN THE MAIDS. THEY DID NOT GO TO THE STUDIO WITH THE GUESTS. USE YOUR COTTON-PICKIN' BRAIN, GIRL!!!!

Miranda goes up to her room and realizes she can hear water running. She checks the bathroom but everything looks fine so she goes out to the balcony to check the hot tub. Peg is in it with her back to Miranda and Miranda doesn't find this strange at all. She thinks it's perfectly normal for Peg to be using the private hot tub on the private balcony of Miranda's private room. She goes over to talk to Peg and finds her dead. Someone hits Miranda on the back of the head and everything goes black.

Fuck. There goes Peg. It better be Byron, y'all.

Miranda comes to laying on the floor of Byron's cabin. No one is around and she's not tied up or anything. She gets to her feet but is instantly dizzy and nauseous. As she tries to feel her way out of the pitch black room, she brushes against someone and realizes she's not alone.

A flashlight blinds her and she realizes there are TWO someones in the room. Byron and Nick. Both have guns, both claim the other is the bad guy and both encourage her to come their way. Cusick LOVES this scenario. She uses it often. At least they aren't actually triplets this time.

They start accusing each other of being Starstruck. Nick says that Byron needs help and he's been stalking himself (oh please oh please oh please). Byron says that Nick is jealous of him and trying to take away everything he loves. This goes back and forth for a long time with them both playing offense and defense. Finally Nick yells at Miranda that if she doesn't trust him, fine, but she needs to run and hide where Byron can't find her.

Byron smiles and tells her that he'll kill her before she can get to the door.

IT'S NOT NICK!!!!!!!!!!

Byron points his gun at her heart and Nick points his gun at Byron's head. Nick pleads with Byron to let Miranda go. Nick just wants him to get some help and he's practically sobbing as he begs Byron not to make him shoot him. Byron laughs and says he's the hero of the story and the hero never puts his gun down.

Shots ring out and the cabin is plunged into darkness again. Miranda makes a run for it. There's a Range Rover outside but the keys aren't in it. She hears gunshots again and takes off running. It's raining and muddy and she naturally slips over the edge of a cliff because of course she does. Nick appears to pull her up but Byron shows up behind him and shoves him over the side. Miranda ends up gripping a tree root. Nick ends up gripping the edge. Byron tries to finish the job but Nick grabs his ankle and pulls him over. Byron falls to the ground below.

I guess Miranda was wrong about that long lifeline thing.  She shouldn't quit her day job.

Nick and Miranda make it back to the estate to find it in complete chaos. That cleaning staff I keep trying to remind Miranda of found Peg's body and called the police. Nick and Miranda are able to slip past everyone completely unnoticed. They go to his garage apartment and shower the mud off – separately I assume, but, hey, no judgment here. They dress in clean clothes (I guess she's wearing some of his?????) and head over to the main house. When Robert asks, they tell him they went out for a drive and no one doubts it.

The official story is that Byron became severely depressed after his last film and had a complete mental breakdown. He became increasingly disturbed and paranoid and eventually killed his publicist (Peg) during some kind of argument. Then he drove to the cliffs and committed suicide. Nick and Miranda remain silent on the matter, thinking it's best if no one ever knows that Byron killed Harley and tried to kill both Nick and Miranda.

The book ends on the plane home. Nick is going back with Miranda to meet her parents. She says they want to meet the boy who saved her life WHICH MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE ALL OVER AGAIN BECAUSE CUSICK JUST SAID THEY TOLD NO ONE THAT HER LIFE WAS EVER EVEN THREATENED. OH MY GOD. IT'S NOT THAT DAMN HARD TO KEEP TRACK OF YOUR STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so I'm thankful that Nick wasn't the bad guy. All in all, this book wasn't that bad. I think it would have went on my keeper shelf in the old days. That hardly ever happens these days.