Product Description

The rich, the glamorous, the powerful all come to STARS-to gossip, to make deals . and to indulge luxuriously in their most erotic fantasies. At the magnificent and secluded Palm Springs mountaintop resort, bodies-and souls-are offered up to save fragile careers . or are used to extract the final succulent and satisfying drops of sweet retribution. And above it all, manipulating events from the shadows, is the beautiful owner of STARS-a woman of great mystery, fleeing the tragedy, disgrace, and scandal or a devastating past that haunts her every moment.

"Joan Collins could learn a thing or two from Kathryn Harvey"-Chicago Tribune

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #287628 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 367 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A mountaintop resort--the Stars of the title--plays host to a variety of terrestrial stars in Harvey's glamourous potboiler.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The troublesome lives of twin sisters Rachel Dwyer and Christine Singleton, separated at birth, are traced in this story. Rachel turns to prostitution after linking up with Danny McKay, a charismatic confidence man. Eventually, Rachel changes her identity and opens Stars, a posh California resort that provides discreet sexual services to guests. Christine uses her optimistic attitude to conquer a childhood weight problem and start an international weight-loss clinic. Their paths cross during a climactic scene when Danny seeks revenge on Rachel and mistakenly tries to kill her twin. This is trashy, light fiction, but some quirky plot twists keep it interesting. Actress Paula Prentiss reads at a frantic, overly dramatic pace. Recommended only for larger collections.
- Linda Maki, Hennepin Cty. Lib. System, Minnetonka, Minn.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Harvey (Butterfly, 1988, and pseudonym for a ``major author'') offers a slick but suspenseless novel set at a glamorous mountain retreat for the rich and famous. Set atop Mount San Jacinto near Palm Springs, Star's is a top- flight, 42-room luxury retreat where Tinseltown's hottest wheelers and dealers go to lose weight, cut a deal, or indulge in forbidden romance. The owner, the mysterious Beverly Burgess, is a woman with a past: she once owned a high-class brothel (called Butterfly--the subject of Harvey's first novel) where women paid for sex with handsome young things. Beverly was clever enough to stage her own death to escape her nemesis, the evil and power-hungry Danny Mackay; she then changed her name, her appearance, and came back to life again. But what Beverly doesn't know is that Mackay is still bent on his own brand of sick revenge. Also unknown to Beverly is that she has a twin sister named Philippa Roberts (they were separated at birth when her destitute parents sold one of their daughters to a childless couple), who has spent years looking for her and, thanks to a private detective's lead, is now on her way to Star's as well. Because of the physical resemblance between the sisters, Mackay confuses Philippa with Beverly and follows her to Star's, where his attempts to kill her are thwarted by Beverly. If all this sounds pretty far-fetched, it is, and so are the other equally contrived subplots--Philippa's rise to fame and fortune as the head of a super-successful diet program; a beautiful Hollywood actress bent on seducing a screenwriter for the lead role in his new movie; etc. Meanwhile, the hackneyed descriptions of sex, the endless catalogue of brand-names, and the cookie-cutter characterizations don't help. For all its promise of dazzle, this is a lackluster attempt. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Customer Reviews

Read Butterfly first to get the full effect
You must read Butterfly before reading Stars. If you read this one first you are missing out on a lot! This story continues with the Beverly and Danny story/war. From Butterfly she was bent on revenge for Danny talking her into an abortion and getting her involved in being a prostitute at a young age. I can't tell you too much about what happened to them because it is an important element of this story. This is the story of Phillipa the twin sister of Beverly (unknown to Beverly) who is searching for information on her twin.

Phillipa once overweight has transformed herself and is running a successful Diet center. After hiring a private detective she is on the trail of finding out what happened to her twin. However, Danny Mackay is bent on his own revenge and seeing Phillipa makes him think she's Beverly.

Ms. Harvey does it again with Stars. She creates a wonderfully intricate story that jumps off the page. The sex is graphic so if you don't like that be warned that she doesn't close bedroom doors. This is a wonderful story to get wrapped up again and a great conclusion to the Butterfly book.

I was so glad to find out she'd written a sequel and was equally happy after reading it. Like Butterfly I read this book in one night and then reread it. The characters are well written and come so alive through Ms. Harvey's story.

I love the book and even if she decided to add another twist and come up with a 3rd book I'd eagerly read it even though Stars closed the story.

5 Stars and more for both books! LOVE IT!