Collins by her own admission is mainly concerned in her writing with telling a good story. She sets out to get her readers totally engrossed in the doings of her characters and seems only peripherally interested in social issues, except as society dictates how people of a certain status "must" behave. Hollywood society is not typical of American society, at first glance. The lavish spending of money and the "la dolce vita" atmosphere seem applicable only to the American entertainment world.

But upon closer scrutiny, Hollywood, as portrayed by Collins, replicates American society. The sexual revolution begun in the 1960s continues in the 1980s to influence the behavior of the characters. Sexual freedom is a way of life among the males; the Collins females are also sexually liberated. When Jade Johnson and Jack Python have a dinner date, Jack tells her forthrightly "I want to sleep...