Book excerpt: ALL THAT GLITTERS is definitely not gold as Mallory struggles to control the runaway train that is her brand-new soap opera. At the end of Likely Story, Mallory had just learned that her TV show was greenlit, but that her mother, and arch enemy, was being brought in to play one of the main characters. Now, as production gears up for the broadcast premier, Mallory finds herself fighting off take-over attempts (by her mother), trying to keep unhappy teen-star Dallas under control (if they won’t let him quit, he’ll do whatever it takes to get fired), and just trying to keep her head above water, both on the set and in high school. She’s ready to walk away from all of it, just to have a “normal” teenager’s life, but how can you walk away from something that won’t let you leave?