19TH ANNUAL NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARD FINALIST2024 STORY MONSTERS ROYAL DRAGONFLY BOOK AWARD WINNER FOR NEW AUTHOR: FICTION - 2ND PLACE, AND MYSTERY - 2ND PLACESuspected murder, eclectic food trucks, and artisanal cocaine: just another day in Thorn City. It’s the night of the Rose City Ripe for Disruption gala—a gathering of Portland’s elite. Dressed to kill in sparkling minidresses, best friends Lisa and Jamie attend as “paid to party” girls. They plan an evening of fake flirtations, karaoke playlists, and of course, grazing the catering. Past and present collide when Lisa stumbles across Ellen, a ruthless politician who also happens to be Lisa’s estranged mother. Awkward . . . When Lisa was sixteen, Ellen had her kidnapped and taken to the Lost Lake Academy—a notorious boarding school for troubled youth. To make matters worse, Lisa’s boyfriend Patrick crashes the party to meet his new boss—Portland's food cart drug kingpin. These unfortunate encounters spur Lisa into making a fateful choice that traps her, Jamie, and Patrick in Ellen’s web. As earth-shattering secrets are revealed, will they survive Ellen’s schemes or be sacrificed to her blind ambition?