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The conflict is that Thad is young and naive, and Justin's seen some shit, so he constantly worries about "ruining" Thad's innocence in a way that other people ruined Justin's at a young age. Thad doesn't appreciated being seen as a child. CONFLICT!
The story is just about Justin being a hot mess. He was addicted to coke in high school and gave that up after an attempted suicide, but he still drinks too much and can't get his life right. The first book is about him going back to his high school ex, a bad idea.
The King and the Courtesan is about Melissa, who lives in the slums and does drugs (I mean, I was 19 when I wrote this sooooo). She's "noticed" by a drug king pin, and given access to a glamorous life, but she has to sacrifice her freedom at the same time.
Through a series of hijinks, she ends up married to a guy from the Horse folk, Cal.
Dot meanwhile struggles to connect with most people. When she meets Miguel, she's like "no way would this guy ever be interested in me" but Essie keeps INSISTING she at least TRY with this guy, so Dot does, and it mostly works out.
The attraction for Peaches was immediate. For Essie, not as much. She saw Peaches as the shy one who never talks. But she eventually sees his charm, and the thing that clinches the deal is that Peaches supports her 100% in all her intensity.
I still love them, even though it's unlikely I'll ever write the novel the way it's meant to be told. I especially love Paula, lol. But they're all great, and because the book's been around for so long, I've had a long time to get close to them.
Shannah eventually gets better at things, but there's a bunch of time in which she and Dired clash, especially later when he finds out who she really is. Their relationship is dumb, but Dired is hot so that makes it good, AKSHUALLY.
Shannah's the most useless of the bunch. Paula actually likes Dired because she's butch and bad and finds humor in everything. Elizabeth is the tech nerd who is perpetually unimpressed. Jacky's the "nice" one. Kim's the hot cheerleader type.
Dired is the love interest. His mother worked for Kyro's mother, but she was murdered, and Dired has always believed it was the royal family's doing. He became a rebel, was labeled a terrorist, and then was forced to flee to the opposing side, where he meets our MC Shannah.