Lara J. Clarke is used to getting her own way. Motherless at ten and raised by her oft-absent eco-warrior/philanthropist grandfather, she lives the high life afforded by her seemingly bottomless trust fund—swanky downtown Vancouver loft, apartments and villas around the world just a chartered flight away, a passport overflowing with stamps from the chicest hot spots, a closet bursting with catwalk couture, and a spoiled B-list actor boyfriend whose interest in Lara is tied to her exclusive L’Inconnu wallet. But then Grandfather Archibald sheds his mortal coil in a very public manner, and Lara’s privileged life is set adrift. According to the will, she will step into the role of Project Administrator, wherein she has one year to fulfill her late grandfather’s dream of a self-sustaining, eco-friendly, family-centered island utopia—but if she fails, she’ll lose access to the family fortune forever. Soon, Lara is surprised to find her new coworkers—and neighbors—aren’t as pliable as the underlings of her former life. Even with the hunky lead engineer Finan Rowleigh showing her the ropes, she quickly learns just how unprepared she is to trade her Louboutins in for steel-toed Timberlands. When a series of calamities reveals a sinister element undermining the security of the island and its residents, Lara and Finan must reach beyond their job descriptions to protect Archibald’s precious utopia from those who would do it harm.
