Haunted By The Past

It begins with a message. Twenty-seven year-old Bella Carismo is only looking to help people. Working as a psychologist in her hometown of Williamstown, she wants to expand her private counselling practice. But those plans come to a screeching halt when she receives the first message. It comes from a person Bella doesn't know, but who is extremely interested in her. Soon she's bombarded with more emails and text messages that quickly escalate to vandalism and a physical attack on her life. With the harassment steadily increasing, Bella crosses paths with Marco Petrazini, a senior detective who might be able to help her stop the stalker. But Bella isn't the only one facing attacks. When a girl from Bella's past is murdered, Bella and Marco work together to solve the crimes, while trying to navigate their growing attraction to each other. As they fall deeper into uncovering the truth, they realise it could be more than either of them is willing to face. Despite how they feel about each other, with Marco on Bella's case, their budding romance is strictly forbidden. And every day that passes is one where the stakes are higher and the stalker grows bolder, resulting in a tragedy that shatters Bella's world. With more people turning up dead, her closest friends becoming targets, and the suspects piling up, Bella and Marco soon find that their lives, and the lives of those around them, are in serious danger.

Lucy Appadoo is an author of fiction and nonfiction texts. She writes in the genres of romantic suspense, historical fiction/coming of age, and thrillers. She has written nonfiction books about holistic spiritual and mental health and career guidance, as well as a readers' journal. Lucy is a registered counsellor and wellness coach with a part-time private practice. She also works as a rehabilitation counsellor for the Australian government. She previously worked as a rehabilitation consultant, caseworker, English as a second language teacher, and proofreader. Lucy has postgraduate diplomas in psychology, education, and English as a Second Language teaching, as well as specialised qualifications in grief counselling and hypnosis. She has also completed wellness coaching courses (levels 1-3) at Wellness Coaching Australia. Lucy enjoys reading romantic suspense, romance, thrillers, crime novels, family/historical drama, and sagas. She has enjoyed travelling to exotic places such as Madrid, Mauritius, and Italy, and draws on these experiences in her creative writing. Lucy's favourite authors include Kendra Elliot, Christiane Heggan, Theresa Ragan, Tara Moss, Nicholas Sparks, Adriana Trigiani, Erica Spindler, and James Patterson (to name a few). Lucy's interests include meditation, exercising, journal writing, reading fiction and nonfiction texts about writing, coaching, and counselling, ongoing professional development, spending time with her husband and two daughters, and socialising with friends and family.