Paper Puppets: Lust, Lies and Leverage (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781636259086)

When Bella's shot at making it big in L.A. implodes, she retreats to the only place that has ever felt safe - Scampi Bay.

In this small town crime mystery, Bella, an aspiring journalist with unrealised ambition, quickly discovers that her hometown is not how she remembers it to be. What begins as curiosity soon spirals into a dangerous whodunit, where every conversation carries subtext and every action seems to have a hidden agenda.

In a close-knit community like Scampi Bay, everyone seems connected - and everyone seems to have something to hide.

Determined to prove herself after LA, Bella's journalistic instincts kick in as she steps into the role of investigator. Her amateur sleuthing uncovers scattered clues pointing to corruption that runs deeper than gossip. The more she digs, the clearer it becomes that Scampi Bay now runs on who has the most power and leverage - emotional, financial, and dangerously personal.

But the truth isn't the only thing pulling at her.

Old relationships reignite, creating friction; however, it is her intrigue and passion for a complete stranger that quickly become her obsession. In this gripping mystery crime fiction, romance, deception, and desire intertwine - the line between seduction and strategy blurs. Bella must decide whether the passion clouding her instincts is real - or is she part of an orchestrated fantasy aimed at distracting her from finding out the truth?

As tension escalates, loyalties fracture, and alliances shift. In this close-knit community where reputations are currency and silence is survival, exposing the truth could destroy the very hometown Bella had run to for comfort.

Will Bella uncover who is behind the lies before she becomes yet another pawn?
Or will the secrets of Scampi Bay tighten their grip, proving that in this game of lust, lies, and leverage, no one is truly free?

A storyline that delivers a suspenseful blend of clues and deception, desire, secrets and seduction, Paper Puppets follows a bold female protagonist navigating ambition and temptation while unapologetically searching for the truth.

In Scampi Bay, everyone has strings attached. The only question is - who's holding them and why?