From the book edited by
The Written Word
By Lucy Appadoo
She hailed a cab and a young driver with dark curls and stubble smiled as he dropped her suitcase into the boot of his car. As they drove to the city, he tried to make small talk. “Are you here on holiday?”
Blanca’s chest tightened, not knowing what secrets Brazil held. “I’m here for work, but only temporarily,” she tried in her rusty Portuguese.
Blanca gazed in awe as the taxi drove past mountains, broad, white-sand beaches and sky-blue waters under the early morning glare. She had read in a brochure that Ipanema was one of the safest places in Rio de Janeiro; as the second-wealthiest part of Rio, after another district called Leblon, the beach was patrolled by more police officers than other areas.
In the city of Ipanema, Blanca watched cyclists, roller skaters and skateboarders riding alongside the beach, baking in the blinding sunshine. On the fine sand, others played volleyball and other sports. Hills surrounded the Ipanema beach, and hotels, cultural centres, and museums lined the busy streets. She passed designer shops, including Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Mont Blanc as well as pizzerias, Spanish tapas, and Brazilian restaurants. She saw a shopping strip filled with boutiques, bars, and travel agencies. It was packed with shops—a tourist’s dream.
As the cab drove through the most affluent area in the south of Rio de Janeiro, Blanca wondered what it would be like to visit those expensive, posh restaurants.
The taxi stopped at a medium-sized house with a cream-coloured concrete façade. The driver gave Blanca her suitcase, and she rolled it up a paved pathway through a rose-filled front garden.
The house felt both familiar and mysterious. Would she get answers about why her last trip to Rio De Janeiro had been cut short? Her parents had always been tight-lipped about that trip. She knew her family held a secret, one she was determined to uncover. She wondered whether the note she found in her purse was related to her family.
What if she didn’t like what she discovered?
In Rio’s Shadows
Romance and terror in a tropical paradise.
Sun, sand, surf. How could Blanca Castellano turn down the offer of a promotion to beautiful Rio de Janeiro—especially when it’s a step up in her career in Madrid?
The job is a dream come true. A promotion, a new culture to explore, great colleagues to work with, including a sexy photographer named Carlos. There’s also a chance to make a name for herself by exposing a powerful story: child sex exploitation in Rio’s poverty-stricken neighbourhoods.
But the return to Rio also means the return of nightmares from Blanca’s childhood—nightmares that began after her first trip to Rio, as a child with her parents on vacation.
As Blanca and Carlos investigate child exploitation in Rio, the shadows of Blanca’s nightmares become dark memories of something she cannot yet understand. Shadows of Carlos’s past, too, stalk them—until they become a terrifying and dangerous reality. Together, Blanca and Carlos must learn the identity of a murderous puppet master.
In Rio’s Shadows from the Women Of Strength series by Lucy Appadoo. It was the first book by Lucy Appadoo to be edited by Scott Bury of The Written Word Communications Company.
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About the author
Lucy Appadoo is a prolific reader and author of a number of series and books. After a childhood spent reading and imagining escapist worlds, Lucy has put her imagination into stories. Her work as a rehabilitation counsellor, and former work as a counsellor in private practice, have led to an interest in writing inspirational stories about authentic, driven women who manage adversity with strength and heart. She writes in the genres of romantic suspense/thrillers with significant life themes and contemporary romance.
Lucy’s interests include researching crime stories and news to inspire her work, watching crime thrillers and suspenseful movies, travel, exercising, reading for entertainment or knowledge, meditation, and spending time with friends and family. She also appreciates her Italian background and culture, which has inspired her to write imaginative stories about her parents’ childhoods, leading to The Italian Family Series novels.
Check out Lucy’s website and sign up for a FREE romantic suspense novel on her website and blog.