Past Wounds

SPH #1

by Bella Paige

After Sixteen Years Apart, Senior Sergeant Arianna Hart and Navy Seal Commander Lachlan Brooks are thrown back into one another's paths accidently.

Lachlan finds early retirement when his best friend is pulled back into his life with the piercing shot of a bullet when he stumbles across her undercover during a case one night.

When Lachlan leaves the life of a Seal behind to become a Detective, how will Arianna cope with having him back in her life and in her unit?

When a body of a young man is discovered in a bin compactor outside of a shopping center that links ties to an orphanage, how will a young boy's tears help solve the case?

Can Southport’s Finest Homicide Unit solve this case without killing each other? Or will Past Wounds affect the case?

This case takes them on twists and turns they didn’t see coming and a trip down memory lane which Arianna would have rather left in the past.

370 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 12, 2022

Reviews

[Sophie Ruthven · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a new to me author and one I'd be interested in reading more from in the future, especially since the way this book was written you're left with so many questions still by the end.
For me personally while I normally enjoy when authors change things up and tell the story from multiple POV's, but I think it's a skill that will take time to master, let alone with only one book under your belt.
A lot of information was thrown at us readers, and at times it became hard to keep everything straight, and found myself losing concentration which sucked as the premise of the story and series is really good.
Not to mention the twists and bombshells that kept on coming the further you read.
So glad I stuck with it.

[~lil maso~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

This is a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story with an interesting and twisty mystery to solve that had me truly invested. It took a bit of time for me to get into the swing of the writing being in third person but once I did it was fine. The story is told in the present time with flashbacks to when the lead characters were younger. This helps to give important background information on these characters but in an interesting way.

Fiction can be vague but when blatant facts are incorrect it doesn’t wash. In the very beginning the author states that the police headquarters are in Southport, Queensland—which is in Australia, so going off that fact plus other locations within Queensland, I had a hard time dealing with some facts, for example, Australia doesn’t have the Marine Corps as a branch of their military, nor Navy Seals—Commandos—yes. It just goes to show how important research is when publishing.

It’s such a shame because apart from this bump in the road I would have rated this story higher. The storyline is really good and well thought out with some great twists and turns. Behind this are some other interesting things bubbling away that I am dying to know about—the sign of good plotting! I will definitely give this author another go as I am sure the next book/s will be just as exciting.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review*

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[Robyn Corcoran · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars
This is a friends to enemies to lovers story with an interesting and twisty mystery to solve that had me truly invested. It took a bit of time for me to get into the swing of the writing being in third person but once I did it was fine. The story is told in the present time with flashbacks to when the lead characters were younger. This helps to give important background information on these characters but in an interesting way.

Fiction can be vague but when blatant facts are incorrect it doesn’t wash. In the very beginning the author states that the police headquarters are in Southport, Queensland—which is in Australia, so going off that fact plus other locations within Queensland, I had a hard time dealing with some facts, for example Australia doesn’t have the Marine Corps as a branch of their military, nor Navy Seals—Commandos—yes. It just goes to show how important research is when publishing.

It’s such a shame because apart from this bump in the road I would have rated this story higher. The storyline is really good and well thought out with some great twists and turns. Behind this are some other interesting things bubbling away that I am dying to know about—the sign of good plotting! I will definitely give this author another go as I am sure the next book/s will be just as exciting.

[Chantelle Bouffanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty Good. I've volunteered to review this book for United Indie Book Blog. This author is new to me. This story is about Lachlan and Arianna. Arianna is a Senior Sergeant, while Lachlan is a Navy Seal Commander. Lachlan hasn't seen Arianna in a long time until one day he runs into her while working on an undercover case. Can they work together on this case? This story has unpredictable twists, emotions, and suspense, which leads to an intriguing page turner. I look forward to reading more from this talented author whose work I highly recommend. Can't wait to see what else Bella comes up with. This is a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers type of story. So, if you like these types then you need to read this one. Keep up the good work.

[Wendy Livingstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first in a new series, as well as being a debut from this author. This is Arianna and Lachlan’s journey. Arianna is a Senior Sergeant, while Lachlan is a Navy Seal Commander, and these two have not seen each other for 16-years, until he stumbles across her working undercover on a case. Lachlan takes early retirement from the Seals, and becomes a detective, but can he and Arianna work together? This is a good story which has unpredictable twists, emotions, and suspense, which leads to an intriguing page turner.
I look forward to reading more from this talented author whose work I highly recommend.

[United Indie Book Blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author is new to me. This story is about Lachlan and Arianna. Arianna is a Senior Sergeant, while Lachlan is a Navy Seal Commander. Lachlan hasn't seen Arianna in a long time until one day he runs into her while working on an undercover case. Can they work together on this case? This story has unpredictable twists, emotions, and suspense, which leads to an intriguing page turner. I look forward to reading more from this talented author whose work I highly recommend. Can't wait to see what else Bella comes up with. This is a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers type of story. So, if you like these types then you need to read this one. Keep up the good work.

REVIEW BY CHANTELLE

[Devons book corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this debut from Bella Paige, Lachlan is a Navy Seal Commander while Arianna is a Senior Sergeant. They haven't seen each other in years, but then Lachlan runs into her. Can the two of them work together when Lachlan decides to change his plans? This was a good story. We do get a lot of information in a short amount of time, so it is definitely hard to keep up sometimes, but I still enjoyed the story. If you want a book that's full of twists and turns, this is an excellent choice.