Thanks for having me as your guest today, Delilah!
I’ve always been intrigued by post-apocalyptic worlds, whether in the style of Mad Max or the more somber visualization of McCarthy’s The Road. Since I’m also a big fan of kissing and happily ever afters, writing a ménage romance set in a world devastated by alien attack was a lot of fun!
PAIRED PURSUIT releases December 1. It’s my first published novel, and I’m already hard at work on the third in the series (the second will release in May).
Here’s the blurb (and the delicious cover!):
Danger rises in the night…and so does desire.
Matched Desire, Book 1
Her last living relative dead, Mari is evicted from her shipping container and leaves Flagstaff for the first time in seven years. Boarding a train for Scar City (formerly Reno), she keeps a white-knuckle grip on her debilitating panic attacks.
When the train lurches, she loses that grip—and is picked up, calmed down, and turned on by the only other passengers in the car.
Finn and Gareth are under orders from their superiors to follow a slim lead on a stolen alien device. At first Mari is only a pleasant distraction, but through their telepathic Twin link, the brothers discover they both sense a powerful attraction to her that goes far beyond pheromones.
With dawning horror, Mari learns the Twins are after the same device she’s seeking, her only hope to get money for a better life. Once they reach Scar City, the three realize they’re living on borrowed time—unless they can discover the device’s secrets before attacking aliens bring the city walls tumbling down.
Warning: Contains two genetically modified warrior heroes, a woman whose worst nightmare is wide open spaces, and distractions of a vibratory nature.
Available for pre-order: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, Kobo, Nook, AmazonUK
Excerpt from Paired Pursuit
Copyright © 2015 Clare Murray
All rights reserved — a Samhain Publishing, Ltd. publication
“I’m not brave, though.” She cast them a confused look. “The moment we left the gates, I felt like hyperventilating.”
“Yet you continued all the same,” Gareth said, reaching into his backpack for what he required. He palmed the small vibrator, turning back to Mari.
“I did, but I’ll be on the edge of panic until we get back. Something might happen to the bike… We might get stranded out here, and it’s already nearly noon.”
“I have something that’ll help distract you.” Gareth held up the vibe. It had been state-of-the-art in pre-Invasion time, top of the line, with an external part that stimulated the clitoris. He’d always wanted to use it but had been saving it for someone special.
Mari’s eyes widened. “Is that…?”
“Not a threat. A promise.” Gareth grinned wickedly, tucking it back into his pocket. “So if you start panicking, you think about me pulling over and sliding that into you.”
“You’d do that?” She eyed him sidelong, but he saw the flare of excitement she couldn’t hide.
“It vibrates,” he said, leaning forward to speak into her ear, “and I have the remote control in my pocket. So if I see you getting all nervous again, I’m going to bring you to orgasm. Right there in my sidecar.”
Her expression—a mixture of anticipation and shock—was priceless. Gareth gave her no chance to argue or back out, bundling her into the sidecar and handing her a helmet. As he and Finn mounted the bike, Gareth made sure Mari was looking, and patted his pocket.
In response, her hand curled around the metal handlebar, but it wasn’t the white-knuckled grip she’d employed on the way out here. Good. She was calmer, much calmer than she had been on the way out. It was so much damn fun, playing with Mari.
Author Bio:
Clare Murray was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, living aboard a boat in her early childhood. She has a degree in Journalism and has worked in libraries in both California and London. In 2006 she moved to England, where she now lives happily with her husband and two children.
