On route to find their friends, Nina and Michael find so much more.
After almost being killed by The Devil's Highwaymen--a fifty strong motorcycle gang, Nina
and Michael are forced to take refuge at their headquarters until Michael recovers.
​Finding a new purpose in life isn't easy, but Nina is realizing that she's stronger than she thinks and needed more than she knows. At least, that's what Shooter--the brutish blue-eyed
president of the biker gang, keeps telling her.
*
​Meanwhile, Mikey is trapped in the candy store.
​Phil is gone, so is O'Donnell and who knows what's happened to Ricky. All Mikey knows is
that he's in for a whole world of pain unless he can think of a way to escape before Tim and
Clare turn him into their lunch!
*
​With both of their lives hanging in the balance and heading in completely different directions,
Nina dn Mikey drift further apart. And it's not just distance that separates them. Because
when your fates keep pulling you away from one another, maybe it's time to just call it a day
and move on.​

Purchase links:
USA  https://goo.gl/7xt9lr

U.K.  https://goo.gl/ujA1DC​​

Audiobook listeners... Out of the Dark is finally LIVE!!!
My narrator, Hollie Jackson, did a simply phenomenal job of giving voice to my characters and breathing fresh life into their story.
I truly can't wait to hear what you think of it!

​Blurb:

‘Out of the Dark #1’
 
 
We are temporary. Finite.
The choices we’ve made, the people we have loved. Who we used to be no longer matters.
Because now it is all about the ending. And the ending always comes too soon.
There’s fear in the dark. And behind every drop of light, the shadows creep and the darkness comes in the form of clawing, red-eyed monsters. They hunt us—stalk us…they are desperate to destroy us.
But I have a reason to fight the darkness and everything in it. A small glimpse of light that lives within my golden-haired daughter, Lilly. She is my strength. She is my everything.
Every life is an untold story, each scene unfolding until the final act. But our ending has yet to be written, and I will continue to protect us, until I can not.

 Purchase Links:

UK link -http://adbl.co/2romm1c
US link - http://adbl.co/2pHSwrc

Add it to your bookshelves here --> http://bit.ly/1Sd6pE4

I'm SO excited to share with you the cover and blurb for my latest upcoming book

- RIDE OR DIE #1 A DEVIL'S HIGHWAYMEN MC NOVEL -

This is book one in the series coming from my alter
​ ego - Cee Cee Riley.
​Why the pen name, I've been asked.
​Well, this series is nothing like I've written before. It's a pre-apocalypse spin-off series to my bestselling Odium series. In Odium V The Dead Saga readers just met a motorcycle gang which have survived the end of the world. This is their Origin stories.
​No zombies.
No blood and gore.
No apocalypse.
Plenty of hot biker alpha males.
​Plenty of sex and violence.
​And plenty of make-your-toes-curl romance!
​
​This book has been a long time coming, and one that I've looked forward to sharing with you for some time. I hope that you enjoy it. It releases June 27th, so not long to go at all.
​For now though, here's the blurb and cover!

​Ride or Die #1
A Devil’s Highwaymen MC novel
 
'We would blow up this world and create something beautiful in its ruins'
Jesse & Laney 1985

 
We were each survivors of our upbringing: lost, unloved and afraid. But like moths to a flame, we couldn’t stay apart.
We loved.
We lost.
We fought.
We cried.
And then we shattered each other’s hearts.
Jesse was a hard man: a biker outlaw for the Devil’s Highwaymen MC. I was Laney: the daughter of a dead mother and a father that didn’t know or want me.
We were doomed right from the start.
But this was our Romance.
And this was our Disaster.
And hopefully, this would be our Second Chance.

Ride or Die #1
A Devils’ Highwaymen MC Novel
 
1985 - Jesse

We both looked up as the door to the clubhouse opened and Gauge walked in, followed closely
by his daughter, Laney. Casa nudged me almost making me fall over and then he burst into laughter as I almost spilt my beer down myself. God-damn fucking idiot.
“Pussy whipped and you ain’t even got any yet,” he laughed harder.
“Fuck off.”
“Too many offers to fuck bitches to find time to fuck myself, brother,” he snorted.
“Offers from your mama!” I bit out.
Casa stopped laughing and scowled at me. “That shits just disrespectful.”
“That’s what your mama said, you pussy!” I flashed him a grin and strutted over to where Laney was. Pretty sure he called me something, but I drown his voice out in favour of taking in Laney’s beautiful figure. She was wearing something different than her usual denim cut-offs and tee tonight—a lacy, white, figure-hugging dress that skimmed her golden thighs. Course, she still
wore her little black ankle boots. Her hair was up on top of her head in one of those weird knot things that women wore, and I had the urge to reach over and let it down. Not that the look
didn’t suit her, it did, anything would fucking suit her, but there was something about the way her dark hair sashayed over her back that always turned me on.
“Keep an eye on her tonight, Jesse, she’s feelin’ particularly bitchy,” Gauge said, patting me
on the shoulder.
“Go fuck a cow!” Laney snapped back.
“Cunt!”
“Dick!”
Gauge looked between us both and shook his head before walking away, grumbling
something under his breath. Things were not getting any easier between them, if anything, they were getting worse. Little did Gauge know that soon enough Laney wouldn’t be his problem,
but mine. I smiled at the thought.
 “I hate him,” she said, still watching after him.
“Ain’t no secret about that,” I grinned.
Her cheeks flushed pink at the sight of me and I could tell she was restraining herself from
smiling. She brushed her hands down her dress nervously and I watched appreciatively.
God-damn she looked beautiful. Could only imagine what she would feel like wrapped
around me—at least for now.
“You wanna beer?” I asked and she nodded and smiled again. Beautiful. Fucking beautiful.
We headed to the bar and Rose popped open a beer and slid it over as we got close. “Looking
real pretty tonight, Laney.”
Laney blushed and looked down at herself, and this time there was no mistaking that she was trying to hold back a smile. “Thanks, Rose, just something I threw on, nothing special.”
“Really? Well, darlin’ you scrub up good, ain’t that right, Jesse?”
Both women turned to look at me and I had to hold back on my eagerness to reply. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen Laney look anything but good,” I said, looking between the two women.
Rose’s eyes sparked with mischievousness. “Well, that goes without saying,” she replied.
Laney picked up her beer and cleared her throat loudly before taking a swig, and I could barely tear my gaze away from her damp lips wrapped around the end of the bottle. I shifted uncomfortably, needing to rearrange my junk but thinking better of it. Pussy-whipped before I’d even gotten any. Casa’ was fucking right.
I turned to Laney, “You wanna’ go for a walk?”
“Sure,” she replied, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ears. Christ on a bike, even her ears were beautiful. “See you later, Rose,” Laney said as I placed my hand on the bottom of her
back and started to guide her away.
“You two kids have fun,” Rose called back and I shot her a look.
We headed outside, away from the noise and the crowds, and into the cool September evening air. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow over everything and little insects were buzzing around. I walked us over to the trees to the left of the clubhouse, intending on sitting down at
one of the small picnic tables we’d set up earlier this year, but when we got there Laney reached down and took my hand before leading us further away and out of sight.
Her hand in mine felt like fuckin’ heaven. Her grip both soft yet strong. And god-damn, being this close to her I could smell whatever shampoo she used and I’ll be damned if she didn’t smell
like strawberries. Strawberries and cream, god damn. My jeans grew tighter, and while still
holding my beer, I reached down and rearranged myself.
Laney slowed to a stop and turned back to face me, her tongue darting out to lick her pink lips.
“Thought we could use some privacy,” she said, her voice a soft breath.
I smiled, knowing exactly why she wanted privacy. My girl was trying to seduce me. I must have been the luckiest fucking man in the world, right now, and I’ll be damned if I wasn’t going to
drag this out and then make her scream my name afterwards.
“Yeah?” I said, taking a swig of my beer. “What for?” Her cheeks flushed red, and I wondered if
the rest of her would be as pink as her cheeks. Damn hope so.
She let go of my hand and took a swig of her own beer. “Gauge watches my every move,” she said after a hesitant moment. Thought she was going to bottle it for a minute there.
I grinned. “Man knows what his brothers are like,” I replied.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“And what are they like?” she asked, testing the waters. She took another drink, and I could
​ barely speak for a second when a drop of beer slid down off her bottom lip and she licked it away. My blood rushed away from my brain and to a different part of my body altogether.
I cleared my throat. “Horny motherfuckers, all of them.”
“All of them?” she asked, one eyebrow lifted questioningly, a small smile on her mouth.
“Every. Last. One,” I replied.
 
​© Copyright Claire C. Riley 2017

Add it to your Goodreads shelf here -->  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34845549-ride-or-die?ac=1&from_search=true
Follow my alter ego's Facebook page here --> ​https://www.facebook.com/CeeCeeRileyBooks/?ref=bookmarks

Big love
​Claire / Cee Cee xox

It's day 4 of the blog hop, and day 4 of my short story. I hope that you're enjoying it.
I had great fun writing it. I actually wrote it last year with the intention of writing it as a full
book, and who knows, maybe I will one day. 
​Make sure to enter the huge rafflecopter and enter my giveaway from yesterday. And for a
new giveaway for any ebook of mine of your choice, all you have to do is share this blog,
then come back here and leave a message saying that you've done it. I'll pick a random
winner at the end of the week.

Moving on.
Here's part four of the story - ALL GOOD THINGS.
​

​
The idea was promising, and he was playing to my one weakness, but I vowed that I would
make him pay. I would claim some vengeance for my zombie brethren, just not right now.
I turned around, a smile lighting up my face as the door swung open and a timid woman
peered out into the early evening sky.
“Well hi there,” I said, and took a step forwards. I always put people at ease, with my soft features and warm smile. Little did they know.

The woman stepped fully outside, her legs naked and her ass barely covered by a small pair
of denim cut offs. Conrad lurched forwards, eager, always so eager. I stepped in front of him, halting him in his tracks. She was a petite thing, her arms slender but toned. She had
runners’ legs, strong and lean, and on her feet were an old pair of Nike Airs. It was always so amazing how people learned to adapt and survive. This chick was using what came naturally
to her—running. It was clever. The only thing wrong with that plan was that sooner or later,
you got backed into a corner and everything came crashing down around you. It didn’t matter
how fast you could run when you were trapped. This shack was her proverbial corner, and
Conrad and I would send her world crashing down around her.

Her eyes scanned the ground, seeing the many dead zombies and she shuddered before breathing a sigh of relief. Clearly she hadn’t realised how many zombies had been surrounding
the shack. Her usual tactic of running and hiding had failed, and she would have been screwed without us…hell, she was screwed with us, she just didn’t know it yet.

She walked towards us, stepping over the zombies, one of them wasn’t completely dead, and
its jaws snapped up at her as she moved around it. She pulled out a large flip knife from her pocket and knelt down and stabbed it right through the eye with more strength and
determination that I would have expected from her, and I was glad that I had stopped Conrad
from going straight after her. The zombie was silenced for its last time and the smile fell
from my face.

She stood back up, putting her knife away and dusted off her hands on her bare thighs. She looked over at us, a tentative smile playing on her mouth and flipped her shoulder length
brown hair over her shoulders.
“At least I’ve helped a little now, huh,” she said with a light laugh. The sound a soft tinkling in my ears that made me want to stick my hands down her throat and rip out her vocal chords. “I’m Sarah.”

“I’m Andy, and this is Conrad,” I replied as Conrad moved away from me before I could stop him.
It didn’t matter though, she was now too far away from the shack to escape back inside, and too close to us to get away.
She had walked right to her death.

Her eyes widened. It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen him until now; he was six foot tall and had been stood directly behind me, but she hadn’t paid him any mind because she'd been focused on me. But the thing with Conrad, and possibly one of the very reasons that I kept him around, was that he was dangerous. At least to vulnerable women like this, and the way he leered over at her let her know his sadistic intentions immediately.

He had been being escorted across the state in police custody for rape and murder, when the apocalypse had hit. Of course he preferred a clean kill like strangling, but I could still appreciate how he liked to watch the life drain from those women’s eyes while he defiled their bodies.
He was an innocent idiot ninety percent of the time. That was until provided with a play toy
like this poor woman.

She backed up a step, but it was too late. She’d waited too long before seeing the danger
stood directly in front of her. The wolf hiding in the woods, ready and eager to tear her apart.
She turned and began to run, a scream escaping her soft pink lips as Conrad’s body ploughed
into hers and they tumbled to the ground together in a mass of limbs and zombie parts.
I hadn’t even seen him move, he’d been that quick, and I let my mouth stretch back into a
wide grin.

“No, please, no!” she cried out, looking at me with deep brown, pleading eyes. I had no idea why women always thought I would try and stop Conrad, why I would put my own life, or needs on the line for them. It was illogical, yet this wasn’t the first time that it had happened. “Andy! Please, please help!”

She fought Conrad’s groping hands off her, but it was a pointless battle, and I watched for a
few moments in eager anticipation. This was the part that I liked, the fight to the death, the life ebbing away, the horror struck expressions of victims. It was a beautiful sight.

His meaty hand slapped over her mouth, shutting off her screams and cries and leaving
behind only a mumble and her muffled sobbing. I grinned and began walking, stepping
around their writhing bodies and entering the shack to see how it would suffice for the night.

It was dark inside, a single filthy skylight in the roof providing almost all the lighting. There were blankets on the ground in a heap, and a backpack, opened up. I got down on my haunches and looked through the contents, finding some homemade jerky and some canned tomatoes.
I stuck some of the jerky in my mouth and began to chew as I stood back up and continued to survey the small space, checking draws and cupboards for anything that might be of use.

After a thorough search, I found nothing good, other than the woman’s jerky, canned tomatoes
and the pile of blankets, of which I was more than happy to have. I ate another piece of jerky, chewing slowly and savouring the flavour as I sat down on one of the decrepit wooden chairs
next to the dusty desk. I pulled out the map, but it was too dark to really see anything now.
It had gone quiet outside again, the groans and muffled cries silenced, until it was just the cool night air to keep me company.

I let my thoughts drift, thinking over those poor dead zombies that we had to kill, and saying a small prayer for them all. One day I would have the courage to become one of them, to belong,
but not today.
I bit my lip, hating that I still hadn’t found the inner strength to take the ultimate plunge. To make the ultimate sacrifice. I knew it was my calling, I felt it, deep within me, like a calling from my soul to belong. But something continued to stop me. Pain had never been something that I had feared, but for some reason, I still couldn’t find it in me to do it.

I swallowed my own cowardice, the acid in my gut bubbling away and giving me a stomach
ache. I looked up as Conrad’s large shadow filled the doorway. He was grinning from ear to ear, a sick look of satisfaction covering his ugly face.

“She’s all yours,” he said, still a little breathless from his exertions.

He came in and sat down on the blankets, running a hand through his thinning hair.
Even in the darkness I noticed the slight tremble in his hands, the rush of adrenaline coursing through his body.
I stood up, passing him on my way out. The stench of sex and sweat emanating from him in waves.
“Thank you,” I said on my way out. Because I knew it must have taken great willpower to
stop himself from killing her himself. Perhaps it was fear that had stopped him, or perhaps
respect for me, either way he was a stronger man than I was, because I knew I wouldn’t be
able to stop once I started.

Copyright Claire C. Riley 2017

​Come back tomorrow for part five!
​

As the title suggests, Odium IV The Dead Saga is finally here! *throws glitter bomb*
NO more waiting.
NO more wondering.
NO more angry messages (please!)
​Just 98'000 words of zombie apocalypse madness for you to sink your teeth into!
​There's new characters. New settings. And new villains aplenty. And more than one or two surprises *insert evil laugh*

Amazon au - http://amzn.to/2heCK1C...
Amazon ca - http://amzn.to/2hul3Mx
Amazon uk - http://amzn.to/2gv10NP
Amazon us - http://amzn.to/2hugq4W
And it's also free to download in Kindle Unlimited!

The paperback will be a couple more days, but fingers crossed that it goes live before Christmas!

You'll also be happy to hear that I've been working on ODIUM V THE DEAD SAGA. I'm hoping to get Odium 3.5 The Dead Saga out February 2017 and then Odium V around April/May.
Fingers crossed for some productive writing sessions!

​I hope that you enjoy the book, it's a huge stepping stone in the series, and a really important one.

Happy reading,

​Claire x

Christine (C.A.) Verstraete enjoys putting a little "scare" in her writing. Her latest book, Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter, offers a twist on the Lizzie Borden murders. She also is author of a young adult book, GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie, and books on dollhouse collecting and crafting, including Dollhouse Decor & More  and In Miniature Style II.

Christine's short stories have appeared in various anthologies including: Happy Homicides 3: Summertime Crime, Mystery Weekly, Young Adventurers: Heroes, Explorers and Swashbucklers, Athena's Daughters, Silence in the Library; Feast of the Dead: Hors D'Oeuvres; Darlings of Decay; 100 Doors to Madness; Timeshares, Steampunk'd, and Hot & Steamy: Tales of Steampunk Romance, DAW Books; and The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories.

She is an award-winning journalist with stories published in daily to weekly newspapers and in various magazines. Her stories have received awards from local and national newspaper associations and the Dog Writer's Association of America. 

She is available for signings or appearances, including a PowerPoint presentation on zombies, writing and the history of Lizzie Borden.

Social Media Links

Blog: http://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com
Website: http://cverstraete.com
Amazon: http://getbook.at/LizzieBordenZombieHunter
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31553183-lizzie-borden-zombie-hunter

​

​By C.A. Verstraete
   What makes Lizzie Borden so intriguing? Is it the chubby face and dimpled cheeks? The look of innocence? Or is it the idea of a demon lurking behind that smile?
   Nearly 150 years later, the spinster Sunday School teacher from the industrial town of Fall River, Massachusetts, remains one of the most infamous, and controversial, women in history. Yet today, camps are still divided on whether she actually killed her father and stepmother that August 4th morning in 1892.
   The lack of evidence likely helped convince the jury to declare her not guilty in her trial in June, 1893. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any, though the “not found” column may be more telling as to the results of the trial…
 
What was found:
   * A hatchet head without the handle. Stains were later determined to be rust, not blood.
   * Two persons brutally butchered with only one family member and a maid at home.
   * In recent years, traces of blood were found running down the walls to the cellar. 

What wasn’t found or ignored:
   * The crime scene wasn’t sealed off.
  * No fingerprints were taken although the new, developing technology was being used more and more by police departments.
   * No witnesses, though reports were made of a man holding some kind of cleaver or weapon seen on the street. They were determined unfounded.
   * In the weeks prior to the murders, Lizzie supposedly heard a mysterious visitor arguing at the door with Mr. Borden. The person was never identified or found.
   * The uncle (Lizzie’s late mother’s brother) came from out of town, stayed overnight and then left that morning.
   * A possible illegitimate son of Mr. Borden was mentioned.
   * No direct evidence was found linking Lizzie to the crime. The case was circumstantial with only her and the maid Bridget Sullivan home with Mrs. Borden until Mr. Borden returned a couple hours after doing errands downtown.
   * No bloody clothes were found though a witness later testified about seeing Lizzie burn a dress. When asked about it, Lizzie said that the dress had “paint” on it.
 
What played a role in the trial:
   * Class and social standing. The jurors—all men—likely couldn’t see a woman of Lizzie’s social standing committing such a brutal, heinous crime. Hence, the verdict of not guilty.
   * During a time period when women were still viewed – literally - as the weaker sex, the idea that a woman could commit such a brutal, physical crime that took a lot of strength and stamina also didn’t seem likely to jurors.
   * Lizzie’s inquest testimony was ruled out as evidence in the trial and could not be used. Her testimony answers made no sense, likely due to her being treated with morphine prior to questioning to “relax her nerves.”
 
Rumors
Rumors flourished about Lizzie’s character. Many other theories have been offered today as to why she committed the crime, including that she had epilepsy; was caught in a lesbian relationship; was sexually abused; lived in a dysfunctional family with domestic violence; or that this was a crime of anger fueled by passion and her being “stuck” within the rigid bounds of society.
None of the claims, of course, can actually be proven. The expanse of time allows the horrific crime to be interpreted today in a number of ways. Then, as now, we may never know the real answer. People can choose the method they think fits the crime and decide for themselves whether Lizzie Borden was indeed guilty or not guilty.
If you look at the autopsy reports and photos, however, the question remains as to why the victims had been so viciously attacked and repeatedly hit in the head.
 
Another View of the Murders
My view is that Lizzie had no choice but to commit the crime since her father and stepmother had become… zombies. 

About Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter:
 
Every family has its secrets…
One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become… zombies?
Thrust into a horrific world where the walking dead are part of a shocking conspiracy to infect not only Fall River, Massachusetts, but also the world beyond, Lizzie battles to protect her sister, Emma, and her hometown from nightmarish ghouls and the evil forces controlling them.
 
Using actual inquest testimony and events, the book gives an entirely different view of the crime. 

   * Available in print, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.   (The Kindle is on sale for 99 cents to Dec. 15. Or get a signed print copy (US shipping only) at my website.

Happy reading my book lovers!

​Claire xxx