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Author Insight
YA Thriller Needs a Little Romance
How do you choose the catalyst that will bring your protagonists together? A good YA thriller should have an element of romance, right? In Counteract, Careen is a strong, independent heroine--well, at least she was, until the world unraveled and she realized everything she'd come to believe was a lie. Add the looming threat of forced conscription into some sort of army--she and Tommy aren't exactly sure how the government plans to make use of the people forced to participate, but anyone who fails to report for training can be jailed. They've just recently become a team--working together to figure out why everyone is being forced to take CSD, which makes people compliant and causes amnesia. Now they're trapped. There's no escape. And unlike most of the people around them, they've stopped taking CSD. This is not the time to deny their mutual attraction, or fail to seek the comfort of a human connection in the only way they have left.
Book Excerpt
Counteract: A YA Dystopian Thriller
“You’re staying with me. I’ll protect you. But what happens when I’m…combat ready?”
A lump formed in her throat. “I don’t know. We’ll have to figure something out before then.” She pressed her forehead against the door and closed her eyes. “Tommy?”
“Yeah?”
“May I come in?”
“Count on it.”
Careen unlocked the door, and the last barrier between them was gone. Tommy hauled himself to his feet as she came into the room. She smiled up at him, and caught his swollen hand in hers. Palms pressed together, she tenderly laced her fingers through his bruised and battered ones. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Same.” He pressed her against the door as he kissed her, and she basked in the familiar scent of his skin and the warm pink glow from the sunlight that flooded the room. His lips were gentle, and she responded in kind, conscious of his cuts and bruises.
She unfolded her fingers and stretched them, matching each of her fingertips to Tommy’s. He pressed her hand against the door above her head, then trailed his fingers down her arm to the neck of her sweater. He pulled it back and bent close to nuzzle softly at her collarbone.
“Am I being too familiar?” His lips tickled as he spoke against her skin.
“No.”
He reached under her sweater and encircled her tiny waist with both hands, his thumbs and fingertips nearly meeting as he squeezed. “Now?”
“Not yet…” Her arms went around his neck, and she pulled his mouth back down to hers.
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