Star Attraction

Zaira Darcy literally bumps into the man of her dreams in an elevator. Dashing Brad Clarke, Hollywood's hottest new director, working alongside her in New York, is everything she could want in a man, and more. But the secrets from her past, and the double life she leads, threaten to destroy any chance of happiness the two might have. Zaira must lock horns with her ex-husband Jonathan one last time to save Brad's life, even if it means sacrificing her own.

Star
Attraction

Sorcha
MacMurrough

College lecturer and secret
romance novelist Zaira Darcy literally bumps into the man of her dreams in an
elevator.
 
Dashing Brad Clarke,
Hollywood’s hottest new director, working alongside her in New York on the screenplay
of her hot new bestseller, is everything she could want in a man, and
more.
 

But the secrets from her past
threaten to destroy any chance of happiness they might have. Zaira must learn
to trust to love again. Just when Zaira and Brad find true love, her joy is
ripped from her by a series of shocking revelations. Brad is forced to go on
the run for a series of crimes he didn't commit. Can Zaira trust him?
 
Or is someone behind this plot to ruin
him?

Zaira searches her heart for
the truth, and must lock horns with her ex-husband Jonathan one last time to
save Brad’s life, even if it means sacrificing her own…

Before
Zaira could say a word, Brad placed a wad of money on the table, and took her
firmly by the elbow.
 
He hailed a
cab at the corner, and pushed her in.

“I’m
sorry, but it's been a long day, and I just want to get home,” Brad declared,
taking her hand firmly, his voice brooking no refusal.

Zaira
leaned helplessly against him in the taxi.
 
He was leaving her, getting married, going back home to
California forever.
 
It was too
late.
 
She had lost him.
 

Brad
caressed her fingers with his own, gently yet possessively, and kissed her
softly as the car pulled up to the curb.
 
All the way up the elevator he kissed her, stroking her hair and her
eyelids, and cheeks, nuzzling her ear playfully until she was on fire.

He
kissed and caressed her with his hands all the way down the corridor, and ran
one hand up and down her back, pressing her closely to him in an intimate
embrace which left her in no doubt of his desires. With his other hand he
unlocked the door, and switched on the light.
 

Pleasure
turned to pain as Brad rammed her up against the wall and ground out, “The game
is over, Zaira, Zoe, whatever you’re called!
 
I want the truth, and I want it
now
.”
 

Reviews:

“In this
contemporary thriller Zaira Darcy and new-found love interest Brad Clark
undergo a comedy of errors which turns into a deadly game of cat and
mouse.
 
Zaira leads a double life:
respectable academic by day, historical novelist by night.
 
When top director Brad decides he wants
to make a Hollywood blockbuster of her latest book, it’s an offer she can’t
refuse.
 
Left destitute by her
husband, who vanished without a trace, she decides to help Brad and keep
control of her own book by pretending to be Zoe, the new screenwriter for the
book.
 

“When her ex
Jonathan appears out of the blue working for Brad’s father and tries to
blackmail her into keeping silent about his identity, she smells a rat. But
before Zaira can tell Brad the truth about her identity and the fact that she
has fallen head over heels for him, Brad figures out the game she has been
playing and is not sure he can trust her.

When Brad is
accused of the most horrendous criminal activities, Zaira is convinced it is
her ex who is to blame. She must uncover the truth and clear Brad’s good name,
even if it means losing him--or her very life....

“A remarkable
novel which starts out in a light-hearted way, with a great number of
intriguing questions, and soon becomes whirlwind of passion, mystery and
intrigue.
 
Zaira is a very capable
woman, Brad the type of hero most women long for.
 
Together they are explosive, and adding the evil Jonathan to
the mix creates a situation fraught with tension.
 
The author manages to keep you guessing until the very end.
If there is any couple you want to have the fairy tale ending, it is Zaira and
Brad.
 
Hang onto you seats while
you wait to see if they get there!” Annabelle Stevens,
Love’s Sweet Song

“Zaira Darcy
is just recovering from a shocking divorce when the devastatingly handsome Brad
Clark barges into her life and turns it completely around.
 
From being homeless and penniless, she
not only has a good job and place to live at the university she is teaching in,
but Brad wants to film her novel, and even pay her money to write the
screenplay.

"Eager
to keep her privacy, and the two parts of her life separate, academic and
novelist, she invents an alter ego, Zoe.
 
Zoe dares to do things the shy and retiring Zaira would never do,
including act and direct and become involved in a sizzling relationship with
Brad.

“Brad feels
like a fool when he discovers Zoe and Zaira are one and the same person, but
loves her enough to forgive her.
 
But any question of living happily ever after is destroyed when Brad is
accused of unspeakable criminal acts.
 
Zaira begs him to flee the country while she and some new-found friends
try to clear his name.
  

"Zaira
become convinced that her ex-husband Jonathan, now working for Clark Studios,
is trying to destroy Brad and seize the company for himself.
 
As Zaira digs further and further to
prove Brad’s innocence, the inevitable confrontation with Jonathan is only a
heartbeat away....and so is her death.

“Ms.
MacMurrough has penned an exceptional romantic suspense novel with remarkable
characters and tight, clever plotting which makes for a fascinating read.”
 
Jacqui Jerome,
The Picture of Bliss

“Zaira Darcy,
shy, demure academic, falls head over heels for stunning Hollywood director
Brad Clark, who has come to New York to teach at her university, and to meet
the author of “The Dark Lady,” the historical novel topping the bestsellers’
list.
 
Zaira has written the novel
under a
nom de plume
, and doesn’t
dare tell Brad she is the author for fear of getting in way over her head with
the incredibly wealthy and powerful man.
 
Having just got over her divorce to the power-hungry Jonathan
Waxman
,
she is leery of commitment, and all that Brad is offering her seems just too
good to be true.

"Brad is
not your typical Hollywood movie mogul:
 
he is an intelligent and compassionate man with a conscience, and the
sexiest body Zaira has ever laid eyes on. As their minds meet over work, their
bodies are drawn together by sheer magnetism.
 
Zaira isn’t able to keep up the pretence of being novelist
Zoe for very long, as Brad strips their relationship down to the bare
essentials: they're in love, so why fight it?

But before
Zaira and Brad can settle things between them, her ex tries to take over Brad’s
studio, resorting to criminal activities and even attempted murder to get his
own way. Only Zaira is fully aware of exactly what Jonathan is capable of, and
is the only person who can protect Brad and his father from Jonathan’s evil
schemes.

“As with all
of Ms. MacMurrough’s novels, the tension, passion and mystery light up the
pages, making this novel impossible to put down. The author has an uncanny
knack for characterization and detail, and the romance and suspense sizzle and
will delight any reader.”
 
Evelyn
Trimborn,
Heedless
 
Hearts

Top 50 e book at Barnes and Noble, May
2001-November 2001, Rocket Format

Amazon and Barnes and Noble reviews: