Saturday, November 23, 2013

Blog Tour: Ruby Hill by Sarah Ballance - Review, Excerpt & Giveaway!


 
Welcome to my stop on the Ruby Hill blog tour, hosted by LN Book Promotions. Below you'll find and excerpt & my review. Don't miss the tour wide giveaway at the bottom of the post.
 
Ruby Hill

Sarah Balance

Horror/Mystery/Ghost Story
Publisher: Entangled Ever After
Novella

Available at Amazon * B&N * Kobo

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Blurb

From her earliest memories, Ashley Pearce has been drawn to Ruby Hill Lunatic Asylum, and she's not the only one. Decades after the abandoned hospital ended its institutional reign of torture and neglect, something lurks in the shadows. Since she’s a paranormal investigator, it's Ashley's job to find out what.

Crime scene expert Corbin Malone doesn't believe in ghosts. A born skeptic, he has no interest in entertaining the hype surrounding the mysterious deaths at Ruby Hill, but he won't turn his back while more women die. He agrees to an overnight investigation, never expecting his first encounter would be with the woman he pushed away a year ago. But when he discovers Ashley is a target, he learns his greatest fear isn't living with his own demons, but losing her for good.


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Excerpt


Lunatics. Ghosts. Murder.
The media grabbed the story like rabid dogs, shredding and tearing the meat of the so-called facts until nothing was left but gristle and hyped-up gore. Rumors took flight. Poltergeists, demons, a portal to hell, and all because torture had to leave a mark. Ruby Hill certainly had.
So had Corbin Malone.
From the drive, Corbin twisted his head her way. The moment his eyes met hers left a scar on her heart.
Either he hid his emotion well or he lacked any. Not a flicker of reaction crossed his face. He simply turned to watch the car retreat through the gate, a security guard stepping over to shut and lock the leggy ten-foot barrier as soon as the vehicle’s rear bumper cleared.
Then, in a move so painstakingly slow it had to be deliberate, Corbin found her again. Blue eyes pierced her with such force she took a step backward. As she stumbled, the slowest of smiles crept across his face.
But he was not the threat.
She heard the asylum’s whispers. This was personal.
She hugged herself tightly.
Yer gonna die.
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My Review: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Ruby Hill is a short novella featuring a spooky ghost story along with two characters reconnecting after a traumatic death tore them apart. Sometimes I'm just in the mood for a quick read, no long term commitments, no waiting for book two, no cliffhanger ending. I enjoyed the fact that I could read this story in under an hour without stopping.

Main characters Corbin and Ashley had a major falling out after Corbin blamed her for his brother's mysterious death in the Ruby Hill asylum. It's one of those old asylums that shut down in the eighties and is now frequented by ghost hunters and kids looking for a thrill. Corbin's brother Cash died there during a ghost hunt with Ashley's paranormal team.

Six months later, there have been two murders within the crumbling building. The media is labeling a ghost as the killer, so Ashley's paranormal team agrees to set up equipment and investigate. Corbin is a cop saddled with the job to babysit the paranormal researchers. While exploring the dark asylum, Corbin and Ashley realize they still have feelings for each other. Corbin, a non-believer in the paranormal also learns that there might be more than logic can explain within the creepy walls.

It's an interesting plot line. My main complaint is that the story is just too short. I'm dying for more information on the history and the haunting. Basically the murders are solved, along with the motive behind the murders...but it's kind of left hanging. It's nice that Corbin and Ashley found each other again, but I think Ms. Balance could either add to this story or write a sequel that handles the ghost aspect. There's more story to be told at the Ruby Hill asylum.

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About the Author


Sarah and her husband of what he calls “many long, long years” live on the mid-Atlantic coast with their six young children, all of whom are perfectly adorable when they’re asleep. She never dreamed of becoming an author, but as a homeschooling mom, she often jokes she writes fiction because if she wants anyone to listen to her, she has to make them up. (As it turns out, her characters aren’t much better than the kids). Though she adores romantic suspense, she writes in many genres. Her ever-growing roster of releases may be found at http://sarahballance.com. 

 
Contact Links






Tour Wide Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

4 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing Ruby Hill. I appreciate your thoughts and your time. :)

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