Time of Ruin (Ash and Ruin #2)
Release Date: 07/22/14
Summary from Goodreads:
The world has ended, and hope is the most dangerous thing left.
Battered and bruised after barely escaping San Francisco with their lives, Kat, Dylan, and Blue press north – desperate to reach the possibility of a new home.
But strange, monstrous ravens are tracking the remaining survivors, food is becoming scarce, gasoline is running short, and people are becoming suicidal, making survival almost impossible.
And the Pestas are growing bolder. Somehow, their numbers are growing.
The further north they go, the harder it becomes to ignore the signs that they’ve made a fatal mistake. Kat must face the impossible truth that there is no escape, there is no safe haven, and their worst nightmares don’t come close to their new reality.
Buy Links:
B&N ¦ Kobo
Book One:
(linked to Goodreads)
B&N ¦ Kobo
Book One:
(linked to Goodreads)
Excerpt from Time of Ruin
With a shaking
hand, I pull my water bottle from the netted pocket and take a few sips,
reluctantly controlling myself from gulping down half of it. Once my mouth is
pleasantly wet, I hold the bottle out to Blue and let him take a few sips. I’m
happy the mouth is wide so I don’t need to spill any out for him.
The last thing I
want to do is to dig through my pack and get out Blue’s bowls and kibble, so I
pull out a can of beef stew, my last can of the blessed protein-and-carb packed
stuff, and pull the tab to open it. “We’ll share, okay?”
Blue sits on his
haunches, back perfectly straight, as he watches me. I know it’s a leftover
trick from his first family, but it makes me smile.
“Me first,” I
say and point at the ground.
With a short
whine, Blue lays on the ground, resting his chin on his paws as he watches me
tilt the can to my mouth. Eating only half of the stew isn’t as hard as I
thought it would be; my stomach is so tight with worry over leaving Dylan, over
the trail of smoke in the distance, and my need to find transportation that I’m
not as hungry as I should be. I have to choke down the last bite of mealy
potato before I hold the can out for Blue. He has no such difficulty eating the
other half of the stew, and in minutes, he’s licking the inside of the can
clean.
“Pig,” I tease
as I toss the can away. Blue ignores me and lays down to clean his paws.
I let my head
fall back against my pack. My eyelids are heavy, and it’s increasingly more
difficult to keep my eyes open. I click my tongue for Blue, and he jumps to his
feet in an instant. I chuckle and snap my fingers for him to come to my side.
With his warm body tucked in close to me, I lay one hand on his back and let
sleep pull me under.
I don’t know how
much time passes before I’m awoken by a sound that I know neither I nor Blue
made. My eyes snap open, and my whole body goes instinctively still. I hold my
breath so that I can hear better. Blue shifts under my hand. He picks up his
head, his ears perfect triangles as he listens for the unfamiliar noise. I grip
the loose skin at his neck and make a tiny noise to keep him quiet.
Somewhere a twig
snaps, louder than any shot fired.
Not for the
first time, I miss the farmhouse where I found Blue, with its intact walls and
locks on every door. I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering if I can get to
the edge of the wall and away from here before whoever is walking up the steps
comes around the corner.
A dim yellow
light creeps across the floor underneath the dresser we’re hiding behind. My
heart is choking me, lodged high in my throat, and all I can hear is the beat
of my pulse and the rush of my blood.
“Yeah, this is
good,” a man’s voice rings out, striking me like a whip.
I’ve missed my
chance to run.
About the Author
Like so many other writers, Shauna grew up as an avid reader, but it was in high school that she realized she wanted to be a writer. Five years ago, Shauna started work on her Elemental Series. She released the first installment, Earth, on May 1, 2011 and has since released four sequels, with the series coming to an end with Spirit. She is currently hard at work on a new Urban Fantasy series, staring a spunky witch with a smush-faced cat named Artemis.
Author Links:
***GIVEAWAY***
$20 Amazon or B&N Gift Card up for grabs.
$20 Amazon or B&N Gift Card up for grabs.
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thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteWould like to read these books! & thanks for the giveaway! :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for the new urban series with the spunky witch and smushed face cat!
ReplyDeleteLove the cover and the excerpt sounds really interesting
ReplyDeleteEnd of world stories really allow the imagination to run wild with so many possibilities! This premise sounds quite intriguing! Good luck with the book!
ReplyDeleteThe cover is completely arresting! good luck with the book!
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