Today, we are kicking off this Book Blitz + Giveaway for T.H. Hernandez's The Ruins, book 2 in The Union series! To celebrate the upcoming release of book 5, The Ruins is FREE... For a LIMITED time only! Not only that, book 1, The Union, is FREE as well! Til then, we have a sneak peek into The Ruins with an exclusive excerpt! Check out T.H. Hernandez's dream cast, too! So, get started with The Union series now before book 5 is released! So, check it out now and grab your ebook freebie now!!!
Genre:
Young Adult
Science Fiction/Dystopian Romance
Series:
The Union, #2
Publish Date:
June 16, 2015
Synopsis:
Heartbroken, grief-stricken, and wracked with guilt, seventeen-year-old Evan Taylor returned to the Union, leaving behind the boy she loved.
Now, she and her friends must find a way to do the impossible – warn the citizens of the Union about an impending rebel attack without alerting the government and risking retaliation against her friends in the Ruins.
When every move Evan makes is thwarted, it soon becomes clear she's being watched. Faced with a daily fight to stay one step ahead of her pursuers, she returns to the Ruins. But life in the Ruins has its own dangers, and soon she’s fighting a different battle – to stay alive long enough to discover the truth.
*Excerpt*
Colin and I arrange our cots so the ends meet at a right angle in the corner of the tent. Lying on our backs with our heads together, we talk.
“What’s going on with you and Bryce?” Colin asks.
“Nothing. That was over before it even began.”
“He cares about you.”
I twist around, but it’s too dark to make out Colin’s expression. “I never thought you were a fan.”
“I wasn’t before, but he was really broken up when you were missing. After Jack was ready to throw in the towel, Bryce refused to give up. Even after Lisa and I began to wonder if we’d ever see you again.”
“Wait, I thought Lisa said she always knew you’d find me.”
“That’s what she said, but I know her, and there were times she wasn’t sure about any of it. Not Bryce, though. He just kept going. You don’t do that for someone you only sort of like.”
I push up on my elbow and study him for a few moments before dropping to my back, trying to process this new information along with the events of the past week. At first, we only needed to find a way to stop an attack on the Union, but now we have to figure out who’s monitoring us and why. Because as long as someone is listening to everything we say, doing anything meaningful to stop the attack is impossible. So trying to make sense of what Colin said about Bryce isn’t even on the to-do list. Although I’ll admit it was easier for me to be around Bryce when I thought he was the bad guy.
“All I’m saying,” Colin continues, “is hear him out. I saw the look on his face when you were with that guy from the Ruins. I know that look.”
Of course he does. It’s the same one he gets whenever he sees Lisa and Jack together. I reach out to take his hand, squeezing it. He squeezes back and I don’t let go until his hand falls from mine. Sleep doesn’t come for me though, and I give up trying after tossing and turning for an hour. Grabbing my sweatshirt, I step outside into the chilly air. My feet take me down to the water without any prodding from my brain. The tide is low, providing a large swath of hard-packed sand that’s easier to walk on than the loose stuff.
I stroll along the shore, eyes down, deep in my own thoughts. Colin’s words from earlier and Sonia’s that day out in the Ruins about life being too short for regrets mix together in my head like thought soup.
“Whoa,” a voice startles me and I glance up seconds before crashing into Bryce.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you.”
“Trouble sleeping?”
“Yeah.” I pause. “But I’m glad I ran into you — literally.”
He turns and falls in step beside me. “Why’s that?”
With a deep breath, I launch into an unrehearsed apology before I chicken out. “I never meant to hurt you. Well, maybe I did…or not.”
He laughs. “What are you talking about?”
“Cyrus. The guy in the Ruins.”
“Oh.” All humor is gone from his voice now.
“I guess there was a part of me that wanted to hurt the guy I thought you were — the smuggler more interested in business than my safety. That guy doesn’t exist, so I’m sorry I hurt you, but the guy I fell for on the train doesn’t exist either. Not really.”
A slow breath of air escapes his lips. “Let’s start over.” He stops and reaches out his hand to mine. “Hi, I’m Michael Bryce Cooper…but you can call me Bryce. I like the way it sounds when you say it.”
I shake his hand, smiling. “Nice to meet you. I’m Evan Delilah Taylor. But you can call me Evansville because it makes me laugh.”
He gives me a full-dimpled smile, white teeth gleaming against dark skin in the moonlight. We turn and start back toward camp, walking in silence for several minutes, the gentle sound of the waves pushing ashore the only thing I can hear beyond my own thoughts.
“I like your hair better red.”
I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. “It took me nearly eighteen years, but I think I do, too.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“Quinn.” I shrug. “What she said about how I’m supposed to have red hair. It also made me think about other stuff, about how things are supposed to be. Everything that happened led me to where I am now. Maybe this is what I’m supposed to be doing.”
“That’s a huge burden, Evan. You don’t have to do it alone. We’re all in this together, all set in motion by the same chain of events.”
I turn toward him, searching his face. Maybe he’s right. Just because this is my destiny, doesn’t mean it’s mine alone.
“I don’t even want you involved in this,” he continues. “Jack and I are trained detectives. This is what we do. I could lose my job, or worse, by involving you.”
“I’m already involved, Bryce.”
“I know.” He glances down at the sand for a moment. “But you wouldn’t be if it hadn’t been for me.”
This is where I should tell him I forgive him, but I don’t. We’ve reached where we need to turn to head back into our camp, but I’m still too keyed up to sleep. “I’m going to walk a little longer.”
He hesitates for a couple of beats. “I can walk with you, unless you’d rather be alone.”
“No, I’d like the company.”
While we stroll, we talk about things long left unsaid. He tells me more about his childhood and growing up, this time not skirting around topics to protect his cover. His words flow freely as he talks about how hard it was in the days after his father disappeared. Pain laces his voice, but I also detect a tinge of hope, as if he believes his father might still be alive.
I share more about what happened in the Ruins, not glossing over my feelings for Cyrus. I don’t want to hurt Bryce, but I need him to understand what I was feeling when I was out there, why his deception and dishonesty hurt me so much.
When I’m done, he’s quiet for a long time before stopping and turning to face me. He reaches out and take my hands in his. I want to pull them back, but Colin asked me to hear Bryce out, so I leave my hands in his for now.
“I won’t lie to you again,” he says. “About anything. Even if the truth is difficult.”
“Thank you,” I say, meaning it. This feels like a moment, the beginning of a genuine friendship based on shared goals if nothing else.
~~~
Binge read in The Union series now...
(covers link to Goodreads)
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**About the Author**
T.H. Hernandez is the author of young adult books. The Union, a futuristic dystopian adventure, was a finalist in the 2015 San Diego book awards in the Young Adult Fiction category.
She loves pumpkin spice lattes, Game of Thrones, Comic-Con, Star Wars, Doctor Who marathons, Bad Lip Reading videos, and all things young adult, especially the three young adults who share her home.
When not visiting the imaginary worlds inside her head, T.H. Hernandez lives in usually sunny San Diego, California with her husband and three children, a couple of cats, and a dog who thinks he's a cat, affectionately referred to as "the puppycat."
Stay connected with T.H. Hernandez
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