ARC Review and Author Interview: Ruby's Ghost

ebook, 102 pages

Expected publication: May 14th 2013 by Samhain Publishing

ISBN: 1619214407 (ISBN13: 9781619214408)

 

Rating: 1.5 Stars 

 

Summary:  Breaking up is hard to survive.

One moment, Tate Cooper is giving his ex-girlfriend a lift home on his motorcycle. The next, his soul is suspended between life and death, wandering in confusion between the accident scene and the house he grew up in.

Except it’s not his home anymore. In his old bedroom sleeps a beautiful young woman, the only person who can see him. And the only person who can keep him from succumbing to the temptation to escape the horrific pain awaiting him in his mortal body.

Eloise Jones should be studying for her college exams, but it’s tough to stay focused when a lost soul keeps appearing in her room. She figures it must have something to do with sirens she heard screaming in the night, but she’s helpless to assist—and helpless to resist.

As Eloise tries to help Tate unravel the tangled facts surrounding the accident, longing and desire grow into an almost tangible bond between them. But then a second spirit appears, one with a darker intent that could separate them before love draws its first breath…

 

DNF

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Okay, I usually give books the justice it deserves, I usually finish it. But, this is one of few that I just couldn't. I got about 60% through it.
I'm just gonna list a few reasons why:
-The characters were drastically under-developed and super 2-dementional. I get that Ruby is mad (furious but she had to have some clue that they weren't as close as they used to be) and that Tate is falling for the girl who currently lives in what used to be his room
-I was annoyed and bored. The same thing happened over. And over and over. And over: guy in room and I'm the only one who can see him (how cool, and wow, he's really hot) My ex has moved on to a living woman and I'm totally going to get revenge...as soon as I can talk to him again so I'm just going to scream at him until he does. Wow.
-It wasn't fast paced. It was rushed. Simple as that.

Maybe I should've read more. I don't know. I'll probably pick it up and finish it later. Maybe I'll like it better then.

1.5 Stars
Don't say I didn't warn you... 

Author Interview:

 

-What/Who was your inspiration for your main character and their relationship with each other? (In Ruby’s Ghost)

I usually get the hero first when I get a story idea, in this case a young man who was on the verge of dying. What he looks like and what his drama is becomes more solid as I start working on the story. The heroine then comes along and she develops. I find it’s very organic as I work out the dynamics of the relationship and also the plot of the story. For Ruby and Tate I think it was one of those relationships that had ended but neither was ready to move on, and in Ruby’s case let go. For Eloise there was risk that she was falling for a guy who might die or who might wake up and never remember her…but some things are worth taking a chance on. 

 

-What was the hardest part about writing Ruby’s Ghost?

Finishing it. This was a story that I started and put down many times because I had to work on other books that had hard deadlines (books with deadlines come first and everything else gets worked on around the edges). Once I had finished the first draft, cleaning it up for submission as relatively quick.  

 

 

-What advice do you have for beginner authors?

Read widely, write lots. It’s only by writing that you discover your voice and can put everything you’ve learned about plot and character into action. 

 

-How did you come up with the title for Ruby’s Ghost?

By accident, it was just what I was calling it and it stuck. Sometimes titles are really hard to come up with, other times they just click. I try not to get too set on a title as publishers often change them.

 

 

-How did you come up with the idea for Ruby’s Ghost?

My little niece talked about seeing the ghost of a motorcyclist in her room and it wasn’t much of a jump for me to have an idea of a teenaged heroine seeing the ghost and for something to happen. There’s always the ‘what if?’ when you’re a writer and the next idea is always there waiting to be written.

 

 -Jackie