Wednesday, 5 December 2012

BTS Tours: Amber Skyze and Katalina Leon


Claimed By Dragons
By Amber Skyze & Katalina Leon
Book two of the Bag Of Tricks series

Genre: Paranormal erotic-romance, vampire, historical, parallel worlds.
Publisher: Loose Id LLC

Date of Publication: September 25, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61118-903-2

Number of pages: 286
Word Count: 91,444k


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Amber Skyze and Katalina Leon are the co-authors of “Claimed By Dragons” book 2 in The Bag Of Tricks book series from Loose Id Publishing. Claimed By Dragons is a high-adventure, paranormal, dragon-shifter ménage with two great guys and one very lucky woman.

Blurb: 
In an odd Wiccan shop in Salem, Jael pulls an unusual stone from a witch’s wish bag. Little does she know her wildest dreams of adventure and a torrid affair with two gorgeous co-workers are about to come true—in spades.

Jael’s dreamy boss, Roarke offers her the assignment of a lifetime: a photo safari to Mount Kilimanjaro. The African scenery is stunning but the unexpected arrival of her two office crushes, Roarke and Kypton ignites her passion. Just as the trio is getting steamy at a beautiful waterfall, danger intervenes forcing the men to reveal their secret. They're dragons. And now, to save her life, they have no choice but to abduct a startled Jael to their mountain lair on Kilimanjaro.

In the dragons' love nest, Jael learns the truth about their origins and explores all the erotic possibilities two eager lovers can offer. Love awakens, but the guys are being stalked by a covert group of dragon hunters and withholding a life or death secret that will push Jael’s courageous heart and commitment to the limits.

Warning: Story contains gorgeous male dragon shifters eager to mate, lots of hot male action between two loving men, scorching ménage with one lucky woman, anal play for all, and polyandry with a happy ending. What more do you want? : )

Note:This book contains explicit sexual situations, graphic language, and material that some readers may find objectionable: anal play/intercourse, male/male sexual practices, menage (m/m/f).




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When we were writing Claimed By Dragons music played a big part and we want to share a few of favorites with you today.
Amber Skyze: Music and Writing Are One Since a child I’ve connected to music on many different levels. I love all different types, but lean more towards Rock/Heavy Metal. I listen to music more than I watch television. My CD collection is large and my iPod diverse.
Music plays a huge part in my writing too. I hear a song and picture a story. Not the full story, but a general theme. Sometimes it’s only the title that strikes an idea for a story, but normally it’s the lyrics.
Take for instance Dante’s Desire, published with Ellora’s Cave. I wrote this story after hearing the song I Get Off, by Halestorm.  It’s about someone getting off watching another get off. I knew I had to write Dante’s Desire. The book starts with Addison, the heroine, performing sexual acts in her window for her sexy neighbor across the street.
Another Ellora’s Cave book – Spend The Night With Me, is loosely attached to a song. The song Need You Now, by Lady Antebellum starts off talking about scattered pictures. The image struck a chord with me (no pun intended). This book starts with my heroine Brooke looking at pictures of her now deceased fiancé. After hearing this song, I changed part of the scene to her sitting on the floor with pictures scattered around her. She’s packing them away to move forward with her life.
Sometimes my heroes are musicians like Reed Walker in Body Shots, available from Ellora’s Cave. He’s a singer and guitar player. His band plays at the heroines bar. Reed signs a song he’d written for the heroine many years prior, weakening her defenses.
Those are just a few examples of how I weave my love for music into my writing life. Is there anything that plays a big role in your life?
Katalina Leon: I have to listen to music when I write, it’ not an option, it’s a must! I prefer moody instrumental soundtracks when I’m actually writing, but I listen to and love all this stuff too, whenever I need a little break.

Best Halloween song:
Peter Murphy, Trent Reznor, TV On The Radio
“Bela Lugosi’s Dead”



Best song to feel grateful to a loved one:
U2 “The First Time”

Best music to reflect to:
Nine Inch Nails “La Mer”

Best ambient music to get into a work groove:
Kaya Project “Vijaya”

Best song to remember the dream that got away:
(Yes, Trent does look like Professor Snape)
Nine Inch Nails “Something I Can Never Have”

Best song to shape shift to:
TV On The Radio “Wolf Like Me”

Best Wrathful Goddess of Destruction Song:
Carrie Underwood “Before He Cheats”

Best Music to feel a haunting senses of beauty:
Ry Cooder, “Paris Texas”

Best guilty pleasure song:
Eminem & Rihanna “Love The Way You Lie”
(It’s so dysfunctional, wrong and hypnotic. It’s not a Halloween song but it is scary!)


Here’s an Excerpt from Claimed By Dragons: In this scene Jael has pulled a stone from Witch Casey’s wish bag and had her fortune told by a wriggly snake, now she has to sit still for a moment and reflect on her love life.

Jael closed her fingers around the stone and thought of another man who worked with her—Kypton. Kypton was quiet and aloof with most everyone in the department, but his gaze followed her longingly every time she walked past.
When she told her friends she liked the manager of the IT department, they teased her relentlessly. They couldn’t picture her with a computer geek. Thing was, Kypton was the furthest thing from a computer geek. She understood why they immediately thought of someone with glasses, a shirt buttoned up tight to the neck, and a pocket protector sticking out of his shirt pocket. That wasn’t Kypton.
What her friends and others in her office seemed to miss was that beneath the subdued exterior, Kypton was smoking hot with pale blond hair and baby blue eyes. His voice carried the softest hint of northern Europe. He pronounced e’s as a’s, and she wondered if Kypton had gone to school in Switzerland or lived near there as a child.
Occasionally she was fortunate enough to peek down his collar and glimpse the silky blond hair on his chest. His broad shoulders and well-defined chest stood out in anything he wore. His arms looked like he frequented the gym, and those fitted khakis he favored as office wear gave her a view of a sexy, tight ass. A hint of smoldering physicality simmered just below the surface as if he were completely capable of picking her up, carrying her into a quiet storage room, and banging her senseless. At least that was what she hoped. She concluded the other women in her office must be blind or foolish not to notice Kypton’s potential. Kypton seemed thoughtful and sensitive too, which was a huge plus. He’d jumped in to help her on numerous occasions, often staying late at work to do so. He also avoided all office gossip or conflicts and went out of his way to help others before he was even asked, which she found pretty damn attractive.
All in all Kypton was a dreamy guy, even if he might appear a bit sedate.
Only problem was Roarke attracted her too.
Roarke was Kypton’s opposite. Roarke was outgoing and authoritative. When he entered the room, others stopped what they were doing to listen. Though he was a manager, he had an artistic, wild vibe about him that was exciting to be near. He dressed well in bold colors like earthy orange or rich purple. It was a treat to watch him walk past her desk and catch a whiff of his subtle citrusy aftershave—that was, if he ever really shaved. His square jaw seemed perpetually stubbled in a grainy, sexy sort of way.
Roarke had coppery skin and the swarthy good looks of a Barbary pirate chief. She half fantasized he was the son of some powerful khan and his mother was some delicate-boned beauty. Roarke was both puzzling and stunning to look at. His sleek nose and chiseled bone structure made his origins difficult to guess. She wondered if there was a tribe of exotically perfect people hiding somewhere on a long-forgotten island, who sneaked away from their hidden paradise now and then to work as office managers.
As a natural leader, Roarke drew people to his side with ease. He spoke passionately with his expressive hands and cognac-brown eyes as much as he did with words. Anything earthy and creative interested him—nature, movies, paintings, or books, he loved them all. His apartment contained a dazzling array of fine books and an impressive collection of beautiful artifacts displayed in lit niches.
A visit to his apartment was not only a physical thrill; it was mentally stimulating to the artist in her to look at the many things he’d collected over the years. Roarke seemed to live in such a different world from the average person, and she longed be to invited in.
Roarke worked as a manager in the human resource department of International Explorer magazine and network. He was well respected and very much in demand.
She’d foolishly told Roarke on the first date she had no intention of getting involved with a coworker, so maybe some of the distance between them was her fault. She wanted to take it back. What a dummy she was for saying that.
That wasn’t to say nothing had happened between them. It had. Twice after a dreamy museum date or trip to the movies on Roarke’s birthday, the date had ended with both of them unable to keep their hands off each other.
Roarke had picked her up, carried her into his bedroom, tossed her onto his amethyst sheets, and lavished her with the best oral she’d ever had. Roarke was a total sensualist and seemed to know exactly what she needed to come hard. She’d loved every second of writhing in his firm but loving grasp and was eager to reciprocate.
She just wasn’t sure where she stood with him. A date once in a while was for chumps. Maybe he was waiting for her to admit that she did want to get involved with a coworker before pursuing her a little harder.
“Never underestimate the power of love.” Witch Casey winked as she popped the captured snake back into the basket.
Jael turned her attention to the woman standing in front of her. Had she been reading Jael’s mind?
“Your dilemma will not be hard to decide. You already know exactly what you want, and you don’t have to choose.”
Jael’s eyes widened.
Dear God, she can read my mind. I wonder if she saw the naughty thoughts?
“I did, dear.” Witch Casey shrugged. “But your secrets are safe with me. Besides, no one believes me anyway.”
(Jael’s life gets crazy fast, when she returns to work to face Roarke and Kypton with the wish stone in her pocket.)
Thank you so much for having us as your guests!
“Claimed By Dragons” Amber Skyze & Katalina Leon
Book 2 in The Bag Of Tricks book series.
Loose Id Publishing:

Look for Book 1 in The Bag Of Tricks series “The Strix”.
Also available at ARe and Amazon.
Join Amber Skyze and Katalina Leon on facebook.

Purchase links:





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Review

Like it’s prequel, Claimed by Dragons, proved to be a delicious and intriguing read, and a fab continuation of The bag of Tricks series.

The heroine of book 2 is Jael one of the four friends that stepped into Wiccan shop during the trip the group took to Salem. Jael is feisty with a zest for life, but has serious commitment issues. Luckily for her fate is playing in her favour and the two men she has her eye on are going to play a big part in it.

As with Arcona from book one, Jael also has her fortune told and is handed the bag to pick out a stone. She is given instructions on what to do to help bring love into her life. Jael’s journey is further away than Arcona’s, but boy is the journey worth it.

Cue Roarke and Kye, two very opposite males who have a very tender, supportive, and hot relationship. They are the descendants from an ancient race of Dragon shifters known as Marduko, and like all before them they have to find their mate in order to survive . . . and they believe Jael is the one.

I don’t want to go into more detail than that, but what I will say is HOT DAMN there are some super sexy scenes in this story that will have you weak at the knees. Dragon bites? Yes please. ;-P

I enjoyed the background of these creatures. Shifters, but with an interesting history that takes place on another planet, which serves as a very believable reason for them existing. I love how the authors tie in Dragons through mythology, and folklore linking it to these shifters. 

We have a secret order who thrive on the destruction of these dragons, some beautiful description of Africa and Kilimanjaro, romance, action, super hot sex scenes, and a fabulous plot.

Claimed by Dragons is an intriguing twist on shifters, not to mention sexy as hell. If you enjoyed book one in The Bag of Tricks Series, then you will definitely love book 2. Katalina Leon and Amber Skyze have weaved yet another fabulous story and I am eagerly awaiting the next in the series.

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Author Bio Katalina Leon:

I’m an artist, an author, mother and wife. I write for Loose Id Publishing and Ellora’s Cave. I try to bring a touch of the mystical and a big sense of adventure to everything I write because I believe there’s a bold, kick-ass heroine inside all of us who wants to take a wild ride with a strong worthy hero.

                 




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Author Bio Amber Skyze:

From a very young age, Amber Skyze began making up stories–the only child syndrome. Telling tall tales to all her friends she never dreamed of putting words on paper. In fact if anyone asked her if she would write when she grew up, she’d have laughed.
It wasn’t until raising children and reading all those romances that she decided–hey, I can write these. HA! Easier said than done.
When not crafting hot, steamy tales, this New York transplant now resides in Rhode Island with her husband, four children (who force her to work a day job), and three dogs.
She currently writes for Ellora’s Cave, Loose Id and is self-published.

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