A Note from Danielle:

Hello, folks!  This was supposed to be a review and guest post, but a variety of delays and circumstances have me about 71% finished with the book, and so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open.  I plan to finish reading Dragon’s Thief later today so stay tuned!  The second post should either be today or early tomorrow.

My impressions  of the book so far…

I love all the characters in this story — they’re all badasses.  I was almost immediately intrigued by Beyla.  Past anguish and tragedy follows her — she’s a mystery in need of solving, and I can’t help wanting to.  As the story progresses, I come to love her.  She’s contrary and stubborn and makes me laugh on occasion.  She’s very realistic, fighting to protect her status quo, afraid of change (even if she would never admit that), even trying to cling to an existence that makes her miserable.  Carlton is another character I just want to see more of.  I feel drawn to him.  I feel like she didn’t completely utilize the richness, the possibilities of the post-apocalyptic world she created, but the unique take of the supernatural elements seems to make up for it.

According to The Element Encyclopedia Of Birthdays by Theresa Cheung, my ruling planet is the Sun; my symbol the Lion; my Tarot card The Empress (creativity); my favorable numbers are 2 and 3 (my fav is 3). Lucky days are Sunday and Thursday; lucky colors gold, green, and pale blue; my birthstone is Ruby; and at my best, I’m loyal, adventurous, and idealistic.

Well, one day that idealism took a hard hit. Actually it was a hard year, but we won’t go there. I’d just gotten a call from my agent with another rejection. To say I was disappointed and frustrated would be putting it mildly, but it was probably the best thing to ever happen since publishing my first book. I fussed and fumed, asked everyone who would listen, “how is an author to find her true voice, and where that voice fits in the publishing landscape?”

After a few days of wallowing in the mud, lightning struck. I decided to take my favorite heroine (a thief), pair her up with my favorite hero (a mercenary), and have them meet in my favorite place (a sleazy bar). I thought if I could write their introduction in several different genres, then theoretically I should be able to discover where my writing voice fit best. Would it be cozy mystery (I was crossing my fingers)? Young adult? Historical? Paranormal? I already had an example of contemporary romance, my most recent rejected boy meets girl, so I figured that would be a good comparison.  And I’d let my writing buddies be the judges.

So I packed my bag and got on a plane to go spend a long weekend with the Mr., who was taking a class a few states to the east. High above the clouds, I decided to start with paranormal – get it out of the way first. I couldn’t possibly write a paranormal novel, though I loved to read them. Here’s what flew out of my fingers and onto the baby Dell…

Logan Pen slipped out of the lusty crowd and into a bar that was only a decimal quieter. He’d been in New Orleans six hours and in the French Quarter half that time. Already he’d picked up a tail.

The dragon, tail circling his right thigh, sharp, piercing talons morphing into an undulating body of blue-green scales arching over his hip and ending on the flat of his stomach burned in warning. The fierce snout breathed powerful flames that could have been real, if not for the fact it was his birth mark.

A shadow, an indistinct inky blot edged stealthily around the crowd of partying humanity filling Bourbon Street, following him into the overcrowded bar. The dank stench of dark caves crept toward him. His pulse shot up. He’d never hunted an Umbra before. This would be his first capture.

Letting his lips twist into a rare smile, he found a seat in the darkest corner of the room. Game about to begin, he looked forward to his first skirmish with a shadow thief.

And that’s how Dragon’s Thief was born. I started writing, and couldn’t stop. Never did write the scene in any other genre 🙂

Blurb

From the Dragonkind Chronicles – the battle is just beginning…

In a post -apocalyptic world where Darwin changelings emerge from hiding and humans struggle to reclaim their former glory, mercenary Logan Pen doesn’t want to save the world. His mission is to protect his greatest treasure – his family. That is until he tries to capture a shadow thief. Beyla, a beguiling, emotionless Umbra steals his telein – a talisman forged at his birth while escaping his grasp, making her by ancient dragon law his mate.

Her enemy – a fiery Naga – and the talisman she’s stolen from him rouse emotions Beyla has spent three long years in the land of shadows stripping away. Still she hasn’t been able to banish the grief and pain left by the murder of her human family.

Fighting a desire that flames out of their control, and scrambling to save humanity and their own kind, Logan and Beyla are forced to  join forces to keep a weapon of incredible destructive power out of the hands of the man who would use it to conquer their world. With evil on the brink of victory, only through sacrifice do they learn to trust and embrace the love that will change them forever.

Amazon  | BN | Windtree Press

About the Author

Susan Lute is first and foremost a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, dreamer, and author. She is traditionally and Indie published in contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and and paranormal/fantasy romance.

Her debut novel, Oops…We’re Married? has sold over 130,000 copies, was a Reader’s Choice nominee and Holt Medallion Finalist. Things you should know – she was born the oldest child of a military family; she’s traveled far, but has never been to Hawaii, Paris, or Crete, an omission she hopes to correct soon; her favorite places in the whole world are New York City, Sedona (Arizona), Ouray (Colorado), and Bath (England).

Currently she is working on the second novel in her Dragonkind Chronicles, and dreaming up a new urban fantasy.

website:  www.susanlute.com

See Jane Publish  http://seejanepublish.wordpress.com/

facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Susan-Lute/202040233153546

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1252907.Susan_Lute