Monday, October 14, 2013

Luck of the Dragon by Susannah Scott with Interview & Excerpt



Luck of the Dragon
Susannah Scott
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Release Date:  June 2013
Publisher: Entangled Covet





Book Description:
Luciana de Luca has a PhD in sass and gemology—and a problem. Her twin brother’s gambling debts have gotten out of hand, and a mob enforcer is blackmailing her to rob the latest, greatest mega-casino on the Strip. Although Lucy has worked her whole life to get away from her family’s grifter past, to save her brother, she dons three-inch heels and a sluts-r-us dress and struts into Alec’s Gerald’s casino, determined to put her long-forgotten thieving ways to the test again.

Alec Gerald, a shape-shifting dragon, has built the Crown Jewel casino to provide sanctuary for his people amongst the flash and awe of Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the sexy little thief trying to rob his gem exhibit turns out to be his mate, and he must woo her before he loses his dragon form forever. With enemies in every corner, and the all-important mating ceremony looming, Alec and Lucy must learn to trust each other, before time runs out for Alec and the rest of the dragons.



Luck of the Dragon Rafflecopter: $25 Amazon Gift Card

Interview:
Hi Book Lunatic! 
Thank you so much for having my on your site today to celebrate the release of my Paranormal Romance, Luck of the Dragon!
1.   Please tell me a little about your main characters.
Glad too! Alec has a Vegas Casino and a Dragon form. Lucy has a PhD in sass and gemology—and a problem. She is being blackmailed to steal from Alec to save her ne'er-do-well twin brother.
2.   Why did you choose to write about dragons?
I love dragons. I love that they can fly, and I love that they are over-the-top powerful! The added human-dragon shifter element is wonderful because Alec’s bestial nature is in constant conflict with his human reasoning. I loved getting to know Alec better by watching how he dealt with his competing impulses. But, mostly it is the flying, and fire, and power,
3.   What was your favorite part of the storyline?
The romance! Alec and Lucy start as enemies, and have great banter and chemistry, before they find their happily ever after.
4.   Will there be more books that follow Luck of the Dragon, as a series perhaps?
Absolutely! Stop Dragon My Heart Around will be out this spring. It is Leo and Tee’s story. A fun, friends to lovers tale with lots a sexy bantering. Tee is part of the Las Vegas Paiute tribe so there is a cool theme of “belonging” that runs through the story too. What is means to belong to the dragons, to a tribe, to each other? 
5.   Can you give us a short excerpt from Luck of the Dragon with the set-up? 
Alec and Lucy have some really great arguments. This one in Alec’s office is one of my favorites:

***
Alec opened the door to face 130 pounds of fury.
“I am a respected professional and you are manhandling me and treating me like a criminal!” Luciana yelled at him.
Alec handed her the drink and sat in a deep-seated leather chair. The chair sighed with ease when he leaned back. He crossed his ankle at his knee and took a sip. “Luciana—”
“Oh, please, all my captors call me Lucy.” She glared at him. “You sound like a priest hearing confession when you call me Luciana.”
“Well, we can’t have that.” Alec chuckled and sipped his own drink, the taste of mellow corn mash and oak barrels tingling over his tongue. Alcohol did not affect dragons in the way it affected the feeble humans. He drank the bourbon purely because he liked the taste.
“Does this have something in it?” Luciana held the drink to the light. 
“I wouldn’t harm you.” Alec took a second sip of his drink, and it fired down his throat to his belly in a pleasing trail.
Lucy set her drink on his desk, untouched. “I’m not the trusting sort.”
Alec gave her what he hoped was a charming look. “You can trust me. I can help you.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Lucy said in a voice used to stopping cabs.
“Fine, don’t trust me, but I need you to start your appraisal tomorrow,” Alec said in a voice used to calling stretch limos.
Lucy’s face flushed. Her collarbones rose and fell under her pale skin in elegant lines.
He wanted to kiss her, to see if the zing of electricity was a fluke, or if the fates had gone mad and paired him with a human mate.
She might bite him.
He might like it.
6.   What are you reading now?
I have an Elizabeth Hoyt novel on my nightstand, but I haven’t cracked it open yet because I have been covered up with edits. I use books as a reward for meeting my writing goals. I tend to read outside my writing genre. Rachel Gibson, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Sherry Thomas and Lisa Kleypas are some of my current favorites.
7.   What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
My absolute favorite thing is to go to one of the many spring fed rivers we have in this area. We have three young boys, and my very best days have been spent in a chair beside the water, watching them catch critters, while my husband fishes and I enjoy a good book and margarita.
8.   Books in print or eBooks?
Ebook only right now!
Thank you again for having me on your blog, and giving me an opportunity to connect with your readers!
  
All my best,

Susannah Scott
FB/SusannahScottAuthor


 Excerpt:
Lucy glared at the casino owner. She had researched him, of course, studying his athletic image in hundreds of Internet pictures. The man was good-looking, apparently brilliant, and ruthless in his business deals. Watching the mesmerized crowd lean toward the stage, she had to admit he had that something else too—the showmanship of a champion con man—a magnetism she knew could draw people like lemmings off a cliff.

The man was flat-out people-genic.

“As many of you know, this project has been years in the making.” Alec Gerald surveyed the courtyard, working the crowd with his voice and easy mannerisms. “Our gem exhibit opens in a few weeks and will be the largest private collection of gems in the world. Carat for carat, we will outweigh England’s crown jewels.”

Lucy’s eyes never left him. Though his voice was cultured and smooth, Gerald’s posture was wide-legged and slightly aggressive. Formidable. Her eyes traveled from his polished shoes up his body. The curve of quad muscle showed through his pants when he shifted to the side. His torso was taut and gave way to wide, burly shoulders. A bump on the bridge of his nose indicated he’d been in a fight or two. 

That was not good for her. Not good at all.

Lucy pondered the man on the stage, not happy with the picture she was forming of her opponent. Gerald’s playful words, five o’clock shadow, and slightly long hair all seemed to suggest a man of desultory casualness. Indeed, the articles she had read on him went on, and on, about his genial public presence. A veritable man of the world, who’d been-there-done-it all, twice. A man who could offer the all-elusive it to anyone with a plane ticket to Vegas. A man so charming, he didn’t need to shave twice a day.

But her instincts told her this was wrong. Gerald was a serious man who only pretended to be lighthearted and casual.


She would have to watch her step.

About the Author:

SUSANNAH SCOTT lives in the Missouri Ozarks and is the lone female in a very loud household of males ranging in age from 4 to 40. While she jokes that the extreme levels of testosterone inspired her to write romance, it is really the love of creating an excellent story, and the occasional dreams of twenty-foot dragons, that wake her and send her to the laptop before the chaos of daily life ensues. Susannah loves to hear from her readers at the following social media locations:



1 comment:

  1. I loved this book and I can't wait for next one in this series.

    ReplyDelete