Review: Claimed by Dragons

Reviewed by Shelly
 

This is book two in the Bag of Tricks series, which is about four friends - Arcona, Becca, Devon and Jael. Claimed by Dragons is Jael’s story. I wasn’t sure what to expect because I’ve read one of Skyze’s Loose-Id publications and didn’t really care for the story, but I usually found that co-authors not only bring it, but also bring it well.

The story starts off in a Salem wiccan shop (kinda cliché but I’ll roll with it). The ladies are getting their futures told by Casey the witch and it’s now Jael’s turn. Arcona had her turn in Bag of Tricks 1 – The Trix which I didn’t read.

‘What if an open heart, a trip to Africa, and a stone could lead her toward happiness?’ That’s the big question for the heroine. Jael is a photographer at a popular magazine. She’s always been a bit restless, a bit indecisive, and I would dare say, a bit flighty. Alpha Roarke is a Human Resource Manager at the same company while his beta Kypton is in the Information Technology department and both belong to the Marduko – a race of male dragons that mate with female humans. Jael has been having on and off sexual occasions with Roarke. I can’t call it a sexual relationship because from what I can tell, there’s no relationship; in the mean time Roarke and Kypton are living together as a couple, but it’s very low key and supposedly no one at work knows that they’re involved, but I question that because of them going into closets to take the ‘edge off’. Come on now, either Sally the secretary or Joe the maintenance man --someone at work-- had to notice

After picking her stone, Casey tells Jael that her future is in African continent, specifically the mountains of Kilimanjaro where she has to bury that stone for her wish(es) to come true. Jael wonders, how is she going to get there? She’s got a history of putting things off – vacation, relationships – you get the picture. When she gets to work, it just so happens that her dream assignment from her boss Roarke is waiting for her – a photo safari trip to Africa.

Joining Jael in the mountains is Roarke and Kypton (reminds me of Superman’s home planet); these two are there to get their mate. After a little ‘it’s a jungle out there’ safari adventure with her guide Kibo (this name cracked me up because it’s one of the names of the volcanoes on Kilimanjaro) then chillaxing at a waterfall, Jael is rescued by her dragons then promptly faints. After waking up and getting some questions answered, Jael and the men are quickly sexing it up. After finding out more about Roarke and Kypton and their desire for Jael as their mate, she also learns that it’s not all fun and sex. There’s a mad man, Commander Bienheuré and the Order of the Knights of Saint George’s whose only goal in life is to eradicate all dragons. There’s much of the story that revolves around this, but it was a little surprising how inept the bad guy was, considering that he and OKSG have been dragon hunters for several generations.

I really wish I liked this story a lot more than I did. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, nor was I unexpectedly hit with anything that I would find objectionable. I just couldn’t get into Jael or the guys. I didn’t feel any connection emotionally to any of the three. I thought Jael was way too wishy washy in both her thoughts about relationships in general and her interactions with the guys. There were moments I really wanted to just smack her in the forehead, followed up with a ‘duh’. I definitely didn’t feel that Kypton got his due in the relationship. I almost wish he wasn’t there (instead had his own story) because the majority of the interaction happened between Jael and Roarke.

The ending was way too rushed and didn’t even make sense to me. But it was a great way to bring back a couple of characters that I thought it would be great to learn more about (maybe in BOT 3?). What made me rate this book so high was because of the last quarter, Jael really stepped up and started to became the woman I saw peeking through.

Happy Reading Folks!

Rating: C+

*ARC provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Claimed by Dragons

by Amber Skyze and Katalina Leon

Release Date: September 25, 2012

Publisher: Loose ID