review: Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

pub date: Jan 11, 2011
publisher: Splinter (Sterling Children's Books)
pgs: 448
source: ARC from publisher


blurb from goodreads:
Would you risk it all to change your destiny? The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she'd be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that's exactly what happened.


Face-to-face with dark forces, spell-binding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever. Tiger's Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.


me:
This is a long book for me. Longer than I usually read. And though there was a lot that I didn't like so much, Houck really knows how to write a fun, tension filled, clean romance. I liked that. It was the romance that kept me reading.

I like action. I like pace that keeps me interested and involved with the story. I didn't get that from this book. A lot of slow parts. Especially when I felt things happened outside of the main plot just so our two main characters could have a romantic moment. Heck, I'm all for romance. But having Kelsey hurt herself just so she could be held by a shirtless Ren was kind of annoying since there was no reason for Kelsey to get hurt. And after a day, she's perfectly fine. (but wow...a shirtless Ren...yummy)

I didn't understand the curse. Or why Kelsey needed to be involved in breaking the curse.I did begin to skim about half way through, so maybe I just missed it?

The dialog was super cheesy. I just could not imagine anyone saying things like Kelsey said them. Ever.


Kelsey just wasn't an engaging character. She kind of bored me. And way too inquisitive. She'd ask Ren and his brother, Kishan, and Mr. Kadam about their lives before she met them and their past bogged down the present. It wasn't important to the story, and in a 450 page book I am not wanting to be bogged down in frivolous detail.

Ren, however, had some personality. As did Kishan. As did the relationship between the brothers. I like them. A lot. I liked Ren as a tiger and the development of the relationship between him and Kelsey was fun to read.

The writing was very wordy. Very detailed. I get that Kelsey needed to eat. And drink. But I don't want to know everything she ate. I don't want to know every time she got a water bottle from her backpack on this epic journey. Just get on with the story. 100 pages shorter and I would've liked it a lot more.

Did I mention the dialog?

But like I said, the romance was awesome. Great tension in this book. It's what kept me wanting to read when the plot wasn't doing it for me. When Kelsey got on my nerves, I just skimmed until Ren and her held hands or kissed or cuddled together. Sigh. It was that good.

I am seriously invested in the success of their relationship, which is why when I closed the book I was committed to reading the second in the series, Tiger's Quest. UNITL I saw it has over 600 pages. I don't know if I can handle that...especially when it's a planned trilogy. But I'm going to give it a try...I'm that invested in Ren.

Anyway, I recommend this book to anyone who likes a very nice romance with a hot tiger-boy, that doesn't go beyond kissing and cuddling.

ps...
though the release date for Tiger's Curse isn't until January, it was self published last year. My library already has this book and the second in the series. Yours might, too!