Tiger's Curse

By: Colleen Houck

Narrated by: Annika Boras, Sanjiv Jahveri

Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The last thing teenager Kelsey Hayes thought she'd be doing over the summer was meeting Ren, a mysterious white tiger and cursed Indian prince! When she learns she alone can break the Tiger's curse, Kelsey's life is turned upside-down. The unlikely duo journeys halfway around the world to piece together an Indian prophecy, find a way to free the man trapped by a centuries-old spell, and discover the path to their true destiny.

©2011 Colleen Houck (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A smart, vibrant adventure romance wrapped in a quest… takes the protagonists through adventures that would make Steven Spielberg proud… Full of danger, dash, allegory, and love under the banana tree." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Frustrating

The magic and mystery and exposure to another culture is awesome in this story. The descriptions created the scene in my mind that allowed me to feel like I was there much of the time. I bought this to listen to while traveling and I was so engrossed that I would listen well after we had stopped for the day. What was disappointing was the self-deprecating, whiny attitude that Kelsey displayed throughout the second half of the book. It's very frustrating to read a female character who is constantly doubting their own self-worth. It is somewhat forgivable since the character is only 18, but it's still very frustrating. I liked the writing and the characters enough that I will read the next in the series, but hopefully she will evolve and grow into a more confident woman.

An unappealing heroine

Any additional comments?

I wanted to love this book and I was intrigued by the premise. In practice the breadth and scope promised by the synopsis swept me away. This story was enjoyable right up until the de-evolution of the heroine. The book lost my attention when this young girl began to act like a spoiled intractable child.

My own children are grown, and I have to say that none of them would have behaved like a temper tantrum throwing two year old at the age of 18 regardless of the hardships they had or have faced, and they have indeed faced extreme loss in their young lives. What I do not understand is that our heroine started out as a likeable, reasonable, 18 year old person. She was becoming an adult that was self aware yet cautious, and then abruptly devolved into someone who had lost the ability to "use their words" and validated her every action.

Please understand, I am not picking on this novel as a "teen genre" book. I read broadly and like well executed teen pieces as much as I enjoy mystery, sci-fi, non-fiction, or romance. I almost never dislike a book but I honestly do not know if I will try the next book myself.

My review is one of caution. This book has many excellent reviews, and it is good, but I caution those of you who believe our young people should act in an adult manner by this age, and not allow fear to cause them to behave like spoiled children, this book may not be for you.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE NEW SERIES

Any additional comments?

This is an AMAZING... PHENOMENAL... WONDERFUL series, and it has instantly shot to the top of my personal favorite series list. I should mention that I have three series tied for the top spot honors, meaning I could never choose between them. All are equally great in their own way. In awe of this story, I could go on for pages and still not do justice to Colleen Houck 's brilliance as it relates to this series.

Tiger's Curse is a perfect beginning to an amazing series. You can't keep yourself from falling in love with the very meek, extremely gentle, and absolutely endearing characters. I'm in love with every last one of them: Kelsey, Ren, Kishan, and Mr. Kadam.

The story is as intriguing as the characters. We are not forced to like anything about it. Instead, Colleen Houck allows us to fall in love with each and every one of them through their actions, their stories, and their love of each other. Colleen Houck made me extremely curious about India. I found myself planning a visit the county because of the beautiful descriptions.

This is another one of those stories that can easily be appreciated by anyone. The book gives us plenty of action and lots of wonderfully intimate moments. There is nothing (sex or profanity) that would make me shy away from recommending to avid readers younger than eighteen.

Honestly, Tiger's Curse is a great read for anyone and everyone. As I said earlier, there are few that I would recommend higher.

T. R. Graves, author
Warriors of the Cross
Guardians of the Cross
Enemies of the Cross

Ren is a PRINCE in shining white tiger skin

I am a grandmother of fourteen teenagers and I will be purchasing this book for my grandchildren. I found the characters to be well developed and I was surprised time and again by the 'dream come true' the heroine fell into. The descriptions of Mr. Kadam's plane and Ren's house were vivid and tantalizing. I wanted to trade places with Kelsey, what a fantastic story! The book ended all too abruptly for me so I was glad to find out that the second book was being released just a week after I completed the first one - good timing for me, must have been agonizing waiting for the earlier fans of the book. Kudos to the author for creating such a wonderful story line!

A Fantasy Romance to Remember

I realize this book isn't perfect. There may be some loopholes in logic, but this is fantasy so roll with it. When I read Twilight, I felt it was an embarrassment. The characters were stupid. I felt I could maybe write better than that, but I couldn't write this. The reason I compare this to Twilight is that it has a love triangle in it, but at least there are reasons for the dilemma. Plot reasons and magic reasons, reasons of destiny. This book is smartly written. The poetry is awesome. The literary allusions are great and explained or explanatory. I enjoyed the characters, the magic, the settings and the romantic dialogue. Best of all it is clean! In all 4 books there is nothing bad and I think only 1 swear word in the whole series! I'm not saying I loved everything the main character did, but it all works out in a great way. So when you want to strangle Kelsey, just remember the story isn't over yet. She does vacillate from heroic and creative thinking to a little self-centered and stupid, but the story and fantasy are still great. I love great fantasy adventures and this is awesome! I devoured all 4 of these books and then started the series over and listened again. My family teased me about all the dreamy looks I gave them. It was so worth it. I'm so glad she kept it clean! Hurray! I hope she can keep writing. I'll keep reading. I loved the way she wove all the world mythologies together. Pure fun. Some of the best books I've read in a while! I loved the narrator. I suppose you could listen to it faster, but I wouldn't. It's like chocolate. Just sit back and savor.... Happy listening!

Absolutely Wonderful

I fell in love with this series several years ago. I read all 4 books straight thru 3 times. I couldnt get enough LOL I was so happy to find it on Audible that I had to download it & relive all the exciting adventures again. I love the old fashioned love story where a stolen kiss is treasured forever. The path to be able to show true love is long & tangled adventure. The mythology story is so very real & makes you want to believe it to be true. Ren, Kelsey, Kishan & Mr Kadam are wonderful characters with great personality & character. This book & series shows that true friendship, love & loyalty can stand the test of time. Book 1 was as wonderful a story as I remembered. Can hardly wait to start on Book 2.

By far my favorite book series!

You will only be disappointed if you don't read this series! There are no words. Read for yourself, phenomenal.

Love this book!

This is my second time! I love this story and the author's imagination and suspense! Riveting love story and great plot!

love this book!! on to the next in series!

love the story will definitely get the rest of the series! cant wait to continue!

Heartful romance, great mythological plot threads

Jahveri's narration, though brief, wasn't as nice as Boras's. Her voice really illuminates this book.