Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

And now, for blog post number 2, another one of my favorites...


Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Synopsis:
Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

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, spellbinding 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.

Summary: Kelsey Hayes, 18-years old, fresh out of High-school and ready to take on the world. Well, until the fall when she starts Chemeketa Community College, in her home state of Oregon. With her long deceased parents out of the picture Kelsey doesn't see much of a life ahead of her: college, a job and, most likely, a lonely adult hood. But until then she gets a job as a temp. for a small, family-run circus where she sells tickets, cleans up after the shows and cares for the circuses’ white majestic tiger, Dhiren. But when a mysterious stranger comes to buy the tiger and take it back to India, Kelsey realizes she’s come to care for the gentle beast with mesmerizing cobalt blue eyes, and ends up being offered the job to make sure Ren (the tiger) gets to the Tiger Reserve safely. While in India she learns a secret about Ren- the gentle, lovable beast she's come to love- that will change the course of her life forever. It turns out that her tiger, isn't actually a tiger. He's a man, and not just an ordinary man either. He's a 350-year-old Prince of and an long forgotten Indian empire that was overtaken by an evil sorcerer after he cursed Dhiren and his brother Kishan  to live immortal lives as tigers, except for a few precious minutes of each day, where they can transform back into the men they once were, until they break their curse. But in order to break the curse, they need the help of Durga's (a Hindu goddess) chosen one. And who does that happen to be? Kelsey of course! As Kelsey and Ren set out to break his and Kishan's curse, Kelsey begins to realize that she not only has feelings for the beast part of Ren, but for the man as well...

Characters: Out of all the Book Boyfriends that I have, Ren and Kishan have to be one of my all-time favorites. Not only are they total gentlemen,  but with Rens lovely poems and Kishans darker past you can't help but love them! (It also doesn't hurt that they both are really attractive. Just saying) Kelsey is also one of my favorite heroines. She's very relatable and just about everyone can find a part of you in her. When it come's to guys, sometimes you really just kinda want to slap her, but then again, I feel like that's what makes her more real. She isn't this perfect, beautiful girl, who can navigate guys like a seasoned sailor, she's learning as she goes along. Throughout the series, you really see this trio grow together and individually.

Romance: This also has to be one of my favorite romances in a series as well. I hadn't read a lot of books with a love triangle in them before this, and even though it doesn't really come into play in this book, there is some easily spotted foreshadows of it for later. But the main romance in this book was really nice. You could tell that Colleen didn't want it to be insta-love, and have her character's all over each other the entire time, and she knew how she wanted this relationship to go, which was kinda nice. With that said, it also wasn't. Remember how I said that Kelsey isn't really that well of a seasoned sailor on the love boat just yet? Shes just kinda stumbling across the deck in this book, and at times it was kinda infuriating. But I feel like it was a good way for Houck to show that this relationship was going to go like any other one, and that they were both going to screw up occasionally.

Mythology: Tiger's Curse was the first book that I've read to have Hindu Gods or mythology in it, and I'm glad to say it doesn't disappoint  Because Kelsey is learning about the culture at the same time you are, Houck does a really good job of making things understandable for you, so even someone who knows next to nothing about Hinduism can understand the bare bones that you need to understand this series.

Originality: According to Colleen, this book was inspired by the Twilight saga. But wait! Don't think that because Colleen was inspired by a book that has so many diverse feelings towards it is another Edward-Jacob-Bella story! The only thing that this book and Twilight have in common is that they both have love triangles. But that's as close as it gets. With it's setting in India, and the fact that they're trying to break an ancient curse Tiger's Curse is a book all it's own.

Rating: With it's unique story line, and real character's, amazing detail, and hot guys, I have to give this book 5 stars. Because of it's extensively thought-out plot, it moves at a decent pace, and there isn't a whole ton of dilly-dallying. This book is book one of a 5 book series, and is also in the writing stage of being a movie, so make sure to pick it up pre-movie hype!!!