Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck

Cover Inspection:
So this is how Ren looks like as a tiger.
Just look at his amazing blue eyes.

SUMMARY (book description based on GoodReads):
Passion. Fate. Loyalty.
Would you risk it all to change your destiny?
The last thing 17-year old 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.


BOOK REPORT CARD:

Cover	3.5
Plot	4.0
Writing	3.0
Characters	4.0
Ending	3.5
Overall Rating	3.5 Superior (93% to 96%) * highest rating possible is 4.0

LOCATION/SETTING:
The prologue of the story is set in ancient India. Then the first few chapters are set in modern day Oregon. Then the main characters travel to India. The book takes us not only in India’s cities, including its 5 star hotels, but also in India’s jungles.

MAIN CHARACTERS:
This is the story of Kelsey and Ren. She is an orphan, and is living with her foster parents. One day, she applied to be an assistant in a circus. There, she got to meet a beautiful white tiger named Ren. There was an instant connection between the two. Little does Kelsey know that Ren is actually a Prince from ancient India, who was cursed to be a tiger for most of the day. Now when Ren manifested his human self, Kelsey was blown away by his hottttttness.

 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:
The book is basically about Kelsey helping Ren to break the curse. You see, Ren can only be human for 24 minutes a day, and he is a tiger for the rest of the day. In order to break the curse, Together, Kelsey and Ren must work together - solving puzzles and going through an Indiana Jones-like adventure. As they spend time together, the two inevitable fall in love with each other.

LOVE: 
What I absolutely loved about the book is the romance. The love story is just amazing. There are scenes that are so sweet you will smile to yourself and will leave you blushing! Warning: some scenes are very cheesy. Have a trash can beside you while reading, you might barf all the sticky sweet goodness at one point.

NO LOVE:
For me, the way Kelsey acts is not realistic. There are some scenes where Kelsey acts a like an old woman. I don’t know, maybe it’s because she is an orphan, and had to mature early?

FAVORITE CHARACTER:
I like Mr. Kadam. So wise and grandfatherly. A gentleman through and through. Ren and Kelsey cannot do anything without him.

FAVORITE LINE:

“the fact is . . . I’m in love with you, and I have been for some time.”

MUSINGS:
I love this book. It's not just romance. It's so full of adventure! Not only that, the setting is in India - a totally different atmosphere from all the other young adult books. It also contains several Hindu phrases, which the read may eventually pick up on while reading. A very clean read.

DOODLES:
Here’s chapters 1 – 7 (from the author’s website)

AUTHOR'S WEBSITE:
Tiger’s Curse

SIMILAR READS:
Warped by Maurissa Guibord
Blood Red Road by Moira Young

CONTENT REVIEW:
profanity: very mild
violence: mild
sexual content: mild
mature themes: mild
age recommendation: 12+