I have finished reading Reawakened but since it doesn’t come out until August I’m going to hold my review of it.  So instead, I’m going to talk about Colleen Houck’s other series The Tiger’s Saga.  The as-of-now four piece series follows Kelsey, your normal American teenage girl who travels to India to try to break a 300 year old Indian Curse.  In the first book, Tiger’s Curse, Kelsey gets a summer job working for a circus, whose main attraction is a white tiger.  She is immediately drawn to the tiger, not realizing that the Tiger is actually a 300+ year old Indian Prince named Ren.  Ren was cursed by the evil Lokesh, who was trying to take over his kingdom and take the mysterious Amulet.  He has been trapped inside a Tiger’s body ever since and is only himself for 24 minutes a day.  Kelsey and Ren set out to solve the prophecy and break the curse under the watchful eye of the Goddess Durga to free Ren from his bondage.  Of course it’s not that simple.  Lokesh is still out there, searching for the amulet to gain the ultimate power.  Ren’s brother, Kishan was also cursed, though he has been living as a tiger in the Indian jungle.  And the tasks to breaking the curse are fraught with danger, magic and myths.  They take them to places all around India and even Nepal and even mythical places like Shangri-La.  With each successful completion of a task the brothers gain more time as themselves until they break the curse and no longer can become a tiger.

I fell in love with the series.  It’s kind of a mix of Twilight and Indian Jones.  I know an odd mix.  It has the romance element but also the action and adventure element that keeps it exciting.  Kelsey falls for Ren but is reluctant to express her feelings.  Her parents died a couple of years ago and has since had trouble opening up to new people in fear that they will also leave her.  Ren is an honest, sweet man who wants to do the right thing for his kingdom and others but after centuries as a tiger, you can’t blame him for fighting for what he wants.  Their chemistry is apparent from almost their first meeting, which I’m counting as a Tiger.  Complications of course happen when they meet Kishan.  Ren and Kishan were not on the best of terms when they were cursed.  There are obviously going to be some bad feelings when one brother tries to steal the other brother’s fiance.  Even 300 years as tigers is not enough time to heal those wounds.  Of course it doesn’t help that they both fall in love with Kelsey.  It’s your classic love triangle.  The good girl, who falls in love with the good brother and the bad brother.  Their tiger’s fur even signifies who’s who.  Ren is a white tiger and Ren is a black.  As the series progresses, they become more than just good and bad.  Kishan has lived in the jungle for all those years because he can’t face what he did.  Houck makes a good case for why each brother would be a good match for Kelsey but there is never any doubt who she truly loves and will eventually end up with.  As for the villian, Lokesh, he’s  your typical bent on world domination villian and the lengths he will go to get what he wants are kinda frightening.  Ren and Kishan have been supported by Mr. Kadam.  His parents personal guard, who continued to live thanks to part of the Amulet he was given from the family and Nilima, Mr. Kadam several greats granddaughter. They provide a stability to the story.  Nothing would get done without them.

So I recommend this to anyone who likes both romance and action/adventure.  I don’t know much about Indian mythology so I can’t say to it’s accuracy but it does bring a richness to the story.  Kelsey is likable.  Yes, she at times falls in the annoying habits that all teenage girls do but when she is called upon she is fierce.  Ren is a true prince and Kishan is definitely charming.  There is supposed to be a fifth book but it as yet does not have an release date.  I assume it will focus on the brother that doesn’t end up with Kelsey since, the series was wrapped up pretty nicely for Kelsey in the fourth book but I guess I’ll just have to wait and see on that one.