Jade Tiger (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reese's vibrant debut introduces Shan Westfall, a half-Chinese, half-American crime fighter, who yearns to unite the mystical power of the Jade Circle, an ancient female order embodied by five jade animal artifacts. The Jade Circle is currently incomplete, broken by a ruthless crime lord who seeks the statues' power for his own nefarious purposes. Shan's determined search leads her to the jade crane held by archeologist Ian Dashell, who becomes an ally and, after a period of smoldering erotic tension, her lover. Flying kicks, heart-stopping spins and amazing somersaults propel the action. Complicating matters is Ian's colleague, Dr. Daniel Buckley, an antiquities expert; One-eye, an evil Asian martial artist; and Sifu Xia, a feisty 60-year-old kung fu queen. Reese choreographs both the romantic moves and the martial arts with flair. Juno is a new fantasy imprint of Wildside Press featuring strong female characters, exotic locales and romance. (Jan.)
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Product Description

Shan Westin—half-Chinese, half-American, one hundred percent kungfu badass—is on a mission to recover five mystical jade animals before they fall into the wrong hands.

Over fifteen years ago, Shan's mother led a secret society of female martial artists sworn to protect the statues. When the Jade Circle lost four of the five statues during a murderous attack on their sanctuary, twelve-year-old Shan's destiny was sealed. It was she who carried the remaining tiger statue all the way to America; she who felt it clawing at her with the need to recover the crane, snake, leopard, and dragon. The Circle was destroyed that night, and Shan hasn't seen her mother since.

Shan has grown up under the tiger's unforgiving influence and the shadow of her mother's legacy. Her quest to recover the statues takes her to upstate New York and Ian Dashall, a geeky but brave archaeology professor, and then on to France and England with Ian at her side. Finally, on a secret island off the coast of Hong Kong, Shan overcomes torture, betrayal, and deadly tigers in order to battle the man who destroyed the Jade Circle. But even as she faces off with him, she loses hope. How can she possibly succeed where her mother had failed?

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Juno Books (October 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080955674X
• ISBN-13: 978-0809556748
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,121,383 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fight or flirt, November 28, 2006

By	Steven M. Klotz "mentatjack" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I absolutely loved the balance of strength and vulnerability in Shan, the main character. The brilliantly described fight scenes showed both the skill of Shan and the author. Shan has obviously been emotionally isolated and her character gains emotional strength as her professor/sidekick teaches her that it's ok to love. Just as the stone representations of powerful kung fu energy are both beautiful and deadly, Jade Tiger has something for pretty much any guy or girl and as such a quick read, I'd recommend this be a book on everyone's shelf.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Move over, Mr Jones and Mr Lee!, November 21, 2006

By	Michael Jasper (Wake Forest, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Location, location, location.

That's the rule in real estate, of course, but it also works magnificently in Jenn Reese's debut novel Jade Tiger.

Over the course of this kung-fu romance adventure, featuring a hunt for the lost Jade Circle statues from protagonist Shan's past, we get to tour the world. Starting in the Hunan Province of China and moving to upstate New York, then on to the Alps, England, LA, and then Hong Kong, Shan and her acheologist soulmate Ian put the travels of Indiana Jones to shame.

And on the course of their quest, the action never stops. I'm not a kung-fu expert or pracititioner (not by a long shot -- I so much as think about doing a roundhouse kick and I pull a hammy), but that didn't stop me from enjoying the fight scenes and paging faster and faster through the book to get to the epic battle at the end.

Jenn's writing is sharp, detailed, and at times quite funny (I love the awkwardness Shan and Ian both express at times as their burgeoning love grows -- quite realistic and believable!). She'll take you around the world but you'll never feel lost.

I recommend Jade Tiger to anyone looking for a good read -- think Indiana Jones meets a female Bruce Lee, and you're only part-way there. The book is completely original and most of all: FUN. A good Christmas gift, I'd suggest.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars stupendous romantic fantasy , December 17, 2006

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In Hunan Province, China, the intruders attack the Sanctuary of the Jade Circle, but instead of fighting back, her mother sends her twelve year old daughter Shan Westfall to safety. She also leaves her beloved offspring with the protection of one of the five jade statues, the tiger.

Sixteen years later, Shan searches for the four missing statues (the crane, snake, leopard, and dragon) to complete the circle; as well as seeking information on her mother. Thus her quest takes her to Risley University in Upstate New York where she comes upon a kung fu expert beating up archeology Professor Ian Dashell. She intercedes and though a tough fight she prevails over her foe. Courageous though no athlete, Ian joins Shan on her mission that takes them into danger in Europe and Hong Kong. On their global trek, the soulmates struggle to survive a malevolent enemy while searching for this evil who destroyed the Jade Circle, but needs the last animal to complete his nefarious plans.

JADE TIGER is a stupendous romantic fantasy starring a nerdy male professor and a warrior woman. The half Chinese half-American Shan is an improbable yet stupendous superheroine out of the Lara Croft School of kick butt women. Readers will admire her spunk, skill and tenacity as she lands in one precarious situation after another. In some ways her soulmate Ian is even braver as she was trained for this from childhood while he is not Indiana Jones, but his strength of spirit insists he stand by his beloved, which enables her to overcome her doubts that she might succeed when her mom failed. Jenna Reese writes an enchanting saga.

Harriet Klausner