Customer Reviews

Jade Tiger

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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

Shan Westfall is on a mission--she's got to recover the jade statues which, together, create the focus for the famous Jade Circle. Unfortunately, others are after these precious artifacts--possibly the same people who destroyed the Jade Circle, killing her mother in the process when Shan was a child. Well, she's a child no longer, she's spent her life involved in the martial arts, and if she needs to kick some tail in recovering these precious and magical artifacts, then she'll just kick some tail.

While tracking down the first of the missing statues, a jade crane, Shan arrives just as a mysterious one-eyed man is ripping through a University research area--after first decking an archeology professor, Ian Dashell. Shan needs to remain singleminded in her pursuit of the artifacts, but she can't ignore the instant attraction that flows between her and the professor--nor the fact that he seems every bit as interested as she is. Still, Shan's past experiences with ex-boyfriend Patrick, makes her reluctant to trust anyone, especially not a sexy guy.

Shan's mission finally takes her to a secret island off China. A reclusive billionaire holds an annual auction of the best of the illegal and contraband art objects stolen or looted from around the world. There, Shan has every reason to believe she'll find the remaining jade statues. Whether she and Dashell can survive the encounter is another question. These people killed her mother--and Shan knows she'll never be the martial artist her mother was.

Author Jenn Reese maintains a galloping pace of martial arts action, interspersed by sweet romance as Shan learns to trust men--or at least one man. Reese seemed especially to enjoy her villains, creating a series of difficult and memorable characters for Shan to face--until she eventually came in contact with the ultimate force behind the destruction of the Jade Circle. Once the statues are united--against her--however, how can she hope to withstand their power?

Reese creates an enjoyable story with well developed characters. I do have some quibbles with the story--Shan's back-story experience with Patrick is a bit silly as a motivation. Certainly training with the all-female Jade Circle and seeing men murder her mother is ample motivation for her distrust of men without throwing in this bit. I also found the logic of Ashton's auction hard to track. Why, since he wanted the statues so badly, had he auctioned the one Dashell's parents had bought?

Although JADE TIGER has its flaws, anyone wanting a balance of sweet romance and non-stop action will certainly want to give this one a look. Reese is an author to watch.

If you're looking for a fun read, you found it. Jade Tiger has a kickass kung fu heroine, geeky Star Wars jokes, a chin kissing scene that will melt the Hershey's chocolate kiss that is your heart, a Shan versus tiger fight, great action scenes and...

Did I mention the sexy archaeologist?

I've read the book twice and loved it both times. Very highly recommended!!

I finished reading Jade Tiger last night. This is not only the debut novel from Jenn Reese, but also the lead title for Juno Books, a new paranormal romance line from Prime Books/Wildside Press.

Let me put it this way. With two little kids at home, I have a desperate craving for sleep. But I stayed up late to finish the book.

Jade Tiger tells the tale of Shan, one of the last survivors of the Jade Circle, a martial arts group dedicated to the teaching of women. The circle was attacked years ago, and most of the women were killed. Shan escaped, taking with her the jade tiger, one of five animial statues that fit together to form a circle. Each statue infuses its owner with traits of the animal. Shan has carried the tiger for years, which has shaped her into a dedicated -- one could even say obsessed -- hunter. Her search for the other four statues brings her to Ian, archaeologist and cute-geek extraordinaire. But Shan isn't the only one searching for the statues....

Reese writes a fast-paced book. There's plenty of kung fu action, a strong heroine, and a nicely written romance between Shan and Ian. Other reviews have compared it to a hybrid of Indiana Jones and Bruce Lee. Personally, I see more of the Bruce Lee influence, complete with the big martial arts exhibition at the end. Reese even gives props to Lee's work at several points in the book, which was a nice touch.

One of the book's greatest strengths is the passion Reese brings. It's always risky to try to guess at authorial intention, but reading Jade Tiger, I feel like I'm sharing Reese's love for the martial arts, and her empathy for girls and women struggling to find their own strength. (Not to mention an attraction to cute geek boys.) They say authors should write what they're passionate about. The result, as in Jade Tiger, is that the reader is drawn into that same passion and investment in the story.

There were times when I thought Reese started to push a little too hard. All three of the major female characters have to deal with being hurt and betrayed by men, which felt like a little too much repetition of the same theme. In Ian's case, he sometimes came across as a bit too perfect and sensitive. I consider myself a pretty sensitive guy, but I put my foot in my mouth at least once a week with my wife. It would be nice to see Ian screw up a little more, too ... if only to make me feel better.

All in all, a fun read. I'm very much looking forward to Reese's future books, and I hope she brings the same energy and passion to those projects that she did with Jade Tiger.

Song Shan is only twelve years-old when a disaster tears apart her family, destroying everything she holds dear. She flees her Chinese homeland entrusted with a small jade tiger and the legacy of a secret society of female fighters. The tiger is just one piece of the mystical Jade Circle that has been at the heart of her family for almost fifteen hundred years.

The Jade Circle is "the cornerstone of [her family's] past and [their] future, of [their] power and [their] pride" (32). As an adult Shan is driven by the unbalanced influence of the tiger and she knows she cannot be content until the circle is reunited and in the right hands. Shan's quest to recover the four missing statues takes her across three continents, testing the limits of the martial arts skill she has cultivated since girlhood and forcing her to confront the demons in her past.

JADE TIGER is a romance as well as a fantasy novel steeped in Buddhist philosophy and Shaolin kung fu. Shan's tenacious personality finds its match in Ian, a cute, geeky professor type, who has been influenced by the Circle's crane statue. While Ian grounds Shan, his character is a bit one-dimensional; he's a good guy to the extent of having no significant personality flaws. That being said, careful readers will notice that Ian does seem to bear some striking similarities to Shan's father (a character barely seen in the novel).

JADE TIGER is also a thriller. Fast paced and compulsively readable, the novel is over almost before you know it. The author's love of the martial arts is evident throughout the novel, imbuing a story full of fight scenes with an air of authenticity. Though Shan is an expert fighter, her character is made real in both her imperfections and in her extreme sensitivity to them.

A sympathetic character fully realized by Reese, Shan's development over the course of the novel is extremely satisfying. Additionally Reese peoples JADE TIGER with a wide variety of supporting characters including an academic Don Juan, a one-eyed bruiser, and a feisty sixty-year-old with more martial arts skill in her little finger than most have in their whole bodies.

While Reese's freshman effort lacks a certain sophistication, it does show a great deal of potential. This reviewer fully expects to see more from Reese in the future.

Jade Tiger: by Jenn Reese
Price: $2.99 Amazon Kindle Store. (I paid for it!)


This novel is part Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon part Indiana Jones, with a splash of Harlequin romance mixed in. It's a Chinese mystic fantasy/thriller that takes you on a global adventure; with plenty of rock `em sock `em fighting action.

The Best Parts:
The story: Right out of the gate it grabbed me. (I like that much better than the slow build.) The more you read the more you want to know what happens next. A few chapters in, I was hooked.

The characters: They are very likeable! Shan, the Kung-Fu femme fatale was a good mix of badass and babe - her one detectable weakness is a main theme though out. Ian is an Indiana Jones-like archeologist, who proved to be a somewhat larger than life character himself. (He's certainly in the running for `the world's most sensitive man'; Mr. Perfect's only slipups were a little hard to believe though.) The Villains range from decent to very good; one was a little cartoon-ish, the another Bond-ish

Good/Not so good:
Descriptive Writing: Here's where I'm conflicted. The author is clearly a good writer. I envy how well she paints a vivid picture, but she uses a lot of ultra flowery language - too much so for me. She has an admirable command of words but at times it was a little overboard. I'm a minimalist. Her occasional wordiness required me to fight, not to lose focus. I appreciate a good wordsmith, which she is, but this type of page-turner needs to be light on dictionary words. Now, that's just my tastes. A lot of people will appreciate it, I'm sure. I'll give her this, I looked up anything potentially questionable and she was spot-on with her usage - so there wasn't any chicanery going on! (What? Did I just do that? I'm such a hypocrite!) Seriously, the writing was good, just a little too over the top for me at times.

Dialogue: Most of the time the characters said the things you would expect them to say - not predictable, just true to their nature. In the entire book, there was only one or two times when I just didn't buy the words coming out of their mouths - mostly the `Harlequin moments'. The banter between the characters was sometimes witty, occasionally just ok, and often very good. One great laugh out loud moment was just perfect - a classic thing that two archeologist would say and do in a moment of crisis. (Kudos for that!)

Action: A whole lotta ass kicking going on! Be prepared for epic fights - very few first-round knockouts! It's like when Indiana Jones had to punch the guy a thousand times for him to go down and stay down. As a recreational boxer, I found that to be pure fantasy.
Narrator: Generally OK, but at times the narrator and the main character, Shan, seemed to have the exact same point of view on life and the moment. It felt like the stuff the narrator said could've and maybe should've come from Shan's mouth or mind - just a thought.

Overall I thought this book was pretty good and the story was excellent. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes any of the three main themes - martial arts, adventure, and romance. I'll keep an eye out for Shan-Fu II

I give it 7.4 out of 10 on my ratings scale - located and explained at JohnnyPromo.com

Pros: Some good action, attractive characters and a reasonable plot outline. The characters and subject matter are interesting enough for this to be turned into a series rather than a one shot book.

Cons: Too short, many areas lacking reasonable depth. The narrator voice/position is not nearly as good as the character's dialogue. .....and toooooo much mooning over the lead male character by the lead female character (from a guys perspective...kick butt and take names...you can flirt later).


Notes:

When the characters spoke for themselves (dialogue), they started to take on life. I thought they should have talked for themselves a lot more (actually, the dialogue was really pretty good). I felt the narrator was quite wooden, and thus the information we received about the characters via the narrator made them more wooden then they actually were.

The plot had all these little areas that could have been expanded to fill out the book and round out the characters. For that matter, the fact that the book solved the problem in one shot at the end was a bit of a let down. The story line could have easily been a 3 part series for the pursuit of the jade animals and filled out the characters more completely.

Research: Since this is a first book I'm sure Reese doesn't have an army of researchers available. It shows in little things, like an American drivers license WILL allow you to drive anywhere in Europe, no need for an international drivers license. On an island, you MUST have your own generator set (unless you're friends with the government and they'll lay you an underwater cable), it isn't an "option". There were a bunch of little items like this that could have been cleaned up.

Jenn Reese crafts a fast-paced adventure yarn that mixes Indiana Jones style cliffhanger adventure with kung fu martial arts action and a bit of romance. It all adds up to a refreshing story that's intense, fast-paced and fun from start to finish.

The author is an accomplished martial arts student and it shows in the descriptions, variety, and pacing of the fight scenes that form the major action of the book. The fighting is definitely cinematic, but it flows logically and the descriptive language is crisp and clear. The reader sees every punch and kick. There's familiar fare for any fan of kung fu movies, and there's plenty of really clever and creative sequences.

The story follows Shan Westfall, one of the last in an ancient fighting tradition preserved by a society of women fighters known as the Jade Circle. Forced to flee China as a child, Shan follows the path of her warrior mother in a quest to reunite the Jade Circle's powerful animal talismans. Her search will bring her face-to-face with her mother's murderers, and with the chance to finally free herself from her haunted past.

Into this conflict stumbles Ian Dashell, an archeology professor who gets caught up in the conflict over the Jade Animals, and is soon caught up in a romance with Shan as well.

Reese handles the male/female dynamic of an action-adventure story as well and I've seen it done. Shan is strong in a very real sense, and her strength is not set up at the expense of Ian's character. Shan can throw a punch, and more importantly, she can take one (and then some). Ian doesn't have the fighting skill, but he is Shan's equal in courage and brains, and he holds up his end of the story while rising about the "absent-minded professor" cliche.

The plot moves at an impressive pace with a fun supporting cast, and bunches of twists and turns. The villains could have used a bit more depth, but they score very nicely in the "love to hate" category, and their eventual comeuppance is highly satisfying.

The romance works well too, largely because the male and female leads are so likable that the reader can't help but enjoy seeing the growing feelings between them. Reese makes use of Shan's ability to sense the flow of Chi to add an additional dimension to the love scenes.

This is a fun read, loaded with great action and an appealing dynamic between the characters. It's also got a nice sprinkling little geeky details, excellent knowledge of both realistic and cinematic martial arts, and some moments of real intensity.