Susan Gourley

Like the hawks that help him, Luke Aron is a warrior used to fighting for his survival. In To Tame a Tiger by Susan Kelley, the Tigers are a proud warrior race who have been cursed by a witch to be bonded to a sorceress to survive. Now that Luke’s bond holder has been killed, he must find another sorceress soon or he will have to choose between death or bonding to Beka, the woman who murdered his bond holder to gain Luke as a warrior.

Violet is a sorceress who has only used her powers to help her people have a better crop yield but now finds herself a political hostage by Beka. Violet meets Luke while they are both prisoners and agrees to take his bond in exchange for protection and help to escape, little does Violet know what having a Tiger in herkeep will mean to both her body and her heart as Luke and Violet battle to defeat Beka from gaining control of Violet’s family’s land. Violet will do anything to protect her family and lands, even if it means making Luke submit to her will in the battle against Beka.

To Tame a Tiger is a fantasy novel set in a land filled with magic and warriors. I liked the characters of both Luke and Violet, the novel moved at a fast pace and kept me interested in knowing what was going to happen next, wanting to know how they were going to defeat Beka when the odds were against them. Kelley was able to portray the strength of Luke while believably showing his hatred and anger and being forced into anything. However, my biggest issue was the way the bond was passed was during sex because all of the defenses of Luke were down and only then could Violet accept the bond. This meant that right after meeting Luke and Violet had sex in order to save both their lives. This is a personal issue because I prefer the characters to get to know each other a little bit (perhaps even knowing each other’s last names?!) before jumping into bed together. Other than the immediate sex, the novel was well done with an interesting premise of the curse affecting the warrior race and Beka’s maneuverings to get the power she so desperately sought.… (más)