tessas_books's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
trankin's review
3.0
The first 200+ pages were a bit difficult to get through. But, it does get better. The ending was much different than I was expecting, but makes you want to read the next book to see what will happen next.
amy_inthecatacombs's review
5.0
*Contains spoilers from first book*
Kelsey is headed home back to Oregon because she doesn’t want to take away Ren’s choices. Ren has gotten back 6 hours from the curse, since they have one of the items for Durga. Ren wanted Kelsey to stay, but she felt that he needed to learn to be a man again…without her.
When she gets back, she learns that Ren has bought her a house and even paid tuition to her college, Western Oregon University. She starts dating two guys. Technically, it’s three dates, but she felt like the guy, Artie, bugged her into the date. Out of the…three guys, she definitely likes Li more. She met him at her beginner’s wushu class.
On Christmas, there’s a knock at they do, and it just so happens to be Ren. He later learns that she’s dating Li and insists that she continues to do so because he wants her to be able to choose.
Ren and Kelsey run into a problem and get Kishan to come from India to Oregon to help. I won’t say more because it would spoil too much.
I definitely was excited to read more about Ren and Kelsey, especially after Kelsey left him in the first book. There are several pet names that Ren called her in the first book, and I tried to look online for some of them. I was glad to see that they were explained in this book. Ren’s so sweet. That’s definitely one Christmas present I would keep.
I could have screamed at a certain point in this book. Kishan gets a lot more face time in this book. I did like Kelsey’s moments with Kishan, but I missed Ren rather fiercely. Kelsey does have some magical moments with Kishan, but I’m still Team Ren all the way. I am definitely rooting for Ren. Ren and Kelsey have been through so much together. I know Kishan and Kelsey do go through trials, as well, but I don’t think there relationship would be as strong. I do think Kishan is the best “Kissing Bandit” though!
I love that Colleen has used different paranormal and fantasy elements that aren’t used a lot. I have never read a book about tigers like this. I can’t wait to see how this series will end.
Kelsey is headed home back to Oregon because she doesn’t want to take away Ren’s choices. Ren has gotten back 6 hours from the curse, since they have one of the items for Durga. Ren wanted Kelsey to stay, but she felt that he needed to learn to be a man again…without her.
When she gets back, she learns that Ren has bought her a house and even paid tuition to her college, Western Oregon University. She starts dating two guys. Technically, it’s three dates, but she felt like the guy, Artie, bugged her into the date. Out of the…three guys, she definitely likes Li more. She met him at her beginner’s wushu class.
On Christmas, there’s a knock at they do, and it just so happens to be Ren. He later learns that she’s dating Li and insists that she continues to do so because he wants her to be able to choose.
Ren and Kelsey run into a problem and get Kishan to come from India to Oregon to help. I won’t say more because it would spoil too much.
I definitely was excited to read more about Ren and Kelsey, especially after Kelsey left him in the first book. There are several pet names that Ren called her in the first book, and I tried to look online for some of them. I was glad to see that they were explained in this book. Ren’s so sweet. That’s definitely one Christmas present I would keep.
I could have screamed at a certain point in this book. Kishan gets a lot more face time in this book. I did like Kelsey’s moments with Kishan, but I missed Ren rather fiercely. Kelsey does have some magical moments with Kishan, but I’m still Team Ren all the way. I am definitely rooting for Ren. Ren and Kelsey have been through so much together. I know Kishan and Kelsey do go through trials, as well, but I don’t think there relationship would be as strong. I do think Kishan is the best “Kissing Bandit” though!
I love that Colleen has used different paranormal and fantasy elements that aren’t used a lot. I have never read a book about tigers like this. I can’t wait to see how this series will end.
thecactusprincess's review
1.0
Honestly, this book was rather painful for me to read, the lore was interesting however the amount of awkward kissing scenes made it a little hard to bear. The unhealthy relationship between and the princes and rampant jealously was very hard to stomach. I can't get any further in this series, its a bit too much of a mess to read.
bibliophile_amy's review
4.0
Just like going down the first hill in a roller coaster, my stomach dropped and my heart clenched at the ending with the discovery of Ren's feelings. I don't receive many responses like that reading, so this really stood out to me. I gave it 4 stars because although the ending and adventure was amazing, the beginning was very slow. I began this series because it was different. I don't want to hear her slow, everyday life at college which was extremely unrealistic. I almost didn't get through it.
Overall, I loved it, and will continue to the 3rd book.
Overall, I loved it, and will continue to the 3rd book.
rebelrider's review
3.0
The writing is good, and I kind of liked the plot. The fact is, I don’t like lots of romance and I didn’t like Ren much, which made the romance harder to bear. For those who like romance with some action, I’m sure you’ll really like this series, it’s just not something I really like. The writing is good enough I’ll probably read the next book if the library gets it.
gabs_loc's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Writing got better from the first book and I don’t want to punch Kelsey nearly as much, she actually sounds like an 18 year old and not a 13 year old in this one
melissasfandomworld's review against another edition
2.0
2,5 stars - unpopular opinion coming your way...
it.is.hurting.me to rate this book with 2 stars on GR. Truly. But I just don't feel like I have any other choice here. This was quite a challenging read for me for most of the duration of this reading experience and me feeling relieved after having just finished it, just isn't really the feeling I'm looking for when finishing a book. You want to feel excited to being able to start the next book in the series... I feel really bummed out about that, because book 1 was overall truly enjoyable, but I just wasn't happy with some of the directions this story took us, like romantically wise for example. Because this had a huge (not really positive) impact on the overall book in my honest opinion and it just doesn't 'work' for me here.
I didn't really give a super high rating to book 1 either, 3,5 stars if I remember correctly, but there were truly a lot of enjoyable elements present then which made for a good start of a new series. This sequel overall missed a lot of the 'magic' that was present in book 1 because of the way some things developed (not only the romantic changes but it felt quite chaotic on other fronts as well) and that just really frustrated me to no end.
It really pains me that the story just felt quite off-putting to me a lot of the time, because there are still some elements present that I do like though; Elements that made me fall in love with this world in the first place back when I first read Tiger's Curse. On some regards, I'm still curious to what's going to happen, but I'm afraid the next book is going to be more of the same torture on some parts, and that's just not what I'm looking for here or what I was hoping to get with this series. The things that felt off putting to me, weigh down hard on the overall experience, unfortunately, so yeah...
At the moment, at this point, I'm not sure yet I'll be continuing the series. I'll have to take some time and re-evaluate and make up my mind on how to best proceed; If I'll give book 3 a chance or if I'll say goodbye even though there are still some things I really like about this series in general.
it.is.hurting.me to rate this book with 2 stars on GR. Truly. But I just don't feel like I have any other choice here. This was quite a challenging read for me for most of the duration of this reading experience and me feeling relieved after having just finished it, just isn't really the feeling I'm looking for when finishing a book. You want to feel excited to being able to start the next book in the series... I feel really bummed out about that, because book 1 was overall truly enjoyable, but I just wasn't happy with some of the directions this story took us, like romantically wise for example. Because this had a huge (not really positive) impact on the overall book in my honest opinion and it just doesn't 'work' for me here.
I didn't really give a super high rating to book 1 either, 3,5 stars if I remember correctly, but there were truly a lot of enjoyable elements present then which made for a good start of a new series. This sequel overall missed a lot of the 'magic' that was present in book 1 because of the way some things developed (not only the romantic changes but it felt quite chaotic on other fronts as well) and that just really frustrated me to no end.
It really pains me that the story just felt quite off-putting to me a lot of the time, because there are still some elements present that I do like though; Elements that made me fall in love with this world in the first place back when I first read Tiger's Curse. On some regards, I'm still curious to what's going to happen, but I'm afraid the next book is going to be more of the same torture on some parts, and that's just not what I'm looking for here or what I was hoping to get with this series. The things that felt off putting to me, weigh down hard on the overall experience, unfortunately, so yeah...
At the moment, at this point, I'm not sure yet I'll be continuing the series. I'll have to take some time and re-evaluate and make up my mind on how to best proceed; If I'll give book 3 a chance or if I'll say goodbye even though there are still some things I really like about this series in general.