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sarahcophagus's review against another edition
3.0
Started out really strong (major T Kingfisher Swordheart similarities in a great way) but then kind of went off the rails once they left China and the book felt the need to introduce way too many side characters that don’t serve any purpose in this story but set up future books. Also a main plot of this was that a lot of people (both heroes and baddies) were really upset at the knife maker for how a knife she created was used by someone else and that felt like a weird major misplacement of anger.
s4ufos's review against another edition
2.0
I hate to give this book two stars, but it was not as good as I remembered. Many years ago, I read this book and loved it. Nostalgia (and a need to explore other book series) made me revisit this book.
Dela and Hari were interesting characters, but not enough to suck me into the story. I actually had a very difficult time completing the novel. The characters Dean, Blue, Artur, Roland, and Eddie were probably the only reasons I stuck with the novel and gave it more than the one star I was intending. The five of them were hilarious.
The rest of the book was okay, but it didn’t wow me. I probably won’t be reading this again.
Dela and Hari were interesting characters, but not enough to suck me into the story. I actually had a very difficult time completing the novel. The characters Dean, Blue, Artur, Roland, and Eddie were probably the only reasons I stuck with the novel and gave it more than the one star I was intending. The five of them were hilarious.
The rest of the book was okay, but it didn’t wow me. I probably won’t be reading this again.
fictionalkate's review against another edition
3.0
Dela Reese, an artist and sword-maker, is visiting Beijing for business when she comes across a mysterious old woman in the Dirt Market. The old woman insists that Dela buys an ancient little wooden puzzle box and from that moment things get even stranger. On her way back to the hotel Dela is accosted by a man who grabs her but Dela manages to get away. After returning to her room, Dela manages to open the puzzle box only to have a seven foot ancient, shape-shifting warrior pop out. Hari was cured thousands of years ago to do whatever his summoner demands from him – anything from killing to bedding them. Naturally to say, Hari is instantly suspicious and distrusting of his new mistress.
Throw in a few attempts on Dela’s life, the Chinese mafia, some more shape shifters and a few of the agents from Dirk and Steele detective agency and you’ll get a fairly entertaining story.
I enjoyed the characters in this story. Dela was a strong character who was brave and intelligent. Hari was hot and one of those characters that seem to be a little too perfect – he was too caring, too self-sacrificing, too handsome. There’s just something about characters like Hari that rub me the wrong way. I like my heroes to be a bit more flawed in terms of how they treat their mates. He’s just… with the exception of how they first meet and how suspicious he is of Dela, he seems to think she’s perfect. And she’s not. But I liked that about her. I just wish that Hari take off his rose coloured glasses for a little bit.
Whirlwind romances aren’t really my thing and Dela and Hari do fall in love VERY quickly. I think it’s only a week from meeting to the final showdown. But I liked the development of their relationship. It was a nice progression, just a little intense time-wise.
The members of Dirk and Steele – a ‘detective’ agency where the agents all have special abilities – were a great supporting cast. They’re all a little damaged and should make good heroes in their own books later in the series. There’s nothing I like more than warrior men who have a caring side – which all of these men had.
I didn’t love this book but I did enjoy many parts of it. The romance was sweet, the characters were enjoyable.
Throw in a few attempts on Dela’s life, the Chinese mafia, some more shape shifters and a few of the agents from Dirk and Steele detective agency and you’ll get a fairly entertaining story.
I enjoyed the characters in this story. Dela was a strong character who was brave and intelligent. Hari was hot and one of those characters that seem to be a little too perfect – he was too caring, too self-sacrificing, too handsome. There’s just something about characters like Hari that rub me the wrong way. I like my heroes to be a bit more flawed in terms of how they treat their mates. He’s just… with the exception of how they first meet and how suspicious he is of Dela, he seems to think she’s perfect. And she’s not. But I liked that about her. I just wish that Hari take off his rose coloured glasses for a little bit.
Whirlwind romances aren’t really my thing and Dela and Hari do fall in love VERY quickly. I think it’s only a week from meeting to the final showdown. But I liked the development of their relationship. It was a nice progression, just a little intense time-wise.
The members of Dirk and Steele – a ‘detective’ agency where the agents all have special abilities – were a great supporting cast. They’re all a little damaged and should make good heroes in their own books later in the series. There’s nothing I like more than warrior men who have a caring side – which all of these men had.
I didn’t love this book but I did enjoy many parts of it. The romance was sweet, the characters were enjoyable.
hilse's review against another edition
2.0
So, were-tiger sounded kind of cool to me and it was a Kindle daily deal.
Unfortunately, Dela is a first-order Mary Sue and the male hero is more caveman than "alpha male" in my opinion.
Unfortunately, Dela is a first-order Mary Sue and the male hero is more caveman than "alpha male" in my opinion.
rosetyper9's review against another edition
5.0
I have read a few things about this series and I started reading I think book number six a long time ago when I didn't even realize it was part of a series and I didn't finish it because I was so confused. Now I know why, lol. (Yes, I just LOL in my review) I really am glad I found this book at my PX and was able to grab it because I love this book. It is well written, strongly charactered, and it really made me think of the Psy-chageling series by Nalini Singh, which I adore.
Let's jump in shall we? I like Dela (love her name too), she is strong, she has weaknesses and strengths and she isn't afraid to be herself, these are all wonderful heroine characteristics. I heart Hari (hate his name) he is strong, masculine, and just hot. I think he was a bit too lenient on the trust after everything he has been through, but I don't know Dela as well as he does, so what do I know. I do also want to say that nothing scares Ms. Lui...the way she set up the plot and some of the disturbing things mentioned here and there....creepy, disturbing, and totally appropriate for the book. Some authors might have shied away.
I will continue to devour this series.
Let's jump in shall we? I like Dela (love her name too), she is strong, she has weaknesses and strengths and she isn't afraid to be herself, these are all wonderful heroine characteristics. I heart Hari (hate his name) he is strong, masculine, and just hot. I think he was a bit too lenient on the trust after everything he has been through, but I don't know Dela as well as he does, so what do I know. I do also want to say that nothing scares Ms. Lui...the way she set up the plot and some of the disturbing things mentioned here and there....creepy, disturbing, and totally appropriate for the book. Some authors might have shied away.
I will continue to devour this series.
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu is the first book in the paranormal romance series, Dirk & Steele.
This story is about Delilah a metal welder, sculpture, and artist and Hari, an immortal man stuck in a 2 thousand year old box. Without knowing there was a spell or curse on the box, Delilah buys it while she's in China. Well, she opens the box and out comes Hari, a 7 foot tall buff muscled man with a tattoo across his chest.
The beginning of this was interesting and then then towards the middle and the end, it really started to drag on. The audiobook was 13 hours and the story honestly didn't need to be that long. I just remember wishing the story was "over already" and I still had 3 hours left of the audiobook.Delilah gets kidnapped towards the end and I honestly think something in the middle could have come out to make the story shorter, because it didn't need to be that long!
This was just okay, I'm giving this 3 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I listened to this for free on the library app Libbyapp.com
This story is about Delilah a metal welder, sculpture, and artist and Hari, an immortal man stuck in a 2 thousand year old box. Without knowing there was a spell or curse on the box, Delilah buys it while she's in China. Well, she opens the box and out comes Hari, a 7 foot tall buff muscled man with a tattoo across his chest.
The beginning of this was interesting and then then towards the middle and the end, it really started to drag on. The audiobook was 13 hours and the story honestly didn't need to be that long. I just remember wishing the story was "over already" and I still had 3 hours left of the audiobook.
This was just okay, I'm giving this 3 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I listened to this for free on the library app Libbyapp.com
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Gore, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Child death, and Confinement
elusivity's review against another edition
Beginnings of skillful writing abilities here, suffocated beneath melodramatic purple prose and typically ludicrous Romance set-up. Sexy tiger man with vulnerable but strong psychic woman. Beyond cliched, but perhaps may grow better as the series move on?
bookswithbets's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
waterfairy's review against another edition
2.0
A very average PNR.
Hari - an ok Hero. Doesn't seem to have problems adjusting to different times. And he really wasn't a tortured hero at all. The book and the characters say that he was tortured over and over but it wasn't shown that clearly.
Deal - almost a cardboard Mary Sue. I'll give the author a due trying to tackle certain issues but it just didn't play it well for me. Not really that interesting.
The ending was really ambiguous and the whole curse part was not explained satisfactorily (at least to me).
I had hoped it wouldn't be a typical PNR but it is. I'm not that interested in continuing the series further.
Hari - an ok Hero. Doesn't seem to have problems adjusting to different times. And he really wasn't a tortured hero at all. The book and the characters say that he was tortured over and over but it wasn't shown that clearly.
Deal - almost a cardboard Mary Sue. I'll give the author a due trying to tackle certain issues but it just didn't play it well for me. Not really that interesting.
The ending was really ambiguous and the whole curse part was not explained satisfactorily (at least to me).
I had hoped it wouldn't be a typical PNR but it is. I'm not that interested in continuing the series further.
siria's review against another edition
2.0
The further on this book progressed, the wonkier the plot became, it has several First Novel problems, and Liu has a couple of stylistic tics that make me twitch, but overall this was an enjoyable piece of trashy fluff. Dela, the female lead, was entirely lacking in common sense at times, but I liked that she was able to defend herself most of the time, and that she was the one who held the power balance (at least initially) in her relationship with Hari. My favourite part of it, and what will get me to check out the next few novels at least in the series, is that the cast wasn't entirely white. The heroine was a blue-eyed blonde, yes, but many—if not most—of the others are characters of colour, and I hold out hope that their focus books will get to present non-white men as romantic leads without exoticising them. I know! Shocking!
(The cover is, of course, dire. Why is it that romance and fantasy novels tend to have such awful covers? I'd be much more likely to try some of them if I weren't embarrassed to be seen with them in public.)
(The cover is, of course, dire. Why is it that romance and fantasy novels tend to have such awful covers? I'd be much more likely to try some of them if I weren't embarrassed to be seen with them in public.)