Jade Tiger
My first novel, Jade Tiger, is the story of Shan, a martial artist driven by the spirit of the tiger to recover the ancient jade artifacts stolen from her mother’s secret order. When geeky archaeologist Ian gets involved, Shan begins to understand that there’s more to life than chop kicks and joint locks.
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From the Back of the Book…
Shan Westfall—half-Chinese, half-American, one hundred percent kung fu badass—is on a mission to recover five mystical jade animals before they fall into the wrong hands.
Over 15 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, 12-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?
Reviews
“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… Flying kicks, heart-stopping spins and amazing somersaults propel the action. Reese choreographs both the romantic moves and the martial arts with flair.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This beautifully written novel is filled with everything a reader craves: adventure, romance, a worthy quest, characters we can root for and plenty of magic, myth and paranormal intrigue….Reese has a spectacular handle on all things martial-arts related, but nowhere is that knowledge more impressive than when she’s choreographing fight scenes. Each one of Shan’s round-kicks and back-flips seems to leap off the page. It’s impossible to put this book down while the heroine is busy tangling with the bad guys–and heating up the pages as she gets to know Ian… A must read for fans of Indiana Jones, Sidney Fox (of Relic Hunter fame) or Lara Croft, Jade Tiger is a wonderful debut.”
—Belle Dessler, BookLoons
“From start to finish JADE TIGER is a page-turning adventure. You have it all: romance, mystery, suspense, travel, and some more adventure, not to mention some edge of your seat action. Once I picked this one up it was hard to put down.”
—Blogcritics
“JADE TIGER is a fast-paced, exciting tale twinning scenes of exhilarating fighting and erotic romance that leap off the pages like a Bruce Lee-style crescent kick.”
—Douglas R. Cobb, curled up with a good kid’s book
“[Reese] did a beautiful job of choreographing both the fight scenes and the love scenes, blending them seamlessly in a fast-paced story that is sure to keep you on the edge-of-your-seat.”
—Elizabeth Headrick, Book Fetish
“Fast paced and compulsively readable… 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.”
—Karen Morse, Front Street Reviews
“JADE TIGER is a stupendous romantic fantasy starring a nerdy male professor and a warrior woman… Reese writes an enchanting saga.”
—Harriet Klausner, Amazon review
“JADE TIGER moves as fast and smooth as an exhibition fight between black belts. The beautiful, engagingly unsure Shan holds our focus, but allows us to appreciate things (such as Ian) that she doesn’t have time for. While zipping us through her martial arts story, author Jenn Reese gives us the spiritual feel of the training, with added flavors of humor, fantasy, romance, travel, even art appreciation.”
—Joy Calderwood, Reviewer’s Choice
