The First Dirk & Steele Novel (Dirk & Steele Series)

Tiger Eye, by Majorie Liu, is a paranormal romance, sans blood sucking. Oh, there is magic aplenty, which begins in a splendid opening sequence set in modern day China. Liu also supplies a hero who is truly timeless, a heroine who is both resourceful and witty, and a villain who is sufficiently evil to deserve the hatred of all the characters and the reader. Liu's plot moves swiftly, and there is plenty of action and suspense, right until the end. This book is sassy and sensual, and while it introduces characters for a series, it stands alone quite well.

I'm a fan of paranormal romance, but I really don't care for vampire books, and it is difficult to find good stories in this genre which don't seem to be written for gals who just couldn't get enough of Buffie, so I found Tiger Eye to be quite a treat. While the heroine, Dela, isn't removed physically from her comfort zone, the intricate plotting against her and her lover provide some out-of-the-ordinary conflicts to resolve.

I'd give it four and a half stars if that were possible on the store.

I picked up Tiger Eye after reading all the great reviews here, and am so glad I did! This is an absoulutely an amazing book....it's just so hard to believe that this is her first novel! The writing is simply fantastic - flowing and discriptive, but not overly done so. All the characters are realistic and I can't wait to hopefully learn more about them in her upcoming sequel.

I won't bother to go into plot since I think others do that just fine here, but I will recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a great, and little bit supernaturual, romance novel. If you like Kenyon or Feehan, then this is a must read, but please don't think that you won't like it if you are not a fan of those authors. Give Tiger Eye a chance - you won't regret it!

And keep an eye out for the sequel to Tiger Eye and a new novel coming from her this summer.

Before reading this book, I wondered if it would be very much like Sherrilyn Kenyon's Fantasy Lover. This is not similar to the Darkhunter novels. Dela/Delilah comes into possession of a unique puzzle box and upon opening it finds Hari, a man who has been imprisoned there for 2,000 years. A wicked magician imprisoned him there and took away his shapeshifting abilities. For 2,000 years he has been a slave to the owner of the box, be it on the battlefield or the bedroom. Dela is at first a minimally psychic person, but her power progresses. She is part of an agency of supernaturally talented individuals. She becomes Hari's mistress. Dela she seeks a way for him to become a tiger once more and be free.

The book is about a group of people with paranormal abilities who all work for a secret "agency". In this story, the heroine has an affinity to metal (which is not very seriously exploited) and meets a shape shifter who has lost the ability to shape-shift along with some other issues which have been explained in detail by other reviewers. As a start to the series the book is good since it introduces a range of characters who will presumably be recurring. This slows down the story somewhat but dialogue is fairly rapid and holds attention.
The downside is the rather dramatic descriptive style when dealing with the hero. And did anyone find the oral sex between the heroine and the tiger (the hero's alter ego) disturbing? I'm all for steamy sex scenes but with an animal? It seemed rather perverted to me. Thankfully he turns back into a human at the point of consummation or it would have been just too weird.
I may try the next book but if the animal/human motif continues thats it for me.

Wow. Now I see what everyone was raving about. This is one of those books I was hesitant to read because there was just so much hype about it. But I have to say, the hype was well-deserved.

It's the start of a series about characters with a wide variety of paranormal and/or psychic abilities. The heroine, an artist with a psychic affinity for metal, is in China on vacation, where an old woman convinces her to buy a puzzle box, which, when she opens it, contains a shape-shifting warrior who's been cursed to be a slave to the owner of the box. The magi who cursed him is now after both of them, and there's an assassin after her as well.

This is paranormal/supernatural at its best! I love Marjorie M. Liu's work, and this book is exactly why. Like Christine Feehan's stuff, it is unusual and unique and hot, while it escapes the mistake made in Feehan's earlier works--repetative language and imagery, too-similar characters and situations, and meladrama. While I love Feehan, and all her Dark books, the first half of the series was definately rough and

a little raw.

Tiger Eye marks the beginning of a new series, full of extraordinary suprenatual situations, hot men, and memorable women. The story is hot, even with only a few real sex scenes, and the male lead, Hari, is human (well, sort of), real, tough, and vulnerable--not to mention, seven feet tall, blonde, and bearing an impressive sword (and spear!).

Anyone who loves paranormal romance and is seeking

excellent plots and well-written stories must give Liu a try. Fans of Kay Hooper, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Maggie Shayne, Christine Feehan, and Amanda Ashley should especially enjoy Liu.

Those who like 'realistic' paranormal? Liu's supernatural aspects are mostly believable, with a touch of 'magical', less-explainable aspects. Psychic abilities are explained and have science-based supposition--it enough to make you gi around trying to start fires with your brain because it could be real!

This is a great start to a new series, continued in Shadow Touch and beyond. I can't wait to get Red Heart of Jade to see what happens next!

Hari is the epitome of the tortured (literally) yet unbroken Hero who immediately captures both the reader's heart and that of Dela, the not-so-ordinary strong heroine who both tames him and sets him free. The settings are unusual and well-drawn, the plot fast-paced and intriguing, the characters complex and heart-tugging, and the writing sophisticated yet straight-forward. Yeah...I'm hooked!

Della Reese purchases a magic riddle box and upon opening it, meets Hari, a tiger shapeshifter cursed to obey every command of the box's owner. Della has an unusual talent herself, as she has an affinity for metal that includes the power to stop a bullet with her mind. Della becomes the target of a mobster and Hari, along with Della's friends (all of whom possess unique talents as well), work together to keep her protected and eliminate the threat. Meanwhile, Della and Hari try to break the curse on Hari and discover that the Magi who cursed him still lives! Highly recommended for all lovers of paranormal romances!

"Tiger Eye" takes place in a fantastical variant of the modern day. On the surface, all appears ordinary; but mages and shapeshifters and psychic talents abound.

The story starts with Dela, a blond lady who is resolute, decisive and independent. Dela has psychic powers relating to metal, which among other things lets her read the history of metal objects. Dela is shopping in a Beijing market, where she purchases a puzzle box for an absurdly low price. A man watches the purchase and assaults her; Dela elicits aid from people nearby and escapes. Back in her hotel room, Dela opens the puzzle box and, in a flash of light, an exotic man appears. Amidst confusion and presumptions, Dela learns that the man (Huri) is now her slave, that Huri must obey her commands until she either dies or shuts him up in the puzzle box again, that Huri cannot leave her side, and that Huri cannot be killed. Dela promises to never issue him commands and vows to help him break this horrid curse. Dela orders room service for Huri, and instead gets an assasin. The plot continues along these lines.

"Tiger Eye" is a rousing tale of adventure. The prose is well written and captivating. My problem with this novel is the emotional plot. Huri arrives angry at the world in general and Dela (his new master) in particular. Although the author quickly establishes the beginnings of passion and sympathy between Huri and Dela, the main emotional mood is anger and defensiveness, "poor me I've been abused" sulking and "how can I trust her" fretting. Although I greatly enjoy Romance novels, I find this particular meta-plot repulsive. Additionally, I found Dela a bit too brash, too "I need to be in charge" pushy. I know this is the current trend in Romance, but I cannot like it.

If those faults do not bother you, I expect you will enjoy this book greatly. "Tiger Eye" provides lively entertainment with plenty of action and surprise twists.

Myths and legends of old are artfully woven into this modern paranormal adventure novel. There is a good blend of adventure, intrigue, and romance throughout the story.

Shape-shifters, magi, psychics, and assassins engage the mind of the reader. The saga begins in the land of legends (Beijing, China) with a riddle box and moves to the United States where the bulk of the store unfolds.

This is a fun, enjoyable, and easy read. The perfect (cuddle up on the couch in a warm blanket) reading (while snow falls outside) book.

At first, I was skeptical about reading this, but as I read on, I became involved with the characters. When we first meet Dela, she seems very fragile to me, but I empathised with her feelings and her sorrow. When she 'aquires' Hari, who is a tiger that has been cursed into a box without his skin, she takes on another persona, not strong by any means, but she becomes self assured. Hari, a changling who has lost his skin, has mixed emotions about Dela, especially when he realized that she is probably the one person who can free him. The chemistry between them is strong from the beginning, and the way they slowly come together is alluring. The characters are actual people and not two dimensional figures. The sex scenes are steamy and left me imaging for several days. The story draws you in and makes you want to read more. I can't wait until Marjorie M. Liu expands on some of her supporting characters, for it would be a shame if she didn't. Applause and praise for Ms. Liu!!!

Not only is this book the incredible start to Marjorie's Dirk & Steele series, it is also the basis of a computer game that allows you to see the characters and tour their world! (Look to [...] for info on that.) While Marjorie continues with this fantasy series, she's also the author of the Hunter Kiss series, an intensely involved story with magic and demons which is also well worth checking out.

A wonderful shape shifter tale of love, the characters are endearing you'll laugh and you'll cry, and the plot was full of twists and surpirses. This book was original from beginning to end, overall, a very well written, entertaining story that I highly recommended!!

This month I will be sorting through my books for donation, and this one will not go anywhere... I like the characters, especially Hari. I will also purchase other books by ms. liu when they are published.

I absolutely love Marjorie Liu's Hunter Kiss books. Dark, beautiful prose. That said, this book is so different it's as though it was written by a different author. There are small spurts of interesting action that pull the plot along... only to be mired down a page later with too much repetitive dialogue. I really wanted to like the main character Dela Reese and her love interest Hari, but after the umpteenth overwrought conversation about her protection, safety, and emotional well-being... ugh. This book became a tiresome mess. Also, I bought this as a Kindle edition and it's jam-packed full of typos. Annoying.

I absolutly love Christine Feehan's books and when I saw that she recommended Majorie M. Liu I jumped on the chance to read one. And trust me, I'm not sorry that I did. The whole plot was well thought up. Hari and Dela are so lovible. I recommend this book to every one who loves magic, the impossible, and a good love story. I also recommend any Christine Feehan book.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!! The story was great!! The character development was superb!! This book was worth every $ that I spent. It is a keeper. I won't be giving this book away. Go out and get it today!! I have not enjoyed a romance book like this in a long time.

This book caputred me from page one, delivering a unique story with a sexy and unusual hero and smart, strong heroine. Plus there are so many cool single side characters, I can't help but hope this is only the beginning of my relationship with the Dirk & Steele detective agency.

I was very disappointed by this book. It was recommended to me as being similar to Nalini Singh's psy-changeling series, which I've been getting well into. I read the first few pages of this that are available online and thought the writing style was interesting enough to keep reading. I feel as though the author was counting on people to fall for that however, because when I opened the actual book I found that the quality of writing drops off dramatically after those first few pages. This seems to show that the author can write well, just that she didn't bother, hardly the way to please an audience.
The romance between the two main characters happened far too quickly and with barely any chemistry between them. The way the characters had so much money that they didn't need to care about it seemed like an easy excuse for them to be able to buy their way out of situations, and really it just felt like the author was cheating. I found myself skimming over long sections of not-quite-witty banter between secondary characters that are too one-dimensional to care about, and I presume were only in the story as a means to introduce them so that can star in later books, because they weren't really necessary in this one.
I've heard that that the series gets better as it goes on, but for me, this didn't show enough talent for me to want to keep reading.

This book was INFINITELY satisfying. The descriptions had you tasting textures, feeling colors, seeing smells. The story was unique and balanced. The read was easy but addictive. One of the best I've ever read!

into the whole idea of time travel. The idea that this gorgeous warrior guy has been around for 2000 years and has never met a kind person is just dumb. The premise of this book reminds me a bit of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Fantasy Lover. Yet in Kenyon's book the hero comes out of a book and not a box. I could not get too far in either book. Too ridiculous for me.