White Tigress

Tigress #1

by Jade Lee

Englishwoman Lydia Smith sailed to the Orient seeking her fiancé. She found treachery instead. In seedy Shanghai, she was drugged, sold, made a slave to a dark-eyed dragon of a man. But while her captor purchased her body, was that what he truly sought? He demanded not her virginity but her yin—the essence of her ecstasy—and there seemed no choice but to consent. What harm, Lydia wondered, was there in allowing him to pleasure her, to teach her, until she could flee? It was the danger—and reward—of taking the first step on a journey to heaven, and her feet were already on the path to becoming a radiant and joyous...White Tigress.

Genres: Romance, Historical, Historical Romance, Erotica, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy

354 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: Also writes under the pen name Kathy Lyons.

A USA Today Bestseller, JADE LEE has been scripting love stories since she first picked up a set of paper dolls. Ball gowns and rakish lords caught her attention early (thank you Georgette Heyer), and her fascination with the Regency began. An author of more than 40 romance novels and winner of dozens of industry awards, her latest series is RAKES AND ROGUES. The first one, 50 WAYS TO RUIN A RAKE, is an awesome tale of love and laughter.
And don’t forget Kathy Lyons.. She’s Jade’s paranormal half. Check out her new shifter series GRIZZLIES GONE WILD.
To find all the latest news on Jade or Kathy, visit them at www.jadeleeauthor.com or www.kathylyons.com! And find out where you can meet her at: http://jadeleeauthor.com/appearances

Reviews

[new_user · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I think I need to review this one, since my rating may come as a little bit of a mystery. After all, this has all the elements a historical reader might expect to enjoy: an "exotic" -I can't write that without quotes- setting and hero and a unique plot. In fact, I started with high hopes. When Lydia arrives in Shanghai and unfortunately relies on the only countryman she knows just a little to steer her aright, she ends up in the hands of some unsavory characters. That's believable. (Take note, travellers, LOL.) We begin with action within the first ten pages.

Unfortunately, it's all downhill from here. What sounds good in a summary is executed poorly in actuality-- and that's putting it nicely. I found that author Jade Lee's prose lacked any finesse or elegance with only a cursory glance at settings and place, cartoonish villainy and drama à la PASSIONS , and a superficial development of characters and Chinese mysticism.

The book draws heavily upon the Taoist sexual practices that by this time had become taboo in China. Hero Cheng Ru Shan is a practioner. In order to absorb readers and convince them of the validity of our hero's religion, the author must project the hero's perspective. She has to research deeply and place herself in unfamiliar shoes. Instead, we know only the bare minimum of this alien ideology, just enough to relegate these practices to a video game. The hero has to level-up and he's wholly fixated on this so that he seems asexual in practice. Literally. Lee reveals little to nothing about the hero's internal reactions during these moments, if any, in speech or thought. His conversation with Lydia is also very fishwife/yoga instructor, devoid of any demonstration of feeling even in body language (throw us a bone, dude) apart from annoyance, so that it's hard to believe that he feels anything for the heroine or cares for much except his spiritual "level."

Their relationship seems based entirely on this presumable lust until Ru Shan finally reveals his motivations to Lydia, which revelations are carefully, predictably dropped and examined in list form at convenient points in the narrative. This method was particularly tedious in his internal dialogue, especially where Ru Shan's progression of thoughts, which naturally have nothing to do with love or affection for his Lydia-pooh, are listed A, B, C, and D in a short paragraph and then his decision. "I feel A. I feel B. I feel C. I feel D. Therefore..." The audience is not credited with much intelligence and Lee does not bother to relate this in her prose with any extra effort.

Similarly, Lydia, while clearly the focal point of the story, experiences everything in Taoist religious language, so that it's more like reading a White Tigress, Green Dragon manual or text than a romance novel. I'm not kidding. I got very tired about hearing the flow of her yin and frankly, I could not believe that a woman just exposed to a new religion could internalize its vocabulary and ideology so quickly, even if she was forced into it as Lydia was. (Ru Shan initially buys her from a madam to exploit her yin, which basically amounts to initiating her into the Tao of Chica Bow Bow. See the first 168 pages.) It would have been nice to read a novel. Instead, when Lydia reaches her peak, we read about oceans of yin. This is taking metaphor to new lows.

Lydia also apparently had a split personality disorder because one moment she was nice and innocent and gullible and the next we would witness a bizarre cruel streak invented for plot purposes. As I said, soap-opera worthy. One minute TSTL and the next apparently a devious mastermind with accompanying explanations that flail and founder because her actions are too wacky and senseless to explain. So are the in-laws.

In short, White Tigress reads like a bad formula novel interspersed with Kama Sutra instructions. And it wasn't even hot. LOL. Skip!

[Merissa (Archaeolibrarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been labelled as erotic but I would re-label it as sensual. I wasn't too sure about reading this book as I had read a few negative reviews and for once allowed that to influence me. I have now realised that I should not allow other reviews to influence my reading choice. If I was intrigued enough to download it, I will be interested enough to make my own decision! I completely enjoyed it.

Even though this is historical, set in 1800's China, our main female is not some whimpering, wilting wallflower but has a spine, is forward thinking and is more than capable of arranging her own life, rather than waiting for Prince Charming to come and rescue her.

I loved the flow of this story and did not find it confusing at all. There are some basic Taoist terms for you to "learn" as they are repeated throughout the book, but trust me, they are not difficult. I loved the history of Taoism that was also given through the book.

Really enjoyed it, will be reading it again and will be keeping this one!

[kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lydia Smith gets her naive butt sold to a brothel approximately 2 minutes after setting foot in Shanghai. Cheng Ru Shan wants to master his Taoist practice and so finds himself buying Lydia (the "white pet") on credit. This goes exactly as badly as you'd think, except that the power of love cures all ills including racism, slavery, years of emotional and physical abuse, and also sexism.

1. First, I am going to give this book 2 stars even though it is very difficult for me to do so. I wanted to like this book more than I did: it's a historical romance set somewhere other than frontier America or Europe!! It has a Chinese hero!! It almost deals with colonialism!! I WANT ALL THESE THINGS!!

Except it never really clicked for me. Part of it was Lydia's wide-eyed racism (which, I guess, "of the times" (??? I HATE THIS ARGUMENT FOR GROSS SHIT?) but when that mentality is still prevalent in a modern day setting, it just icks me right the hell out because it doesn't feel like "of the times" but more "the world sucks and then you die"); part of it was the fact that Lydia is a slave for the first 30% of the book; part of it was simply that the writing did not land well.

2. Yes, you read that right: the heroine is the hero's slave for the first 30% of the book.

3. I wanted more of the world than we got. So much of the book is wrapped up in Ru Shan introducing Lydia to Taoist principles that there isn't room for much else. Which was disappointing to me.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not your typical historical romance. It is a poem written for lovers. It is written loosely about Taoism and reaching heights of Immortality.

Lydia had no idea what would befall her in Shanghai. In 1897 things are different for a pure Englishwoman. I cannot go further without giving away the entire story, but the reward of White Tigress will be yours when you read it. Learn with her and her captor what they learn about and with each other.

I was quite please with this story. Finished it almost a day ago and even though I'm reading another story, this one is holding strong and true in my mind. I felt what I hadn't felt in a long time reading this historical. I felt their passion, their desire, their weaknesses. White Tigress is beautifully written and Jade Lee has become a must read for me.

[Zeek · Rating 3 out of 5]

An English woman of the 1800's is sold into slavery just after landing in Shanghai China- only to fall in love with her captor. (Of course HE is smart enough to realize that she is far more than the simple "pet" he purchased her to be, to fall in love with her whilst setting aside all their cultural differences, and moreover marrying her, then bringing her in as co-proprietor of his family shop. Clever hero.)

In the beginning, I loved the setting, even liked the story. However, prose and euphemism were immediately silly and the heroine fluctuated too often between gutsy and tstl in her propensity to trust a man- just because he's white. ugh. And too, her decision to use the man she called her finance to destroy her former captor made her feel cold as hell. She does soften thankfully or I woulda never finished it but her temper tantrums were also very annoying- especially the one she throws after a HUGE plot twist is revealed to her. (Although, granted, what happened would want to make ANY woman throw a temper tantrum! Still I cant help but feeling I would be more upset at my own stupidity.)

So, in the end, it had an interesting setting/hook and though it was indeed wickedly sensual- Taoist sexual practices and all- the tedious prose and ludicrous plots and situations was just too much.

That said, I'm curious about reading more by this author, since I believe this was her first novel...

[Cameron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in Shanghai it's the story of Lydia (somehow both almost too dumb to live and also quite smart) and Ru Chan (a chinese silk merchant who is involved in an erotic taoist cult). Lydia gets kidnapped, Ru Chan buys her, there's much sucking (of the sexy kind) and lots of getting over prejudices on both their parts and revealed secrets and fashion design and a happily ever after that only vaguely seems like a good idea (but historicly speaking is probably plausable).
Anyway, my brain just kept whispering "stockholm syndrome" to me.

[Dabney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dear Ms. Lee—

When I saw you'd released your Tigress series digitally and the first one, originally published in 2005, White Tigress was free at Amazon, I downloaded it immediately. I’m always thrilled to find a historical romance not set in Regency England and I’m fascinated by China and its complex history. I cannot say I was fascinated by this book. I was actually rather repulsed by it and found it to be so bizarre I wondered perhaps, in order to make sense of the story, I needed some sort of cultural Rosetta stone. I questioned if I was too Western or too humdrum for your book for not only did much of the novel baffle me, much of it made me cringe.

The book is set in Shanghai in 1897 and, from the first chapter, the heroine, Lydia Smith behaves inexplicably. She’s arrived in Shanghai two weeks earlier than her fiancé Max (Maxwell Slade) is expecting her—she got better rate on an earlier boat. As she steps down the gangplank, she’s oddly sure everything will be JUST FINE even though she doesn’t speak the language, she’s a beautiful blonde woman traveling alone in Asia in the 19th century, her fiancé has no idea she’s in town, and everyone around her is a total stranger. The only person she knows is the captain of her ship, whose looks she hasn’t liked from the moment she met him. He promises he will take her to the address she has for Max, bundles her onto his rickshaw, and promptly delivers her to a brothel, the Garden of Perfumed Flowers, where she is drugged with opium tea and abandoned to her fate.

Normally this fate would be a life where she was forced to become addicted to opium, used over and over again by men, and then, when her beauty and youth had faded, she’d be thrown out on the streets of Shanghai where she’d ultimately die of opium addiction and/or the damage from of life of prostitution. But, Lydia gets, comparatively, lucky. A very bizarre woman, Shi Po, who is considered “senior in these teachings, a tigress far ahead... on the path to immortality,” (she’s an expert practitioner in the certain Taoist tantric sex practices that can make one, while still living, an Immortal) has found out about the now captive Lydia and believes her primary student, Ru Shan, needs to buy Lydia immediately—while she’s still unsullied—in order to restore him to his place on the path to Immortality. This didn’t make a lick of sense to me. Maybe it will to others. In case it's just me who is clueless, here's Shi Po's reasoning:

"Look again at the girl," she ordered. "See how much water she has in her? See her breasts, how full and round they are? They will give much sustenance to a man with too much yang."

Ru Shan grimaced, knowing she referred to him. Indeed that was the source of his problem, according to her: too much male yang. Too little female yin.

…."You will have to buy her."

"What?”

…."No!" The very idea revolted him.

"Then you have abandoned the Tao and all the gains you have made these last nine years. You will never become an Immortal. Even your status as a jade dragon will disappear."

He felt his jaw tighten at the thought, the heat in his belly rising with his temper. Nearly a decade of study, of diligent effort and constant attention, all would disappear? Because he would not sacrifice his family to his goals? Not possible!

"Then you must buy the white girl. You must establish her in an apartment close enough to see her every day. You must partake of her essence every moment that you can." Shi Po stepped even closer, pressing her point. "And as her water flows into you, your family's fortunes will recover and your pathway back to the Tao will be revealed." She lowered her voice into a seductive murmur. "Your mind will find peace, your body rest. You will return to the middle path with new energy, and as her yin mixes with your yang, the spiritual embryo will be born. You will become an Immortal. You can, Ru Shan, if only you will do what is necessary."

So, Ru Shan, whose life has sucked for the past two years, goes deeply into debt and buys Lydia, a ghost woman, whom he sees a little more than a pet. He installs her in an apartment and plans to use her yin to balance his yang and thus make it back to the Chamber of a Thousand Swinging Lanterns, the antechamber to the Realm of the Immortals, where he’s been three times before his life fell apart. Lydia, still heavily drugged from her doctored tea, has no idea what has happened to her and, when she finally comes out of her opiate induced coma, she finds herself lying on a bed in a small room, completely shaved, and being cared for by a nice young Chinese houseboy named Fu De. When she first awakes, she believes, for no reason I could fathom, somehow her situation is due to Max, her fiancé, whom she demands to see.

Instead, Ru Shan walks through the bedroom door and tells her she is now his slave. (He speaks English.) He explains to her,

"I have extended myself greatly to purchase you. You were most expensive." His tone indicated disapproval, almost anger. "But it is done now, and you will perform such tasks as I require when I require."

Lydia has a complete conniption at this idea and spends the next several days rebelling by struggling, refusing to eat, and fouling the sheets of her bed. Neither Fu De nor Ru Shan pay any attention to her actions. After a week of such behavior, Ru Shan comes to her and tells her to get a grip or he will send her back to the brothel where her future—opium, sex with violent strangers, the streets, painful death—will be far worse than what he will ask of her as his slave. He promises she will remain a virgin, that all he wants is her yin—her feminine water. She is confused by what he is asking for. He tells her,

"What I require is your yin. Your water."

She shook her head, frustration making her surly. "I don't know what that means."

"It means that I require your feminine fluids. But not your virginity."

She blinked, sure she could not have heard him correctly. "You do not intend to ravish me?"

He shuddered—he actually shuddered—at the thought. "I am working to become an Immortal. Ravishment, as you put it, would require a release of my yang power—my manly fluids and energy—into you. That would decrease my ability to attain Immortality."

She frowned, trying to understand. "But you need my female energy, my—"

"Yin."

"My yin to..."

"To mix with my yang energy and create the power that will take me to the Immortal Realm."

"You'll die?" she gasped.

She thought perhaps his expression lightened at her dramatic statement, but his tone remained level. "No. I will become an Immortal. Any man or woman can visit Heaven, but only if they have sufficient spirit to take them there."

"Spirit? You mean a mixture of your yang and my yin."

This is a partial review. Please go to DearAuthor.com for the entire review.
http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/d-...

[Alisa Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am going to post 4 stars, but its more like a 3.5. I didn't hate or love this story.
This was definitely different. A different outlook on sex and religion.
This is a hard book to write a review for. Its your typical woman trusts the wrong person, gets put into Brothel, man sees woman, buys woman then your story. But its much more than that.
Lydia is a strong Englishwoman in a foreign country, she tries to stay true to herself.
Ru Shan is a Chinese man with traditional beliefs and another "practice". He finds out that some of his beliefs are not true, things he has been taught for years are wrong. But he tries to stay true to those beliefs. Ru Shan also practices Taoist, a different type of sexual "feeling".
There is some sexual parts in this book, but nothing like what most are used to reading.
So hard to put into words what I feel and thought.
I felt for Lydia, she went through so much. She tried hard to understand the culture and even tried to adjust herself to it, but fell short due to lack of communication. That is my opinion, others might see it differently.
Ru Shan, tried to be "the Cheng Mountain" and hold the ENTIRE family on his shoulders, yes that was custom in this time period; but he also tried to be someone else, learn and accept new things/ideas.

For more on this story/review and to see an interview with the author please visit my blog http://eskimoprincess.blogspot.com/ later in the week.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the novelty of the setting in this one — there aren't many historical romances set in China. I even liked how the sex scenes were a nice build-up — none of that wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. The premise of the Taoist religion driving the hero to do what he does — I can accept that, too. With all this, I was able to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the story somewhat, easily disregarding how stupid the heroine was to set off on her own in a foreign country where she doesn't speak the language and how easily she submitted to her "master."

But when the hero and the heroine actually achieve "heaven" — that ruined it a bit for me. Having the hero believe in all that was OK. Faith is faith. But to have his faith become reality and described like it was really, actually happening. I don't know — it's like reading Christian fiction where the hero/heroine actually chats with Jesus in the end, and Jesus chats with them. Yeah, I know, right?

However, if I overlook that part of it, I did like the book.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a new type of historical for me - not set in England and not holding to any of the regency guidelines I’m used to. It reminded me of Cyn Haydn's Candle on the Beach with that twist to the historical I look for. China during the regency period didn't seem to have a positive view of the English and the English reciprocated. When a very naïve Lydia Smith makes her solitary way to China to find her fiancée she find a whole lot more. Sold into slavery not as a sex toy, but as a way to find religious ecstasy teaches her a whole new way of thinking. A very clever and new way to look at the period. Enjoy!

[Verolu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una mujer inglesa vendida como esclava en China de los años 1800.
Los atractivos de este libro para mi fueron la cultura china de la época, sobretodo el machismo en su máxima expresión y la falta de conocimientos de los chinos, porque al ser una mujer blanca de otro país la consideraban como menos que una mujer. También explican las practicas sexuales taoistas, lo cual presenta una forma espiritual de ver la sexualidad así como el intercambio de energías entre las personas.
Pero el libro carece de contexto en ciertas partes o tal vez el desarrollo de la personalidad de otros personajes.

[Colette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm really glad this was not the first book I read in this series or I don't think I would've been able to continue reading it & book four is wonderful.

I'm honestly not sure why I had such trouble with it, but I didn't care for any of the characters or get into the romance. I know this is supposed to be erotica, but like others have said, I think this one is more sensual then erotica.

[Rafael Yamano · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a very interesting plot twist at 70%, which made me much more interested in it (until then it seemed very poorly written and with cardboard characters). But the problem that arises from the plot twist is solved so quickly that it left me unsatisfied with the book. The ending seemed hushed and contrived.

[Tasneem · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is fabulous. I adored the details of China and Shanghai and of course Taoist mysticism and eroticism. Beautifully written. I adored Lydia and her journey into the heavens.

[Mermarie]

Free today.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Asian philosophy interspersed with gently described heat

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I have to say is WOW!!!!

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is a great book to read

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, I think. I don't know. The sweet parts were heart-eyes good.

[Sonia189 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't that bad for me and more than the weird content, it was the weak character behavior that makes me think this wasn't as well done as it could.

[Brenda Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Noreen's pick.
Smut. And some interesting Chinese history.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

White Tigress is a romance of diverse races and cultures. The complex characters and situations peak interest.
Lydia sails to Shanghai to marry her fiancé earlier than planned because she and her mother don’t have the income for both to stay in England. She negotiates an earlier, cheaper passage with a less than honorable captain. He sells her into slavery upon arrival.
Ru Shan, manipulated by Shi Po, his supposed tutor, buys Lydia. The two develop a relationship in spite of the fact that Lydia constantly tries to escape. When she does manage to run away, Maxwell, her fiancé is less than honorable.
Letters from Mei Lan, Ru Shan’s mother, flesh out her back story as well as that of her son. They also illustrate what life was like for women in China. The contrast of two cultures, each thinking the other is primitive and bestial, is instructive.
The White Tigress is a woman of courage mated with a complex man of honor and loyalty.
Recommended.

Readalikes/Similar Authors:
Jeannie Lin - Tang Dynasty series; Constance O’Banyon - Ancient Egypt romances; Mary Jo Putney - The Wild Child (Bride Trilogy); Susan Johnson - Braddock-Black Absarokee series.

Pace: fast
Characters: culturally diverse; religiously diverse; complex; intricate back stories
Story: character driven
Language: engaging
Tone: steamy; explicit (?)
Frame: Shanghai, China; 1850-70’s, 1890’s

Red flags: the sensuality of the story is not graphic, but it is very steamy which may not appeal to all readers. Also, the HEA may not be as ever after in the reader’s mind. There are many pressures, not explored, against a mixed race couple in the 19th century.

[Sandra R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! A lots of mixed reviews for this book and I understand why. First, I have to say that I love Jade Lee's writing. Second - this is a difficult book to get in to at first, you really have to concentrate and luckily I was in the mood for concentrating. Very involved story involving Chinese erotica and practises. Lydia was stolen after she left her ship in Shanghai and then sold to Ru Shan - a Jade Dragon. I found it sensual, beautifully thought out and written and I enjoyed the whole Chinese experience within this Historical romance. 4.5 stars.

[Ronnae Stately · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lydia thought she would be meeting up with her fiancé when she arrived in Shanghai. But she was duped by the captain of the ship she traveled on and sold to a whore house. Lucky for her Ru Shan was also duped into looking for a white woman to expunge his guilt about a White Sea captain. These two seemed like an u love melt pair but while Ru Shan was teaching Lydia in the knowledge of the jade dragon and white tigress they fell I love. Granted it took many trials an tribulations for them to realize this but once the did they reached immortality.

[Killian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just kind of... weird. The author is clearly able to give you depth and meaning to her characters, but the prose was strange and the story itself was just... yeah, weird. Not going to continue with this series.

[Cris · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's marked as a Romance, but I found the hero's behavior unforgivable and the heroine's insta-love inexplicable and demeaning. I couldn't finish the book.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my thing

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow and not in the good way.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not for me and I wanted to like it.

[Antonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los protagonistas una mujer inglesa y un hombre chino se encuentran por azar y terminan amándose después de muchas dificultades emigran a América luego de que descubren su amor muti