Sandra Brown is one of my favorite authors. Tiger Prince #112 (SIM) was written under Brown’s pen name of Erin St. Claire for the Silhouette Intimate Moments (SIM) line.
I have a relatively good track record with Sandra Brown because I actually started with her romantic suspense novels Charade (1995) and The Witness (1996). Then I slowly made my way through her romance backlist. Have they reprinted them all yet?
I remembered hearing good things about Tiger Prince several years ago and had picked it up to read later. Well later is now. I was prepared for good things, all things considered.
In Tiger Prince, a divorceé goes on vacation to Jamaica and finds love, romance and adventure. How sweet. Caren Blakemore works for the U.S. State Department. She’s made a diplomatic error that is somewhat embarrassing to the agency. As a result she’s been asked to take vacation leave in order to avoid being suspended, which she does.
Caren’s self-confidence is at an all time low because her husband left her for another woman. While on vacation, she reluctantly embraces the idea of a fling with no strings attached. So here comes jet-setting playboy with the seductive “tiger eyes” Derek Allen. He makes himself available to Caren. He’s actually more than she can handle and he is determined to seduce her and he does.
The two have a passionate affair that lit up the island. What Caren doesn’t know is that Derek’s hiding an explosive secret. The story then turns into a marriage of convenience story. What Caren didn’t realize was that she was inadvertently involved in a major political snafu that threatens her job. The second half of the story involves the aftermath of the Jamaica fling followed by moments of truth and declarations of love.
The story is very sensual and very dated. A lot of cliché’s and tropes that today I just can’t stomach much anymore. My response to the story is a mixed bag. I liked some parts of it and others I could have did without. Brown is good with sexual chemistry and she gets a gold star for that but overall, C+ read.
I’m sure some readers would probably enjoy this story today despite it’s datedness. It has a somewhat solid plot and has a hero who is very demanding yet sexy. Explosive secrets and the rediscovering of oneself are big themes in here. The reprint edition comes with the dreaded “dear reader” letter, where the author explains to her new readership that she once wrote “romances” some twenty years ago and “that as in all romances, expect a happy ending.” Yes and this one has a rather sappy one at that. C+.
If you’re new to Sandra Brown, the Tiger Prince is not a good place to start. May I suggest Mirror Image, French Silk, Play Dirty, Charade, The Witness, Ricochet and several others. Just not this one.
This review is apart of the TBR challenge that my fellow readers and I are participating in this year. Please take the time to visit the other readers in this challenge and thank you.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Sometimes you just can’t go home again! I think it’s kind of interesting to read something “dated” and think about how times have changed. Very intersting and good review.
I don’t think I’ve read anything by Sandra Brown. Thanks for the review!
Yeah, Brown could be a “Diana Palmer” in her early days. I caught some of them, too, Keishon, written under the name of Erin St Claire (I think she also had another pseudonym at the time). Best to stay away from those super early ones or treat them like a guilty pleasure. How long did it take you to read it? Probably only a couple of hours. But she wrote for the time and what was popular. Thank goodness her style has evolved.