Sleeping Tigers by Holly Robinson

Occasionally, people ask why I read/review indie or self-published books. Occasionally, I ask myself the same question. Often they are slow or suffer from abysmal editing. Then along comes a book like Holly Robinson's Sleeping Tigers and I understand. I do it because of the rush I get when I find a treasure.

From the Back Cover:

Jordan O'Malley has everything she ever wanted: a job she loves, a beautiful home, and a dependable boyfriend. When her life unravels after a breast cancer scare, Jordan decides to join her wildest childhood friend in San Francisco and track down her drifter brother, Cam, who harbors secrets of his own.

When Cam suddenly flees the country, Jordan follows, determined to bring him home. Her journey takes her to the farthest reaches of majestic Nepal, where she encounters tests - and truths - about love and family that she could never have imagined.

From that blurb, you might expect the majority of the novel and character growth to take place in Nepal. Actually most of the story takes place in San Francisco - and, of the two, I enjoyed the San Francisco leg of the journey better than the Nepal leg.

Jordan's friend, Karin, is a blast. I loved her and totally got Jordan's connection with her. She's a hard partying girl with a huge heart. The two of them together make a great team. On the other hand, brother Cam is an annoying brat. He marginally succeeds in redeeming himself toward the end of the book and the story wouldn't have been what it was without him, but I didn't like him at all. There are lots of other personalities woven into the story of Jordan's summer vacation and the interactions between them were delightful. So many times I found myself laughing out loud.

I'm trying so hard to avoid spoilers here - hard to do when I enjoyed the book so much and just want to talk about it. Suffice it to say that the difficulties Jordan encounters cause her to examine her choices, her dreams and her life's path. This one has definitely found a place in my top 68.

/5   

Character Development          5

Editing                                      5

Sex                                            2

Violence                                  0

Romance                                 4

Readability/Flow                     5

 A Taste from page 39:

The next morning, I drove through Golden Gate Park, smelling the heady scents of eucalyptus and pine. Ocean Beach was completely fogged in. I heard the water long before I saw it, tall green humps feathered in white as the beast breathed along the shore. The beach was empty except for a few dozen shapes lying on the sand. I thought they were seals at first. Once I'd parked the car and started walking towards them, though, I realized that the shapes were people.