As a woman and a fan, I would hate to see any more departures from the book. I just finished watching “The Desolation of Smaug” and I think Jackson is ruining this story. Over two hours, full of CGI special effects fight scenes that are not in the book. Where did the Tauriel and Kili thing come from? Not the book.
This is where "the suits" become involved. Someone is looking at the demographic numbers and thinks adding a female character and love interest for the dwarf (Kili), that had women all over the internet drooling, would help sell more tickets.
Maybe because I understood that was what was happening with the addition, and, I am not a purist on this stuff, Tauriel didn't bother me so much.