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Crimson City #7
Shards of Crimson
FOUR BRAND NEW STORIES FROM THE ORIGINAL AUTHORS OF THE USA TODAY BEST-SELLING SERIES. Its been said there's no such thing as quiet here. Ever since the metropolis first became home to paranormals, discord was named queen. But who will be her king vampires, werewolves, demons or men? One thing remains sure: This land is a battleground and conflict is eternal. Yet there are those who join together strangers, enemies, lovers. Here, one silken caress can be deadlier than a bullet, but some still know joy. For darkness can become light, and in one sharp instant pain can become ecstasy, and hatred, love.
1. "A Time to Howl" by Liz Maverick
2. "DX" by Carolyn Jewel
3. "School Bites" by Jade Lee
4. "Dark Awakening" by Patti O'Shea
1. "A Time to Howl" by Liz Maverick
2. "DX" by Carolyn Jewel
3. "School Bites" by Jade Lee
4. "Dark Awakening" by Patti O'Shea
370 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 2, 2007
3 people are currently reading
427 people want to read
About the author
Liz Maverick
34 books468 followersBestselling, award-winning author Liz Maverick is a novelist, adventurer and odd jobs specialist whose contract assignments have taken her from driving trucks in Antarctica to working behind the scenes on reality TV shows in Hollywood.
Liz is known for writing out-of-the-box romance novels with fast-paced, unique plots and lots of kick-butt action. Her previous works include Cosmopolitan Magazine Book Club Pick What a Girl Wants, PRISM/Daphne finalist The Shadow Runners, Golden Leaf winner Crimson Rogue, and Waldenbooks/B&N bestseller Crimson City, the first book in the multi-author continuity series she created.
Liz and her books have been featured on Fox's Geraldo at Large and in USA Today, Cosmopolitan Magazine, San Francisco Magazine, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Toronto Star, and more.
https://www.facebook.com/LizMaverickC...
Liz is known for writing out-of-the-box romance novels with fast-paced, unique plots and lots of kick-butt action. Her previous works include Cosmopolitan Magazine Book Club Pick What a Girl Wants, PRISM/Daphne finalist The Shadow Runners, Golden Leaf winner Crimson Rogue, and Waldenbooks/B&N bestseller Crimson City, the first book in the multi-author continuity series she created.
Liz and her books have been featured on Fox's Geraldo at Large and in USA Today, Cosmopolitan Magazine, San Francisco Magazine, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Toronto Star, and more.
https://www.facebook.com/LizMaverickC...
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 18, 2022
Having not read any of the Crimson City books, I thought that I'd give this one a go. Ease into the series, as it were. I didn't realize that it was book 7 until I started it. But, it was still good and it can be read as a stand alone. It has 4 short stories that have a little action and romance, but, it's also dark. This book was published in 2007 and I must say that reading a dark paranormal romance (it says paranormal action romance on the spine) was a wonderful change of pace to just romance. It had some meat to it. Also, it deals with demons and werewolves. Just extra lovely, at least for me.
This was a reread, I read it when it came out in 07, but, couldn't remember if I liked it or not. I kept wondering why I had it on my shelves even after 3 moves. Now I know why. I may have to look into getting the series.
This was a reread, I read it when it came out in 07, but, couldn't remember if I liked it or not. I kept wondering why I had it on my shelves even after 3 moves. Now I know why. I may have to look into getting the series.
August 10, 2008
I want more!
I thought all four stories were pretty good. Each one had characters that were secondary characters in the other novels in the series. Each one different, but all had action, inner turmoils and excellent, erotic love scenes.
A Time to Howl by Liz Maverick: I thought this was great. Even when it started out almost as ‘poor little rich girl’, Tajo and Gia overcome their differences and learn about one another. What started out as a spur of the moment kidnapping turns into an excellent love story. I was disappointed, though, but not because of the story. I want Jill and Marius! Please, oh please, Ms. Maverick. I need Jill and Marius. By ending their torment you’ll be ending mine. Right at the beginning, the page just before the title page, Liz wrote: “To the fans waiting for Jill and Marius … we’ll get there.” Oh, I hope it’s soon. This novel had been published in January 2007. Please! The suspense is killing me here! Rating: 4 stars
DX by Carolyn Jewel: Pretty good action and plot, but I found DX/Jaden to be a little overbearing. While I felt the characters were attracted to each other, I didn’t find the basis as to why Hell would become Jaden’s mate, just because. I didn’t feel the connection strong enough. While I know that there was a reason for it, I didn’t feel it was enough. Not bad, but not the greatest. Rating: 3 stars
School Bites by Jade Lee: This one was delightful! I really liked how Toni and John fumbled with each other, turned to each other, trusted each other, helped one another. Each one strong in their beliefs, even when they change. I thought the story was a great change to the usual fighting and will to survive. The had a point to push across and I loved how that played out in the story. Even though fiction, we can learn from this one, and it was a pleasant surprise. Rating: 5 stars
Dark Awakening by Patti O’Shea: Oh, I really enjoyed this one. I truly love how Kimi and Nic come together and win against the odds, just the two of them. I felt the connection between them, and I understood Kimi’s hesitancy. Nic doesn’t push, and Kimi, bold yet wary, learns something new every hour she spends with Nic. Their love blossoms, and the reader can feel it. I love how they team up to beat the bad guy, and no matter how scared she was, she did what she had to, to keep Nic alive. For a woman of only twenty years of age, she did something that most can’t, and it was incredible to watch. Rating: 5 stars
And yet, I can’t help reiterate once more: Please, Liz! I need Jill and Marius!
Average Rating: 4.5 stars
I thought all four stories were pretty good. Each one had characters that were secondary characters in the other novels in the series. Each one different, but all had action, inner turmoils and excellent, erotic love scenes.
A Time to Howl by Liz Maverick: I thought this was great. Even when it started out almost as ‘poor little rich girl’, Tajo and Gia overcome their differences and learn about one another. What started out as a spur of the moment kidnapping turns into an excellent love story. I was disappointed, though, but not because of the story. I want Jill and Marius! Please, oh please, Ms. Maverick. I need Jill and Marius. By ending their torment you’ll be ending mine. Right at the beginning, the page just before the title page, Liz wrote: “To the fans waiting for Jill and Marius … we’ll get there.” Oh, I hope it’s soon. This novel had been published in January 2007. Please! The suspense is killing me here! Rating: 4 stars
DX by Carolyn Jewel: Pretty good action and plot, but I found DX/Jaden to be a little overbearing. While I felt the characters were attracted to each other, I didn’t find the basis as to why Hell would become Jaden’s mate, just because. I didn’t feel the connection strong enough. While I know that there was a reason for it, I didn’t feel it was enough. Not bad, but not the greatest. Rating: 3 stars
School Bites by Jade Lee: This one was delightful! I really liked how Toni and John fumbled with each other, turned to each other, trusted each other, helped one another. Each one strong in their beliefs, even when they change. I thought the story was a great change to the usual fighting and will to survive. The had a point to push across and I loved how that played out in the story. Even though fiction, we can learn from this one, and it was a pleasant surprise. Rating: 5 stars
Dark Awakening by Patti O’Shea: Oh, I really enjoyed this one. I truly love how Kimi and Nic come together and win against the odds, just the two of them. I felt the connection between them, and I understood Kimi’s hesitancy. Nic doesn’t push, and Kimi, bold yet wary, learns something new every hour she spends with Nic. Their love blossoms, and the reader can feel it. I love how they team up to beat the bad guy, and no matter how scared she was, she did what she had to, to keep Nic alive. For a woman of only twenty years of age, she did something that most can’t, and it was incredible to watch. Rating: 5 stars
And yet, I can’t help reiterate once more: Please, Liz! I need Jill and Marius!
Average Rating: 4.5 stars
August 29, 2015
first read in June 2012
The four stories in Shards of Crimson, from current female fantasy writers, are interesting and themed together in a way that strongly reminded me of Thieves' World, especially when they started straying from the storyline into a highly explicit recount.
The first story, "A Time to Howl", was a classic theme of sheltered princess / erring peasant. It had echoes of Aladdin, as in the cartoon of the same name, but with a great twist. The two primary people in the story were both werewolves, one a sheltered princess, the other a rogue street walker, both with something missing in their lives. It was very well told, and the explicit scenes were very tastefully handled in a way that added to the storyline rather than, as so many do, abruptly jarring you out.
The second story, DX, dealt with human and demon interaction. Sadly to say, it was so uninteresting that I had to go back to the book to see what it was about. Helen, aka Hell, was the chief protagonist, and she was the love interest of vampires and demons, and the dinner date (as in the entrée) of werewolves. Other than that, too humdrum to remember.
School Bites, the third read, was an excellent story dealing with prejudice, and how unwarranted stereotyping of a race, people, or species, can often do more harm than good. In this story, the teachers struggle, literally, with the forces of evil, in this case the prejudice of the "normal" people against any they perceive as different. The teacher, Toni, is a Special Education teacher who deals daily with the children that are different, not cluing in to the fact that many of them are werewolves or vampires. She is bitten, and the prejudice of her fellows turns against her. The story turned out differently than I expected, and the outcome, and Toni's reactions, were different than I expected, but except for thinking this could have been better as a full length novel, I felt this was an excellent story.
The fourth and final story, Dark Awakening, was also dealing with demon and human interaction. It opens with a witch, Kimi, who, barely out of her teens, is now struggling to face her power while also coming to grips with the fact that the young man (Nic) she is interested in does not want her. She struggles with a slew of demons, and is forced to call on Nic for help, and together they struggle to contain the evil forces out to get her. A well written story.
Overall, 3 out of four were excellent, with only the second being forgettable. A good choice for an evening.
The four stories in Shards of Crimson, from current female fantasy writers, are interesting and themed together in a way that strongly reminded me of Thieves' World, especially when they started straying from the storyline into a highly explicit recount.
The first story, "A Time to Howl", was a classic theme of sheltered princess / erring peasant. It had echoes of Aladdin, as in the cartoon of the same name, but with a great twist. The two primary people in the story were both werewolves, one a sheltered princess, the other a rogue street walker, both with something missing in their lives. It was very well told, and the explicit scenes were very tastefully handled in a way that added to the storyline rather than, as so many do, abruptly jarring you out.
The second story, DX, dealt with human and demon interaction. Sadly to say, it was so uninteresting that I had to go back to the book to see what it was about. Helen, aka Hell, was the chief protagonist, and she was the love interest of vampires and demons, and the dinner date (as in the entrée) of werewolves. Other than that, too humdrum to remember.
School Bites, the third read, was an excellent story dealing with prejudice, and how unwarranted stereotyping of a race, people, or species, can often do more harm than good. In this story, the teachers struggle, literally, with the forces of evil, in this case the prejudice of the "normal" people against any they perceive as different. The teacher, Toni, is a Special Education teacher who deals daily with the children that are different, not cluing in to the fact that many of them are werewolves or vampires. She is bitten, and the prejudice of her fellows turns against her. The story turned out differently than I expected, and the outcome, and Toni's reactions, were different than I expected, but except for thinking this could have been better as a full length novel, I felt this was an excellent story.
The fourth and final story, Dark Awakening, was also dealing with demon and human interaction. It opens with a witch, Kimi, who, barely out of her teens, is now struggling to face her power while also coming to grips with the fact that the young man (Nic) she is interested in does not want her. She struggles with a slew of demons, and is forced to call on Nic for help, and together they struggle to contain the evil forces out to get her. A well written story.
Overall, 3 out of four were excellent, with only the second being forgettable. A good choice for an evening.
March 30, 2012
It's interesting to think that of the four short stories in here my favorites were the demon ones. I have always been a vampire girl, those being the earliest paranormal romances I read. Then I fell in love with werewolves with the Mercy Thompson series (Hello, Adam!) but in this series I find that my favorite stories are always the demons. Or maybe it's just that I like Patti O'Shea because her stories are definitely my favorite of the series and of this anthology in particular.
I actually thought the first one with Tajo and Gia was kind of boring. It's not that exciting to see another sheltered princess with her first taste of danger and the real world falling in love with the bad boy (with a good heart- they always end up having a good heart, otherwise we wouldn't like them, right? Well then why do girls still end up with jerks?). I loved the second, DX, with Jaden and Helen, although I thought that nickname Hell was just too easy. Make her a badass with an attitude by showing it, not by forcing it with a tough name. The third was pretty good and I actually ended up being more interested in the political meaning and undercurrents of the story than the romance. And my favorite was the fourth. This one felt the most rushed though and I kind of wish it could have been fleshed out into a more complete novel. What's with the Noguchi ladies being stalked by the Bak-Faru all the time! :D
I actually thought the first one with Tajo and Gia was kind of boring. It's not that exciting to see another sheltered princess with her first taste of danger and the real world falling in love with the bad boy (with a good heart- they always end up having a good heart, otherwise we wouldn't like them, right? Well then why do girls still end up with jerks?). I loved the second, DX, with Jaden and Helen, although I thought that nickname Hell was just too easy. Make her a badass with an attitude by showing it, not by forcing it with a tough name. The third was pretty good and I actually ended up being more interested in the political meaning and undercurrents of the story than the romance. And my favorite was the fourth. This one felt the most rushed though and I kind of wish it could have been fleshed out into a more complete novel. What's with the Noguchi ladies being stalked by the Bak-Faru all the time! :D
August 7, 2013
Book 7 of the series but this is actually a collection of 4 novellas from the multi-author Crimson City series.
#1 is A Time To Howl by Liz Maverick - This is a good story, Tajo!, good enough that you'll wish it was a full-length novel but more Paranormal Romance than Dark Urban Fantasy.
#2 is DX by Carolyn Jewel - This is a good story but it TOTALLY reads like it was a full-length that had every other chapter removed. There is so much information missing from this novella that I was confused most of the time. This is one I REALLY wish had been a full novel! DUF all the way!
#3 is School Bites by Jade Lee - This was an interesting side story about some characters we've never heard of before but it's pretty important to the underlying story regarding the integration of the vampires/ wolves/ etc into mainstream society. It was just the right length.
#4 is Dark Awakening by Patti O'Shea - This one was good, really good. This could have been fleshed out into story a little bit longer, another 50 pages or so. It was just the right mix of PR and DUF and was a nice way to finish off the book.
Unfortunately the series ends with the next book, #8 Crimson & Steam. I'll be sad to see the end as this is a World that has a lot of long-term potential and these authors have done a great job of bringing it to life so far. Maybe they can give us an update novel in another year or too? Please?!
#1 is A Time To Howl by Liz Maverick - This is a good story, Tajo!, good enough that you'll wish it was a full-length novel but more Paranormal Romance than Dark Urban Fantasy.
#2 is DX by Carolyn Jewel - This is a good story but it TOTALLY reads like it was a full-length that had every other chapter removed. There is so much information missing from this novella that I was confused most of the time. This is one I REALLY wish had been a full novel! DUF all the way!
#3 is School Bites by Jade Lee - This was an interesting side story about some characters we've never heard of before but it's pretty important to the underlying story regarding the integration of the vampires/ wolves/ etc into mainstream society. It was just the right length.
#4 is Dark Awakening by Patti O'Shea - This one was good, really good. This could have been fleshed out into story a little bit longer, another 50 pages or so. It was just the right mix of PR and DUF and was a nice way to finish off the book.
Unfortunately the series ends with the next book, #8 Crimson & Steam. I'll be sad to see the end as this is a World that has a lot of long-term potential and these authors have done a great job of bringing it to life so far. Maybe they can give us an update novel in another year or too? Please?!
August 29, 2013
Audiobook, anthology.
1. "A Time to Howl" by Liz Maverick. Cute story about a princess that almost belonged in a Disney movie she's so naive and sweet and about finding her mate.
2. "DX" by Carolyn Jewel. Romance between a demon and a human even without him changing to a kind and gentle man. Good story.
3. "School Bites" by Jade Lee Loved this story. I liked that it was about how people are coping with the changes. The beginning was very hot! Sweet ending.
4. "Dark Awakening" by Patti O'Shea. Enjoyable story, love between supposed opposites.
Overall good anthology that on par with the rest of the series I've listened to so far. Narrators did great job. 3-1/2 stars
1. "A Time to Howl" by Liz Maverick. Cute story about a princess that almost belonged in a Disney movie she's so naive and sweet and about finding her mate.
2. "DX" by Carolyn Jewel. Romance between a demon and a human even without him changing to a kind and gentle man. Good story.
3. "School Bites" by Jade Lee Loved this story. I liked that it was about how people are coping with the changes. The beginning was very hot! Sweet ending.
4. "Dark Awakening" by Patti O'Shea. Enjoyable story, love between supposed opposites.
Overall good anthology that on par with the rest of the series I've listened to so far. Narrators did great job. 3-1/2 stars
October 19, 2011
Four short stories set in Crimson City, a world fought over by humans, vampires, werewolves and demons. Read the first story-A Time to Howl which was ok, but it was your typical virgin werewolf princess kidnapped by common werewolf and they fall in love, he nearly dies and happy ever after. Not the most exciting read in the world but it passed an hour. The second story DX bored me as soon as we started with the sexist male cops and obnoxious fangbanger PI woman fighting all through the first part of the book about who she sleeps with. Boring Boring Boring! Quit and didn't read 3 and 4.
November 17, 2012
I loved the CRIMSON CITY series, but this book of four short stories really didn't appeal to me. Although they're romantic and steamy, and bring back familiar characters, they didn't feel finished. I usually enjoy anthologies of short stories, but it seems that when it deals with the vampires, werewolves, demons, and other assorted lot who inhabit Crimson City, longer is definitely better.
February 16, 2008
The two werewolf stories were pretty good, the demon stories were a little too similar though, the first was way better than the other.
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June 21, 2009Fantasy
November 16, 2009
This book has four great authors, each telling a different story that takes place in Crimson City. I just finished reading it for the second time, and it was just as good as the first!
September 19, 2011
Some authors better than others. Inconsistent treatment of various species - you'd think after a series of NOVELS everything would be settled. Should actually be 2.5 stars.
April 1, 2012
3.5/5 (B-)
April 17, 2012
2 of the stories were pretty good, 1 ok, and 1 meh....
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews