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Crimson & Steam (Crimson City #8)

3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 · rating details · 126 ratings · 17 reviews

Named for the angels, Los Angeles is a city of demons, a crucible of souls. It is Crimson City. Here vampires and werewolves vie for dominion, humans build soldiers of flesh and steel who seethe with fury. But alongside strife can be love--a love that cares nothing for species or origin.

Yet, love doesn’t always conquer. Marius and Jill have long been kept apart. Bound by...more

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Published December 29th 2009 by Love Spell (first published 2009)

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Feb 26, 2010 Jackie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: lost-in-2011-fire, signed-by-author-copy, won-in-giveaway

I read this book last night in one long 3-3 1/2 hour reading session. I was so happy to go back to the Crimson City world that Liz created for us oh so many years back now. The familiar characters of The Vampire House of Dumont and the Mechs and the Weres and all the interplay made for a very easy reading experience once again. I hope at some point in the future due to fans interest Liz gets to revisit this particular series again but if not it was a good ending as it stands. I do not do spoiler...more

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Jan 13, 2010 Melindeeloo rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: futuristic-romance, paranormal-romance-vampire, vampires, shapeshifters

After the long wait to see more of Jill and Marius after Shards of Crimson, I was really anticipating Crimson & Steam. But the story here is not the one that I would have wished for the pair.

Human reporter Jill and vampire clan head Marius have had a deep connection that Marius has denied out of duty to his vampire race, and now in order to secure peace between the vamps and the werewolves, Marius, convinced of his noble purpose, deals Jill the ultimate rejection by committing himself to a '...more After the long wait to see more of Jill and Marius after Shards of Crimson, I was really anticipating Crimson & Steam. But the story here is not the one that I would have wished for the pair.

Human reporter Jill and vampire clan head Marius have had a deep connection that Marius has denied out of duty to his vampire race, and now in order to secure peace between the vamps and the werewolves, Marius, convinced of his noble purpose, deals Jill the ultimate rejection by committing himself to a 'state' marriage with one of the daughters of the Royale werewolf house. As Jill's heart breaks watching her soul mate wed, she is determined to move on with her life.

Well the fact that that Marius' plan doesn't works so well is the ultimate understatement. Uniting the two powerful supernatural races stirs up a pro-human movement and soon Jill finds herself pulled back into Marius' life trying to solve a murder and to find a cure for a deadly virus which threatens to remove Marius from Jill's life even more permently than his marriage.

Woven along side of Jill and Marius' ordeal, is a story set in Victorian times. A gentle story where the leads, Charlotte and Edward are separated by the rigid class structure of their times, a story which also holds the truth of the beginnings of the supernatural races.

I actually liked this story the better of the two despite that fact that the ending is a bit wierd and sad. Charlotte and Edward's characters, relationship and chemistry are better developed and the more compelling of the two stories. And really it is only Charlotte and Edward who kept me from disliking this book entirely because I found Jill and Marius' story frustrating and unsatisfying, and Marius' treatment of his wife (which looses him all of his nobility points) quite maddening.

It also didn't help that I didn't like the abrupt resolution to the Marius' problem and and the final fate of Marius' wife or the fact that my hopes for Hayden (a turned vamp with a vendetta against Marius' family and Jill's former lover) didn't pan out. But then again maybe that is reason behind the whole of fate of the wife - an impetous for Hayden's redemption in future books.

Bottom line is that this is not the best entry into the Crimson City series. The earlier books of romance between the supernatural races of vampires, werewolves, demons and mechs (mechanical human hybrids) by authors Liz Marverik, Jade Lee, Patti O'Shea, Marjorie Liu and Carolyn Jewell were so much better.(less)

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Jan 10, 2010 Katie(babs) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Crimson & Steam takes place in an alternate futuristic place called Crimson City where vampires, werewolves, and humans all live together. This main storyline deals with Marius Dumont, the leader of the Vampire Assembly who, along with the three other leaders of the Crimsons City’s vampire world must try and keep the peace between the werewolves and humans. This also is a major problem for the vampire community because the werewolves don’t get along with them either. In order to keep the pea...more Crimson & Steam takes place in an alternate futuristic place called Crimson City where vampires, werewolves, and humans all live together. This main storyline deals with Marius Dumont, the leader of the Vampire Assembly who, along with the three other leaders of the Crimsons City’s vampire world must try and keep the peace between the werewolves and humans. This also is a major problem for the vampire community because the werewolves don’t get along with them either. In order to keep the peace, Marius will sacrifice himself and marry Tatiana Asprey, the princess to the aristocratic House Royale werewolves of New York City. This alliance will accomplish much even though it kills Marius inside because he has found his soul mate with Jillian Cooper, a human who is dedicated to her race as Marius is with his. She is also a reporter and the tabloids have had a field day with her relationship with Marius even though they haven’t been intimate.

Marius and Jill’s bond is deep and with one thought, they can call to one another. Jill feels betrayed and tries to turn away from Marius even though the violent death of a vampire during his wedding reception brings them back together. There’s a virus killing vampires and Marius and Jill team up to stop the virus from growing out of control, even after Marius becomes afflicted with it, which will cause his own death.

As these two try to find a cure before times runs out for Marius, the reader is bought back in time to 1852 England during the Great Exhibition. There, a young draper shop owner, Charlotte Paxton, who is the cousin of the celebrated gardener and architect Joseph Paxton will attend the exhibition in London. She meets the acquaintance of Edward Vaughn and they both embark on an innocent courtship while Edward’s inventor friend, Lord Gilliam, the Duke of Devonshire sets in motion a major catastrophe that causes the vampire and werewolf myth to become a reality. Charlotte and Edward are connected in ways to both Tatiana and Marius that bring to light the past and how Gilliam’s one reckless act changed the future for the worse.

Even though I did enjoy the 19th century secondary romance between Charlotte and Edward, I found the primary relationship between Jill and Marius sorely lacking. Everything had a feeling of more emotion, angst and drama but the way it was written, it just didn’t come off all too well. I found many scenes rushed, stilted and had a major lack of emotional connection to Jill and Marius’s plight. And you would think with Marius’s big sacrifice with marrying another woman, it would be all the more heartbreaking. It was more glossed over if anything. And the fact that Tatiana is more a wallpaper type character with no real depth bothered me, as well as Marius never consummating their marriage. (Remember, it’s a big no-no because we can’t have the hero being intimate with another woman who is not his heroine)

Some have said that Liz’s Crimson City series is Steampunk. I would have to disagree because this is more of a supernatural tale if anything with the appearance of many supernatural characters (think everything but the kitchen sink). The only time that steampunk plot device comes into play, which is really very weak, is during the Great Exhibition where Lord Gilliam becomes a mad scientist with his special machine that causes a great uproar and the reason there are so many mythical creatures running around.

Crimson and Steam just didn’t have the powerhouse storytelling I was looking for and after I finished, I could barely remember what I read because it didn’t even register in my mind.
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Dec 28, 2009 Dark Faerie Tales rated it 4 of 5 stars

Quick & Dirty: A fabulous and fast-paced read that delivers pitch-perfect danger and suspense.

Opening Sentence: The four leaders of Crimson City’s glittering vampire world looked rather out of place, dressed in battle armor and crowded into a ramshackle safe house located on the border between vampire and human strata.

The Review:

Crimson & Steam takes place in Crimson City, which is essentially an alternate Los Angeles. In the beginning of this story, the focus is on Marius Dumont and Jil...more

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Nov 24, 2009 Tez rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It's bad enough human journalist Jill Cooper has to witness her vampire lover Marius Dumont marry someone else in the name of political harmony, but worse is the virus that kills one of Crimson City's vampires...and is having a radical affect on Marius, too. To obtain the cure, Jill must willingly infect another vampire, or win the race against time by studying the papers of a young inventor in 1850s London.

At first Jill is so desperate that she's bloody annoying. Admittedly, she's having a roug...more

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Mar 31, 2010 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: supes-the-otherworldies

I had started this book without realizing that it was part of a series. I really enjoyed this book though and do not feel that I was lacking anything having not read the other books though with that in mind I definetely want to read the rest of the series, especially the ones by this particular author (apparently the series has multiple authors). The plot moves very fast and the characters are intense. It actually is two seperate plots and stories that end up relating to each other in the end. Y...more

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Jun 22, 2010 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Crimson & Steam is the story of Jillian Cooper and Marius Dumont, characters from the Crimson City series. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I thought there would be more of an element of steampunk. The story contained flashback episodes of Victorian times, when steam powered inventions were all the rage and the story tied into a life or death puzzle Jill and Marius had to solve, but I didn't see much that was really steampunk related. The ending tied everything together satisfactorily,...more

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Nov 26, 2009 Wendy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Marius, the vampire master of house Dumont has always been about doing the right thing for his people, for his city. Unfortunately, he's in love with a human woman, Jill, but his latest political move include him marrying someone else, more specifically Tatiana Asprey, a werewolf. Jill is enraged and incredibly hurt that he's even considering it, that for years now, she's been waiting for him and now they'll never have a chance.

What neither Marius or Jill know, but will soon find out, is that th...more

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Sep 29, 2011 Julie Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I hadn't read any other books in the Crimson City series, this was my first one. I really, really enjoyed it. It's so very GOTHIC, with a richly appointed setting, with a very clever premise of how paranormal creatures came to be. A very intense but enjoyable book. Suspenseful. I can't wait to read more!

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Mar 28, 2011 Debbie Heaton rated it 2 of 5 stars

Love doesn't always conquer. Marius and Jill have long been kept apart due to differences. Bound by destiny yet forbidden to be together, he's a vampire and she's a human. And a marriage alliance that promises peace for all species threatens to separate them forever. Fast-paced.

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Oct 20, 2010 Lizzielvr rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was unique. The story gives you the background on how it all started (if you follow the series) with flashbacks (this is where the steam(punk) comes in.) Good read.

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Aug 19, 2012 Janie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Well this is the end of the series. Good one. and would read it again. This was my second reading.

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Aug 31, 2012 Jennifergaubert1634 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Entire series is great!!!!

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Sep 20, 2011 Crystal rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: futuristic, huh, vamp-were, traded

Blarg! What happens when you combine an entry to an already convoluted series (that can't keep its facts straight, presumably due to multiple authors not talking to each other) with a steampunkish novella, randomly scattered throughout the book? A hot mess, that's what. Trying to follow this book is headache inducing. That the novella almost contradicts the whole series just adds to it.

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Jan 15, 2011 Cassandra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, fiction, pnr

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 25, 2010 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-romance, vampire, werewolves, urban-fantasy, read-in-2010, historical-romance

I couldn't put this down. Absolutely loved it!

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Sep 25, 2009 Kathrynn marked it as to-buy-eventually

Shelves: romance-scifi, series-crimson_city_various

Coming out January 2010

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Shelves: liz-maverick

Apr 14, 2013 Lexi Bissonnette rated it 5 of 5 stars

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About Liz Maverick

Bestselling, 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. She holds a BS from UC Berkeley, a CPA, and an MBA from UCLA.
Liz is known for writing out-of-the-box romance novels with fast-paced, unique plots and lots of kick-...more

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Crimson & Steam (Crimson City #8)

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