I thought the author wrote it well. I truly felt Keeli's emotions and debates and understood where she was coming from and why she didn't want to do what she had to do and why she did what she did. A strong woman, she rides on her instincts, even when she doesn't want to. The war within herself is huge, and with Michael's help, she gets through it.

I though Michael could have used a little more work. As the Vendix, I got where he came from, the how and why of it all, but I found the constant use of his thoughts a little on the sissy side for a guy who's supposed to be a `tough guy'. Strong, he too rides his instincts and does what he needs to in the heat of any moment.

I do have to say I found the author's descriptions top notch. I truly felt like the walls were crowding me at times, being underground with so many others. I really hope that, sometime in the series, one of the authors will touch base as to how the world came to be as it is. Mind you, there is always distrust between vamps, weres and humans, regardless of the story, but I'd really like to know how the city came to be as it is in the story. As it is, this novel is a great addition to the sci-fi, urban paranormal fantasy genres and should be read.

romance, werewolf/vampire love book. Yes, there were love scences but not as graphic as I thought they would be overall loved the whole concept of different supernatural love. after watching underworld I had hoped there would have been more werewolf/vampire romances

I read the 1st book in this series, "Crimson City" and was familiar with the set up of future Los Angeles. This particularly installment deals with the underground world of the werewolves. Liu's description of the tunnels were good - I almost felt the walls closing in on me at times.

The book takes place over a span of a few days - The plot began to get just a bit mired down when the two main characters, Keeli & Michael, hung out in the tunnels just a bit too long. Lots of jockeying for power and dominance within the werewolf community.

One thing I noticed, the characters had lots of "thoughts" in italics. Though I don't read many historical romances, this style reminded me of that genre. I thought those types of thoughts for Michael were just a bit too girly. He is this big, bad loner and, yeah, he immediately likes Keeli. I just didn't picture his character thinking these types of thoughts as much as he did. A few here and there would have been fine.

As I mentioned in my review of the 1st installment, "Crimson City", I would have like to read a bit of background on how LA became residence to three species - humans, vamps and werewolves. Understanding the history of how they got there would have enhanced the storyline. It would have revealed why the werewolves are so poor and looked down upon. That type of message would also explain in more detail their distrust of the vampires and humans.

Overall, a good read. I will get to the 3rd installment soon.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

NOTE: I had the audio version of this book so cannot guarantee all of my spellings are correct.

Vampires and werewolves are bitter enemies until someone starts killing vampires in Crimson City (formerly known as Los Angeles), framing vamps and weres alike. Weres and Vamps are on the verge of signing a peace pact so these murders are adding to the stress already present between the species as they try to meld their different ways.

Keeli Maddox, grand daughter to the grand dame alpha werewolf and Michael, vampire vendix (punisher) team up to investigate the crimes in hopes of finding the killer. Their hopes are to find the killer before the accusations prevent the coming peace treaty from falling apart. Subterfuge is the name of the game with both species scheming to gain the upper hand.

Enemies not eager to work together, Keeli and Michael begin to discover many disturbing facts that bring them ever closer. Soon they begin to wonder... is it possible for a werewolf and a vampire to find love together with A Taste of Crimson?

One nice aspect of this story is that so many of the unfolding events are happening concurrently to the story in the first book, Crimson City. There are little bits here and there talking about events in the previous story while this one is happening in another part of town. Action is never ending in A Taste of Crimson, whether we are in the tunnels underground where the werewolves live, or on the streets mixing it up with the humans. Suspense levels are high as we follow along with Keeli and Michael as they investigate leads and try to find the killer before any more vampires die. The discovery of the killer is not quite as surprising as it could be however for savvy readers who follow the clues.

Keeli is an incredible heroine - spunky and tough with a soft underbelly she protects from all others. Michael is the strong silent, stoic type who's been scorned by his own kind for things beyond his control as a young vampire. These two make a great team and you'll be cheering them on to find the happy ending they both desire... together.

The Crimson City series is a compelling urban fantasy series and I can't wait to see what happens in book 3.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, January 2008. All rights reserved.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE VAMPIRE AND WEREWOLF BOOKS AND I BOUGHT THIS ONE BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY HAD BOTH.

I MADE IT PAGE 23 WHERE I RAN INTO THE WORD "F____D". I ABSOLUTELY HATE BAD LANGUAGE IN BOOKS, MOVIES, ETC. I AM OF THE BELIEF THAT PEOPLE WHO USE IT HAVE LESS THAN AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE OR THEY WOULD HAVE USE PROPER ENGLISH AND NOT SPOIL THESE BOOKS FOR THOSE OF US WHO CANNOT ABIDE IT.

I WILL NOT BUY ANOTHER BOOK BY THIS AUTHOR AS I WOULD NOT WILLINGLY CONTRIBUTE TO SOMEONE'S INCOME WHO HAS NO BETTER SENSE THAN TO WRITE BOOKS WHICH WILL OFFEND.

I WILL STICK WITH CHRISTINE FEEHAN, SHERRILYN KENYON, AMANDA ASHLEY, ETC. MARVELOUS AUTHORS WHO KEEP ME NICELY SUPPLIED WITH TOTALLY ENJOYABLE PARANORMAL LITERATURE.

SARA JANE TURNER