Customer Reviews
amazing - By: TLN, 20 Oct 2008 
This series had had me hooked from the 1st book they keep getting better this is a great book & i cant wait for the next one when it come out. I have even gone & got some other book this author has done she is a great writer that take you with the book as you read it. they are amazing
Another excellent story about Miss Palmer - By: Elizabeth, 13 Oct 2008 EMBRACE THE NIGHT starts a few weeks after the events of Claimed by Shadow, with Cassie & Pritkin searching for Merlin's Codex, which Cassie needs to life the geas that binds her to Mircea & to placate the Fairy King.
This is my favorite bookin the series; Cassie comes into her own a lot more, & for once you feel like she might be helping to direct (if not actually running) the show, instead of being the puppet I felt she wasin the first book. Not only is she more powerful & more realistic about her role as Pythia & all the people who might want to use her because of it, she also has Pritkin on her side (which counts for a lot, him being a slightly mad Warmage & all that - not to mention rather hot!), she even 'wins'in one scene against the council.
I can't give too much detail because otherwise it will spoil the book! Needless to say, if you liked the first two, then you will definitely enjoy this. The style of writing is the same, & even though it jumps around a bit & I feel like we are constantly being left out of the loop, particularly where the vampires are concerned & where they standin everything, it is still an immensely enjoyable series!
There is a lot of sexual tension between Cassie & Mircea, as per usual, butin this book it is really cranked up a gear, which is down to the fact that her geas has doubled itself, binding her & Mircea together twice over. It leads to some pretty....intense scenes.
My least favorite part of the book is when Cassie rescues some children, which I felt didn't actually have a lot of relevence to plot, but added some nice scenes anyway. My favorite parts of the book are her frequent power tussles with Pritkin; he takes it on himself to try & train her up a bit (so if her powers ever fail her she isn't completely defenseless) & so challenges her to a sword fight. Pretend, of course.
I think I also liked this book because, like another reader has said before me, I have always felt like Mircea is calling the shots, & so no matter how dark & sexy he is, they have a rather uneaqual relationship; needless to say, with her increasein powers there are a few times where she surprises Mircea, & the vampires, & I think it's about time too!
A lot of questions are answeredin this novel, &in fact it made me appreciate the careful planning that must have gone into this series, becasue Chance is constantly referring back to the previous books, & it all becomes a lot clearer. If you, like me, really enjoyed the first two books but felt a bit lost & confused with all the jumping around & all the holesin Cassie's knowledge, consequently holesin the readers knowledge, have no fear because all is explainedin EMBRACE.
I was so enthralled with the book when I finished, that I went straight back to the first two & read them all over again, just to see how everything fitted into place!
Karen Chance has just released Midnight's Daughter, a story that contains a few characters from the Cassie Palmer series & is setin the same world. Her next book will be the fourthin the Cassie palmer series, & I for one can't wait! I did feel that after 3 books the series could pretty much stand alone, but I can't wait to read more about Mircea & Pritkin :)
A must read for vamp lovers! - By: L. Felthouse, 01 Sep 2008 I loved the first two booksin this series, so had to get my mucky paws on this one when it came out. The main character, Cassandra Palmer is a witch with a very unusual family... she was brought up by vampires. And now one of them, a rather powerful one, has put a spell on her which means that if it is allowed to progress to full power, they will be bound to one another forever. And Cassie really doesn't want that.
Just to make things more difficult, Cassie has also been named the world's chief clairvoyant. which means every man & his dog, or witch, or mage, or vampire (you get the idea) is after her. They either want to kill her, or recruit her services. But all Cassie wants to do is get rid of the spell which binds her & master vampire Mircea to one another. To do that, she needs to locate the Codex Merlini, an ancient text which contains an incantation to break the bond.
Trouble is, the Codex is missing. It's not been seen for a very, very long time. So Cassie must seek it outin the only place it can be found... the past. On discovering this, she also finds out that there's a very good reason the grimoire has been lost. It contains spells which are incredibly powerful, & also incredibly dangerous... so much so that they could bring about the destruction of the world.
Cassie not sure who's on her side, & who isn't. All she knows is she needs to break the spell between herself & the divine Mircea. And she's determined to succeed - at all costs.
I love Karen Chance. The first two booksin the Cassandra Palmer series are fab, & this is too! It's constant action & tension from start to finish, twists & turns & gasp-worthy moments, everything you want from a good book. I highly recommend you read the first two books before picking this one up though, it doesn't really work as a standalone book. You'll probably get the gist, but you'll struggle to know who people are & what's happenedin their past which affects the story. But it's no hardship - all three books are top-notch, & I'd recommend them to anyonein this genre.
Vampires and mages and gods and demons and weres and fey and witches and ghosts and monsters and zombies oh *******************! - By: Jessica, 20 Apr 2008 This latest instalment continues with a similar format to the pervious books; set within a few days span & about a week & a half after the last book. You can therefore expect like the others to be taken straight into the action & to have the pace maintained throughout the book. The opening chapters are particularly good; thrilling & interesting.
It begins with Cassie searching for a counter spell to the evermore troublesome geis - the spell that Mircea placed upon Cassie when she was very young that binds her too him. To finally have control over her life she must be rid of it & the only way to do that is to find a very complicated spell,in a very dangerous spell book, written by Merlin himself - the codex Merlini. Enlisted to help her is the unpredictable John Pritkin.
Cassie has more alliesin this book, one of its roles seems to be setting up the sides for the impending interspecies war & through it we learn that she has even more enemies...gods, demons, mages, the fey, Rasputin & her old master Tony, throwin an uneasy alliance with the vampires, fun, fun, fun. Chance really isn't picky about the paranormal & mythical creatures she writes about, these books have pretty much everything magical, mythical & paranormal in, but Iin no way see this as a bad thing, it puts mein mind of the convoluted, combustible Roman & Greek myths she draws heavily from; with the love triangles, betrayals & her huge panthenon of characters. In fact much of her research is very true to the original myths she palys with; Apollo leading the war & her touch of using Merlin's original name, nice.
There are some good surprises & developments with the characters as well as there being quite a few references to the first book, that didn't much sense at the time as Cassie jumps all over the place through time, making all sorts of new problems (as is her way) but righting some others as well. Prikin's story is very good, the scenes which are about him or have himin become the more interesting & unexpected ones. His scenes with Cassie are therefore a nice contrast to hers with Mircea as they have become monotonous; you always know how they're going to end. I've never been a fan of Mircea, he just seems vaguely slimey, he's got a lot going against him. But this is I think deliberate; what I love about these books is the characterisation given to the non-humans, particularly the vampire's, its very clear that they are a different race with different motivations, it's handled very well.
This isn't a love story,in fact I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for Cassie as she only seems to get intimate with anyone when it's necessary or because of some spell or other. But there is a love triangle of sorts, though the three characters emotions, motivations, decisions & reactions are incredibly complex & nothing is really concluded, this gives it a sense of realism, but at the same time there are some really touching & tense scenes between Cassie & Pritkin that are scrumptiously good. But I've got to say I do like Cassie's narrative when she's alone, this is often when she's at her most fresh & funniest. Especiallyin her scenes with Mircea I find her reactions are rather repetitive & because of this I much prefer Pritkin, theirs is the partnership I like to see.
Cassie is a more enjoyable characterin this book, she's less of an airhead, more strong, capable & focused, although there were still points when I didn't understand her thinking but what I've always liked about her character is how she picks her moments, she doesn't fight everything & everyone but is interestingin her actions. One of the books key roles is bringing to a conclusion her journeyin accepting her powers as Pythia & the ending really has this sense of starting something new.
Embrace the night is thrilling with a few good quirks & often rather funny. I recommend all three books, & am looking forward to the next one entitled Curse the Dawn (April 2009), which it has been mentioned by the author will form another trilogy, focusing on the war & Cassie as the accepted & reigning Pythia. Also look out for Midnights Daughter, Dory's book (who is Mircea's daughter) which starts a new series setin the same world.
Great book - By: D. Kennedy, 18 Apr 2008 I loved this book & how it refers back to the past 2 books, however, I was left wanting more at the end, the 3 main characters are Cassie, Pritkin & Mircea but I really missed thomas & Louis Cesar not beingin this book. The book is brilliant & shows how far Cassie will go to remove the geis, not just for her own personal reasons but to save Mircea. Alot happensin this book yet alot of the loose endings from the last book were left unanswered, Cassie's vampire friends seem to have been replaced by magical kids, a pixie & Francoise which I hope will link back to Louis Cesarin the next installment! It is fantastic but leaves you wanting more & I'm not sure I can wait a year for the next installment! I finally understand how Harry Potter fans feel every year!
