Cassie is still trying to remove the spell that binds her to the vampire, Mircea. Unfortunately, the only counter spell seems to be in the mysterious Codex that is lost. Cassie uses her power for time travel and learns more than she ever wanted to know.

These book are full of action and magic. The world building is complex but consistent. The characters are very believeable. The sex scenes are intense but not skanky. Read in series. ( )

This book strained my patience to the very limits, but my perseverance did pay off. ETN had a lot of back and forth just as book 2 did, which drove me to distraction, but unlike that one the ending has some satisfying resolutions and made me eager for the story to continue. The book does have issues, and it doesn’t hold up to the quality of book 1, but it was far better than book 2.

The story starts out as anticipated - Cassie needs to find a way to break the geis Mircea laid on her. Her will to resist is fading, and Mircea is going insane. I have to admit, the author’s resolution to the dilemma was smart if extremely simple, and had been hinted at several times to astute readers. Some readers may find it disappointing; I was just glad it was over. The downside is that readers have to wait to the very last chapter for that resolution. Cassie needs Merlin’s Codex which should have a counter spell in it. But the Codex has been unwriting itself through the years, and so the complete text can only be found in the past. No problem for a time traveling clairvoyant. Wrong. Everyone either wants the book for themselves because it is so powerful, or they don’t want anyone to have it because it is so powerful. Which side of this debate Pritkin falls on is critical to the story. Until that last chapter, Cassie jumps back and forth through time, with small battles sprinkled in here and there, to find it. The action is fast paced and mostly useless, as she skips around like a little girl at a party. The main intent of all these trips is for Cassie to learn just who her allies are (especially Pritkin), but this could have been done in a less muddled and exhausting way. At times I become so frustrated I literally growled at the book! Hopefully, the author will realize that the constant time shifting is distracting and annoying to a reader.

The awesome, and truly clever, revelations about Pritkin made the entire book worth reading. His character was beginning to get beyond aggravating as the author constantly had Cassie (and readers) guessing if he was on her side or not, just as in book 2. Yet, his involvement in the geis is much deeper than suspected, and he becomes a catalyst for the introduction of another powerful, and potentially plot inducing, character – Lord Rosier. Cassie also discovers some twists to her new power (even managing to duplicate Agnes’ time freezing trick, by accident of course), and sees how much responsibility it is to be Pythia.

The ending saved this book from being mediocre. My fears that the geis would consume many books to come were laid to rest but the actions surrounding the geis provided lots of cool plotlines and enough resolution to make some progress. Readers learn who the golden god who calls Cassie “Herophile” is and the origin of the Pythia’s powers; we learn more about Pritkin’s past, the motivations of the Silver Circle; and, just what Mircea and Cassie truly feel. Cassie finally accepts the responsibility as Pythia, and makes alliances to protect herself and the timeline. Now that these things are tied up, the plot should be able to focus on the coming “war.” Though book 2 was a disappointment, this makes up for it. I will read book 4, Curse the Dawn. I have even ordered “Midnight’s Daughter” to see how she handles a story with a different protagonist. ( )

In order to end the geis binding her to Mircea, Cassandra Palmer must find the Codex Merlini. (As in, Merlin. I do love a touch of the King Arthur legends.) EMBRACE THE NIGHT opens with a terrific action scene and rarely stops. Cassie attracts trouble, much to the consternation of many of her companions, but to the great enjoyment of her readers. How can she help it, when everyone and their dog wants the Codex?

In this book, Cassandra matures. I've always been fonder of Cassie than most urban fantasy heroines - her reasons for not wanting power are reasonable and she understands that she can't survive alone and sometimes has to trust others. As she learns to be more confident in her abilities I like her even more.

To continue the character love, I also enjoy the various love interests. Karen Chance gives Mircea, the main love interest, incredible sex appeal. His scenes with Cassie will be earmarked in many a copy of EMBRACE THE NIGHT, I suspect. Yet she still manages to create viable reasons to keep him and Cassie apart. However, secondary love interest Pritkin is less reasonable (more homicidal) and just as lovable . . . er, sexy. (Okay, so I have a soft spot for a certain sort of gleefully armed men. Please don't quote me on the "gleefully armed." Crushes on imaginary characters defy my wit.) Pritkin and Cassie's scenes are no less hot than those with Mircea. (Tomas is mentioned, but not seen in the book.)

I don't want to make it seem like the book is all sex - in three novels, Chance includes a grand total of two sex scenes. She does include a great deal of sexual tension and darn-close-to-sex though. Who doesn't love them some well-done sexual tension? LKH used to be able to do it, in the early Anita Blake books. Chance writes one intricate plot which the relationships serve to deepen, not to overpower.

I found EMBRACE THE NIGHT easier to follow than TOUCH THE DARK or CLAIMED BY SHADOW. Cassie, for those who haven't read the first two novels, can travel through time. This necessarily complicates the story. Both TTD and CBS required a second reading before I fully understood just what happened in certain scenes, but I felt I had a much better grasp of the story in EMBRACE THE NIGHT. Chance isn't the best writer in the urban fantasy genre, but her books are fun and sexy. I need to be seeing her on more shelves. ( )

Once again, Chance has written a major hit! This novel lived up to everything I have come to expect from Karen Chance's novels and I loved all of the new twists and turns! You can never tell how it will all end until you hit the last page. It's pure genius!! Without giving too much away I must say that I loved Pritkin's story! It was unbelievably imaginative and definitely took the series to a whole new level! ( )

I absolutely love this series of book. I can not get away from them. Once Cassie discovers her ability to time travel with she make a mistake that she will not be able to fix. Will she be able to help Mircea so that she does not lose her love? And if she fixs the problem will he still love her, or was this all a spell? ( )