Product Description

Recently named the world's chief clairvoyant, Cassandra Palmer still has a thorn in her side. As long as Cassie and a certain master vampire - the sizzling-hot Mircea - are magically bound to each other, her life will never be her own. The spell that binds them can only be broken with an incantation found in the Codex Merlini, an ancient grimoire. The Codex's location has been lost in the present day, so Cassie will have to seek it out in the only place it can still be found - the past. But Cassie soon realizes the Codex has been lost for a reason. The book is rumored to contain dangerous spells, and retrieving it may help Cassie to deal with Mircea, but it could also endanger the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3993 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'A series well worth getting hooked on' Fresh Fiction'A grab-you-by-the-throat-and-suck-you-in sort of book with a tough, smart heroine and sexy-scary vampires' - bestselling author Patricia Briggs, New York Times

Synopsis
Recently named the world's chief clairvoyant, Cassandra Palmer still has a thorn in her side. As long as Cassie and a certain master vampire - the sizzling-hot Mircea - are magically bound to each other, her life will never be her own. The spell that binds them can only be broken with an incantation found in the Codex Merlini, an ancient grimoire. The Codex's location has been lost in the present day, so Cassie will have to seek it out in the only place it can still be found - the past. But Cassie soon realizes the Codex has been lost for a reason. The book is rumored to contain dangerous spells, and retrieving it may help Cassie to deal with Mircea, but it could also endanger the world.

About the Author
Karen Chance has lived in France, the UK and Hong Kong, and currently lives in Orlando, Florida. She is the author of two previous novels in the Cassandra Palmer series, Touch the Dark and Claimed by Shadow.

Customer Reviews

A must read for vamp lovers!
I loved the first two books in 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 and 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 and 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 out in 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, and also incredibly dangerous... so much so that they could bring about the destruction of the world.

Cassie not sure who's on her side, and who isn't. All she knows is she needs to break the spell between herself and the divine Mircea. And she's determined to succeed - at all costs.

I love Karen Chance. The first two books in the Cassandra Palmer series are fab, and this is too! It's constant action and tension from start to finish, twists and turns and 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 and what's happened in their past which affects the story. But it's no hardship - all three books are top-notch, and I'd recommend them to anyone in this genre.

Vampires and mages and gods and demons and weres and fey and witches and ghosts and monsters and zombies oh *******************!
This latest instalment continues with a similar format to the pervious books; set within a few days span and about a week and a half after the last book. You can therefore expect like the others to be taken straight into the action and to have the pace maintained throughout the book. The opening chapters are particularly good; thrilling and 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 and 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 allies in this book, one of its roles seems to be setting up the sides for the impending interspecies war and through it we learn that she has even more enemies...gods, demons, mages, the fey, Rasputin and her old master Tony, throw in an uneasy alliance with the vampires, fun, fun, fun. Chance really isn't picky about the paranormal and mythical creatures she writes about, these books have pretty much everything magical, mythical and paranormal in, but I in no way see this as a bad thing, it puts me in mind of the convoluted, combustible Roman and Greek myths she draws heavily from; with the love triangles, betrayals and 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 and her touch of using Merlin's original name, nice.


There are some good surprises and 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 him in become the more interesting and 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 and reactions are incredibly complex and nothing is really concluded, this gives it a sense of realism, but at the same time there are some really touching and tense scenes between Cassie and 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 and funniest. Especially in her scenes with Mircea I find her reactions are rather repetitive and because of this I much prefer Pritkin, theirs is the partnership I like to see.

Cassie is a more enjoyable character in this book, she's less of an airhead, more strong, capable and 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 and everyone but is interesting in her actions. One of the books key roles is bringing to a conclusion her journey in accepting her powers as Pythia and the ending really has this sense of starting something new.

Embrace the night is thrilling with a few good quirks and often rather funny. I recommend all three books, and 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 and Cassie as the accepted and reigning Pythia. Also look out for Midnights Daughter, Dory's book (who is Mircea's daughter) which starts a new series set in the same world.

Great book
I loved this book and 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 and Mircea but I really missed thomas and Louis Cesar not being in this book. The book is brilliant and shows how far Cassie will go to remove the geis, not just for her own personal reasons but to save Mircea. Alot happens in 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 and Francoise which I hope will link back to Louis Cesar in the next installment! It is fantastic but leaves you wanting more and I'm not sure I can wait a year for the next installment! I finally understand how Harry Potter fans feel every year!