Customer Reviews

Midnight Embrace

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Analisa, close to death from an epidemic, is saved by some means she doesn't understand. Swept from her hospital bed to a grand gentleman's house and given every luxury she could want, she wonders why the house's owner, Lord Allesandro de Avallone (Lord Allesandro or Lord Avallone? Ashley seems to think that these titles are the same, though they are not) has given her all this. And why Allesandro avoids her, seeing her only for a few minutes at night and is never around during the day.

And then one night when she's caught in the forest in a rainstorm, she stumbles on his secret lair, finding him close to death after an attack from another vampire. Without giving her any indication of what's going on, he feeds from her in order to live. And from then on, she knows that he is a vampire.

And from then on, this book is pretty much like A Darker Dream, though with the addition of an evil vampire villain and a housekeeper instead of a butler who knows Allesandro's secret. The housekeeper is in love with him - a rival for Analisa? Well, not really, though Ashley tries to make it appear so at one point. But other elements are indeed the same: the vast luxuries, Allesandro's frequent attempts to send Analisa away or to abandon her himself, his frequent attacks of conscience when he is driven by the need to feed on her, his demand that she at least once stay by his side when he sleeps during the day, and so on.

Well, Ashley writes Gothic vampire novels, so it shouldn't really be surprising that there are similarities - though even still, neither this nor A Darker Dream match up to Embrace The Night. I would like to see a novel from Ashley in which the heroine is *not* a naive, innocent and poverty-stricken seventeen-year-old, and in which the gulf between hero and heroine is not exacerbated by his wealth, his intelligence and education and familiarity with the ways of high society. Her heroes do begin to run the risk of appearing like paedophiles.

Finally, this book, we are told, is set in late Victorian times - probably around the 1880s, though this isn't specified. And yet the 'feel' is very much of the Regency period: around the 1800s. The balls, masquerades and Society rules are very much of the Regency (though, Ashley, it was no more than two dances, not three). The period in which this book is set was of the Industrial Revolution: where is the sense that this is a time of new, life-changing inventions? Where are the gas lights that all wealthy people had in their homes by this time, and which were installed in the streets in the posh parts of London? Rail travel was also in its heyday, and the rich rarely travelled by horse-drawn carriage any more. Ashley needs to do a little more research on her period, instead of assuming that 'one size fits all' when it comes to historical England.

Deja Vu! When I finished Midnight Embrace I felt as if I had been in a time warp because this book is basically a rewrite of A Darker Dream with elements from some of Ashley's other vampire novels.
The novel starts with orphan Analisa Matthews dying of plague. On a whim, a mysterious stranger gives her a strange elixer that saves her life. The elixer is vampire blood. (Deeper than the night) Vampire Alesandro de Avallone, charmed by her innocence, becomes her mysterious and indulgent benefactor. (A Darker Dream) Analisa quickly discovers his secret when she stumbles upon his lair. Still, she can't help but love Alesandro and he can't stop himself from loving her. Then they start going to the opera and parties together and things get pretty inane while Alesandro atempts to drive Analisa away from him.
This book is only a slightly better rewrite of A Darker Dream with one exception, the villainous vampire Rodrigo who is basically the Italian version of Alexi from Shades of Grey. Instead of adding suspence to the story, he made it drag out longer and some of the stuff he did didn't pan out, like his aprentice vampire. He gets a whole short chapter were he makes one but then we never hear about it again.
The first hundred pages and the last fifty are pretty interesting, but the majority of the middle was a complete bore. Basically scenes in Ashley's previous books are rewritten to fit into this one. (Scene were heroine spends time in vampire lair during day sleep. The ill fated suitor meant to make vampire hero jealous.)It became a game to pick out the similarities.
I can't really recommend this book because of it's startling lack of originality. If you've never read an Ashley book.. Give it a try! But if you have read A Darker Dream...

It's nice that some romance novels have a different plot than just a hot and heavy romance. Midnight Embrace has a hero (Alesandro, a vampire), a heroine (Analisa, a mortal), and a villain (Rodrigo, a rival vampire). But these characters and the plot don't seem to be as strong as it could be.

Rodrigo has been hunting Alesandro for four hundred years (and you can never forget the four hundred years; Ashley says it too often, as well as other things). He's angry at Alesandro because he drove his own sister (whom Rodrigo was in love with) to insanity, then death. This is a little bit difficult to swallow. Four hundred years?! You'd think Alesandro would be dead.

I'm not quite sure how Analisa loves Alesandro. Just because he took her in, is my guess. Now she loves his body and feels unsafe without him. I really don't understand where her love comes from. Alesandro's love for her is a bit far-fetched, too. Her blood is the sweetest he's ever tasted to date, and it calls to him. He finds himself falling in love with her. But Ashley never goes into it any deeper than that. WHY does he love her and vice versa? We never know.

The one thing I have to fault Amanda Ashley for is her repeatitive useage of words. Example: "Tall, broad-shouldered, and dark", the description of Alesandro is overused WAY too much, even tot the end. "Four hundred years" and "four centuries" is used WAY too much, again, to the end. The servants ask too many of the same questions that you may have read three or so pages earlier. Other pages will go by and you'll read the same phrase again and again and again. It's not a very successful interest-keeper to the reader; rather, it comes on as deathly annoying. It certainly didn't float my boat smoothly.

Overall, the story is doable, though it could be stronger than what it is. It's just a bit too long. We know by the middle of the book that Alesandro doesn't want to have to compromise or destroy Analisa mentally or physically. We know that she doesn't want to leave him. Yet Ashley insists on turning to that same channel throughout the book, which makes you feel as though you're running in a circle. When's it gonna end?!

I liked A Darker Dream OK, but all of the things that annoyed me about that book were better in this one. One thing I enjoyed about Midnight Embrace was that Analisa had a stronger personality and stood her ground a little more than Rhianna of A.D.D. She was never afraid of Alasandro or of telling him what was on her mind. M.E. also wasn't as repetitive or wishy-washy as A.D.D. I liked that this book had a villian for Alasandro to contend with, and not just him constantly at war with himself as was Rayven in A.D.D.

I have read 3 Ashley vampire romances so far and really like her writing style and characters. However, there are too many similarities between all her books. I wish she would branch out into new situations, time periods, conflicts, etc. The base plots always seem the same - vampire takes in fair young girl who was otherwise destitute and they fall in love. Then comes the pages upon pages of - I love her but I'm afraid I'll hurt her, she has to leave, I love her but she can't have a normal life with me, she has to leave, I want her to meet other people and get married, she has to leave, etc, etc, etc. I love the vampire romance subgenre and Ashley's stlyle so I'll keep reading, but a little variation would be nice!

All in all, this book is well written with good character development. Give it a try!

This was my first book by Amanda Ashley, and it will not be my last. Midnight Embrace features Alesandro, a 400 year old vampire, and his mortal beloved, Analisa.

When Alesandro first meets Analisa, she is in a hospital dying from the plague. In exchange for her blood, he gives her some of his, thus healing her and bonding them together forever.

Upon her release from the hospital, Alesandro offers her his home and fortune by means of a generous benefactor. It isn't until later she learns who her benefactor is.

This is not your run-of-the-mill vampire story. This is not a corny vampire that you see in many vamp-romances, Alesandro is a complex, caring creature. Ms. Ashley doesn't sugar-coat Alesandro being a vampire either, she lets you see the drawbacks he faces, as well as the fears he harbors.

The story moves quickly, it doesn't lag in one place for very long, but by the end you feel as if you know the characters and really have a vested interest into the outcome of their story.

If you haven't read any vamp-romances before and are curious about them, this is an excellent book to begin your journey!

I collect vampire/lycanthorpe books and have quite a collection. Because of this, I have quite a few Amanda Ashley novels. All of her novels are very light reads. The characters usually do not have that much depth, and it is a good quick read if you are looking for a light vampire romance. Analisa is in a hospital dying when an "angel" comes and helps her to live. Analisa's family is very poor and when she leaves the hospital, she has nowhere to go. For some unknown reason she finds out she has a benefactor and is welcomed into the home of the mysterious Lord Alesandro. Lord Alesandro is a mystery to Analisa. He has money and has provided her a home, and she has no idea why. Also, she never sees her mysterious benefactor. Lord Alesandro is a vampire who is fighting a growing attraction to Analisa. This was a very predictable vampire romance. Still, I would recommend.

An enjoyable light read if you like a change from the hardcore blood and guts vamp stories. For the most part predictable, it was still interesting enough to keep me turning the pages to find a couple twists I hadn't necessarily expected (that in itself says alot, as a bookseller and avid reader, I have no problem putting a book down if I don't like it). The supporting characters were not fleshed out as well as they could've been, but enough that they served their purpose for the story. As it was, the main characters were likable (or not as the case may be) and had enough strength and depth to make this book exactly what it was; an enjoyable light vampire romance story.

The story of Alesandro de Avallone and Analisa Matthews is a delight. This book kept me up until I finished all of it. And as usual I was not disappointed. Ms. Ashley has a gift for writing about Vampires. If you haven't read this book yet, buy it. You won't regret it. This is a 5 star story. Come and enjoy the delights of Vampire's.

My Goodness! This was the worst book I have ever read!!

I am a huge vampire book reader and this book, sadly read right after Ann Rice's Interview With The Vampire came to me as a shock of terror. First, repetition occurs in this book like no other I've read in my life.

The words repeat and so do sentences. Then, the plot is stupid. It is so plain, wow a good guy, a good girl, and a bad guy. WOW.

and FINALLY, the vocabulary usage is non-existant. It is the simplest elementary school book ever. I could not stand it. It was absolutely horrid.

I will agree with some reviewers that the story is similar to Ms. Ashley's other book A Darker Dream but I think this story more then stands on its own. I notice too that some reviewers criticize Ms. Ashley's heroines as being naive innocents. In this particular book, which takes place in the Victorian era, naive innocents would not be unusual. I tend to prefer heroines that are innocent, that is why I read historical romances. I really liked Analisa and Allesandro. I thought this was a beautiful story and one I will keep and read again.