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His Immortal Embrace

Hannah Howell (Goodreads Author),

Lynsay Sands (Goodreads Author),

Sara Blayne,

Kate Huntington

4.04 · Rating details · 1,307 ratings · 35 reviews

1 The Yearning by Hannah Howell
Tormented by an ancient curse, the young men of Clan MacCordy reach manhood only to walk forever in darkness, thirsting for blood--and Alpin MacCordy is no different. He must wed for coin and land, despite his betrothed's terror--and his own fascination for another woman, Lady Sophie Hay.

2 Bitten by Lynsay Sands
After brooding Keeran MacKay s ...more

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Paperback, 304 pages

Published September 1st 2004 by Zebra (first published September 1st 2003)

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Historical Paranormal Romance

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Mrm 2 2013

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Average rating 4.04 ·

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· 1,307 ratings · 35 reviews

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Nov 15, 2017 Carol Storm rated it really liked it

Four great authors, four sexy stories of vampires who rule the night and the strong-willed, courageous heroines who love them!

The first two stories, THE YEARNING by Hannah Howell and BITTEN by Lynsay Sands, were both basically Scottish historical stories where the brave warrior laird just happens to be a vampire. In both cases the heroine is a lassie with courage, optimism, and passion who brings the lonely vampire hope and kindness and gradually helps him come back to "life" within his eternal Four great authors, four sexy stories of vampires who rule the night and the strong-willed, courageous heroines who love them!

The first two stories, THE YEARNING by Hannah Howell and BITTEN by Lynsay Sands, were both basically Scottish historical stories where the brave warrior laird just happens to be a vampire. In both cases the heroine is a lassie with courage, optimism, and passion who brings the lonely vampire hope and kindness and gradually helps him come back to "life" within his eternal darkness. My personal pick was the Lynsay Sands story, just because Emily is such a warm, loving girl and she relies on her inner strength rather than spells and curses to get her way. Her friendship with Mrs. McBain the housekeeper was so authentic and true to the time period, the servant mistress connection gradually becoming more like mother and daughter. And the final scene in the brightly lit ballroom nearly moved me to tears!

The second set of stories, STRANGER IN THE NIGHT by Sara Blaine and THE AWAKENING by Kate Huntington, were much closer to being vampire stories in the classic sense. There was more of an atmosphere of horror and menace, with a lot of people bleeding out and dead animals left on the side of the road and angry villagers storming around with torches and things like that. Neither of them really did much for me, though there was some fascinating research in Stranger In the Night, mostly about the Albigensian Crusades and the witch hunts of medieval Europe. It was clear the author would rather have written a full length novel about that than doing a quick Regency novella about a spirited miss unearthing a vampire!

The last story, THE AWAKENING by Kate Huntington, was really a little too outre for my taste. The vampire hero has fed off the heroine's aunt for thirty years before he even meets the young miss. That really made me uncomfortable. And while I appreciated a lot of the points the author makes about religious hypocrisy and the cruelty of forcing women to deny their desires, a lot of the time I just didn't like Adrian and Thalia all that much. He was a little too eager to reminisce about all the other lovely ladies he'd drunk from, for one thing.

And a vampire named Adrian. Come on. I mean, "Yo, Adrian!" ...more

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Mar 22, 2011 ♥♥Mari♥♥ rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-reviewed, paranormal-romance

The first story in this volume, "The Yearning", by Hannah Howell, takes the reader to Scotland, in the year 1435. Sophie Hay, the rather eccentric, witty protagonist, is in search of an old manuscript left by an ancestor, Morvyn Galt. It concerns a 400-year-old curse laid on the MacCordy family by Morvyn's sister, Rona, who had been betrayed in love by a MacCordy, and with a child on the way, to make matters worse.

Ever since she pronounced this curse, all of the firstborn MacCordy men have turn ...more

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Jul 15, 2008 Readdiction rated it liked it

Shelves: historicalromance, paranormal

The first two stories were quite enjoyable but the last two were not as great.
Hannah Howell and Lynsay Sands had great vampires and sweet heroines in their romance. It was light reading material but IMO it was not as great as their other anthology - Eternal Highlander.
The third story was a bit difficult to follow as the events were quite unclear - seemingly to occur all at once ? It was quite confusing which is a pity because the root of the story and its ending was quite lovely.
The last complet ...more

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Aug 22, 2017 An Odd1 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: x-rate

Cute and funny is my favorite, Howell's "The Yearning". Sir Alpin, already engaged and drinking half-blood, trips over Sophies protective stones. Romance between servants Eric and Nella. Their dialect is distracting and silly "M'laird, didye ken .." "havenae they? .. aye, the beastie comes out .. 'Tis time".
...more

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Sep 18, 2017 Sandra Dagg rated it really liked it

Just finished this one, have been reading the stories over the last few days, and have to say the I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology, every single story! Would give it 4.5 stars if I could, holding the last half star only because the last two stories were not quite as good as the first two. Like some of the other reviewers I have favorites, the first two were definitely well written. The last two were also very good...the Sara Blayne story took a bit more concentration as it is written with a h ...more

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Sep 12, 2017 Nicole rated it liked it · review of another edition

Bitten by Lynsay Sands and The Awakening by Kate Huntington were the only two enjoyable parts of this book. I picked it up because I'm a fan of Sands but it was all I could do not to jump ahead to her story and leave the rest.

The stories by Howell and Blayne were bland at best with no plots and terrible writing. ...more

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Apr 23, 2020 Nora Griswold rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

So very different

Enjoyed these authors and each if their styles. The last author in this book to write, Kate Huntington really had my interest so much I could not put it down. Would like more from her.

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Mar 16, 2018 CaroMommie rated it really liked it

This was a fun entertaining story, I enjoyed it.

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Aug 29, 2018 Patty rated it liked it

Would score The Yearning 4 Stars and the other two as 2 Stars each.

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Sep 23, 2013 Madison ✨ rated it it was ok

Shelves: highlander-scotland, paranormal

The Yearning
This book begins with a witch cursing the young men of Clan MacCordy because her lover chose to marry another for lands and wealth rather than marry her for love. This curse ends up not only affecting the MacCordy's but also the witches female ancestors by having them cursed to experience love but never get to keep it. The MacCordy's end up creatures of the night, very close to vampires in that they cannot handle sunlight and crave blood but they are described at times with an appear The Yearning
This book begins with a witch cursing the young men of Clan MacCordy because her lover chose to marry another for lands and wealth rather than marry her for love. This curse ends up not only affecting the MacCordy's but also the witches female ancestors by having them cursed to experience love but never get to keep it. The MacCordy's end up creatures of the night, very close to vampires in that they cannot handle sunlight and crave blood but they are described at times with an appearance closer to wolves. The story is very predictable and when the curse is stated at the beginning it was easy to see how it must be broken. None the less, 450 years after the curse began, Sophie, a descendant of the witch goes to the MacCordy's and falls in love with the laird. He must make that same choice between lands/wealth and love and his decision determines the fate of the curse. Overall since this story was so predictable I didn't enjoy it as much. It was a short story which might be why the characters didn't feel well developed and not much in terms of "action" happened. I would give this first story 2 stars because it was entertaining but not a great story.

Bitten
This short story was more entertaining than the first one for me. Although this one was also predictable I still felt like the characters cared for each other by the end. This one also featured vampires and the storyline is simple- Keeran gets turned into a vampire after an attempt to capture/kill the vampire who killed his mother and sister. He has tried to fight his vampire nature for 200 years and feels damned because of who he has become. He saves Emily from a shipwreck and she easily worms her way into his heart. He doesn't want to like her but realizes that he cannot fight his growing attraction. I felt that the last monologue between Keeran and Emily where she is attempting to talk him into changing her was a bit forced and many of her points as to why Keeran wasn't a bad person were so obvious I would think that someone who has been living for 200 years would have figured out. Overall it was a quick read and entertaining, I would give this one 3 stars.

Stranger in the Night
This was my least favorite novella of the bunch so far. I felt that the curse history and Julius' character were both never fully explained. Was he a vampire like the rest of the novellas? It never exactly stated that and the only reference to it was that he felt tempted to bite her neck at the end. The origin of his curse and breaking of his curse are both not adequately explained and Julius' relationship with Georgiana was never developed. Overall I would give that book only 1 star.

The Awakening
This last novella was poorly written and the characters weren't developed. Thalia's character was so self serving at the start of the story and rude to her aunts housekeeper right when meeting the woman. She doesn't like her aunts lover and hates him even more when she realizes it is Adrian, the man who saved her at the beginning of the story. Yet she easily falls in love with him-going from hating him to love in what felt like a second. The author kept saying "the invalid" when talking about her sick aunt which just felt weird to read. Since she went there for the purpose of nursing her aunt to health, it was strange to hear her aunt talked of in that term. Then having Thalia fall in love with her aunts lover was even more strange for the story. I was kind of grossed out by that since Thalia even says that when she was young and got letters from him she thought of him as her kind grandfather figure. Yet they easily become lovers right after her aunt dies and from there on out the story had a "yuck" feel for me. Overall this story left much to be desired and if would only rate it half a star. ...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Cherie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book

I don't read vampire romance regularly but Hannah Howell and Lynsay Sands caught my attention with an anthology. I have read all the MacNaughton stories and love them.

Hannah Howell's The Yearning: Alpin MacCordy is not related to the MacNaughton's but his was an especially enjoyable story and my favorite of the bunch. He is immortal due to a curse and curses can be broken. Lady Sophie rescues him with love. 4 stars

Lynsay Sand's Bitten: The heroine, Emily, is saved by the hero, Keeran, from a sh ...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Linda rated it really liked it

Anthology with four stories, all surrounding the vampire legends.
The first two was great, even tear jerking, but the second two was just OK.
Hanna Howell´s The Yearning, an old curse is haunting two families. Lady Sophie Hay tries to save both her self and Alpin. Great story.
Lynsay Sands´ Bitten, Emily gets saved from a shipwreck by a tormented man in need of hope and saving. Great story.
Sara Blayne´s Stranger in the night, Georgiana meets a stranger in her old family home. Not really keeping my ...more

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Dec 02, 2011 ♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡ rated it liked it

Shelves: paranormal-romance, vampire, own, historical-romance, anthology

Most of these anthologies with Hannah Howell's Vampires are really good. This one was just kind of boring and it took almost a day to read the 100 page story.

Partial review & I will add more later!

Hannah Howell - The Yearning

This was a story of a curse made 400 years prior and Sophie a decendant of the curser who wanted to make it right. She set off to the family of the cursed & decided to try everything to break it. It was hinting at a vampire, but it was different. Not a true vampire??? It w ...more

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Jun 28, 2009 K rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: no one

His Immoral Embrace includes 4 short stories of paranormal romance by 4 very different authors. As I have liked other books/stories written by Howell and Sands (who were two of the authors), I thought to give this one a try. And I was dissapointed. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the stories by Sands and Howell, I did not like the other two authors style and/or stories. Due to the above, I can only give this book 2 stars. If asked, I would not recommend this book to others, and would advise reader ...more

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Feb 07, 2017 Jill rated it it was ok

Two stars for the Howell and Sands stories; otherwise, it would be zero stars. I couldn't even finish the other two...life is too short. ...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Paraphrodite rated it liked it

Shelves: 2012

The short stories from Hannah Howell and Lynsay Sands were pretty good.

The other two were pretty ordinary, especially the last one from Kate Huntington...the H/H made love straight after they buried the heroine's aunt who was the hero's lover for the past 30+ years? Talk about a fast rebound!! ...more

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Feb 18, 2015 Nibrock rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires

Not my favourite set of stories. Some interesting concepts of vampires, but nothing that stood out. Two of the stories ended in the "Vampire" being returned to human, and in the other two the heroine turned vampire. I think the stories were dragged out, if some of them had ended twenty pages sooner, they would have worked better. ...more

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Jul 07, 2011 CupcakeBlonde rated it liked it

Shelves: authors-lynsay-sands, read-in-2011, fiction, vampire-books, romance

I only read the Lynsay Sands short story in this book and it was just okay. A little boring. I did like the historical aspect of it since the books I read of her are all set in modern times. This is a good start to my reading her Highlander series.

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Mar 22, 2008 penelopewanders rated it liked it

Received as ring... entertaining, sans plus.

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May 22, 2009 Lorann rated it liked it

Shelves: 2009-read

So I was three stories in when I convinced my self that I had read this before... Still a good read for the genre.

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Sep 20, 2010 ☽ Rhiannon ✭ Mistwalker ☾ rated it it was ok

I liked the first two stories (Howell's and Sands') but the last two I couldn't quite get into, so I ended up putting it down. ...more

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Oct 27, 2010 Sara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Lynsay and Hannah work there magic I am always stuck and cant put their books down this book was NO different.

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Jul 15, 2011 Bridget rated it liked it

Shelves: paranormel, anthologies, hot, sold-ebay

Stories were enjoyable, although it is difficult to get much of a story in such a short time. All were worth reading.

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Aug 18, 2011 Betty rated it liked it

Shelves: passed

Uneven anthology...
More tortured Vampire sex ... :P

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Feb 10, 2012 Donna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Ok so 4 short stories, of the ilk I would not normally read, but i did enjoy them on the basis it was something different, and i would probably read something else in the same strain again,.

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Apr 09, 2012 Grace rated it liked it · review of another edition

Decent collection. Not really my taste – mostly traditional romance with a vampire twist. Sands story Bitten is the best of the bunch.

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Aug 21, 2012 Eskimo Princess Jenkins rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance, kindle

very good. I wasn't as thrilled with the last story in this book. ...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Jessica Carey rated it it was amazing

Loved the first two stories. The third one was good but not one of my favorites. I was kinda put off by the last story.

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Aug 25, 2014 Christine P. rated it it was ok

Shelves: paranormal-romance, vampires

Nope.

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Mar 18, 2016 Jackie Witmer rated it did not like it

I absolutely love Hannah Howell and Lynsay Sands but dislike books on vampires, so I did not care for this book.

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About Hannah Howell

Hannah Howell

2,317 followers

Hannah Dustin Howell is a best-selling American author of over 40 historical romance novels. Many of her novels are set in medieval Scotland. She also writes under the names Sarah Dustin, Sandra Dustin, and Anna Jennet (see below).

She has also used the following pseudonyms:
Anna Jennet, Sarah Dustin and Sandra Dustin ...more