What do you think?
Rate this book
Vampire Romances #1
Embrace the Night
Cursed by the darkness, he searches through the ages for the redeeming light, the one who can save him. She fears the handsome stranger whose eyes promise ecstasy while his mouth whispers dark secrets. Apart, they will face a destiny of despair. Together, they will share undying passion.
441 pages, Paperback
First published April 20, 1998
121 people are currently reading
1073 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
nevermind
November 21, 2016I have to stop. In the first forty pages there was so much angst and self-hate that I couldn't stand it. The littlest thing would set the hero off into a spiral of self-pity.
Please. Just please.
Or this one:
Damn it, dude. Just say yes.
At one point Gabriel doesn't visit Sarah for a week (presumably because he's busy hating himself) and she nearly starves herself to death. Because life without a miserable whiny vampire is no life at all!
Gabriel brought Sara, an abandoned child, to an orphanage when she was four or five, and over the years he watched from the shadows as she grew up. There was some creepy stuff about how his lust for her grew as she grew, and then on the very next page he said he told her that he'd sometimes pretended she was his daughter. O_O A few pages later he was noticing how beautiful she was and how she'd acquired the rounded form of a woman or something like that. Brb, barfing.
This book is too big to endure Count Whinypants and Signorina Innocence any longer. I skipped around a bit just to make sure, but I'm definitely DNFing. I one-starred another Amanda Ashley vampire book, no need to do so again if this is what I have to work with.
She smiled triumphantly. "How could I ever forget the face of my guardian angel?"
A muscle worked in Gabriel's jaw as guilt and self-loathing rose up in him. He was an angel, all right, he thought bitterly; the angel of death.
Please. Just please.
Or this one:
"On your honor, you promise?"
"I have no honor, cara, but I promise I will be here tomorrow night."
Damn it, dude. Just say yes.
At one point Gabriel doesn't visit Sarah for a week (presumably because he's busy hating himself) and she nearly starves herself to death. Because life without a miserable whiny vampire is no life at all!
Gabriel brought Sara, an abandoned child, to an orphanage when she was four or five, and over the years he watched from the shadows as she grew up. There was some creepy stuff about how his lust for her grew as she grew, and then on the very next page he said he told her that he'd sometimes pretended she was his daughter. O_O A few pages later he was noticing how beautiful she was and how she'd acquired the rounded form of a woman or something like that. Brb, barfing.
This book is too big to endure Count Whinypants and Signorina Innocence any longer. I skipped around a bit just to make sure, but I'm definitely DNFing. I one-starred another Amanda Ashley vampire book, no need to do so again if this is what I have to work with.
October 13, 2010
I think I should start off this review by stating that I've read so many vampire novels and vampire romances that I fear I may be jaded. I used to love anything that had to do with vampires but now it takes a lot of originality (or humor and/or gut-wrenching emotion) to "wow" me and hold my interest and this book, the first of what I believe is a series, just didn't do it for me.
Gabriel is your standard vampire hero. He's gorgeous, sensitive and oh-so-lonely. He's loved and lost in the past and vows to never lose his heart to a mortal again. But all of that changes when he first sees Sara Jayne, an orphaned child who's life he saves. He becomes her self-appointed guardian angel and watches over her as she grows from a sweet child into a beautiful woman. Sara Jayne has emotional problems and one desolate night decides to take her life. This is when Gabriel breaks his pledge and shows himself, thus giving her someone to love and a reason to live.
And then the conflicts begin. Gabriel loves Sara but she's mortal and he refuses to subject her to his dreary and cursed existence. Sara loves Gabriel but she's also frightened of him. They pledge their love to each other but things keep happening to force them apart: Gabriel pushes her away because he wants her to experience life (he does this about 3 times), a former lover of Gabriel shows up to make trouble, and eventually Sara gives up hope of ever having a normal life with Gabriel and gets engaged to another man (who could blame her after being rejected so many times?). Inevitably they do find happiness but it's not an easy road to eternal bliss.
In all honesty I had a hard time finishing this book because I kept getting the feeling that I had read it all many times before. And during more than one of the separations I had an eerie sense that I had already read the exact same scene some 40 pages earlier. If the characters were more engaging, or the angst-ridden plot lightened with a bit of humor, I may have enjoyed reading this standard vampire scenario again but as it was written I just can't recommend it with any enthusiasm. I never truly cared what happened to either character, I never felt any spark between the pair and I found the repetitive plot slow going.
Gabriel is your standard vampire hero. He's gorgeous, sensitive and oh-so-lonely. He's loved and lost in the past and vows to never lose his heart to a mortal again. But all of that changes when he first sees Sara Jayne, an orphaned child who's life he saves. He becomes her self-appointed guardian angel and watches over her as she grows from a sweet child into a beautiful woman. Sara Jayne has emotional problems and one desolate night decides to take her life. This is when Gabriel breaks his pledge and shows himself, thus giving her someone to love and a reason to live.
And then the conflicts begin. Gabriel loves Sara but she's mortal and he refuses to subject her to his dreary and cursed existence. Sara loves Gabriel but she's also frightened of him. They pledge their love to each other but things keep happening to force them apart: Gabriel pushes her away because he wants her to experience life (he does this about 3 times), a former lover of Gabriel shows up to make trouble, and eventually Sara gives up hope of ever having a normal life with Gabriel and gets engaged to another man (who could blame her after being rejected so many times?). Inevitably they do find happiness but it's not an easy road to eternal bliss.
In all honesty I had a hard time finishing this book because I kept getting the feeling that I had read it all many times before. And during more than one of the separations I had an eerie sense that I had already read the exact same scene some 40 pages earlier. If the characters were more engaging, or the angst-ridden plot lightened with a bit of humor, I may have enjoyed reading this standard vampire scenario again but as it was written I just can't recommend it with any enthusiasm. I never truly cared what happened to either character, I never felt any spark between the pair and I found the repetitive plot slow going.
December 31, 2016
Embrace the night was a good romance story. A story of soul mates. Giovanni Ognibene is a vampire who discovers a child left alone and crying. He further discovers she is cripple and abandon with no food or water nothing to help her. He takes the child Sara Jayne Duncan to Sisters of Eternal Mercy Orphanage. Sara names her rescuer Gabriel after the angle. Gabriel watches over her and provides for her as she grows into a lovely women but she still can't walk. The orphanage catches fire and Sara is horribly burned and is dying. Gabriel cannot let her go so he risk giving her some of his blood after he takes her away from the orphanage. It heals Sara and also, heal her so she can now walk.
Sara has always wanted to be a ballerina so he sends her to France and he makes sure she is well provided for. After a 5 year separation Gabriel can no longer live without just seeing her. Here's were the real love story begins.
The story opens with Giovanni/Gabriel standing at the grave site of his wife Sara Jayne she dies at age 75 then Giovanni goes to ground beside her for 50 years and when he awakes the world is quite different its 1975 and he sees a women crying seating in the park. Her husband parents and baby were killed in a car accident. Her name is Sara and she has the same blond hair as his Sara. This modern day Sara also, has vivid dreams of Giovanni and his wife Sara but she doesn't know why she is having this mysterious dreams as if she herself is the Sara that lived them.
The reason I gave the story 4 stars instead of 5 was because I felt the author may have written two heroines and didn't know how to make them one being without the reincarnation part which made the love story a bit disjointed. However it was very well written and I enjoyed and liked both Sara's I just which they could have been melded into one being and I didn't like the fact that they couldn't have children together.
Sara has always wanted to be a ballerina so he sends her to France and he makes sure she is well provided for. After a 5 year separation Gabriel can no longer live without just seeing her. Here's were the real love story begins.
The story opens with Giovanni/Gabriel standing at the grave site of his wife Sara Jayne she dies at age 75 then Giovanni goes to ground beside her for 50 years and when he awakes the world is quite different its 1975 and he sees a women crying seating in the park. Her husband parents and baby were killed in a car accident. Her name is Sara and she has the same blond hair as his Sara. This modern day Sara also, has vivid dreams of Giovanni and his wife Sara but she doesn't know why she is having this mysterious dreams as if she herself is the Sara that lived them.
The reason I gave the story 4 stars instead of 5 was because I felt the author may have written two heroines and didn't know how to make them one being without the reincarnation part which made the love story a bit disjointed. However it was very well written and I enjoyed and liked both Sara's I just which they could have been melded into one being and I didn't like the fact that they couldn't have children together.
January 12, 2024
This is my favorite Amanda Ahsley novel. I just love reading about the vampire buying the girl clothing, what he feeds her, the places they stay. He sends her to ballet school fo goddess sake. I really enjoy this authors historic vampire novels better than her present day ones. Paris, London, castles, man servants, pigeon pie etc...etc... Dark self loathing brooding vampires, none of that sparkling crap for me. I read this for the first time at 18 and have loved Amanda Ashley ever since.
RE READ: It's awful, but I still love it :)
RE READ: It's awful, but I still love it :)
September 7, 2012
well well i was suprised to see this book in my recomendations seeing it was my very FIRST romance novel i read i fell in love with this book and it still has prize place in my bookshelf.
amanda ashley writes spectacular books and yes ive read nearly all of them and this is by far the best one in my mind maybe im a little bias seeing it was my first (your always ment to remember your first riiiight? ;) )
embrace the night is about a vampire who ends up saving a little girl, then in turn she ends up falling in love with him (pervert right?) well i liked it :)
amanda ashley writes spectacular books and yes ive read nearly all of them and this is by far the best one in my mind maybe im a little bias seeing it was my first (your always ment to remember your first riiiight? ;) )
embrace the night is about a vampire who ends up saving a little girl, then in turn she ends up falling in love with him (pervert right?) well i liked it :)
February 7, 2015
this is yet another brilliant read from caris roane. Even though we are five books into the series I am still as enthralled as when I read the first book. Hot and steamy romance as we have come to expect, but also a wonderful story of love and friendship. While you are reading the book you feel like you are on a rollercoaster ride. Brilliant.
September 18, 2007
This is the book that got me into reading Vampire Romances. I knew the author from her Westerns, Madeline Baker, and since I knew her writing, I thought I would give it a try.
I was blown away. Now I pretty much only read Vampire Romances, among a few other things that catch my attention.
I was blown away. Now I pretty much only read Vampire Romances, among a few other things that catch my attention.
November 13, 2009
Loved this book! I'll definitely read more of Amanda Ashley's vamp books.
Gabriel's love Sara(h) was felt from the beginning to the end of the story. There was a bit of suspense thrown in to spice things up. One of the most touching love stories I've read.
Gabriel's love Sara(h) was felt from the beginning to the end of the story. There was a bit of suspense thrown in to spice things up. One of the most touching love stories I've read.
January 22, 2010
Sits on my shelf and gets read every 6 months or so. The last few chapters are kind of hokey, knocking one star off my review, but they seem to be an epilogue to the main story. And the main story is great.
May 25, 2011
Didn't end up reading this one. Found myself wanting to get caught up on the newest books from the series I've read before reading anything else.
April 6, 2014
This is one of the best vampire books I have every read and I have read it a number of times!!
March 25, 2015
love it
June 2, 2015
Love vampire romances. I've read ALL of her books.
May 19, 2016
Loved this story!
April 6, 2019
as some of you may or may not know i'm doing a re-read of all my books
started with feehan and that sorta crashed and burned around book 25 or so
so embrace the night
ok, first
weird teenager and a 400 year old vampire
weird that it starts out like a daddy and dau.
ok, then the LOW self esteem of parties in volved............ugh....
then the desperation of the female for certain parts.
and the final straw was the attempt for a cure, always hate that part
sad that she didn't go for the turn.
weird about the reincarnation...........on to deeper than night
started with feehan and that sorta crashed and burned around book 25 or so
so embrace the night
ok, first
weird teenager and a 400 year old vampire
weird that it starts out like a daddy and dau.
ok, then the LOW self esteem of parties in volved............ugh....
then the desperation of the female for certain parts.
and the final straw was the attempt for a cure, always hate that part
sad that she didn't go for the turn.
weird about the reincarnation...........on to deeper than night
June 2, 2013
Sometimes it's difficult to find a book that is hard to put down that you just can't stand it. This is one if those books. I enjoyed it from the first word to the last. I will not put here what the book is about. That, I feel, is what the description is for. I will surely be looking for other books by this author and, since this is listed as #1 in a series, can't wait to see how this plays out. Thoroughly enjoyable book!
July 6, 2014
There are 2 sides to every story. Sara has loved Gabriel for centuries and he has devoted himself to her forever. I believe in the beginning Sara is selfish and stubborn but doesn't know the consequences for her actions even when it comes to Gabriel. This story is about a timeless love that ends with a happily ever after.
Want to read
June 11, 2010Oh my god! It's the ugliest book cover I saw in my live! 
. Poor writer!!!! I really doubt that it's her choice! Somebody must tell her editor that this cover is awful! 
. Poor writer!!!! I really doubt that it's her choice! Somebody must tell her editor that this cover is awful! 
July 16, 2017
This book was amazing! It was beautiful, romantic, old fashioned... It had suspense and humour. Amanda Ashley is now one of my absolute favourite authors!
May 19, 2018
Very good story.
June 13, 2018
I did not want this story to end. I was capture by their pain and the darkness of their lives. Can't wait to to read book 2 in this series!!!
March 13, 2025
Two stars for that Gothic motif/early imagery. I'm a sucker for heroines in billowing gowns dreaming of supernatural creatures.
I've read a few Amanda Ashleys in my day. I was all in for the broody vamp who falls for the bright-eyed heroine. Given that this was a Gothic novel (in the first part, anyway), I was ok with Sara Jayne not having too much going for her other than professional ballerina and running from her feeling towards Gabriel (and the momentary big-bad). What I wasn't cool with was... the, shall we say, age gap (and he starts off on a father-daughter note too? Ick🤢🤮!!)? Our girl is literally thirteen at the start of this novel?! Why?
In terms of writing style, we were doing ok until... well: we've got so much repetition/corniness of both inner emotional dialogue (don't get me going on the line "You puny fool!" being said unironically. It was like a really bad soap), copy/paste scenes all across our character board (if I had to listen to Sarah Jayne string both men along one more damn chapter 😠), as well as bits that just make no sense: ex: in part two, new Sarah laments that her situation with Gabriel reminds her of some vague French film she can't quite recall, one where a monster holds a woman captive while showering her with gifts, but she's a captive all the same. One page later, in the same bubble, she's waxing the same thought, although she knows BATB with certainty, talking about "he's the Beast to my Beauty". So do you know it or not? Pick a lane! And that abrupt tonal shift: suddenly, we're not in an historical-paranormal romance anymore. It's modern (for the publication anyway) day 1995, baby! Also, OG Sara Jayne is dead, having lived her life with Gabriel as a mortal. He's literally at her graveside. But wait! Hark! Another Sarah who cries alone?! Could it be!? Why yes! Her re-incarnation. This one is mourning the loss of her infant daughter and husband via a car accident... but she then gets over that pretty quick, realizing SHE REALLY IS SARAH JAYNE VIA DREAMS?! Honestly, the way she brushed off her family's deaths, cold-hearted. A few meetings with Gabriel and she's made peace with her daughter's death and is packing up her clothes/nursery (the dick must be magical 🙄). Also, there's a big bad, Nina (AKA the vampire who turned Gabriel), and for a time she's a threat, jealously wanting to kill Sarah Jayne unless Gabriel becomes her love slave. Very Angelique from DS for a minute... but then she's stabbed with part of a cross by Gabriel before we even get to part 2.
This is a long book to have so many repeat scenes. And then part 2 just felt like some strange soft reboot to a show. I got to page 250 and thought, "Huh. Am I driving in circles?". I will be trying to read the others I've got. This is my first 2 star from her and that includes her short stories. Whomp, Whomp. Great cover though. Gotta love that green 💚📗.
I've read a few Amanda Ashleys in my day. I was all in for the broody vamp who falls for the bright-eyed heroine. Given that this was a Gothic novel (in the first part, anyway), I was ok with Sara Jayne not having too much going for her other than professional ballerina and running from her feeling towards Gabriel (and the momentary big-bad). What I wasn't cool with was... the, shall we say, age gap (and he starts off on a father-daughter note too? Ick🤢🤮!!)? Our girl is literally thirteen at the start of this novel?! Why?
In terms of writing style, we were doing ok until... well: we've got so much repetition/corniness of both inner emotional dialogue (don't get me going on the line "You puny fool!" being said unironically. It was like a really bad soap), copy/paste scenes all across our character board (if I had to listen to Sarah Jayne string both men along one more damn chapter 😠), as well as bits that just make no sense: ex: in part two, new Sarah laments that her situation with Gabriel reminds her of some vague French film she can't quite recall, one where a monster holds a woman captive while showering her with gifts, but she's a captive all the same. One page later, in the same bubble, she's waxing the same thought, although she knows BATB with certainty, talking about "he's the Beast to my Beauty". So do you know it or not? Pick a lane! And that abrupt tonal shift: suddenly, we're not in an historical-paranormal romance anymore. It's modern (for the publication anyway) day 1995, baby! Also, OG Sara Jayne is dead, having lived her life with Gabriel as a mortal. He's literally at her graveside. But wait! Hark! Another Sarah who cries alone?! Could it be!? Why yes! Her re-incarnation. This one is mourning the loss of her infant daughter and husband via a car accident... but she then gets over that pretty quick, realizing SHE REALLY IS SARAH JAYNE VIA DREAMS?! Honestly, the way she brushed off her family's deaths, cold-hearted. A few meetings with Gabriel and she's made peace with her daughter's death and is packing up her clothes/nursery (the dick must be magical 🙄). Also, there's a big bad, Nina (AKA the vampire who turned Gabriel), and for a time she's a threat, jealously wanting to kill Sarah Jayne unless Gabriel becomes her love slave. Very Angelique from DS for a minute... but then she's stabbed with part of a cross by Gabriel before we even get to part 2.
This is a long book to have so many repeat scenes. And then part 2 just felt like some strange soft reboot to a show. I got to page 250 and thought, "Huh. Am I driving in circles?". I will be trying to read the others I've got. This is my first 2 star from her and that includes her short stories. Whomp, Whomp. Great cover though. Gotta love that green 💚📗.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 11, 2021
I couldn't finish it. I love the trope of an older influential vampire falling in love with a young woman and I liked the general idea of this book but reading it feels so hollow and superficial that there is no way of you to get attached to the characters, the story or anything really. I am also not a big fan of how damsel in distress-y the female protagonist is. she doesn't really have any independence, any original thoughts or desires (except for dancing which only brings her joy when the vampire of her dreams is watching though) and it's mostly just a constant back and forth between "I love you and I'll stay with you" and "I'm a monster, you can't be with me".
I like a bit of angst and I do love me a possessive, gloomy vampire count with a pinch of self loathing but given the fact that none of these characters feel remotely real it just feels disappointing.
I like a bit of angst and I do love me a possessive, gloomy vampire count with a pinch of self loathing but given the fact that none of these characters feel remotely real it just feels disappointing.
January 8, 2025
This book is not for everyone, for me it is.
I loved the story since the beginning to the end, their love is touching, deep, perfect, pure and beautiful beyond words! It touched the chords of my very soul for personal reasons making me weep for real.
Amanda Ashley is a master to create passion and mystery at the same time and she's never banal.
Gabriel is the perfect example of the alpha male: virile, confident and a bit arrogant, but also generous and charming; while Sara is so sweet and pure in her innocence and femininity still showing great strength of mind that never makes her seem weak.
The only problem is that they couldn't have children.. and Gabriel couldn't get the cure to become mortal again.
I really loved them both very much!
I loved the story since the beginning to the end, their love is touching, deep, perfect, pure and beautiful beyond words! It touched the chords of my very soul for personal reasons making me weep for real.
Amanda Ashley is a master to create passion and mystery at the same time and she's never banal.
Gabriel is the perfect example of the alpha male: virile, confident and a bit arrogant, but also generous and charming; while Sara is so sweet and pure in her innocence and femininity still showing great strength of mind that never makes her seem weak.
The only problem is that they couldn't have children.. and Gabriel couldn't get the cure to become mortal again.
I really loved them both very much!
August 28, 2023
Very minimal spice level. Lots of fun 90s problematic issues with the casual ableism when the female main character was in a wheelchair and gets "cured" by the male main character. Plus he watched over her since she was three years old and then started commenting on her "beauty" when she turned 16 so fun grooming activity there. Also, there must not have been a copy editor in the 90s because there were so many inconsistencies in the timelines (he said he was 350 years old and talked about being turned 79 years ago and that was just one of the times that the math didn't math).
April 2, 2023
I hated this book and DNF. The heroine was boring and weak, the hero spent 95% of his time brooding. He barely seemed like a scary dark vampire, which would have made the story interesting, and instead way too much of the story focused on him being almost a superhero who could do no wrong - albeit horny for an innocent teen/young woman who he had watched grow from a little girl.
I think this book would appeal to a lot of people, but not to me.
I think this book would appeal to a lot of people, but not to me.
October 23, 2022
LMAO
I remember reading this as a confused horny teen and still found it terrible
I remember reading this as a confused horny teen and still found it terrible
November 21, 2022
Honestly a pretty well done vampire novel! Once I got through the beginning and it picked up it was hard to put down!
July 3, 2023
the twilight girl in me is thriving right now
March 7, 2024
Were romance publishing standards in the 90s really this low?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews