Curse the Dawn [Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Let me first start out by saying.. HOLY CRAP!! This book will blow you right of your seat, you'll laugh, you'll cry, and people will think you've lost your mind! Recently there has been a lot of Movies and TV Series based on Vampire books or Paranormal related subjects and I feel Karen Chance's Cassie Palmer Series is a made for TV book, it's written so perfectly that a director would have no problem adapting it for the silver screen or small screen.

Once you read this latest addition you'll agree. Mrs. Chance has a way of grabbing her readers and pulling them into a fantasy world that is so vivid and descriptive it's hard to believe it isn't real! Cassie is a feisty, in your face, but lovable and believable heroine who gets out of trouble by using her usually handsome allies and her very clever ideas. This book is non-stop action from stop to finish, it has witty humor, believable love stories (or more accurately love triangle) and the surprises don't stop (I was literally caught screaming "No Way", "Oh Crap", "No They Didn't", "You Go Cassie!" lol).

I won't give away too many details, but Cassie is hell bent on getting some much needed training so she pursues help from Agnes (which obviously can't happen in this time because she's dead).. so that's when the action begins. She also wants to sort out her relationship with Mircea who has been very busy lately and even when they are around each other not much chatting occurs.. if you know what I'm saying.. ALSO there's this ex-war mage who Cassie kind of can't stop having deep feelings for. Yup, Pritkins in this book and he's back with a vengeance (which always puts a smile on my face, when he's around there's always action and surprises). Cassie can't seem to get a break in this book, she literal runs for her life (literal RUNS) through most the book, If I ran that much I would have a heart attack. Cassie finds out some very interesting secrets and gets one of her strongest adversaries out of the way!

This book is like every other Cassie Palmer book.. always worth the money! I'm happy these books haven't gone to Hard cover yet.. I'd be force to buy them at those expensive prices! Like I mentioned before these books would look so cool on film or TV! I CAN'T WAIT FOR BOOK 5, heck I can't wait for book 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10!!!!! =0)

Another hit in the continuously dangerous life of Cassie Palmer, though by this point in the series you may be starting to feel like Cassie and her crew of trouble finding supernatural friends are like sugared up kindergartners that never stop moving and your the parent that would really like a nap to catch up with the plot. Especially if your like me and stayed up till 3 am because the story was so funny, well written, and mesmerizing! Be warned this is not a stand alone book: A. You will be very confused if you try to start with this book and B. You will be sucked into entrancement of this series.

This time Cassie, unlikely queen of the clairvoyants and time shifters- otherwise known as the Pythia, is trying to get a peace deal brokered between herself and the Silver Circle of mages who should be her closest allies...but have been tying to kill her for three books because they can't control her. But when the mages pull a fast one on her she, and her anti-hero partner, the always entertaining Pritkin, are thrown into a cataclysmic supernatural attack on MAGIC ( the headquarters for North Americas vampires, weres, mages, ect.) and must try to rescue the survivors and themselves. With a traitor still in the groups midst this could be easier said than done.

Odd magical creations abound to help or hurt the duo, as well as the aid of Mircea Tepish - yes, Dracula's much cooler & saner brother- who is also for all vampire intents and purposes,Cassie's husband. A fantastic cast of secondary characters joins the party along with a few new friends, and a hilarious but accidental switcharoo occurs leading to a few awkward but memorable situations that I won't spoil here because you'll vastly enjoy reading them.

This a book - and a series- not to be missed!! If you can I would read the first book in Ms. Chance's companion series , Midnight's Daughter, before this book as hints suggest the two series are brushing along each other about to merge closer. It's another great read that can only ad to your enjoyment of his book. Enjoy your reading and try not to stay up too late!

The series in order:
Touch the Dark
Claimed by Shadow
Embrace the Night
Midnight's Daughter ( Ok, technically this is the Dorina Basarab series but she's
Mircea's daughter! It all stems from the same literary world)
Curse the Dawn
Death's Mistress ( the next Dorina book coming in October!)

I can't remember the last book I finished completely in a single day. Actually, yes I can it was Karen Chance's last Cassie Palmer book, Embrace the Night.. Anyway, I happened to run out of books to read at my house so I checked Amazon and happened upon this book which was released in a day (I checked April 6th) I immediately purchased it and started reading it at 10 AM April 7th and I didn't put it down until 4 PM the same afternoon. And believe me, I tried.

When I got to the end of Every. Single. Chapter. I HAD to know what happened next. She ended EVERY chapter on a cliffhanger equivalent to a GOOD Season Finale of your favorite TV show. If she didn't end it with a cliffhanger she ended it in such a way that you had to know what happened next because the story is SO engaging.

And don't get me started on the characters. Cassie is a heroine you're rooting for from the start because she isn't some all-powerful being (she IS a powerhouse, but she can't fully control her power) who's basically invulnerable and therefore lacks character depth and is uninteresting. She's just a regular woman thrown into one extraordinary situation after another working with what she's given to survive. Her 'team' consists of an uber war-mage named Pritkin who has charged himself with her protection (picture a spell-slinging Rambo) and Mircea, a Senate Level Master Vampire. Both of who she has feelings for, both who hate each other with a vengeance, and both who are on the same demi-god plateau of power.

The book doesn't give you time to breathe either, it relentlessly hammers you leaving you breathless and at the same time wanting more. The few times it does give you time to breathe you'll be laughing at the dialog (it being hilarious in a GOOD way) or at the different situations Cassie gets herself and the people she cares for in.

The action is intense, the drama is fantastic and the characters you'll *GASP* actually care for! I highly recommend this series to ANYONE who likes ANY sort of fantasy because it dips into a bit of everything and still makes the world completely real. A huge accomplishment for a fantasy fiction author. Kudos Karen Chance for bringing yet another masterpiece into the world.