Night Embrace

Having already spent quite a bit of time in the Carnal Sanctuary world, I was excited about Night Embrace because it gave me the chance to step outside Savannah and Roman’s main storyline and see more of Astoria, its supernatural residents, and the history that existed long before we wandered into the Sanctuary with Savannah. That ended up being my favorite thing about this collection.

Night Embrace is not one continuous novel. It is a collection of stories spread across the Carnal Sanctuary timeline, stretching from a blizzard in the 1870s to present-day Astoria. Instead of following one central couple or storyline from beginning to end, it pulls back the curtain on characters and pieces of history that have existed around the edges of the main series and gives us a much broader look at the supernatural world Ellie Sandoval has created.

There is a lot happening in that world, too. We get fae, shifters, witches, vampires, clairvoyants, ghosts, shadow magic, blood rites, old supernatural conflicts, dangerous entities, Astoria’s magical woods, and traditions that have been around much longer than some of the characters currently participating in them. Some of the stories are rooted in survival and prejudice, while others bring in very real human monsters or supernatural threats that have been lurking in the background. Basically, Astoria has some issues. 😂

One of the stories takes us all the way back to the Blizzard of 1873 with Felicity, a fae woman who finds herself injured, suffering from iron poisoning, and taking shelter with Hayden, a human. Considering humans and fae do not exactly have a warm and fuzzy history here, their circumstances create an interesting kind of tension before romance or sex ever enters the equation. They are trapped together by a brutal storm, Felicity is vulnerable in a way she clearly does not enjoy, and both of them have reasons to be wary of the other.

That was one of the things I really enjoyed about Snowed In. Their supernatural differences actually matter to the story. Felicity’s reaction to iron, her fae heritage, the historical setting, the danger outside, and the distrust between two people who have been taught very different things about one another gave me something beyond attraction to become invested in. It also gave me another little piece of the history behind this world, which is exactly the kind of thing I have been wanting more of.

Other stories bring us back toward more familiar territory while showing us completely different sides of Astoria. Jenna and Simone, for example, arrive in Astoria after traveling and working together, only for their plans to take a seriously dark turn when they become victims of sex traffickers. That storyline immediately shifts the danger away from supernatural monsters and reminds us that sometimes the humans are perfectly capable of being the worst thing in the room. It also gives the story higher stakes than simply who is attracted to whom.

Belladonna and Lucas’s story brings shadow magic, reanimated corpses, supernatural violence, and a much darker threat into the mix. This was another area where my attention immediately perked up because now we are getting into the mythology and dangers surrounding these supernatural beings. Belladonna is not simply someone with an unusual ability. Her magic has history, rules, and consequences, and there are things connected to it that are genuinely dangerous. That kind of supernatural depth is exactly what makes me want to dig further into the world.

Cassie’s storyline was another part of the collection that made me want to know even more about the Sanctuary itself. Her clairvoyance and family history begin opening doors into a past that existed long before she arrived. Through her, we get ghosts, séances, psychic abilities, family secrets, old relationships, and a supernatural presence that makes it very clear the Sanctuary has been holding onto more than expensive furniture and everybody’s questionable sexual decisions.

Those were the moments where Night Embrace really worked for me because the Sanctuary started feeling less like Roman’s mansion and more like a place with history. Astoria started feeling less like the backdrop for Savannah and Roman’s story and more like an established supernatural community where generations of people have lived, loved, fought, died, made enemies, kept secrets, and occasionally created problems that somebody else is still dealing with decades later.

That is the part I wanted more of.

The Night Hunt and Snowed In were probably my favorites because they came closest to giving me the balance I enjoy most. There was supernatural lore, atmosphere, character development, relationships, danger, and spice all working together. When those pieces were given enough room to breathe, I could see just how much potential there is in the larger Carnal Sanctuary world.

Which brings me to my biggest issue with Night Embrace: there is a lot of sex.

Now, before anybody comes for me, please look at that spice rating again. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ I am clearly not frightened by fictional nudity. 😂 My problem is not that the book is erotic. Carnal Sanctuary knows exactly what kind of series it is, and I would not want Ellie Sandoval to suddenly remove the spice and send everyone to separate bedrooms to contemplate their feelings. My issue is the balance between the sex and the story.

At this point, there are several characters in this world whose sexual preferences I know better than I know them. I know what turns them on, what they like in bed, who they want to sleep with, and occasionally enough additional information that I feel like I should have signed an NDA. What I still want to know is who they are when nobody is naked.

I want to know what scares them, what they regret, what they want from their lives beyond sex, and what shaped them into the people they are now. I want to know who they would protect, who they hate and why, and what happened fifty or a hundred years ago that they still have not gotten over. I want their loyalties, friendships, grudges, heartbreak, motivations, histories, and all the messy little pieces that turn an interesting character into someone I am genuinely emotionally invested in.

Because once I know those things, the intimacy actually hits harder.

There are moments throughout Night Embrace where that absolutely happens. When sex is tied to vulnerability, trust, trauma, healing, relationship development, or an emotional shift between characters, it works really well for me. Those scenes tell me something about the people involved instead of simply showing me what they enjoy sexually.

However, when several sexual encounters are accomplishing essentially the same thing, I start thinking about what else those pages could have given us. Tell me more about Felicity’s history and the relationship between humans and fae. Tell me more about Belladonna and Shadowcaste magic. Give me more of Cassie’s family history and how her abilities connect to the Sanctuary’s past. Show me how Astoria’s different supernatural communities coexist, or do not. Give me the old grudges, alliances, traditions, politics, and supernatural disasters everyone apparently agreed not to mention until they became a problem again.

There is clearly a much bigger story here, and that is ultimately what kept Night Embrace at 3.5 stars for me.

What would have pushed Night Embrace to five stars for me would not have been less spice, but more story surrounding it. I wanted more time getting to know these characters outside of their sexual relationships, more of their histories and motivations, and more development of the supernatural storylines that were already interesting enough to make me want to keep digging. Give me more of Astoria’s history, its different supernatural communities, their magic, old conflicts, traditions, relationships, and all those secrets that clearly did not start with Savannah and Roman. Most importantly, give me enough emotional connection to these characters that I care about what happens to them before I know everything that happens in their bedrooms. If the character development, supernatural lore, and ongoing storylines had been given the same amount of room to breathe as the sexual content, this could have easily been a five-star read for me.

I would not remove the spice, and I would not change the erotic nature of Carnal Sanctuary. That is clearly part of the series’ identity, and readers looking for extremely high-spice paranormal fiction are absolutely going to find it here. I just want the story and character development to receive the same amount of attention.

Give me enough time with these characters, with their personalities, histories, relationships, fears, motivations, and emotional baggage, that when they finally end up in bed together, I am invested in who is in that bed, not just what they are doing in it.

Because underneath all that spice, Ellie Sandoval has created a supernatural world with enough mythology, history, magic, danger, and wonderfully chaotic characters to keep pulling me back into Astoria. If anything, Night Embrace proved that to me more than the main storyline has so far because it showed just how much exists beyond Savannah and Roman.

Some stories gave me exactly the combination I have been looking for, while others leaned further into erotica than I personally prefer. I still finished the collection wanting to know more about Astoria, the Sanctuary, its history, its supernatural communities, and the people who have called it home across generations. To me, that says a lot about the potential of this world because my criticism is not that there was nothing here to hold my attention. It is almost the opposite. There were so many interesting pieces that I kept wishing I had been given more time with them.

Apparently, my biggest complaint about Night Embrace is basically this: everybody please locate your pants. I have questions about the supernatural lore. 😂🖤

Since half-star ratings are not available everywhere, I will be rounding my 3.5 up to 4 stars on platforms that require whole-star ratings.

NOTE: As always, all thoughts, reactions, fangirling, suspicious side-eyeing, and sleep-deprived ramblings are entirely my own. My reviews are always unbiased, unfiltered, and unapologetically honest—whether I loved the book, wanted to throw my Kindle across the room, or somehow managed to do both.  –Mz. Sassy K.  

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