Customer Reviews

The Burning

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I bought this book despite the bad reviews. I had read Susan Squires previous books in this series and had a hard time believing that this one was as bad as some said.

I wasn't disappointed. I enjoyed the book, maybe because I had some warning that it wasn't a warm, fuzzy feel good romance. Honestly, I enjoyed the darker element. Lately, I've been bored with the same 'ol, same 'ol "boy meets girl, boy can't have girl, boy gets girl anyway" historical romance.

I've read most (if not all) of the major historical romance writers and a number of the minor writers. I've also read a number of the supernatural romance ficition out there and can tell you, a lot of it is just bad.

In this, the writing was good, the characters well developed and the story something interesting. It's not the next great American novel but I wasn't expecting it to be. It was an easy read on a 3 hour flight. Like I said, if you like your romance a little darker, a little edgier then you might want to go ahead and give this a try.

Very disturbing book--on several counts. The flash backs in her other books orovided insight into the characters--how Beatrix had almost reached the point of no return, how Ian became a vampire, and why the poor guy needed counseling. All the flashbacks in this book provided was the fact that Stephan is a "bottom" without enough preservation to have a stopping point. I liked Ann, and I liked Stephan--in spite of the fact that he's an idiot. I wish Squires had spent more time on why someone who has lived for over 2000 years is too self-destructive to realize the so-called good guys are doing a head game on him. Ann figured it out and she's been in an isolated area for 25 years. I also wanted more on Stephan's past--she dropped just enough hints to be annoying. On the whole, I thought two potentially good characters were wasted on nasty, destructive rape scenes.

Stephen was trying to right wrongs that he felt responsible for and was willing to do whatever it would take to find redemtion. Ann was cursed with the sight from touch, who made the ultimate sacrafice for love. This was not your average romance story but it does keep you on the edge.

I was thoroughly entertained and I couldn't wait to get to the end of the book. I actually read it in one day. There were some dark parts that not everyone will like, and the author has a differnt take on the vampire genre which was refreshing. This was the first book of Susan Squires that I read and it will definitely not be my last.

I have read many (too many) historical romances in my time, and I very much enjoy a well written "sex" scene. I actually threw this book down in disgust, about 100 pages before the end, because I knew EXACTLY what was coming next: a repeat of the same tired old sex scenes for the sake of more sex scenes.
No decent plot, not one iota of believable storyline...I threw this book in the trash can...and it was new.

Ann Van Helsing lives at her familial estate with her uncle Thaddeus. Ann suffers from a curse passed down from the women in her family that makes it impossible for her to touch a person or their belongings. She immediately feels everything that, that person has felt in their lives. It is overwhelming and almost maddening so she avoids almost all contact with others. Her uncle is attempting to set her up in marriage with a distant cousin who Ann despises.


Stephan Sincai is a vampire. He is on a mission to eradicate a rogue vampire named Killkenny before he succeeds in his goal to take over the English government by creating more vampires. Stephan feels responsible for Killkenny because he was created by Asharti, a woman Stephan himself created long ago, who has become evil. Stephan has become a Harrier, a killer, by the command of an Elder vampire named Rubius, because he sexually tortured Rubius' daughters. Stephan is to kill all made vampires to atone for his bad deeds. It is during his search for Killkenny that he meets Ann.


Ann helps Stephan when he is injured and in the process, she learns everything about him. Soon it is Stephan's turn to help Ann. Ann's abilities combined with Stephan's, make them a unique and amazing pair. As they explore their newfound relationship, Stephan resolves to keep Ann safe, therefore she must stay away from him, but Ann discovers that Stephan is the only man she wants.




The Burning is a highly sexual and emotionally moving story. I was fascinated by Ann and intrigued by Stephan's plight. Ann and Stephan share a beautiful love that is rife with danger and turmoil. The Burning is a dark story where Stephan and Ann find peace and acceptance in each other when neither thought they could ever have it. Stephan's sexual training made me uneasy at times, wishing things were different for him and for Ann, but over all I found The Burning to be well written, with a compelling storyline that drew me in right from the start.

Nannette
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I have to agree with a number of the reviews I read after I bought The Burning. The initial story line was a good idea, but there is no romance in reading about the main character, Stephan, being raped over and over again by the Daughters. Rape is not sexy no matter what gender is the victim. I only finished the book because I was hoping it would end better than it started. This is not romance. If you want good romance with a paranormal twist read Sherrilyn Kenyon or Christine Feehan. Those two know romance.

The first time I heard/saw this novel, it was through a book trailer. It seemed very good and interesting, so obviously, I bought it. When I started to read this 'novel' it was fairly good so far, until you get to the dominatrix scene of three vampire women, especially a little history of a retarded love triangle. I couldn't continue reading cause it lacked a sense of taste for being a vampire romance novel. Also, what really got to me was the amount of details this novel had, too much details is a turn off for me. So obviously in my opinion, don't even think of buying this book, it's a complete waste of time and trust me, you'll be wanting that complete waste of time of your life back.

This is the second book I've read by Susan Squires and it will be the last. There was little or no romance in the novel. I felt nauseated after I read this novel because there was an over-emphasis on S/M behaviors and less on the storyline between the main characters. If you like vampire romance, read Christine Feehan. She rocks!

Though I have been rather interested in vampire romances recently, this one I found more disturbing rather than exciting. The majority of the book was not about romance but instead was graphically violent, not only in actual fight scenes, but in the vividly described S&M scenes with the three women vampires. And there is plenty of sex in the book, but instead of being a wonderful thing to be enjoyed, it's brutal and painful.

The main male character is confusing as he is supposed to be so powerful and yet he seems wishy-washy to me in too many places. He can't make a decision and can't stand up for himself. Physically strong, mentally weak.

The main female character is not much better, though I actually liked her a little more than the male lead.

All in all, I wouldn't read this again and would not read any others in the series as this author seems to have a love/hate relationship with sex and little sense of romance.

"The Burning" is the follow up to "The Companion", a Regency era vampire story. I love both vampire tales and historical fiction set in the Regency period and loved "The Companion" with its new take on two common subjects - think how many trees are cut down each year to make Regencies or Vampire mass-market paperbacks.

As soon as I had finished "The Companion" I bought Squires' next two books which are set in the same world and with some of the same characters as "The Companion". The first I turned to was "the Burning" and I was really looking forward to another cracking tale.

Stephan Sincai is a 2,000 year old Vampire who is nicknamed "The Harrier" - he's been trained to kill all the "made" (rather than "born") vampires as they are considered dangerous. Stephan was the one to blame for Ashanti (baddie in the previous book) and so he is trying to atone for his guilt by his service to Rubius the head of the vampires.

Ann Van Helsing is a mad woman. Or is she? She has a strange psychic ability which means when she touches someone she gets all their thoughts and memories which has crippled her; she can only wear the same old clothes (new clothes have to be "broken in" as she reads the seamstress and the weaver's thoughts and feelings) and can't be touched by anyone, even her uncle. Her mother went mad on the night Ann was conceived because of this curse within the female line. So Ann lives as a recluse with her uncle and is his heir - he refused to marry and have children to prevent the disorder being passed down any further.

Unfortunately Ann's cousin Erich Van Helsing wants to get his hands on her money and plans to marry her and then commit her to an asylum after having his wicked way with her. But his plans go rather awry when Stephan Sincai turns up in their village and even stranger things than normal start happening. Stephan has 2,000 years of history and when Ann has to bind up his wounds - and touch him - it starts a whole new chain of events.

Like "The Companion" the back story for our hero is trotted out fairly regularly as flashbacks. And like the former book, his history is pretty nasty. He has spent the last two years being trained as a vampire slayer by three sisters and their training methods seem rather unusual - they consist of training him in sexual stimulation and control. I felt the book dwelled far too much on this aspect of the history, more than it really needed - I wonder if it was written for titillation of the readers. Sadly it didn't work for me, it was too distasteful and there was too much depth and description in it. In the final denouement of the book some of these issues come back and again they were rather overdone.

I docked the book one star for this overreliance on sex and I think it's rather a shame as the basic premise of the book was really good - two misfits finding each other, how does a woman who can feel every memory cope with a man with the memory of twenty lifetimes? Our hero is tortured by his memories as well as physically - he has bucketloads of guilt for having made Ashanti and for various other things - but in some ways this wasn't worked out quite as well as in "The Companion". This book isn't badly written at all, it just wasn't of the same high standard as the previous book. I will be interested to read the third, "The Hunger", focussing on the Countess of Lesse, to see if Susan Squires is fully back on form for her third in this series.