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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
superb time travel vampire romance, June 15, 2008
This review is from: One with the Darkness (The Companion Series) (Mass Market Paperback)
Eighteen hundred years have past since Contessa Donnatella di Poliziano followed her species' strict rule outlawing the creation of a new vampire. Over the eighteen centuries, she has been lonely, angry and acerbic because back then she had the chance to save the life of the only man she loved, Jergan, but timidly let him die instead of converting him to what she was and is.
In 1821, her Renaissance friends Michelangelo and Leonardo left Donnatella a note that they knew of a time machine that would enable her to back to that first century and mend her broken heart. However, upon her return to the age of Caligula when she was and once again is Livia Quintus Lucellus, she forgets her quest. Instead she is part of a group wanting the Emperor removed from power. However, fate intervenes when she buys Jergan the slave, but will the second time around end any different than the first tragic time.
This is a superb time travel vampire romance starring a courageous heroine who goes after the love of her life in an attempt to rectify what she believes was an error on her part. The underlying second chance at love theme enhances a strong plot in which Caligula's Rome is a key element. Susan Squires knows her vampires as she provides a strong tale of forbidden love in Ancient Rome.
Harriet Klausner
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent continuation of The Companion series, July 2, 2008
This review is from: One with the Darkness (The Companion Series) (Mass Market Paperback)
What if you believed you had made a huge mistake in your life but had a chance to travel back in time and rectify it? Perhaps this is not a completely novel theme for a book, but in One With The Darkness Susan Squires adds an extra layer of interest - her heroine, Donnatella Luchella di Poliziano is a vampire. Donnatella has lived for nearly two and a half thousand years and has spent the last eighteen hundred years mourning the death of her human lover, Jergan. Donnatella has been friends with the great and the good of the Renaissance and when she discovers a 300-year-old message from Leonardo da Vinci to her, follows his instructions and finds a time machine, she is given the opportunity to go back in time and change the future. There was a point when she was with Jergan that she seriously considered turning him into a vampire as he was seriously injured; at the time she obeyed the vampire Rules and didn't change him, but now she has the opportunity to return through time and behave differently at that point.
When Donnatella travels back through time to AD40 she finds herself assimilated into the body of herself back in that time, rather than being a separate spectator. And thus starts a fascinating story as we follow events through the eyes of Donnatella back then, known as Livia Quintus Lucellus, living in Rome and mingling with the great and the good. She buys the slave Jergan from the marketplace to serve as a bodyguard, often feeling strange pricks of memory or having dreams about him, the only opportunities that the time-travelling Donnatella has to influence Livia. Jergan discovers fairly quickly that Livia is unlike other slave owners, having care for her people and aiming to free them as soon as possible. He also discovers that she's heavily involved in plotting against the Emperor, Caligula, and that her small band of plotters is under suspicion.
There are some excellent scenes in this book as Livia tries to navigate the treacherous waters of Roman politics, as we are shown the worst of the excesses of high-class Roman society, and as Jergan, apparently a barbarian, shows he has more honour than the supposedly honourable Romans. Unfortunately for the time-travelling Donnatella, she is barely able to communicate with Livia, and it becomes clear that history is changing. Will she be able to save Jergan? Might their plot against Caligula fail this time, although it was successful last time? Who can she trust?
This book was always interesting, the Roman setting adding a great deal to the overall story. The inclusion of genuine historical characters, and Squires' addition of Livia's part in history, is very enjoyable. This book had far less of the sexual violence/rape of previous books which have spoiled them a little for this reader - instead it includes a gentle love story about two very different people who recognise strengths in each other and who are accepting of each other. It's a very enjoyable book, yet another triumph from the creative pen of Susan Squires.
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended Read, January 17, 2012
This review is from: One with the Darkness (The Companion Series) (Mass Market Paperback)
Contessa Donnatella di Poliziano is a 2500-year-old vampire who's seen it all: the rise and fall of civilizations and the eras of light and darkness. Through it all, she's regretted very little in her life. That is, except the loss of her one true love, Jergan. Because of an ancient rule, Donnatella failed to turn Jergan into a vampire before he died and for the last eighteen centuries, she's mourned the only man she's ever loved.
One evening before she's leaving for a ball, she discovers a letter that's 300 years old, written to her by a friend, Michelangelo. The letter directs her to the catacombs beneath the city and to a second missive from another friend, Leonardo da Vinci. In it, he explains the machine before her is a time machine, which will take her back in time to rewrite history and claim Jergan for her own.
Because her past and present selves cannot occupy the same space in time, once she's traveled back to ancient Rome, they merge and become one. Unfortunately, her memories of history has been lost. However, her past self begins to have vivid dreams, seeing events as if she's already lived them, not knowing they are memories she's already had. Soon, the unstable emperor Caligula threatens both Donnatella and Jergan and their lives are in danger. Will Jergan save her from the vicious wiles of the emperor? Will Donnatella be able to turn her one true love into a vampire before he's killed and will she remember to return to the time machine before it disappears and reverts back to its original time and place?
Having read One With The Shadows and One With The Night, I was anxious to read One With The Darkness. Susan Squires just keeps getting better and better. I devoured this book, reading it in one sitting. With amazing detail to historical fact, Ms. Squires draws a vivid portrait of ancient Rome. Donnatella is an mesmerizing character. She's independent, has a will of steel and a fierce determination to make the time she lives in a better place to live. At the same time, she allows herself to cede control and show her vulnerability to the sensual, deliciously handsome man who's stolen her heart. Both well educated and good-hearted, these two characters are a perfect match for each other and as they overcome adversity and danger, one cannot help but cheer for their successes.
For a well-blended story of intrigue, heart-stopping danger, dark romance, and well-researched ancient history, I fervently recommend One With The Darkness. Once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down, from its fast-paced beginning to its satisfying ending and as you finish the last page, you'll be like me: yearning for more from the creative mind of Susan Squires.
Courtesy of Fallen Angel Reviews ([...])
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