Customer Reviews

One with the Night

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Contrary to the other reviewers, I thought her writing has improved. I read all her earlier books, and I thought her new books are more erotic than her old ones. I understand some people may not like the main male character as a victim. I, however, feel it's a refreshing plot line. There were already too many books placed women as the victims and men as the heroes. Personally, I do not think men need to be strong all the time. I don't think it is realistic nor believable. (And I feel tense and sorry for them.) As genders roles become more equal, I think more writers would experiment with new roles for their characters, and I feel it's a good thing. Furthermore, if you read Susan Squire's books from the beginning, you would realize that she has not changed the kind of characters she wrote much. Therefore, if you enjoyed her first few books, I don't understand why can't you enjoy this one more.

Having read all the other books by this author, previously I had not enjoyed the way she twisted the vampire mythos into a parasitic disease. It seemed too creepy. However, this time around, it works perfectly as a true "friend" able to be called upon for assistance when needed. This is a deep story of two individuals forced to grow emotionally and face unspeakable enemies, terrible sacrifices and finally growing into a loving,trusting and powerful unit. The sensuality is intense and in some areas the BDSM creates a pitiful portrait of sacrifice. Definitly not for the faint of heart, but the "wounded hero" archetype is a long standing favorite of romance readers. Highly recommended, but not a quick or comfortable read--the intensity resembles literary fiction

Jane Blundell inadvertently became a vampire when she came in contact with contaminated vampire blood. In an effort to find a cure for her affliction, her father, a respected obstetrician and a member of English's elite, flees to the Irish countryside with her and sets up a discreet lab. Jane tries to be the son her father never had, devoting herself to the sciences while maintaining the household on her own. But her father rarely recognizes her intelligence and secretly she dreams of wearing the fashionable gowns the ladies wear instead of her bland wardrobe. The arrival of other vampires gives her hope. Perhaps they will teach her what she needs to know of her condition.

Having read Dr. Blundell's article on vampirism, Callan Kilkenny sets out to find the scientist in the hopes Dr. Blundell may have discovered a cure. He nearly arrives too late. Some of the "born" vampires (as opposed to being a "made" vampire as Callan is) are desperate to prevent a cure from being found. In the course of rescuing the scientist from the other vampires, he meets our intriguing heroine, Jane. Callan is immediately drawn to the naïve young woman, yet he is torn between succumbing to his need for her and wondering if it is just his vampiric nature that makes him crave her. Is Callan a criminal and murderer as the other vampires say, or a man who is trying to reconcile his forced past with a new and free future?

Be warned. The villains are deliciously evil and sometimes sublime in their cruelties. Can Jane's dispassionate father who neglects his daughter and tortures Callan with his poisonous experimental concoctions be considered evil? How about the vampires who want to destroy the cure? Are they malicious or just protecting the knowledge from those who would use it to harm others? The delicate Miss Elyta Zaroff and her entourage, the four hundred-year-old vampire Clara and equally aged Brother Flavio, claim they are there on the bequest of Mirso Monastery, to guard the cure. But the vampires at Mirso Monastery are known for eradicating made vampires. Why do they want the cure?

Susan Squires presents an interesting version of vampire legend in One With The Night. This is a well-written, adequately paced novel set in the early 1800s. At times, the hero's dialogue, written in the local brogue, is jarring, slowing the reader's progress. The various tortures including piercings, whippings, and forced sex may make a timid reader blanch. Several cameo appearances by the Loch Ness monsters (yes, that's multiple monsters) unexpectedly liven up the tale. Provocative love scenes, a scientist who reminds one of a barely civilized Dr. Frankenstein, a heroine who wars with duty and matters of the heart, a sexy honorable hero, and hedonistic vampires make for one unique story.

Chris
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Callan Kilkenny longs for a release from the vampire curse that plagues him. Upon learning of a scientist who is researching a cure for vampirism, he presents himself to the good doctor as a test subject, willing to suffer the experiments until a remedy is discovered.

Dr. Blundell is only too keen to accept this unexpected offer, as his only child has contracted this mysterious condition. Infected through a cut after an accident in her father's laboratory, Jane has received no guidance for her newfound powers, her strange cravings, and the disturbing sexual urges she has begun experiencing - urges that increase in volume when she sets eyes on the ruggedly handsome Callan.

But not everyone is happy with Dr. Blundell's research. There are factions that would destroy his work and others who would own it all costs. Soon all hell will break loose at the little farmhouse that houses Dr. Blundell's laboratory - and Callan and Jane will find themselves right in the middle of it!

Susan Squires is a new author to me, but her blurb for One With the Night intrigued me, since I enjoy both historicals and paranormal romances - especially those with vampires. I have read many vampire tales over the years, many in the romance genre and even more that are not. I never tire of the theme, but I always appreciate a new spin on the phenomena, which is one of the attributes about this book which attracted me.

Squires' main characters treat vampirism as a disease, and while this may not be the first time this theory has been broached, it is less prevalent than others. She combines an old legend with a new concept regarding the origin of vampires, a little scientific research, and a non-traditional love story set in the Regency period.

Callan is certainly an atypical hero - he has long been subjected to continuous torture and subjugation at the hands of his Vampire Mistress. Freed upon her death, he sets out to find a way to remove his vampire companion and redeem himself of the evils he was forced to perpetrate while a slave. Make no mistake, however, Callan is far from a natural submissive. Indeed, he is very alpha male - strong, heroic, with a spirit not easily controlled. Yet when he falls for Jane and her life is subsequently threatened, he is willing to do anything, even sacrifice his freedom and his life, in order to protect her.

Jane is a woman out of place in her own time. She is an intelligent, independent woman, whose desires lean more to the cerebral than the matrimonial. For all her intelligence and spirit, she is still stifled by the time period she lives in, and to a degree by her own father. Although love has never been high on her list of priorities before, that changes rapidly when she meets Callan, and we see her woman's heart begin to blossom and come to terms with her scientific mind.

One With the Night is the fourth in Susan Squires' Companion series, a fact which is not at all apparent from the book cover - something which always irks me. I prefer to read series books in order, and appreciate it when both the series name and the reading order are easy to find within the book - either on the cover or in the first pages of information. That said, this book worked very well as a standalone novel, and I had no issue slipping easily into Squires' world. Even when I had completed the story, I had no clue this was part of a series until I recently visited Ms. Squires' website, which clearly identifies its place in her Companion series.

One With the Night will be enjoyed by anyone who likes a Regency Romance with Paranormal aspects, even if they have not previously read any of this series.

Susan Squires has written several books based around her concept of "The Companion", a parasitic/symbiotic blood disorder that confers strength, immortality, healing and ability to compel peoples' minds, all set in the early 1800s. Like her other books, "One With The Night" follows a similar theme, a vampire male who has suffered much torture under a strong vampire woman, has to face his fears when falling in love.

These books are all well written with interesting settings and varied characters. In this story, Callan Kilkenny, an Irish/Scottish vampire, is searching for the cure for his vampirism and understands that a scientist believes he has almost found it. When Kilkenny arrives at the scientist's house in Scotland he identifies the reason for the research - the scientist's daughter, Jane Blundell, is a new vampire (it turns out she was accidentally infected by some of the stored vampire blood that her father had). Kilkenny fights and kills a vampire who has come to kill the scientist as the possibility of a cure is a threat to some of them. Kilkenny realises he will have to guard the scientist and Jane to ensure they are safe as they work for the cure and he also volunteers to be the guinea pig for each new batch of the formula.

Almost immediately Kilkenny and Jane find themselves attracted to each other. He knows it's part of The Companion's influence on them but she knows nothing about her condition and doesn't find Kilkenny very forthcoming about it. She questions him but seldom receives helpful answers. When three more vampires arrive to help with the search for the cure Jane realises that there is a lot more to being a vampire as she sees Elyta, an old vampire, using her compulsion on Kilkenny. Can Jane and Kilkenny find the cure? Can they escape the evil influence of Elyta? Can Kilkenny come to terms with his past and the things he has done?

A problem that many people have with Susan Squires' books (and I am one of them) is the detailed descriptions of the tortures her heroes undergo. In this book it is less in the backstory (flashbacks, a device she uses in each book) but is detailed in events that are taking place in this novel. The scenes of male rape are very distasteful and the reader can get the impression that Squires enjoyed writing these parts a little too much, especially as such scenes are in all her Companion books. These are erotic stories but the main emphasis of this writing seems to be on the tortures and rapes rather than the relationship between hero and heroine. She depicts the mental anguish of the hero throughout his experiences very well and Jane, also, grows to learn of the effect her father's opinions of women have had on her. However this character development is subsidiary to the main plot of the attempt to find the cure and of the tortures of Kilkenny.

There's a guest appearance in this story of Nessie (the Loch Ness Monster) which is amusing but overall the dark tone of the story and the torture and rape descriptions don't make this easy reading.

(...)

I used to enjoy Ms. Squires' books, but in my opinion her writing has degenerated. Her preoccupation with male abuse and male rape overtakes this book. This story has two female rapists who abuse the hero in detail. By comparison the relationship between the hero and the heroine felt flat and uninspiring to me. I think the book is more properly a horror story rather than a paranormal romance. The writer is also subtly sloppy with details, as for instance when her vampire heroine can barely lift a heavy sword, but then later in the same scene, the heroine could have lifted the hero in her arms--a good two hundre pound weight--if it weren't for the bulk of his body. So which is it?

I did not find this book to be memorable. The story is slow and lacked passion. The characters weren't memorable. I would not buy anymore books by this author.

Accidentally turned into a vampire, Jane Blundell does not meet another of her kind until Callan Killkenny comes to her father in search of a cure for the curse that plagues him. Now, Jane learns what it means to be a vampire, and what it means to be a woman in love. However, she and Callan are not the only vampires who want to know about the possible cure her father has been working on, and the others who want it are not at all good or in any way kind.

**** Good and evil are portrayed in start contrast in this well-written, dark tale. Ms. Squires' wordcraft is adept and vivid, but it should be noted that there are some very disturbing scenes. She creates villains who are shown to be utterly twisted and evil and it might be difficult to read about their actions. ****

Amanda Killgore

I can honestly say that "One With the Night" is the worst book I have ever read. Although I have enjoyed reading a variety of books in this genre, this particular book was so utterly ridiculous that I wanted to toss it out the window. I did finish reading it, however, and now plan to pass it along to my friends because it is truly awful--much like the movie "Showgirls". Ms. Squires' writing style is just fine, but she includes all of these disgusting S&M scenes in the book and at one point even writes about the hero of the book being compelled to wear nipple clamps and... (well, I won't go into further detail because it would not be appropriate for a public website). After all of the silly bondage/S&M scenes, the Loch Ness monster arrives on the scene. At that point, I laughed myself silly.

Only read this trashy novel if you will enjoy reading something truly tasteless.

I have to agree with one of the other reviews given....don't waste your money on this book. In my opinion the main storyline in this book revolves around male rape. The male lead was a victim of rape in the past and then is raped repeatedly in the present. The horror within the book is a result of the rape scenes not because it's a paranormal romance. I wish that I had read the reviews before I wasted my money on this book. This is my second book I've read written by this author and I thorougly enjoyed the first book, but now I have my doubts about reading or purchasing any other books written by her. If I do decide to buy any future books I will wait until I can read the reviews.