Customer Reviews

One with the Shadows (The Companion Series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Susan Squires' Vampire series is an interesting variation on the vampire theme. Her vampires have been infected or born with a parasite within their blood called The Companion which heals, gives hypnotic power and enables them to move short distances in translocation. Of course the power of the Companion needs to be fed by blood, thus potentially causing havoc in the human population amongst whom they live. The vampire race have their Elders who live at Mirso Monastery and have formed 'The Rules' by which the vampires are all meant to live - these include not making any new vampires and only living one vampire per city. Unfortunately the females of the species seem to have world domination plans - Ashanti in some of the earlier novels and Elyta, first met in "One With The Night", in this story.

"One With The Shadows" focuses on Kate Sheridan, a young orphan whose difficult upbringing as a pickpocket has given her unusual skills. She is now eking out a living as a tarot card reader, trying to get invited to social gatherings where she can give readings in public which will gain her an entrée to private readings. However her reading in Rome in 1822 goes rather awry when a strange man arrives in the group and her reading of him seems spookily accurate. Coupled with a strange vision that she has of him being menaced by a lady with a strange emerald, Kate is unnerved by what is happening. She finds the man, Gian Umberto, very physically attractive but he's clearly a gigolo, so when she picks a man's pocket and steals a big emerald from him she's surprised to find Gian in her room asking for the gem back and that the gem has some strange attributes. Gian isn't the only person who wants it, a woman Elyta also seems to be in pursuit of it. From that point on Kate and Gian find themselves working together to keep the emerald away from Elyta and to take it somewhere safe - either Mirso Monastery or the temple in the desert from where it was originally stolen.

Like the other books written by Susan Squires this is always interesting with varied locations in both Italy and North Africa, a sea journey, a dust storm in the desert, the fascinating central vampire myth and action and characterisation in abundance. We meet two characters (Ian and Beth Rufford) who were hero and heroine from a previous book who play a small role in this one, another character who is going to be the heroine of the next book in the series "One With The Darkness" and some baddies from other books too.

The main complaint that many readers have expressed about Squires' earlier novels is the rather heavy focus on the tortures that seem to be inflicted on all the heroes, with male rapes featuring rather strongly in all the previous books. Fortunately this book focuses far less on that (although the hero still finds himself imprisoned, tortured and raped, although fortunately only for a few pages) and far more attention is instead paid to the hero's relationship with the heroine. Both characters are damaged and have closed themselves off from love and close friendship and the enjoyment in the book is seeing how Kate and Gian bring each other out of their solitary natures and find companionship with each other, despite their vast differences. There weren't any great surprises in terms of plot in this story, in fact some of the plotting elements seemed less complex in this story with more attention being paid to the romance, but I found that was a valuable change and made this book just as satisfying. All in all this was a very enjoyable read with an appealing hero, impressively phlegmatic heroine and wonderful locations for the action. A real return to form!

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007

Length:: 3:16 Mins

Charlatan and theif, Kate uses Tarot cards to scam the rich, but when she reads Gian's future she realizes he has secrets to hide and he realizes her intuition is more than just guess work and scamming. Gian is a vampire, old and jaded...and sensual. When Kate steals a large emerald Gian pays her a visit and demands the jewel. He must have it for his own purposes. But he has met his match and Kate won't release the jewel until she gets what she wants from the handsome and darkly sexy Gian.
As always Squires delivers with unique twists, powers and endings. This is one that is hard to put down!
Also check out her previous books One With the Night!

One With the Night

While the plot of the books are fairly similar I love the difference in the vampires themselves and how they find their soul mates.

Can only tell you that I love Susan Squires, have read everything she has written that is available by her and have yet to finish one of her writings without being completely satisfied and a smile on my face, she takes you where you want to go when reading. Highly recommend her books, thank you Ms. Squires for your talent.

Found on the streets, and facially marked by her late `mentor', Kate Malone has to now make her own fate by reading society's Tarot cards, and the occasional bit of thievery. Creating her own nest egg for a future that no one else will give her, fate sends her a stone that she can use to acquire a fair portion of her goal. The stone, however, shows her talents she never knew she possessed.

Gian Urbano is a vampire with a duty - to reclaim the mystical stone stolen by Kate Malone and get it to safety before his enemies claim it and Kate. But the longer he spends in Kate's company, he feels less duty and more lust.

One With the Shadows is a compelling, vivid novel. The characters and the descriptions of various locales were rich in detail. Ms. Squires writes a novel a person enjoys reading from beginning to end. Woven with a bit of suspense, a bit of lore, and a bit of fantasy, One With the Shadows takes the reader away from the real world for a couple of wonderful hours.

Emma
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

ONE WITH THE SHADOWS
SUSAN SQUIRES

Rating: 5 Enchantments

Kate Sheridan is a petty thief, currently using her `skills' to make a meager living reading tarot cards. Until one night at a party when she means Gian, and feels compelled to tell about his future. When she steals an emerald from a man on the street, her predictions begin to astonishingly come true and Kate finds herself the target of not only a mysterious woman, but possibly Gian himself.

Gian never put much faith in Kate's reading; after all he knew a ruse when he saw one. But now that she stole the much sought-after emerald, everything she says seems to be coming true. Unable to leave her to fend for herself against those who want the emerald for their own uses, he offers to buy the stone from her in an effort to protect her. But as he's protecting her, can he protect himself from falling in love?

A thrilling tale that keeps the reader turning pages, following this unlikely duo as they begin to fall in love and the startling moment when everything seems to fall apart, exactly as Kate predicted it would. Some of my favorite moments were when Gian and Kate are traveling by coach and the simple, yet sweet way he treats her.

This has to be one of my favorite books of the year. Ms. Squires combines vampires, late Regency and romantic suspense into a fabulous tale. I look forward to reading book in this great series.

ONE WITH THE SHADOWS is the fifth book in Ms. Squires' popular `The Companion' series.

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
March 2008

In 1822 Kate Malone makes a living as a con artist and thief; she shams visions and reads tarot cards although she does not believe in either as she is skeptical of the paranormal. Still the aristocracy in all of Western Europe pretends sophistication when they are rubes she cons.

After Kate performs her act at a Rome upper crust gala, attendee Gian Urbano offers her money for the recent proceeds of her other more profitable occupation, thief. He wants a special humongous emerald she purloined and she agrees to sell it to him. However, someone wants that gem too, but that person does not offer money; that unknown but powerful female adversary tries to kill Kate in order to take the jewel from her. Only, Gian keeps her safe, but she begins to believe he is not human even as the mystifying stone communicates to her its desire to go home.

ONE WITH THE SHADOWS is a terrific paranormal late regency romantic suspense from the moment Gian exposes Kate's ruse and never slows down until the final bite as she learns to be ONE WITH THE NIGHT; just like her protector is. Kate makes the tale fun to read as her past has left her scarred physically and emotionally with a need to become a hermit living in a remote cottage by herself. That is until Gian and the emerald make her reconsider her solo act as he brings out desires she thought long dead and it brings out a quest to do its bidding. Susan Squires provides an entertaining mystical historical thriller.

Harriet Klausner

This book is ok. The story has a bit of a slow start and does not pick up until midway. The characters aren't memorable. I wouldn't purchase any more books by this author.

Plot Summary: Kate is a professional huckster, working her wiles in Rome, Italy with a pack of tarot cards, when she meets Gian Urbano, a devastatingly beautiful man. Gian dares her to read his cards, and instead of the usual mumbo jumbo, Kate's insights are dead on. Kate's luck turns when she picks a man's pocket and steals an emerald the size of an apricot. This jewel is like kryptonite to vampires, and Gian appears on her doorstep offering a princely sum for the gem. Kate doesn't know that Gian is a vampire, and he is on a mission to retrieve the stone on behalf of his people. Kate only sees the safety and comfort the stone can buy.

I enjoyed the novelty of reading a vampire romance set during the Regency period. Surprisingly, there is a great deal of travel within the plot, and our lovers start in Rome and end up in the deserts of North Africa. The struggles involved with such a journey are awe-inspiring, and it almost makes me regret our modern ability to hop on an airplane. I know, I'm romanticizing traveling by horse, ship, and camel, when in reality it sucked goat nuts. I'm sure it was positively horrible, but part of me still longs for those simple, earthbound methods of moving from point A to point B.

Kate was thoroughly believable as a hard-hearted woman who had learned her lessons in London's pick-pocket ghettos as an orphan. Various men had used both her body and her con-artist skills, and she was suspicious of Gian's honor to uphold their bargain for the jewel. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't just take it from her, when he was so obviously capable. Gian was repelled by her lack of a moral compass, but as he slowly learns her story in bits and pieces, he realizes that she's not a predator, just a survivor.

Happily Squires can write a decent sex scene, but the action steals the show. I enjoyed the fact that Kate rescues Gian, and she showed resourcefulness in moments of great stress. You could almost see Kate as a precursor to a modern kick-butt heroine, but she still remained true to the times she lived in. Gian had all the world-weary despair I'd expect in an 1800 year-old vampire, and some of his, eh-hem, problems were quite unique in a hero (don't worry, Kate is the cure to his impotence). It was also interesting that Gian is the one who suffers the kind of brutalities usually reserved for the heroine, and the role-reversals kept things refreshing.

Final note - I appreciate a series that lets you jump in at any point, if at all possible. Each book in the Companion series focuses on a different couple, and I had no problem jumping in with book 6. The characters do overlap, but there's nothing that Squires doesn't explain as needed.