One with the Shadows (The Companion Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Susan Squires (Author)
Key Phrases: vibrating energy, Susan Squires, Gian Urbano, North Africa (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Thief and con artist Kate, alone and undaunted in 1822 Europe, makes a living hustling the aristocracy as a fortune teller, hoping to save up enough for a countryside cottage where she won't be bothered. While working a party in Rome, she meets beautiful, sophisticated Gian Urbano, who sees through her ruse immediately. When, later, she steals a cursed emerald from a shady figure on the street, she's visited by genuine visions and a powerful, violent woman bent on possessing the gem. Fortunately, Gian wants the emerald, too, and he shows up just in time to save Kate's neck. Kate and Gian set out on an international escapade to return the jewel to its proper place, but it isn't long before an accumulation of uncanny details leads Kate to realize the truth: her guardian is an honest-to-God vampire, and so is the woman after them. Full of colorful characters, romantic locales and vivid details of 1820s life, Squires's newest (following One with the Night) has a delicious pace and plenty of thrills, and her vampire mythos is both mannered—almost Victorian—and intriguingly offbeat. Bound to net a wide audience of paranormal fans, this one may even convert devotees of traditional historicals. (Dec.)
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Review

 “Squires writes a darkly compelling vampire romance.”—Affaire de Coeur

 

“Squires combines extreme sensuality with dangerous drama.”—Romantic Times BOOKreviews

 

PRAISE FOR NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR SUSAN SQUIRES
 
THE BURNING
 
“A terrific tale...the story line is action-packed.”—Midwest Book Review
 
“Blazingly hot and erotic.”—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
 
“Marvelously rich, emotionally charged, imaginative, and beautifully written.”—Bookloons
 
“A fantastic erotic vampire thriller.”—Fresh Fiction

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1st edition (November 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031294103X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312941031
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #235,952 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 6 in The Companion Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Return to form by Susan Squires, November 29, 2007

By	Helen Hancox "Auntie Helen" (Essex, England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lot Happens In The Shadows!, December 3, 2007

By	Bookend Book Reviews "Bookend Book Reviews" (KY) - See all my reviews

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

5.0 out of 5 stars One with the Shadows , October 20, 2008

By	M. Nix "Joyfully Reviewed" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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