One with the Night (The Companion Series)

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

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

I enjoyed reading this book because it had an interesting new twist on what was a "vampire". It sounded believable, like it could actually happen this way. I loved the character Callan. He had an impeccable will and sounded so HOT!! I would love to find a man like him,,hehe. I couldn't help falling in love with his character. Come to think of it, I would take him as either human or vampire ..seriously. Overall it was a good story, something different than all the previous vampire stories I have read.

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