"breathtaking!"

Susan Squires has really never written romance. If you look hard at her backlist, while sold as romances, her books really aren't. They are so much more. She writes complex character studies, and since romance is a part of the make up of the human condition, it will play a strong thread through the stories. But foremost, she is a writer who like to go where most romance writers fear to tread - or is permitted by their editors! She like to challenge the reader, provoke them, make them think, so up front this is not your typical romance book. For those seeking a richer story, told in the fashion you don't have see in romances today, then you will want to snatch up Susan Squires newest book. Squires has been off the market for a year. Changed publishers. This switch gives her elbow room with the word count and the ability to tell her story as she wanted. And wow what a story!!

As with most Squires' book, the hero is the grabber. Ian Rufford is an English, living in the early 1800s. He is sailing when pirates attack his ship. He is taken prisoner, carried to Africa where he is sold into slavery to the very beautiful, but extremely heartless Asharti. Ian is forced to trek across the desert while being cruelly punished by the vicious Asharti. He comes to realize that Asharti is not just an evil woman, but a creature of the night, a vampire. He thinks his nightmare is at end when he escapes. Only there is no escaping Asharti and now Ian is that which he hates. He is trying to make his way back to England and hopes there is and end to what he now is.

Elizabeth Rochewell has worked with her father an eminent archaeologist. They are on a dig when a ancient pillar falls and kills her father. So Elizabeth is returning to England. On the ship, Ian and Beth meet. They find kindred spirits in the other, a commonality in their love of adventure and foreign places, both abhorring their return to England and the strict dictates of Regency society. They fall in love, with Ian resisting leading Beth into the life of what he has become.

Ian and Beth are strong characters in Squires vivid fashion. They compel you to travel the emotional tangle of their lives as they seek the answer to what possesses Ian. People looking for a vamp tale with fangs and all, should be warned the vampirism is handled in a very understated, compelling drama that takes you from Africa to Spain and England and then back.

Squires delivers on all levels. Let's just hope it's not such a long wait until her next book!!

Reviewed by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Posted May 16, 2005

Author Interview

Summary

England, 1815: Ian Rufford was captured, enslaved, and then abandoned in the lonely dunes of Egypt's desert. His tormentor was a woman of magnificent beauty...and the blackest of souls. Now, Ian prays for a death that will not come. Only after his rescue does he begin to realize how he has changed. But he understands very little. Just that he is carrying something strange in his blood known only as "The Companion."

Elizabeth Rochewell's home was Egypt. After her father's death, however, she is being sent home to live a conventional life in London. On board ship, she finds herself drawn to her mysterious traveling companion, Ian Rufford. He awakens feelings in her that disturb and tantalize her senses. But he hides a shocking secret that Beth can only begin to unravel.

Now, journey with two linked souls who are determined to stop one woman's evil quest. A journey that will take them to the heights of desire and the depths of depravity. THE COMPANION is an unforgettable, sensual, and erotic novel that take you places you've never gone before...and it will make you believe in the power of true love.