"Contemporary Paranormal Mystery Romance with both humor and horror."

As much a murder mystery as a romance, ONE WITH THE HUNGER is the first book in Wilder's Shadow Dweller series, now five volumes large.

The story opens with a bang. Five friends are gathered together for a birthday party, talking about their fantasies. Shai, our heroine, is rather shy about her inexperience, but then she looks across the room and sees Val. There is an instantaneous connection between them, one that Shai finds that she cannot ignore. From there Shai is dumped headfirst into a murder mystery, and the dark possibilities that hover at the edges of our world. Val, you see, is a vampire.

Soon we are introduced to the murderer, a vampire who has been watching Shai since she was a child; and at night Val comes to her bed. Their fantastical lovemaking is so intense that she loses days without noticing! Truly spicy, Val is a delightful vampire, though we never really see him savoring Shai's blood, merely biting.

There is both humor -- a wonderful scene where Shai confronts Val (is he the murderer?), picture a vampire rolling on the floor in laughter -- and horror, giving the book an edge similar to that of JD Robb's Death stories, but with more a lot more sex!

One With The Hunger was a good read, and some judicious checking has revealed that the books are all linked through the friends that we first meet -- a truly exciting prospect. The Shadow Dwellers promises to be an interesting series, and Wilder has started it off quite nicely!

E-book originally published by Dreams Unlimited, 1998. Now available through LTD Books, 2001 (download $5.00, formats: PDF, HTML, PDB; disk $6.00); ISBN 1-55316-070-3 (PDF format; ISBN varies by format) Available as trade paperback ($15.99) from LTD Books -- Shadow Dweller Series Volume One; ISBN 1-55316-490-3.

Reviewed by Ann Leveille
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted January 14, 2002