Review: Breathless by Anne Stuart
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Blurb:Ruined beyond repair and shunned by London society, lovely Miranda Rohan rebelliously embraces the freedom that comes from having nothing left to lose. However, this dangerous course throws her under the power of the darkly enigmatic Lucien de Malheur—known to many as the Scorpion.
Seeking to destroy the Rohans, Lucien traps Miranda in a marriage she thinks is based on friendship but instead is rooted in vengeance. Yet even when she realizes the truth, their enmity fuels a shocking passion—and perhaps even more.
Such a man might drive anyone to murder....
Caroline's review:
Breathless is the 3rd book in the House of Rohan series. I loved the first 2 books and I was a bit scared to read this one. Anne Stuart has been known for her abrupt endings and I knew this one didn't have an epilogue. This is why it took me months before I dared read it. How wrong I was! This book was amazing. It made me go all 'O_o' quite a few times but in the end it was just a fantastic read.
Lucien is the most wicked, the most ruthless hero I've ever read about. In comparison the heroes of the first 2 books were very very tamed. He's soooooo wicked. Lucien wants revenge for his sister's death. He wants to make the Rohan family suffer really bad. So in order to get this revenge, Lucien had Miranda kidnapped and ruined. He paid someone to do this and marry her but she escaped and her family protected her. Now a few years later she's happy to live outside society. But she feels lonely, she's been shunned by the rest of the world. This is not enough for Lucien, he wants to make her and her family suffer all their life. He bids is time, you know the saying 'revenge is better served cold', well this hero believes in it. He plans on winning her trust and then seduce her.
I think what really surprised me is that I thought Lucien would reform. He would soften with time, but he's one wicked son of a b*tch. Don't get me wrong, I loved this character but he's very evil. The whole book kept me on edge. Miranda is a fantastic character, she's strong and she is very courageous. I loved that nothing would keep her down, she tries to see the positive side of everything. When Lucien brings her to his gloomy ruin of an estate he thinks he'll kill her spirit (seriously that's his goal for the whole book! if that's not ruthless what is!). How wrong he was! It was hilarious to see Miranda remodel the house to her liking.
What had me in hysterics was that their fight for power never cease. The ending of the book was really abrupt and it was very bittersweet. More bitter than sweet though. I'm seriously hoping we'll see what happened to them next in the new book in the series (Shameless).
As in all the books in the series there is a secondary romance. I loved seeing Jacob Donnelly and Jane Pagett fall in love. He is London's most notorious thief and she is the heroine's best friend. I LOVED this romance. I was so eager to see what would happen to them. Their chapters were so good I couldn't stop reading. They meet by accident, she surprise him while he's stealing something and it's passion at first glance. She doesn't know who this wicked man is, it was too dark when they met. So when they meet again, she doesn't recognize him. Oh how I LOVED those 2! It was sweet and hot and I was rooting for them from the start. I loved everything about this story. Very satisfying. I even wish we'd seen more of their story.
Breathless is the best book in the series in my opinion. It had me raging and shouting at the book. I loved to hate the hero. Even a month after reading it I'm feeling strongly about it. Anne Stuart did her magic again and gave us a book you cannot easily forget.
I give Breathless 4,5 Stars
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8 comments:
Eh..I am not sold. Abrupt endings! More bitter than sweet! But I want sweet Heas :( Though he sounds totally wicked
@bloeduedd well the secondary romance got all the sweet you need.
Since it's a 'family generation' series, we're bound to see them in the next book, or at least know what happened to them.
It was a really really good book despite this ending ;)
I have to blushingly confess that until I first saw this book in one of your cover posts I never heard of Anne Stuart, but this book is a feast for the eyes! What beautiful cover *sighs*
And abrupt ending? ohoh.. I can so understand why it took you months to read it then, happens to me often that I'm scared a bit of the book and what emotional turmoil it'll leave me in. Seems this is another series I'll have to add to my ever growing wishlist.. *sighs* Bad bad Caro! ;-D *hugs*
@Stella Oh don't be ashamed, I discovered Anne Stuart with this series when I first saw it on Netgalley last year. I love her covers for this series.
And well the books are awesome. But def not for everyone. I love me some bad bad heroes.
Yeah you know...i have the bad habit of looking at the last page. lol I check to see if there's a epilogue. ;) The ending fits the books actually, but i'm greedy and I always want more (cheesy epilogues).
I have book 4 on my ereader waiting for me mouahahahahahah
I do hope you'll give it a try *g* Muahhahahaah
The hero does not fall in love after all? That sure would be different from other books with this storyline. And of course that he had someone else kidnap her. But if she did keep standing up against him, I want to read this series!
@Aurian Let's say they have a 'complicated' relationship. I still loved their relationship, it's just...different! lol
She's very strong in her own ways. I was proud of her behavior. I can't recommend this series enough =)
I've been looking at reviews of this book all over the net! not sure yet if I should listen to it or not, but your review just moved me a little closer to yes yes column.
@Lupdilup The book is awesome but I've never tried listening to audiobooks of Historical Romances. The few I tried listening snippets of on Audible were told by narrators with a crisp/haughty British accent. I'm not sure I can get into the mood of the book with such narrators ;)
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