Breathless by Anne Stuart

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Welcome also to Series Sunday!  Today is the third of the House of Rohan series! Anne Stuart writes pretty powerful books that are totally engrossing.  They aren’t light and airy, they are dark and somewhat disturbing at times.  Absolutely worth a read!

Breathless by Anne Stuart
ISBN: 978-0-7783-2850-6
Release: Oct 1, 2010
Publisher: MIRA
Source: I purchased this book to read and review

Ruined beyond repair and shunned by London society, lovely Miranda Rohan rebeliously embraces the freedom that comes from having nothing left to lose.  however, this dangerous course throws her under the ower of the darly 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 vengence.  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…

Breathless is the third in Anne Stuart’s The House of Rohan series. This series is based on the aristocratic Rohan family.  This book focuses on Miranda Rohan and Lucien de Malheur – arch enemy of the Rohan family.  This story starts with the rebellious Miranda deciding to meet Mr. Christopher St. John at a party.  She wants one night of fun before she settles down to marry one of the “boring” young men her family wants to settle her with.  What results is her being kidnapped and essentially raped repeatedly until she is able to escape.  Although her family manages to hush up the details, she is still seen as ruined by London society and settles down to live a quiet life with her cousin Louisa as a companion.  What she doesn’t know is that Lucien De Malheur paid to have her spoiled in hopes of causing problems in the Rohan family.  It doesn’t work out quite like he’d planned, however and sets out to take Miranda from her family.  It seems that Lucien is determined to get revenge against the Rohan family for driving his half-sister to suicide many years ago.

This is a beautifully dark and complex story.  The relationship that develops between Miranda and Lucien is engrossing to read.  Lucien is really not a nice person.  He arranged for the rape of Miranda and then he marries her all to hurt her and her family.  He doesn’t count on what a strong person Miranda is!  the chemistry between them sizzles!  Their physical relationship is outstanding, but neither of them allow that fact to get in the way of their agendas.  Lucien wants to hurt, and Miranda wants to win the battle of wills!

The secondary romance between Jacob Donnelly, friend of Lucien’s and Jane Pagett, Miranda’s best friend is a delight to read.  It is the opposite to Lucien and Miranda’s.  It is light and airy and full of demonstrative affection.  It is a delight to see plain Jane, who is destined to a life of drudgery make a U turn and take up with the love of her life, regardless of what society might think.

This book is completely engrossing.  Once started it is difficult to put down.  At times I was disgusted by the story line, but I kept reading to find out what would happen next.  I think this is the darkest book that I have read by Anne Stuart.  Lucien has no apparent redeeming qualities and makes an unlikely hero.  One would say that he is a tortured hero in the extreme.  Miranda is an unlikely heroine.  She makes quite a few bad choices.  Her stubbornness repeatedly gets her into one scrape after another.  That being said, this book is outstanding!  What might fail in other hands, succeeds in the hands of Anne Stuart.

To date, there are four books in this series, so it looks like I have another book to read!  The books that I have read of Ms. Stuart’s are not the light and sparkly romances typical to the genre but they are very well written and grab the reader for a rough road of reading.  There is always a happily ever after at the end, but some pretty dark writing is what gets you there.

Amazon Purchase Link for Breathless (The House of Rohan)

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