The House of Rohan series has been almost a breath of fresh air in my world of historicals. Anne Stuart has had no problem going that extra mile in her stories to make them that much more seductive. This one was not necessarily my favorite in the series, but it was still beautifully written. Miranda made a poor decision and ended up earning her freedom, but at a cost. Lucien is trying to enact revenge on Miranda's family and finds she's the perfect conduit. Even though they come together in less than ideal circumstances, when they open up to each other sparks fly. Loved this story and am excited to see there's another story coming!

re-read May 23, 2014. This book was terrible. Some kind of Stockholm situation. I cannot believe I gave it four stars.

3.5 to 4 stars. The ending was rather abrupt.

Since this series is the story about the wicked house of rohan, I really hoped that the protagonist would be a female rake. But alas, that is not the case. Honestly, my biggest problem with this is that it is so classic gender roles and stuff. I just find it too old-school and boring, to be honest.
The LI is supposed to be the evilest villain but I don't agree with this. He was not that evil. I liked him and enjoyed that the protagonist kept teasing him about being Byronic and like straight out of a gothic novel. The protagonist was fun too but it just felt like a big missed opportunity to have another character basically like the protagonist from book one. A virginal virgin but not. LOL, these books aren't even that old but the sentiments are too basic and antiquated for my taste.
I still liked it but I liked the first book better. Unfortunately, I had some bigger issues with that one.
This book didn't have those issues but it was also a bit more subdued.

One of the best historical romances I've read. Lucien was a great hero. Miranda was an equal heroine. I'll re-read it.

so I didn't fully read this, just read the end and some bits in between. I had just finished the 2nd book in this series and was dying to jump into the next however I seen some reviews that made me question whether I'd like this one or not.

I'm happy I didn't read this in it's entirety - It bordered on way too dark for me. the hero was truly evil and while he and the heroine were well suited for each other there's some themes and events in the book that border on extremely cruel and I couldn't stomach it.

I love Anne Stuart but this book was a miss for me.

Suuuper problematic and a weird view on consent/rape. Overall, I did like the angst but it needed a lot more groveling. The hero wasn’t terribly repentant about his bad deeds (which he acknowledges).

Breathless is the last installment in The House of Rohan trilogy. And it is definitely my favorite.

The heroes in the first two books were described as 'dangerous,' but they were nothing compared to Lucien de Malheur, otherwise known as The Scorpion. Lucien is as deadly as his name. He's also a dark, scarred, anti-hero hellbent on revenge.

His revenge is targeted at the Rohan family and he develops a plan focused on Miranda Rohan, the daughter of the hero and heroine from Reckless. Miranda is a fallen woman, an outcast, and Lucien sees her as an easy target for him to finally get his revenge on the Rohans.

Enter an old gothic home. This is where Lucien takes Miranda, threatening her to elope or he'll kill one of her brothers. The old, moldy, dark house is similar to its master. Miranda tries to make the best of her situation while trying to think of a scheme to get herself out of there.

As in the previous books, there was a secondary romance: that of Jacob Donnelly, an infamous thief, and Jane Pagett, the daughter of the secondary hero and heroine from Reckless, who is also Miranda's best friend. Donnelly and Jane meet when Jane unexpectedly interrupts him in the midst of stealing some very expensive jewels. Jane, who is engaged to a dead bore, gets caught up in the adventure. The thief and the upper class lady are so different from each other and they both know it.

The House of Rohan trilogy both started and ended on good notes. This is a great series from those who love dark historical romances.

I loved the Lucien as the devilish 'Scorpion' and Miranda as a feisty little Rohan challenging him every step if the way. Both were great characters and I would've loved to see more of them. But it just ended. Sort of ...abruptly. It didn't really feel purposeful. More like an online manga ran out of chapters so you look up the next release date and find out the series got discontinued. I mean the journey was fun, but a dissatisfying ending like that just leaves a bad taste.
I've come to accept that Anne Stuart will always have a secondary romance in her books that depend on insta-love to happen. I was kinda disappointed Jane didn't show more backbone in the end, but I suppose that's what happens when you squeeze in a random romance. No time for proper character development.
I'm still highly addicted to these torrid Gothic romances with feisty heroines meeting handsome, wicked lords. But I am beginning to see less and less magic as I progress thru the series.