Trope wise, I thought I would love this story. I love enemies to lovers, hidden motivations, betrayals that get revealed after falling in love, redemption arcs, etc. All that drama warms my soul.

However with this book, halfway through, I skipped to the end just so I could finish it and not have to read the rest. It's not that the characters weren't interesting -- they were. It's more that the hero and heroine's reactions to things were so absurd. Who just allows someone to rape her and feels fine after? Who would be blackmailed into getting married with basically no fuss at all? What's with the love between these two despite so much strife between them? I don't like that Miranda fell in love with Lucien despite what he was currently doing to her. He doesn't seem like much to love. He's got a bad leg and scars everywhere, he planned to have her raped, he threatened to kill her brothers.. and his motivation wasn't even good! His sister was crazy. The Rohans did nothing wrong. And I'm all for this type of redemption arc -- a completely immoral character finding morality in loving someone who has morals -- but I dunno.. I need my actually-bad boys to be more head over heels for the heroine. More "I would murder the person who hurt you" than "I'll do whatever it takes to be with you". More "your wish is my command".

Cute book!

Torn about this book. I wanted to like it but I found Lucien to be unredeemable. He is scared (aka unattractive by normal standards) but his personality is also unlikable. I could not root for him at all. Miranda was a good heroine but I fail to understand why she loved him so much. Maybe it was pity for his scarred face and body. But what the hell is wrong with her? He does so many unforgivable things that the ending made absolutely no sense. I have to agree with some other reviewers who said that the ending was very lacking and seemed very abrupt. He didn't do anything to vindicate himself except to show that he was possessive of her.

A lot of reviews failed to mention that there is a second romance in this book between Miranda's friend and Lucien's friend. It takes up about half the book and I didn't care for it as it often broke the pace of the main story. I tend to hate books with these dual love stories because it's an indicator that the author didn't have enough substance for a real book and had to smoosh two story lines together to make it a decent length.

The thing I like most about this series is that each book has two complete romantic couples' stories.

This is dark. And disturbing. And I wouldn't want any young impressionable woman to think an emotionally abusive guy is really going to be changed by a relationship. But as a fantasy, it works.

Recent Reads: Breathless. Anne Stuart's Regency romances are a fun light read; where plot and counterplot quickly resolve in an enthusiastic tangle. Here revenge may be a dish best served cold (and wet) but things between a ne'er-do-well earl and a betrayed lady soon heat up.

An eeeeeevil nobleman bent on revenge against the Rohan family, abducts the daughter of the family. She's already been "ruined" by one of his previous plots. And this guy is really a nasty piece of work, one of those "he can't possibly be a hero because he's obviously a villain types. He finds out he's bit off more than he can chew as the heroine subtly gets her own back...including doing something that still makes me laugh thinking of it. But...did Stuart make this work? The line between dark hero and slimeball is pretty fine in this book and while I did buy the screwed-up relationship in the end, I hope the heroine tortures the hero even more because, dammit, he deserves it! There's an interesting subplot involving the heroine's cousin and a jewel thief, which is well-done. And it wasn't the same plot as [b:Ruthless|7756459|Ruthless (The House of Rohan, #1)|Anne Stuart|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1274961210s/7756459.jpg|10613440] and [b:Reckless|7715163|Reckless (The House of Rohan, #2)|Anne Stuart|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1279471182s/7715163.jpg|10446097], which was a relief.

I'm wondering if Stuart is going to have any more books in this series and if so, what they will be titled if the heroes keep getting darker and darker? Feckless? Faithless? Dickless?

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.

Ok, I’ll admit it. I love these books. They’re over the top and unrealistic, but I can’t help myself. Lucien is evil. He’s an ass. But like Miranda, I loved him in spite, or is that because of, himself. I liked Miranda a lot, even though she is way too quick to forgive – the last couple things he does/she finds out about are truly unforgivable, but she forgives him anyway.

I loved the side story. Jacob was sweet and charming and concerned about Jane and her reputation. He knew she deserved better and tried to leave her alone – until she made sure he knew that wasn’t what she cared about.

A fun quick read that fulfills every stereotype of a historical romance, but in the best possible way – with really good writing.

I must be desensitized to cruel heroes. I've avoided Stuart's books for so long because according to readers the heroes are infamously cold, harsh, horrible people. Perhaps I started with the wrong one, because I wasn't too horrified by Lucien, however, I suspect that has something to do with Miranda. She is a fantastic heroine and just wouldn't let him break her down. I LOL'd when she was telling him he reminded her of a 'brooding, romantical Lord Byron' - which horrified him. He prided himself on being terrifying and she had his number. She was funny.

I would have loved this versus just liking it, but I felt like it was uneven. The best parts were rushed. There was so much that could have been done with the climax and aftermath of the "coup de grace" of Lucien's revenge plot. So much angst, so much character development and relationship building just... lost. I still cannot believe the final shoe didn't drop until 15 minutes before the recording ended. Personally, I could have done with less of the secondary romance (although it was sweet) and more time dedicated to the rest.

This one was really good right up till the part where he changes all his plans, reveals himself, and kidnaps her off to his country house. Then it turned into just okay.