LynneC’s review of Breathless (House of Rohan, Book 3) by Anne Stuart
Historical Romance released by Mira 1 Oct 10

It’s been a while since I’ve read an Anne Stuart historical, but with Breathless it was as if I’d never been away. Most of the ingredients that I recalled were there, with a few new ones. And I have to say, I had a good time with this one.

The book starts with a bit too much narrative for my liking, describing how Miranda Rohan comes to be ruined, and how much she enjoys her ruination. She buys a nice little house, has a companion and isn’t bothered by importunate young men who bore her. She ran away with a handsome but poorly endowed man who wanted to marry her, but she rejects him. It turns out that St John, her ruinator, was paid to do it by Lucien de Malheur, Earl of Rochdale.

The situation and some of the names remind me of Georgette Heyer. Her “Lady of Quality” lived in such a way in Bath, not because she was ruined, but because she was older, and considered it suitable to live on her own with a companion. Rochdale, of course, is a name Heyer used, too. And the language, pretty and elegant, is reminiscent of Heyer, too.

Once Miranda and Lucien get together, the fun really starts. Much of the book is a road trip, or a series of road trips, and I’ve always been a sucker for those. The distances are traveled in a realistic way, with the right time done. Stuart has done her research.

Lucien, also known as “The Scorpion,” is heavily scarred, from the whips someone once used on him, has a bad leg and uses a cane, and is broody and full of angst. I hate to say it but – yawn. Even his name is over-used, Lucien and variations on it being so popular at one time that every angsty aristocrat, vampire or secret agent who wasn’t called Raphael was a Lucien, Lucian, Lucifer or Luke. I really couldn’t get interested in him. He lives in a rotting house, and his motivation is revenge. I tend to avoid revenge plots. It’s too negative, and far too flat to really interest me. Lucien, naturally, has a huge attribute as well.

I read the book for Miranda. I loved the way Miranda coped with Lucian, refusing to pout or give him any real advantage. She gave him bubbly conversation and practical solutions instead. I really couldn’t understand why she wanted to throw herself away on a bore like Lucian. Apart from his huge attribute, of course. Huge attributes are never to be discounted. At the beginning, when Miranda realizes that her ruinator, Christopher St John, was going to have sex with her, she resigns herself to it. Only when she decides he is too boring does she clout him over the head and escape, something she could have done at the start. She accepts the consequences of what she’s done, and doesn’t allow herself to wallow in self-pity. She gets on with it. Go, Miranda. Similarly, when confronted with a rotting mansion and a broody abductor who really does have a hold on her, she makes the best of it. One action in particular made me hoot, but it would be a spoiler to go into detail. Suffice it to say that it includes pink.

I also read this book for the secondary love story (you knew there had to be one in a Stuart, right?) between Jane Pagett and Jacob Donnelly, King of the Underworld. Jake is more interesting than Lucien, being lively, intelligent and fun-loving. Some things puzzled me about Jake, such as if he is the King, why is he doing a job himself? Why doesn’t he get a minion to do it? Jane is plain, at least she thinks she is, but Jake is interested, although he knows he shouldn’t be. After their first meeting, their love story mainly takes place on the road, in inns and coaches. And it’s a lot of fun.

The depiction of “the ton” as stiff-necked and boring couldn’t have been further from the truth. If this was “high Regency,” and from the book it was difficult to tell, then they were rakish, reform-minded and a vital part of society. The dismissal of society did sound a little trite, but for the purposes of this book, it worked. The isolation gave the characters more space.

There were some irritations, but if you live in the US, the chances are that you won’t even notice them. A certain carelessness in the language, occasionally. “Bloody hell,” for instance, is a twentieth century curse, and it sounded odd set in a Regency romance. You can have “bloody” and “hell,” but for some reason, they weren’t put together until the First World War, and even then, it was a decidedly working-class, crude phrase. There were a lot of “gotten”s. Any modern reader outside the US will immediately say, “American” if they read this in a book. And the surname “Paget” was spelled “Pagett” or “Paget” sometimes. Very careless. At two points, skunks are referenced, as in “you skunk.” We don’t have those in the UK, we’d be more likely to call someone a “weasel.” And when Lucien mentions marriage, Miranda goes into chatter about what she would call herself, “Countess Rochdale” or still “Lady Miranda.” I found that irritating because people of her class, however foolish, would just know. She’d be Miranda, Countess of Rochdale. And she’d know that quite well. Mentioning Father Christmas made me blink, too. And we had a “son of a bitch.” That is so wrong for the Regency. At one point Miranda thinks she will count backward in Latin. Er-no. There are no numbers in Latin. A mention of anarchists made me blink. And Jane wears drawers. Again, not in the Regency. Drawers were titillating garments, and until the late Victorian era, were split crotch. Not practical any other way, if you think about the voluminous skirts. Calling a woman “crumpet” made me wince, too, as that’s a much later term. In fact, I did check that it was a Regency I was reading, not a book set about fifty years later.

And the end didn’t work for me. I wanted to see Lucien grow into love, but I didn’t feel that was there, because he didn’t react to her approaches except to scorn her and then to show her some kindnesses. He was so determined to be dyed-in-the-wool black, that the denoument was a little flat and the declaration of love didn’t entirely work for me. But i felt confident that Miranda would bring him around.

I don’t entirely blame Anne Stuart for all these little slips. Where was the copy editor? Or wasn’t there one? Checking little things like accuracies and consistencies should have been done more thorough.

Read this for the heroine and the secondary love story.  And the fun to be had along the way.

Grade: B

Summary:

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….

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: