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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tart and sweet as lemonade, July 13, 2005
I typically shy away from historicals set in someone's romanticized idea of the South. There are too many clumsy attempts to write Southern dialect, and too many Scarlett O'Hara caricaitures whose shrewishness is labeled as "fiery temperament." But I'm glad I trusted this author enough to read her take on Southern-style romance.
Guhrke's sweet-tart tale takes place in Shivaree, Georgia at the beginning of the 20th century, when a lady might overcome the social stigma of having a job, but not the disgrace of being divorced by her husband. Shivaree's church-going folk and Ladies Temperance Society live uncomfortably with the fact that the town owes its healthy economy to a den of sin called the Shivaree Social Club. Well-to-do men from Atlanta pay an entire dollar for an hour in the company of loose women. They also drink and gamble, which is fortunate for ladies who want to gossip about the club; in 1905, no proper woman discusses sex, much less sex-for-money.
The thoroughly delightful heroine of Breathless is a one-time debutante, shunned by her family and society since her husband divorced her. Lily rebels against the town's hypocrisy by playing scandalous modern piano music with the windows open, and displaying a copy of Michelangelo's David - buck naked! - in her front parlor.
Once a year, on the anniversary of her humiliating divorce hearing, she files a legal complaint against the Shivaree Social Club. Her former husband spent many nights of their marriage cavorting with the club's "painted ladies," and closing the club is the only revenge left to Lily.
For five years, her efforts have been in vain. But when the town judge acquires a young bride and curtails his own use of the club, he shocks everyone by agreeing to close it down. More surprised than anyone is the club's owner, a U.S. senator. The lawyer he sends to Shivaree to fight the injunction is the senator's political protegee, a luscious hunk named Daniel Morgan.
Daniel has a friendly relationship with the judge and doesn't expect to spend more than a day on the Shivaree Social Club case. But he doesn't expect the tenacity of his opponent: Lily Morgan, whose reputation he destroyed when he represented her husband in the divorce. Lily no sooner hears that her husband's ruthless lawyer is in town than she marches into the local diner, slaps his face, and leaves without a word - treating Daniel to a view of her shapely hips in one of the new, tight, modern dresses.
War is declared between the two, and both sides have too much at stake to show any mercy. Daniel needs to get the club reopened or risk losing his client's political backing when he runs for the Senate. Lily hopes that by closing the club, she can lose her image as an immoral hussy. When the town's leading ladies not only refuse to join Lily's cause, but deliver a cruel public humiliation, Daniel is forced to witness the ugly consequences to Lily of the trial that made her an outcast. He begins to question his assumptions about her character, and to experience some doubts about the cost to himself of his own ambition.
Of course, the infamous divorcee and her hated nemisis discover an unexpected sexual attraction as fierce as Lily's battle to close the club. Their verbal skirmishes are rich with a range of emotions, but never sink to the level of screaming matches. The two share a sense of humor and a grudging respect for each other that makes a friendship between them seem as natural and inevitable as an affair. The result is a love story of surprising tenderness.
"Breathless" is peopled with a whole community of entertaining characters: snooty church ladies, semi-likeable dishonest judges, a barbershop full of irate husbands, and the first generation of modern women - not yet dreaming of having the right to vote, but beginning to feel the first, faint pangs of hunger to have a say in the direction of their lives.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not great, May 13, 2007
Since the back cover description is already given on this page, I'll skip straight to my review:
After reading Laura Lee Guhrke's awesome book, Prelude to Heaven (Harper Monogram), I went to a used-book store and bought everything of hers that I could get my hands on. I found SHE'S NO PRINCESS just average, but figured that every author writes a not-so-good book once in a while. So I was still more than eager to read BREATHLESS, but was left feeling a little disappointed.
My biggest complaint with this book was that I felt the romance took a backseat to the rest of the plot. While the other storyline of Lily trying to close down the town's famous cathouse and Daniel fighting to keep it open (because he'd been hired to) was interesting, I felt that the development of their relationship was pushed aside in favor of this plot. And once murder came into play, I felt like the romance was almost nonexistent. It seemed that the author would work on the mystery, then remember that this was supposed to be romance, throw in a kiss, then get back to the mystery. I want romance in my romance novel. Is that too much to ask?
I didn't like that Daniel never really truly apologized to Lily for how he'd helped to totally ruin her reputation, especially when she'd been completely innocent. Yes, he did admit that he was wrong, but I felt that he could have grovelled a bit more.
I also felt that the relationship between Lily and Daniel was more about sex than love. Not that this was a lust-soaked book (it wasn't), but there didn't seem to be much else, especially since I didn't find him a very likeable hero. Him fighting to keep a cathouse open just rubbed me the wrong way, no matter how justified that author tried to make his reasons seem. Prostitution is evil, no matter how you look at it, so I found it hard to really cheer for the hero.
I can read a book a day, but this one took me over a week to finish. That ought to tell you something. I didn't have to force myself through it, but it certainly wasn't hard to put down. And once put down, there was no huge, burning desire to pick it up again. Maybe I expected too much of this book, since the first book I read by this author was just so awesome. I don't know. All I can say is that if I'd read BREATHLESS first, I probably wouldn't have bothered seeking out other novels by this author. Try PRELUDE TO HEAVEN to see what this author is really capable of. I don't think that BREATHLESS represents the best of her true abilities.
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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
"Breathless"? Try "Witless"!, July 8, 2001
...Daniel infuriates me with his arrogance and his high-handedness. He wrongs Lily terribly, and when he comes back to town, he feels only a twinge of pity that all the people in town ostracize her because of HIS brilliant lawyer work. Then he proceeds to boss her around mercilessly, and at one point, he handcuffs her to a post because she stages a protest. What a man! Where's the line for more romance heroes like him? Sign me up for one!!! (sarcasm intended here). Then, in the end, (what a wonderful man!) he gives up a promising political future for her. Gee. If he had walked into the library and I was Lily, I would've told him where he could shove his new library card.
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