Una donna scandalosa

by Laura Lee Guhrke, Elena Riva (Translator)

America, Georgia, 1905
A Shivaree, piccola cittadina della Georgia, dopo cinque anni si ricordano ancora del divorzio che ha avuto per protagonista la bellissima e impetuosa Lily Morgan. In quell’occasione Daniel Walker, amico e avvocato del marito, le ha distrutto la reputazione accusandola di adulterio. Ora Lily non riesce a credere che Daniel, divenuto un politico di successo, abbia il coraggio di tornare a Shivaree per promuovere la riapertura della casa di tolleranza che era stata al centro della sua vecchia vicenda. Fra Lily e Daniel lo scontro è aperto e sprizza scintille. Ma quando un delitto scuote la cittadina, i loro destini sembrano cambiare. E inaspettatamente uniti nelle indagini, dovranno anche fare i conti con una prorompente attrazione che chiede solo di essere riconosciuta.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Historical, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Slow Burn

365 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

About the author

From the publication of her very first historical romance, Laura Lee Guhrke has received numerous honors and critical acclaim for her novels and her writing style. She has been honored with the most prestigious award of romance fiction, the Romance Writers of America Rita Award, and she has received additional awards from Romantic Times and All About Romance. Romantic Times has proclaimed her, “One of the most natural voices in historical romance to be found today”. Her books routinely hit the USA Today Bestseller List, and Guilty Pleasures has been honored with the Romantic Times Award for Best European Historical Romance of 2004. Among her publishing credits are twelve historical romances, including her latest, And Then He Kissed Her, now available from Avon Books.

Laura is currently hard at work on her thirteenth historical romance for Avon Books. She has also written articles for various publications, including the Romance Writers Report, The British Weekly , and the Irish-American Press.

Reviews

[romancelibrary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review edited on May 29, 2023:
Downgraded from 5 stars to 1 star. I don't support zionists. See here.
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Set in 1905 in a small town in Georgia, Breathless is an enemies to lovers romance between a scandalous divorcée librarian and a slick big city lawyer. Daniel Walker is back in his hometown on behalf of a client who wants his social club AKA brothel to be reopened. On the other hand, Lily Morgan has been actively fighting to close that brothel for the past couple of years. The judge finally agreed with her this time and closed it down. Lily and Daniel were already at odds with each other because Daniel had represented her ex-husband during the scandalous divorce proceedings that labeled her an adulteress. This new situation puts Lily and Daniel on opposite sides once again, and thus begins the battle of the sexes. But all bets are off when the small town is hit with a brutal murder, which forces Lily and Daniel to work together.

This book checked all the right boxes for me. The small town setting is so atmospheric and the author does a good job illustrating how a divorced woman is treated during that time period. Daniel and Lily have quite the history together even though they don't know each other all that well. Lily only knows him as the bastard lawyer who helped ruin her reputation based on false accusations. And Daniel only knows her as the cheating ex-wife of his best friend. Both Lily and Daniel made assumptions about each other, but being in close proximity reveals the truth of their character. Not only do we have a slow burn enemies to lovers romance, but we also have some courtroom drama and a murder mystery to solve! I loved every single thing about this book 😍

Please note that this book is an old school romance, but it stood the test of time for me. Also, I'm gonna be completely honest with you: American historical romance is usually not my jam 🙅🏾‍♀️ I can count on my one hand the number of American historical romances I've read. Luckily, Breathless by Laura Lee Guhrke worked really well for me!

[Dancechica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not want this book to end. I really enjoyed it. The characters were wonderfully developed and the story kept my full attention, which isn't always easy. The murder mystery was compelling and I enjoyed the portrayal of the trial. I did figure out the killer's identity before it was revealed but that's not unusual; I love trying to puzzle out the villain before the reveal.

The characters are what made the story for me, though. I really liked Lily and Daniel. Despite their vastly different backgrounds, they were strong characters who made a strong pair; they were good together. I liked how their relationship developed slowly enough that you could really see the sexual tension building between them as they got to know one another and as their preconceptions of each other melted away under the truth of who they really were. The fact that they came to admire and respect one another made the story all the more enjoyable. I love romances but I always end up wishing more stories showed the couple falling for one another and the reasons why they have fell.

Daniel was a great hero. He was hardworking, successful, charming, and good looking, but he had a lot of depth to him as well. What I liked about him the most was that not only did he work hard for everything he had but he was also a good person underneath his ambitious exterior.

There was a lot of humor in the book too, especially in the beginning when Daniel and Lily took so much pleasure in sparring back and forth while trying to one up the other.

Overall, an excellent romance with a murder mystery that kept me hooked. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good romance.

[Saby Reads All Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was OK at best. I think I prefer Laura Lee Guhrke's English romances to this one.

It started off fine. The story is set in 1900s Georgia, and has an enemies- to -lovers trope, but the promising start quickly sputtered out of steam. So, Daniel is a lawyer who represented Lily's husband during their divorce and she hates him with a venegance. Things take a turn when he returns home, and represents the owner of the brothel that Lily is trying to have shut down.

Lily came across as shrill and not-very-likable, tbh, and I normally love LLGs heroines. She wanted to shut down the brothel because her ex -husband used to frequent it? Didn't make much sense to me.

The murder trial dragged on and on, and was uninteresting, and the path to love for the MCs was unclear and rushed. I would have preferred a focus on the love story instead of all the side stuff that seemed to overwhelm the romance. Overall, I would recommend this only for a die-hard LLG fan.

[Jultri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting setting in turn of the century Georgia, this book however feels like a far more modern story in terms of the language and legal crime plot line, apart from the occasional references to corsets(or lack thereof on the heroine) and the paternalistic attitude of society towards the delicate female gender. Daniel Walker, a sharp criminal lawyer and would-be future senator, returned back to his hometown to sort out the small legal matter of keeping a gentleman's club aka brothel open, against the concerted single-minded efforts of Lily Morgan, the woman whose life and reputation he tore asunder 5 years ago, when he acted as the divorce attorney for her ex-husband. Sizzling chemistry with Daniel quite the lethal blend of droll wit, intellectual acuity and devastating Southern charm and Lily providing great foil with her sassy, headstrong facade which masked her vulnerability.

[Tandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victorian fluff. There wasn't a single unpredictable thing in the entire book, but it was still sort of sweet. Fast and enjoyable, but not something I'll remember next week.
Oooh, I sound so cheap, don't I?

[Johanna ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up randomly and surprised that I enjoyed this much more than I expected. Breathless consists of a lot of elements that I love. Enemies to lovers. Small town romance. Hellfire heroine, and don't get me started on the alpha lawyer thing.

The heroine is a badass red haired unconventional beauty divorcee with a quirk which people at that time had a hard time accepting. The hero is a hotshot lawyer with dark past and heart (also panty) melting character. Their feud started 4 years ago when the hero represented the heroine ex husband on their divorce and shredded her reputations mercilessly. Imagine the hate, the banter, and finally the sexual tension. Boom.

Some of the scenes are old fashioned and prudish, as you can see from the release year of this book, so of course I don't mind about it. Give this book a lot of charms to me. I still enjoyed this more than most of the books I read lately.

[Susan (the other Susan) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tart and sweet as lemonade. Charming, original, witty and not terribly angst-ridden, Breathless is one of those rare vintage romances where I actually remember details of the plot and characters that don't involve rape, a Big Misunderstanding, or a WTF moment. There's plenty of tension between h/h, but no tiresome exchange of insults. Their reluctant romance, and her mistreatment by the disapproving townsfolk (she's a divorcee!) are enlightened by gentle humor, and a grudging but mutual respect between two smart, sexy people who happen to be at odds.

The least memorable thing about Breathless is the title. I was only able to find it because I remembered the name of the bawdy house that the heroine has been trying to get shut down: The Shivaree Social Club. Love!

I created my surprising-for-this-author shelf with this book in mind, because while I've enjoyed some of LLG's books, they tend to be a little on the angst-ridden side. Breathless was an unexpected change of pace, from the mood of the book to its setting in an insular Southern town circa 1900. And how often do you get a smooth-talking lawyer as the hero?

Heroine blames her divorce on the "club" that lured her husband and others into gambling and carousing. Her very public protests against this lucrative enterprise have become a nuisance and an embarrassment, to the point where the lawyer who represented her husband in their divorce - and took her apart piece by piece on the stand - has been hired by Atlanta bigwigs to make her back off. He feels badly about his role in her humiliating divorce; but he has political aspirations and arrives in town determined to do a job that will earn him the support of powerful people. The conflict turns into chemistry, of course; but what sets Breathless apart is the sheer fun of watching these characters interact.

A detail I remember is the classical male nude statue she keeps in a front window just to piss off the townsfolk. A definite recommendation, and a reread for me.

[Zubee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very intriguing storyline .. lawyer H who has done wrong to h ..
h was truly a great character ... H was dynamic but I really felt he needed to grovel more ...
h's sufferings and troubles were often brushed away with humor ... which made me sad on her behalf ...
Enjoyable read ..

[JadeReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

[Head in the clouds · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing about jerk heroes is that I think it speaks to the part of us that secretly want to be the one that changes him and be the special one that makes him stay; but just as importantly, these heroes are charismatic, enigmatic, sexually magnetic and are in need of healing and loving. For the first third of this book - or even more than that - I detested Daniel. He really was ruthless almost to the point of cruelty and seemed like he had no conscience. He almost admitted himself that he was 'just doing his job' and basically fuck the consequences, screw whatever happens to the people involved - as long as he won his case.

On the other hand, Lily was a constant beacon of goodness - and I mean that in the best way possible. I also don't imply she has no faults - in fact she has plenty. She is tactless, stubborn and in certain situations narrow minded; but she had a marshmallow for a heart and Daniel recognised that and even threatened to use it against her; and he did. Five years ago - Daniel tore apart Lily's life and destroyed her reputation, leaving her ostracised from her family and her community.

When events happen to bring these two back together - both start discovering that they didn't really know each other. The slow, simmering tension between these two was electrifying - and I found it absolutely wonderful how we learned more about Daniel and what drove him and what shaped him to be the way he is. It was noted a few times that he was a complex man and this is so true. Rarely is anything starkly black and white in real life and the character of Daniel was one of the best examples of a realistic hero.

This book could also be used to start a gender war and spark feminist fervour. Although I am a firm believer in empowerment of women as part of the still ongoing quest for gender equality. I am not a man hater. I am not a zealous feminist.However, it made me angry and deeply sad when I read about the wat women were viewed and treated - how society has ingrained those values into the people, including women themselves. I ended up loving Daniel and Lily as a couple - but I can't ignore many of the opinions expressed by Daniel regarding fidelity and women's rights. I understand it's placement in the book - we are all products of our environment - and for the era he lived in, Daniel was a good man, and he truly respected and loved Lily; still it felt like sitting on a chair with an uncomfortable lump digging into my skin...

Nevertheless - it was an awesome book, and I didn't even mention the solid mystery and the witty banter, nor the details that brought the turn of the century America to vivid life. Definitely a reread!

[Manuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grazie anche a un'ambientazione storica interessante e originale (primi anni del 900 in Georgia), il romanzo è scritto con la solita cura ed eleganza, tratti tipici dell'autrice.
La precedente conoscenza dei due protagonisti, condita da inganni e bugie, rende intrigante tutta la prima parte. Poi nella parte centrale, che approfondisce soprattutto il caso di omicidio da risolvere, il ritmo cala e si arranca un po'. Il finale, seppur con alcune inverosimiglianze (lei che rientra nelle grazie della cittadinanza bigotta, lui che rinuncia alla carriera politica avviata per lei), rende la storia d'amore non banale.

[keikohuchica · Rating 4 out of 5]

bel romance storico....come l'ambizione di un uomo viene ridimensionata e sconfitta dall'amore per una donna

[ᑭᑌᑎƳᗩ [Punya Reviews...] · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review contains spoilers and they're mostly my thoughts as I went with the book...

Hands down, it was a GREAT book. I loved the story, I adored the characters and I loved everything that says ‘courtroom drama’ in it. LLG did a brilliant job and I’m so glad I gave this book a try! Breathless reminded me so much of Lorraine Heath’s books and if you read my reviews, you’ll know that I LOVE her writing and a huge fan. I’m definitely going to give more LLG books a try later on.

Lily lives in the small town of Shivaree, Georgia all on her own. She’s a divorcee (story takes place in 1905) with a reputation for being a scandalous woman who got the divorce on the grounds of adultery. She’s no lady to anyone. But Lily acts as if she doesn’t care. She goes on with her life, does all things slightly scandalous, like wearing fuchsia colored dresses in the church and doing whatever she likes. It’s been 5 yrs since her divorce and still, the gossip-mongers of the small town, who have nothing better to do, belittle her with every chance they get. But Lily gets by. She has only one good friend, Rosie, who also shares the jilting of her husband and the censure of the society. But her situation is not as bad as Lily. Still she and Rosie are bests of friends, have been true to a friendship that has seen its trying times. Rosie has a café of sort and earns her living from it. Lily runs the library that was originally established by her deceased father-in-law and takes care of it. The bane of Lily’s existence is the Shivaree Social Club, a very posh brothel in the area because it was the reason for her ruined marriage. Lily’s husband, Jason was a cheater, an irresponsible and worthless cad, who never cared for her since she wasn’t his choice for a wife. So, after the 1st yr, he started to stray, leaving Lily alone and miserable. Still Lily tried to work on the marriage but it just didn’t work when the man you think you love and is trying to work it with doesn’t give a sh*t about you. So, after 5 yrs, Jason brought in his childhood friend Daniel, who was already an accomplished lawyer, in to give Lily a divorce on the grounds of adultery. God, I was so pissed reading this! Daniel did his best to prove that Lily was, indeed, an adulteress. She was blamed of cheating on Jason with a man whom she thought was her good friend. The man took money from Jason and lied about their relationship, which was nothing but chaste. Lily faltered through her interrogation and the ruthless lawyer in Daniel just grabbed the opportunity. She was blamed and sentenced. The divorce was done. Jason left Shivaree, never to return again (thank God and good riddance!). Lily was supposed to get a good marriage settlement but Jason left her with nothing but the house she lives in. Every year, she’d go to the judge of the town to make a petition for closing the place down but never succeeded since the said judge was one of the customers of the brothel. But this year, she has as the judge has remarried. When she was spending her day talking about it with Rosie, the janitor of her library, the simple headed Amos informs her (from the town busybodies, you GOTTA read how they live their lives) that Daniel has returned to Shivaree after a long time. Oh BTW, Lily HATES Daniel with all her being as well.

Daniel is not only brilliant, hard working and successful but also, ambitious to become the next senator (equals to he made me w..... er, sorry but had to get it off my chest). He loves law and nothing would be better than taking part in establishing a few. Daniel was born and brought up in Shivaree, with a poor drunkard for a father. His mother left him with his worthless father, to seek out a better life. I’m not sure if she left with a lover or not but she died soon thereafter. Daniel’s father beat him something bad whenever he was on a drunken binge, which was almost always and the poor babe had to hide away as a kid. When he turned 10, he found kindness in Samuel, a young man who was a new lawyer in Shivaree. Samuel took him in, gave him works and so on. But Daniel wanted to learn to read and practice law. He wanted to erase his humiliating past and become someone. As promised to himself, he’d tried and succeeded with his hard work and determination. But, Samuel didn’t have the money to help Daniel with the law school, which is where Jason comes in. Jason, being the son of a wealthy banker, soon became Daniel’s best buddy. They went to the school together and done almost everything together for a long time, including losing their virginity on the same whorehouse. Jason paid for Daniel’s law study, which is why he was grateful. So, Daniel believed in what Jason told her about Lily and defended him with his best. Now, after 5 yrs, Jason didn’t communicate with him as he’d promised when he left Shivaree. Daniel never gave a thought as to why, but soon enough, he gets an incentive to re-think his friendship with Jason. A man named Calvin Stoddard comes to him about the case of Shivaree Social Club. Stoddard is the owner of it, runs is alongside the madame of the house, Helen. Stoddard is also powerful and wants to support Daniel in his ambition to run for the senate. The story starts with an impressive scene of Daniel’s brilliance as he was defending the son of another powerful man in a murder case and wins it too. With Stoddard and those other men’s support, he can go a long way. Daniel knows he’s got the ruthlessness, the focus and a very strong hold on his passions, the perfect blend to become a politician or at the moment, to run for it. So Daniel agrees to take on the case of the social club and comes back to Shivaree to have a look at the situation. He knows who did the petition because Lily’s ‘outrageous’ behavior was well-known. Daniel finds it amusing, even though he still thinks Lily cheated on Jason. What I liked the most was Daniel’s outlook on life, to take things in stride and easily, without losing his focus. I found LLG’s portrait of Daniel was as richly drawn out as a character could ever be. I have to say the same about Lily’s and many other secondary characters in the story. Lily had her own set of vulnerabilities, along with a temperament that reminded me a lot of myself. I totally adored her.

The 1st thing Daniel gets from Lily is a great wallop on his face. It was SOME scene and I was simply laughing. There were plenty of humorous scenes such as this in the book. Daniel isn’t offended, just amused and intrigued at the same time. He’d always thought Lily was beautiful and spontaneous, yet so vibrant. He finds that he still likes the combination. But they are now the enemy, as Lily made it abundantly clear in front of everyone in Rosie’s café. The story spread like wildfire through the community and war was declared. At first, Lily tries to convince the ladies of the community to help her in her cause. But she was not received and was totally humiliated throughout this trip by all of them. Lily was on the verge of breaking down in front of the most notorious busybodies of the community, Dovey McRae but instinctively, she fought back. Dovey was/is the one who led this war on belittling Lily for being a ‘scandalous’ woman and ostracizing her, calling herself the ‘moral’ backbone of the community. Women listened to her so Lily couldn’t do a thing. But help comes from an unexpected place. Judge Billings’ new wife Marie Alice is totally interested in the cause and promises with all sorts of help. With her backing, Lily finds her pace again. In between, verbal banter with her and Daniel was still going on. Daniel was living in Samuel’s house and his window faced Lily’s own. Oh what a delicious situation! Umm, yah, there were some equally delicious checking outs from both parties which I enjoyed so much, can’t explain! (this was probably me checking out Daniel’s delicious muscles>> ). But I digress! Anyhoo, it was Daniel who tells Lily that she lets Dovey pull her by her strings so that she gets all unsettled and acts rash. Lily heeds Daniel’s advice and becomes very polite to the woman, just so that other women also got involved in her cause. It works like magic! They set up this Ladies Temperance Society and took the town by storm. You have NO IDEA how much I loved these scenes. Daniel just went back to Atlanta, where he practices, to take care of other business. He comes back to find the town in disarray, women kicking men out of their houses (no food or sex either) so that they vote against the favor of opening up the club. All men came to blame heavily on Lily and took out their rage by demeaning her in their gatherings. Daniel didn’t find their talks funny. The more he learns about Lily, the more he knows her personally, the more his POVs of her keep changing. But Daniel won’t back down. He’s come so far and so close to his goal and he would win, as he threatens Lily is one of their delicious face-offs.

Lily is determined too. She’d let Daniel know who’s the boss and was doing a splendid job of it. Her Ladies Society was running great. And yet, sometimes she couldn’t help but think about him. He makes her yearn for things she doesn’t understand, things even her husband never made her feel. In between, they kiss and Lily was so aroused, she got scared. How can a man like Daniel, whom she abhors, bring out such strong emotions in her? Yes, of course, he’s very handsome and big, has enough charm to get his way all the freakin’ time. It makes Lily madder and they fight, yet they can’t help but be drawn to each-other like moths to flames. There were so many scenes I loved and was reminded over and over again that these two belong together. But, Daniel and Lily didn’t really know about each-other yet. I mean, they didn’t know about their vulnerabilities and still taking things at face value or presumptions. That was sorted out soon enough when a prostitute of the social club was killed amidst all these hullabaloos. Amos Boone, the simple headed janitor was arrested because he was caught with her body, he himself all bloodied with her blood and the knife that killed her in his hand. He was previously seen with the woman more than once, taking strolls and stuffs in the woods. Of course, Lily knew it was a humongous lie. Amos didn’t have the mentality even to hurt a fly. But the sheriff doesn’t care much, neither does the people of the community itself, who think Amos is crazy and his hanging would be a good-riddance of sort. Only Rosie supports Lily. Now, Lily has only one option to save Amos’s life, to find the most successful and brilliant lawyer in and around Georgia. Lily gives up her enmity for a while and begs Daniel to take Amos’s case. Daniel wouldn’t at first because of the complications for his original case of the social club. But he already started to care for Lily (as was she). Then he learned of Amos’s childhood that quite matches with his own. Painful memories flash through in his mind and Daniel promptly decides to defend Amos.

Lily is now eternally grateful to Daniel since she really cares for Amos, who is definitely something of an outsider here, much like she and Rosie. She offers to help Daniel at first as his law clerk. Daniel kinda waves off her offer but asks her to try talking to Amos, who won’t talk to anyone after his arrest. Daniel was planning to bring back his own clerk to Shivaree but the man had some personal problems so couldn’t accompany him. This time, Daniel takes Lily’s offer which was still open. This marked a big shift not only in their personal relationship but also the community altogether. The case was a huge one, murder being a rare occurrence here. I really enjoyed the scenes where Daniel and Lily would work together on the case, very hard and determined, yet very very aware of each-other. And they were falling, no doubt. Daniel, who wasn’t a womanizer even before (a fact I totally appreciated) was amazed to find his libido in a chaos whenever Lily was near. And I’ve already talked about how Lily’s emotions were in turmoil where it concerned Daniel. By the time the case was almost resolved, Daniel knew he had to do something about this situation. So did Lily as sparks flew with hot, intense kissing. Once again, I totally loved Daniel’s brilliance in the courtroom. I was simply hooked and didn’t want the story to end!

When the case was won by Daniel (duh!), they both make a decision. I can’t say I agreed but what could they do? A divorcee isn’t the type of woman a politically ambitious man would ever marry. Even though they give into the passion and opens up to each-other about their past (by now their POVs about each-other have totally changed), things still went wrong. This leads to some painful scenes later on and Lily realized she was building castles in the sand by thinking their relationship has a future. She leaves Daniel. But then came the ending and boy oh boy, didn’t I just lurrrrved that? It was sooo beautiful; I was crying, had a silly grin on my face and held the book tightly in my arms after I closed it. Good God, can the ending for a book be more adorable than this? 5 stars and I can only say READ IT NOW!

[Absolutelyred · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not what I expected at all. Based on the cover I expected the heroine to be indignant and the hero domineering and bam-boom! they lived happily ever after.

What I got instead? The historical frame of the story feels genuine, the writing is good, infused with this diffused, glimmering warmth that I feel is lost on books written in the cynical era of the Internet. The hero and heroine are well fleshed out, both intelligent, both charming in their own way. Quite a surprise. I will try more books from this author.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is currently binge watching law and order svu this book was perfect🤌

[Shani · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.2*

[Renae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Breathless (by the author of one of my favorite romances of all time, Conor's Way) is a book that really highlights how only some women are permitted to find Happily Ever After. While nobody is doubting that a heroine galvanizing the morally upright ladies of her small Southern town to crusade against brothels and "sinful women" is historically accurate, I'm hardly likely to enjoy a book with such rampant slut-shaming.

And at the end of the day, I would ask: what is the difference between the prostitutes who sleep with men for money outside of wedlock, and the heroine of this book, who becomes the hero's mistress and lets him flaunt her before all of high-class Atlanta society? (I should also point out that the heroine in this book, Lily, is a divorced librarian who engages in all sorts of scandalous behaviors.) There is no difference. And yet the way the author frames it, it seems as if there is something acceptable about this heroine's "sinful" behavior, but not about the sex workers, who are just trying to earn some money in a patriarchal society that won't give them an ounce of forgiveness or latitude to make mistakes.

For me, Breathless is the epitome of White Feminism. Lily is outraged about how she's been unfairly ostracized by society on account of her divorce, while her husband was not. She's upset about not being allowed to vote—this book takes place in 1905. Yet where does all that outrage go when faced with sex workers, who are treated like trash? Gone.

My favorite part of this entire novel is when one of the girls at the brothel is murdered. Suddenly Lily goes from "that sinful woman must be punished" to "oh, that poor girl" in one second. So...what? Prostitutes are only worth protecting when they're already dead?Not to mention that Lily taking up the cause of a dead sex worker is actually entirely self-serving: after the murder, she is easily able to shut down the brothel.

Again, this is classic White Feminism. Lily's oppression is the only pain that's valid, until it becomes evident highlighting another, more marginalized, woman's struggle is in her own interest. But once the brothel was closed, where did all of Lily's concern about that "poor girl" go? Gone, again, because she was back on her crusade to close all brothels in the state. For a brief, gleaming moment, Laura Lee Guhrke allows her readers to consider that sex workers are people who maybe deserve some happiness just like the rest of us, but then she snaps that door quickly shut before Breathless can get too radical.

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[Jill Dunlop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily Morgan's reputation was ruined when her husband divorced her under grounds for adultery. Lily never cheated on her husband, if anything it was the other way around. But when Lily was put on the stand, Daniel Walker the hot shot lawyer twisted and turned her testimony until she did look guilty and the jury agreed. Every year on the anniversary of her divorce Lily goes down to the courthouse and makes an appeal to shut down the cathouse, which she believes was responsible for her husband's wandering ways. Daniel Walker a big time lawyer in Atlanta, soon to be senator, has been asked to get the house reopened. He heads back to his hometown to once again match wits with the infamous Lily Morgan.

I love a good romance where the heroine and hero are at odds with each other in the beginning of the story. Then as the story progresses they begin to realize that there is an awfully thin line between love and hate and the next thing they know instead of arguing they are kissing. Breathless is one such story and Lily and Daniel battle against one another - Lily to keep prostitution out of her town and Daniel to keep it in. Lily and Daniel are both clever people and the fight is a brutal one.

What I really enjoyed about this story were Lily and Daniel's characterizations. Both were richly drawn and the reader is easily sympathetic to both of them. It is hard to take sides and eventually the outcome the reader is rooting for will be to see both win. I love the dynamics of the town's people. It really brings the story and the setting to life. It plays a major role in the book. As a matter of fact, the whole town at one point has the women against the men.

There is a side plot involving an unsolved murder. Eventually, Daniel represents the boy who is on trial. This is where the book slowed for me some. The middle sags when Daniel and Lily's relationship doesn't move forward because of the trial. Also, facts about the murder aren't revealed until the trial happens, so those few chapters adding up to the big reveal seem slow in comparison to the rest of the story. That is why I gave this book a B instead of an A. Breathless is definitely worth a read if you enjoy a clever hero and heroine at odds with each other in the beginning.

[Susana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more along a 4,5 stars.
Laura lee Guhrke is without question, one of my favorite historical romance writers. I love her characters and her stories. Most of her books are on my favorite shelve. So, to say that i really loved this book is, almost a given fact. But, this one has something that i've never found in another one of her stories. The descriptions of the ambience in which the majority of this story takes place, in the beginning of the twentieth century were...completely outstanding. Amazing, how, by turning the pages, i would feel like i was right in the middle of Shivaree, Georgia. With all, her, small town quirks and peculiarities.
I really liked how the main characters were portrayed, and the fact that the romance was a slow burner. Although enfatuated by one another, neither characters displayed irrational behaviour, or loss of mental abilities, which i just found refreshing.
Also i really liked the mistery, and the court drama in this book. For a lawyer, Daniel, sure turned out a very interesting person. Although not my first romantic suspense by this author, i have to say, that this one, had everything i could ask for and more. Great characters, and a very good story.
Now, why can't a book like this, be translated in Portugal?

[Crista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy this author. My first book I read of hers was "And Then He Kissed Her" which I loved and proceeded to go on a mission to find her entire back list. This was a good book. I do wish it would've had a stronger element of romance and less of a mystery.

I must say that lawyers are not my first choice when thinking of a hero for a romance novel. Daniel Walker is the exception to that rule. He is brilliant, successful, gorgeous, and wounded from his childhood. What else is there to say? Lily is his best friend's ex-wife who he "destroyed" by his cross examination in her divorce trial. Interesting premise.

I enjoyed this town. The stereotypical townspeople, the scandals, the relationships, all were developed beautifully. My one critique is this. A murder is committed and this becomes the focus if this book. I like romance books to "feature" the couple and focus on them. This couple don't really become "that" until the last part of the book. I really thought this was a good book...if Lily and Daniel would've been front and center, it would've been....great!

[Aisyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!! Its soo heart wrenching, sweet and just soo nice...

I adored Daniel, i think he is sweet even though he is a ruthless lawyer. But he's always nice to Liliy, despite Lily being his adversary.
And i love Lily too.. She is so strong and yet so vulnerable.

I love the window scenes, Amos, and the ending! Although i detected some similarity between the breakup scene here and in the 'and then he kissed her', i still feel it worked in both stories and loved it! Loved the marriage proposal too.. :-)

[Heather T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the characters in this one.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[keikohuchica · Rating 4 out of 5]

bel romance storico....come l'ambizione di un uomo viene ridimensionata e sconfitta dall'amore per una donna

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite book by Laura Lee Guhrke. I am normally a big fan of her stories, but this one just didn't work for me.

[Polliceblu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bellissimo.

[Angeles · Rating 5 out of 5]

YESSSSS! Daniel I love youuuu

[Nelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really couldn't stand the heroine of this book, I hated her and I didn't care for her plights.
And when it happens it is bad, because I'm not rooting for the heroine and I lose interest -_-

That book reminded of And Then He Kissed Her by the same author...
A woman who is trying to be extremely forward for her time, acting all rebel but instead of the strong woman she is just giving annoying b8tch you want to strangle!

Lily's husband Jason divorced her 5 years ago and accused her of infidelity with a man who even came to testify that they had an affair. Daniel was Jason's BFF so NATURALLY he was his lawyer and brillantly defended his friend and client. But no, Lily is mad at him for ruining her reputation while doing his job! I mean, be mad at her scum of ex-husband or your friend who lied about the affair or maybe your incompetent lawyer I don't know? But no, so much easier to hate Daniel the lawyer who simply won his case -_-

Anyway, they met 5 years later because apparently each year on the divorce anniversary Bitchly goes to file a motion to have the Shivaree Social Club closed: this was the whorehouse her husband used to visit, and she blames it for the failure of her mariage. Not Jason, but the whorehouse and she thinks ''no other women will suffer like she did if it is closed''
Like Daniel brillantly points out, it is not the whorehouse but the man!

And she was a walking contradiction. Because while she blames Jason for ruining her rep, she kept a NAKED man statue in her living room to shock the town folks. She does nothing to salvage her ruined rep but she wants to provoke and give people something to talk about. But blame Daniel!!

At some points during her attempts to rally the women to her cause and close the club, her friend Rosie tells her this:

Rosie pulled up a stool on her side of the counter and sat down opposite her friend. "Well, what did you expect?" she asked gently. "Honey, you've been thumbing your nose at the women of this town for five years, doing all the outrageous things you could think of just to shock them. It's no wonder they aren't listening to you."

And she was an hypocrite too!
She couldn't understand why the town shunned her after her divorce and allegations that she was a ''loose woman'' but she had no issues looking down on the girls working at the club!
"Lucky for you, Helen's got a cook," she countered dryly, taking the chair opposite his at the table. "If it was left up to those painted dolls over there, the men would starve. There's only one thing Helen's girls know how to do and cooking isn't it."


I could go on and on to express my hartred for this character.

There is a subplot about a murder that is supposed to make Daniel and Lily closer, but meh...
And at the end, Daniel abandons his dream of becoming of senator for Lily. LAME!!

[Jerry Jares · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a charmer.  Lily Morgan is infamous in Shivaree, Georgia.  Five years ago, Daniel Walker, lawyer and best friend to Jason Morgan, helped him get a divorce from Lily.  Shivaree is one of those towns that never forgets, never forgives, and never stops talking about other folk's business. 

Lily is the town librarian, but no one uses the library because Lily is so infamous.  Daniel Walker is back to match wits with Lily over the town brothel.  Important businessmen own the brothel and want it reopened.  Daniel has political ambitions and thinks it will be no problem to convince the judge.  However, the judge, a former habitue' of the brothel, sidesteps the issue (now that he's married).  He calls for an election (but women still can't vote).  This is when bedlam takes place.

It is all very funny until someone is killed just before the election.  Lily and Daniel join forces to discover the real culprit because the sheriff has nabbed the wrong man.  He's a mentally-handicapped man who works for Lily and she knows he could not have killed.  I really enjoyed this story. 

[Em · Rating 1 out of 5]

An unpleasant read. The prose is flat, the mystery plot is weak, and I was never convinced that the protagonists had fallen in love. I did not find a single character to be compelling or likable.

I should have shared Lily’s pain, but her reaction to hardship made her seem like a teenager. Lily’s rebellions were boring and pathetic. She has no charm or intellect. Daniel on the other hand, is presented as being clever; he spends a significant portion of the novel teaching Lily how to manipulate the court and appeal to the public. Yet the plot is centered around Daniel’s gross error of judgment. So it is frustrating that there is never any acknowledgement that he himself is a poor judge of character and can be easily manipulated. Also, his apologies ring flat; every time he shows repentance, he adds an excuse and a cocky reminder that he will never grovel. I prefer characters who learn and grow,
I have enjoyed books by this author before. I was shocked by how awful this was!