Breathless by Anne Stuart

This is the 3rd book in her House of Rohan series, but it's the 1st book I've ever read that she's written. I go back and forth in my mind between rating it 3 stars or 2. It was an interesting story, and the characters were very interesting. Both the heroine and her longtime friend have romances and both are resolved by the end of the book. The friend's romance is more sweet, whereas the heroine's love story is more complicated and a little twisted. It's one of these stories in which the hero pursues the heroine in an effort to punish her family for something her brother did to his sister. I think this story would be unbearable to read if it didn't have the hero's point of view from time to time and a window into his thoughts. He is a scarred hero and he genuinely believes that he is avenging his crazy (hello Mrs. Rochester) dead sister. One of the things that bug me about the hero is - he had a hand in the heroine's ruination two years before meeting her in person and falling in love w/ her but at no time does he either express guilt in his own thoughts (instead, he is cheered that he himself is spared having to deflower a virgin) or express remorse or regret, or beg forgiveness from her (she doesn't find out until the very last few pages). I thought the ending was a tiny bit abrupt and could have really benefited from an epilogue - which would have been a great point for the expression or remorse. Overall, it was something different and I thought the heroine was pretty strong given circumstances that would have broken a weaker woman. I will plan on reading the others in this series and giving them a try.