Breath of Scandal

Released: 03-31-15

Book Bits:

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Author: Sandra Brown 

Formats Available: eBook, Paperback, Hardback & Audio

Pages: 468

http://www.amazon.com/Breath-Scandal 

 

On a rainy Southern night, Jade Sperry endured a young woman's worst nightmare at the hands of three local hell-raisers. Robbed of her youthful ideals and at the center of scandal and tragedy, Jade ran as far and as fast as she could. But she never forgot the sleepy "company town" where every man, woman, and child was dependent on one wealthy family. And she never forgot their spoiled son, who, with his two friends, changed her life forever. Someday, somehow, she'd return, exact a just revenge -- and free herself from fear, and the powerful family that could destroy her

My So-Called Review:

In Breath of Scandal, Jade Sperry is a high school senior with her whole life ready to unfold ahead of her; in an instant she looses it all. On one fateful, shocking night her dreams are shattered and everything is violently ripped away from her when she’s attacked by three local scumbags. What's even more shocking? Her pleas for justice are completely ignored; no one will believe her about what happened that night, no one will listen. Jade decides to flee from her small town and honestly, who could blame her? I so wanted to slap a few of these people! She vows to return one day and exact the justice denied her, what she's really after though is vengence!! Years later Jade does return as she promised herself but finds that things in her home town have become very, very different. This doesn't sway her though; she's been planning and plotting for far too long and revenge is within her grasp!

So, Sandra Brown is an author that I've always wanted to try but hadn't till this point. I've always heard such good things about her books; the descriptions sound good and intriguing, the reviews usually high. I do tend to shy away from authors that seem overly popularized to me, with the exception of just a few (King, Rice) so I'm sure this is the main reason I've always passed them up. When I first read the synopsis for Breath of Scandal I was excited because it sounded like a "me" type of book and thanks to NetGalley (love you NetGalley!!!!) I took the plunge and gave it a try. I'm glad I did too cause I wasn't disappointed in the slightest!

This book grabbed me from the first page and kept me completely glued to Jade’s story. Her attack plus the subsecuent tragedies she endures are written in such a hauntingly, realistic way that I felt like I was there, experiencing it all with her. I was totally hooked and turning the pages as fast as I could, I just had to find out how this story would end and what would unfold along the way. It’s beautifully written yet completely heart-wrenching; one of those kick you in the gut over and over types of books. While the beginning might be a little hard to read for some women; if you hang in there you’ll see how Jade refuses to give up, refuses to be beaten down, and her true spirit really shines in the end. There's another underlying mystery within this story that allows for a few twists and turns as well as some steamy romance (of course!) I really enjoyed the character of Jade's love interest, Dillion, you can't help but fall in love with him. He teaches Jade about healing, forgiving and trusting again which is crazy when you learn what he's had to overcome himself, great character!

Breath of Scandal, for me, was kind of mix between King's, Big Driver and the show Revenge. I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to anyone that likes these types of "revenge and redemption" stories. Based on the massive amounts of man bashing possible with this one, I'm also recommending it highly for a great Book Club read :) 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review