Breathless by Celeste Bradley & Susan Donovan #breathless

   

Breathless  

by  

Celeste Bradley  & Susan Donovan

Blurb:

She was “the Swan.” London’s premiere courtesan. Men want to be with her. Women loathe her success and yet admire her beauty, her riches, her independence. But when the jealous wife of her lover moves to have the Swan banished from her home on the high seas, she winds up crashed against Spain’s rocky coast with no shoes, no clothes—and no name. Taken in by a tortured, sensuous man known as The Artist, the Swan comes to know the woman she wants to be—her artist’s siren.
When Art Professor Brenna Anderson is in danger of losing her post at Harvard, the rule-following, prim professor is at a loss of how to salvage the shreds of her life. But when a new painting in the mysterious Siren collection is discovered in a dusty old house in France, Brenna does the unthinkable—hops on a plane to uncover the identity of the beautiful, enigmatic woman who is the subject of the paintings.
There’s just one hitch—the frustrating, irritating, bold and beautiful art hunter Fitch Wilder is also looking for the Siren. He’s been a thorn in Brenna’s professional side for years, but when their individual quests lead them to team up despite being enemies, a whole new sumptuous world of art and culture opens up for the two of them. And with it, they enter a realm of passion and love…



Set in two different times, this book tells the story of the time when the Swan, a famous courtesan, loses her life as she knows it only to find a better one and true love in a place where she'd never have expected it and it also tells the story of Brenna and Fitch, who are looking for the forgotten paintings of the Siren collection.
The women's lives are very different on the one hand but there are also many similarities and I really enjoyed reading about their lives and the love they find along the way. I also loved to read about Brenna and Fitch's hunt for the paintings and the story behind them.
From the first page on, this book captivated me. I really enjoyed reading this book with its interesting characters and really interesting story line.

When Brenna and Fitch set out to find the lost paintings, they have no idea that this trip will change their lives forever. Working together, well, that wasn't exactly what they'd been dreaming of considering the fact, ....uh...let's just say that it's not always a good idea to tweet when you are upset especially when you don't have all the facts. Now they'll have to work together in order to get what both of them are looking for and somehow this whole thing turns into something more. Something real and great.

And who would have thought that losing everything, even one's own name and identity, will lead to finding true love and happiness, no matter how short or how long it might last. When the Swan was driven out of the country only to end up on a journey even worse than she could ever have imagined, she had no idea what or rather who would be waiting for her at the end of this trip.

A beautiful story that I really enjoyed reading.

★★★★