[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Breathless

In addition to Breathless, Scott Prussing is the author of the e-book Tangled Webs, a mystery/suspense novel available at Smashwords.com. He has degrees in psychology from
the University of Connecticut and Yale University. He resides in San Diego, California, where he is currently hard at work on the sequel to Breathless, which will be the second book in the Blue Flame series.

Breathless, Book #1 of the Blue Flame series

Authors:  Scott Prussing

Synopsis:  Breathless is a modern fantasy/romance novel in the mode of Twilight and Vampire Diaries, with enough new ideas to excite even the most devoted fans...

Weston College freshman Leesa Nyland has been fascinated by vampires since she was three years old. That's when her mom started acting weird, insisting sunlight hurt her skin because she'd been bitten by a one-fanged vampire.

But fascinated doesn't mean Leesa believes. Any more than she believes in blue fire, people who live for centuries, and kisses that can kill. But when her beloved older brother disappears after warning Leesa not to come looking for him, she is forced to consider all these and more.

She also has to figure out what to do about her mysterious new boyfriend. She knows Rave likes her a lot-so why won't he kiss her? And why is he always talking about vampires?

As Leesa draws closer to finding her brother, she faces some gut-wrenching decisions. Should she risk her mom's life trying to "cure" her? Should she continue seeing Rave, after he reveals his dangerous secret? And most terrifying of all, should she make the ultimate sacrifice-give up her humanity-to save her brother?

Our Review: 

Let me start by saying that I purposely didn’t read the synopsis of this book before I started it.  I try not to do that as a general rule, since I don’t want anything influencing my thoughts and expectations. 

Let me also be honest and say that I was apprehensive to even start it—a paranormal romance said to straddle the line between YA and Adult written by a dude—yeah, just wasn’t sure what to expect.

However, let me finish by saying that Breathless was fantastic!  A unique, creative, fresh approach to the vampire genre that we’ve all come to know and love, but with characters that are NOT from your ordinary Supe Groups or perfection personified and who wrap you around their little fingers just pages after you meet. 

As I continued to read I got more and more lost in the story and the vivid imagery that Scott weaves for his readers, and couldn’t wait to have another spare moment to pick up my Kindle and continue on.  Where some authors just don’t know where to draw the line between too much and too little descriptive imagery and character building, Scott has it down to a science and gives you enough to clearly picture the scene realistically, but not so much that the reader suffocates and forgets what they were reading about in the first place.  The pop culture references kept the story incredibly current, the wit was finely crafted and distinctly placed, the romance tender and believable [even in a Fantasy setting], and  I can’t think of one point in the story where my mind wandered and I found myself wishing “oh if only he’d have done…”.  

All in all, I am SO glad that pushed aside my apprehensions to read and review this book, and while yes, it was a lot like Twilight, it also wasn’t.  Breathless is its own beautiful beast and deserves to be judged on its merit alone and not against something whose name alone elicits preconceived notions.

 LITERAL ADDICTION Paranormal Book Club gives Breathless 4 ½ Skulls. 

We definitely recommend it for Young Adult readers, but also to anyone looking for a light paranormal breath of fresh air.  We’re looking forward to what Scott brings us with book #2 of the Blue Flame saga. 

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