A Breath of Scandal by Sandra Brown

Narration by Dick Hill

First published in 1991, A Breath of Scandal by Sandra Brown was recently released on audio in CD format by Brilliance Audio, so I jumped at the chance to review it. Accustomed to Ms. Brown’s recent, romantic suspense titles, I must admit that the tough and sensitive nature of this listen caught me a bit off guard (please see the warning in the Violence rating below). That said, once I settled into listening to this book, Ms. Brown fully transported me to a time and place that fortunately I never had to live through myself (the prejudiced and chauvinistic society that ruled small towns in the deep South in the 1970s and 1980s); and in the end, for those that are brave enough to follow this story to its conclusion, Ms. Brown blesses her listeners with a very powerful message of vindication and empowerment.

The backdrop of this story will tear your heart apart. The injustice and unfairness of the tyranny of a small town by one rich family who could get away with just about anything is downright painful to listen to. Moreover, the flagrant bashing of one woman’s ideals and dreams and the injustice with how she was treated, notwithstanding her never having done anything wrong, makes you want to scream. But in the end, it is this visceral reaction, that makes the message of this tale – which you will have to wait until the last third of the book or so to be gratified with – that much sweeter. Oh and though you may wonder how there could possibly be a romance woven into this story, there definitely is, though the romance is really secondary to the overarching suspense – you will have to get through some very difficult hours of listening before finally being rewarded.

Growing up in the small town of Palmetto, South Carolina, Jade Sperry has one dream: to graduate at the top of her class and attend college so she can get a good career. Although she is one of the most beautiful teenage girls in town, she refuses to listen to her mother who tries to encourage her to provide for her future in a different way: by snaring the attention of Neal Hatchett (the only son of the family that owns nearly everything in Palmetto). Instead, Jade eschews the vile Neal, a man content to rule the town with his two cronies (Lamar and Hutch) constantly in tow. But one fateful afternoon, fate intercedes when Neal determines that he will not be ignored by Jade any more. What follows is years of healing and planning for vindication. But can Jade, a woman who comes from an average family, single-handedly take down the institution that has ruled the small town of Palmetto for decades?

Dick Hill does a good job with this narration. Having a natural voice for a suspense title or crime drama, Mr. Hill tells this tale in a way to frame the story for the listener. Mr. Hill also creates believable Southern accents for the various characters thereby lending authenticity to this small, Southern town romantic suspense title. I also had no difficulty with Mr. Hill’s pacing, and was able to just sit back and listen to the story.

Perhaps my only observation with respect to Mr. Hill’s rendition is that his female voices don’t sound extremely feminine. However, Mr. Hill does raise the pitch of his voice sufficiently to differentiate the females from the males.

All in all, A Breath of Scandal is an emotion stirring, powerful tale, but should only be listened to by those for whom rape is not a trigger. Additionally, a romance listener should only undertake listening to this story with an understanding that the primary driver of this story is fiction/suspense, with romance being a secondary element.

BJ


Narration: B

Book Content: B+

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: Domestic Violence (Rape)

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Breath of Scandal was provided to AudioGals by Brilliance Audio for a review.

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2 thoughts on “A Breath of Scandal by Sandra Brown

  1. I read this years ago and completely agree with your assessment that it is contemporary fiction/mystery with romance elements. It’s the only way I could appreciate the story.

    Great review!

    1. Thank you Jonetta. Yes, I thought it was important to point this factor out as some of the other “romantic suspense” titles I have read by Sandra Brown had more of a romance angle and this one really feels more like just a mystery or general fiction. All that said, I do love Sandra Brown’s writing, so with that caveat in mind I still did enjoy the story. Now if I could just find the time to read or listen to more of her backlist!

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