From Publishers Weekly
The familiar tricks of the trade are refreshingly revamped in this lively contemporary romance set in Tuscany. Lorenzo (Ren) Gage is a devilishly handsome movie star, best known for his villainous roles onscreen and his playboy antics off. Isabel Favor is a tightly wound self-help guru and author of The Four Cornerstones of a Favorable Life whose own perfect life has recently come crashing down around her. Both have come to Italy to escape the endless rehashes of their latest misfortunes in the public eye, and the equally endless drone of self-criticism. Ren and Isabel meet under what can only be described as unusual circumstances, leaving each of them thinking, thankfully, they'll never see the other again. Imagine their surprise when Isabel turns up on Ren's doorstep, her much anticipated rental villa belonging to none other than her ill-advised one-night stand. As might be anticipated, their fiery antagonism soon breeds sparks of a different kind. The relationship develops in a somewhat familiar fashion, but the development of Isabel and Ren as characters makes their story shine. Meanwhile, at the villa, all is not as it seems, and the two lovers find themselves playing amateur detectives, trying to untangle the strange behavior of the townspeople and of Ren's hired caretaker. As if things weren't complicated enough, Ren's ex-wife, Tracy, suddenly appears on the scene pregnant and with several kids in tow. Tracy's appearance ushers in a touching subplot centering on the nature of marriage in the real world an unexpected and affecting treat in the midst of this steamy, lighthearted romance. With this intriguing combination of the fantasy and reality of romance, Phillips has created a very modern and textured tale: witty, moving, passionate and tender.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
With the personal, professional, and financial aspects of her life all in shambles, counselor and self-help guru Dr. Isabel Favor escapes to the Tuscan countryside for two months to rest, write, and rethink her future. But her hopes of a peaceful idyll are dashed when the locals try to convince her to leave her rented farmhouse, whose owner turns out to be Lorenzo Gage, the film world's favorite psychopath and the man with whom Isabel had an impulsive, out-of-character, one-night stand on her first evening in Florence. Chaos reigns and so does passion in this funny, occasionally whacky, yet surprisingly insightful contemporary romance, which gives its optimistic heroine and conflicted movie-idol hero a little "breathing room" and lets Italy's hill country work its magic. With stunningly vivid descriptions and some of her most complex protagonists to date, Phillips (This Heart of Mine) has once again produced a thoroughly delightful romance. Phillips lives in the Chicago area. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Phillips's latest spicy romance features Isabel Favor, a self-help maven who has fallen from grace, and Lorenzo Gage, a gorgeous Hollywood bad boy who always plays villains. They meet in Tuscany, where Ren's retainers are doing their best to dislodge Isabel from the farmhouse she has rented. Sparks fly, and the two are soon making up sexy scenarios while they try to solve the mystery of the digging villagers. Kate Fleming creates different voices for all the characters, allowing the listener to discern with ease who is speaking. The female voices are dead-on, adding richness to the characterizations. Even though Fleming's male voices don't ring quite true, and her children's voices sound like cartoons, the story will have the listener making up errands so as not to have to turn off the tape. D.T.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Isabel Favor, America's favorite self-help guru, needs a little help herself. A kiss-and-tell interview with a bitter former employee has just hit the newspapers; the IRS has sent a bill for more than a million dollars in back taxes; her accountant has fled the country (with Isabel's money); and her longtime fiance announces he has found happiness and fulfillment in the arms of another woman. With her whole world crashing down around her, Isabel heads for Tuscany to stay in a rustic farmhouse where she hopes to figure out how to put her life back together. On her first night in Italy, Isabel, still smarting from being rejected by her fiance, gives into temptation and participates in a one-night stand with a mysterious, handsome Italian, only to run out on him. Arriving at her country farmhouse, Isabel discovers that it's exactly the haven of tranquility she needs, although there is one drawback. Her landlord is the sexy American movie star Lorenzo Gage, who just happens to be the very man Isabel dumped a few days ago. Rita Award-winning, New York Times best-selling Phillips puts an uptight control-freak heroine together with a laid-back, bad-boy hero in a sun-drenched Tuscan setting for some splendid entertainment in her latest sexy contemporary romance, a book on a par with those of fellow genre luminaries Jayne Ann Krentz and Linda Howard. Flavored with Phillips' clever humor and quick wit, this is a pure joy to read. REVWR
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
After a disgruntled assistant bad-mouths her to the tabloids, her accountant runs off with her money, and her fianc￯﾿ﾽ dumps her for another woman, self-help guru Dr. Isabel Favor decides to take a breather in the Italian countryside. There she meets Hollywood's sexiest, hottest bad-boy, Ren Gage￯﾿ﾽand gives in to his tempestuous charm. Ren is incognito in Italy for his own reasons -- which will soon come to light and cause complications for the pair -- but is still more than willing to keep lovely Isabel off balance and help her enjoy the pleasures of taking life as it comes. He's sure the comfortable stability of Isabel's old "favorable" lifestyle can't compare to what he has to offer -- fantastic food, endless sunshine, and wild sex. But old habits die hard, and Isabel is not sure her admirably controlled lifestyle leaves any room for an impulsive, passionate movie star who thrives on chaos. With Breathing Room, bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips has crafted a passionate story that sweeps readers away while tackling some very human, and relatable, issues. The delightful lead characters, Isabel and Ren, are wonderfully different from each other, yet they stay true to themselves while building a life together. Sue Stone

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Join the New York Times bestselling authoron a journey to the sun-washed hills of TuscanyDr. Isabel Favor, author of Four Cornerstones for a Favorable Life, has sacrificed everything to build her self-help empire. Then, in a matter of weeks, it all comes crashing down. Broke, heartsick, and soul-weary, she heads for Italy in search of a little breathing room.Lorenzo Gage makes his living killing people on the silver screen, that is. He's viciously handsome and sublimely talented. But as he begins his vacation in Italy, he's also vaguely dissatisfied. Being a villain with a face to die for has its rewards, but he hates the feeling that everything he's neglected in life is catching up with him. Then he spots Isabel sipping a glass of wine at a sidewalk café. A good guy wouldn't think of seducing such a tidy-looking woman... but he'd never seen the fun in playing the hero.Breathing Room is a book for any woman who's ever dreamed of wandering through a vineyard, of lazing under the Tuscan sky, or of reforming a deliciously wicked man. Because sometimes it takes a special place... a special love... a little breathing room... for life to deliver all its glorious promise.

SYNOPSIS

Join the New York Times bestselling author on a journey to the sun-washed hills of Tuscany. Another sexy, wonderful, contemporary love story with all the heart, wisdom, and wit that have made Susan Elizabeth Phillips the gold standard for women's fiction.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The familiar tricks of the trade are refreshingly revamped in this lively contemporary romance set in Tuscany. Lorenzo (Ren) Gage is a devilishly handsome movie star, best known for his villainous roles onscreen and his playboy antics off. Isabel Favor is a tightly wound self-help guru and author of The Four Cornerstones of a Favorable Life whose own perfect life has recently come crashing down around her. Both have come to Italy to escape the endless rehashes of their latest misfortunes in the public eye, and the equally endless drone of self-criticism. Ren and Isabel meet under what can only be described as unusual circumstances, leaving each of them thinking, thankfully, they'll never see the other again. Imagine their surprise when Isabel turns up on Ren's doorstep, her much anticipated rental villa belonging to none other than her ill-advised one-night stand. As might be anticipated, their fiery antagonism soon breeds sparks of a different kind. The relationship develops in a somewhat familiar fashion, but the development of Isabel and Ren as characters makes their story shine. Meanwhile, at the villa, all is not as it seems, and the two lovers find themselves playing amateur detectives, trying to untangle the strange behavior of the townspeople and of Ren's hired caretaker. As if things weren't complicated enough, Ren's ex-wife, Tracy, suddenly appears on the scene pregnant and with several kids in tow. Tracy's appearance ushers in a touching subplot centering on the nature of marriage in the real world an unexpected and affecting treat in the midst of this steamy, lighthearted romance. With this intriguing combination of the fantasy and reality of romance, Phillips has created a very modern and textured tale: witty, moving, passionate and tender. 9-city author tour. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

With the personal, professional, and financial aspects of her life all in shambles, counselor and self-help guru Dr. Isabel Favor escapes to the Tuscan countryside for two months to rest, write, and rethink her future. But her hopes of a peaceful idyll are dashed when the locals try to convince her to leave her rented farmhouse, whose owner turns out to be Lorenzo Gage, the film world's favorite psychopath and the man with whom Isabel had an impulsive, out-of-character, one-night stand on her first evening in Florence. Chaos reigns and so does passion in this funny, occasionally whacky, yet surprisingly insightful contemporary romance, which gives its optimistic heroine and conflicted movie-idol hero a little "breathing room" and lets Italy's hill country work its magic. With stunningly vivid descriptions and some of her most complex protagonists to date, Phillips (This Heart of Mine) has once again produced a thoroughly delightful romance. Phillips lives in the Chicago area. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile