The Highwayman

Books | Fiction / Romance / Historical / Victorian

3.9

(236)

Kerrigan Byrne

A Library Journal Best Book of 2015A Library Journal Summer Spotlight TitleThey're rebels, scoundrels, and blackguards-dark, dashing men on the wrong side of the law. But for the women who love them, a hint of danger only makes the heart beat faster, in the stunning debut historical romance The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne. STEALING BEAUTY Dorian Blackwell, the Blackheart of Ben More, is a ruthless villain. Scarred and hard-hearted, Dorian is one of Victorian London's wealthiest, most influential men who will stop at nothing to wreak vengeance on those who've wronged him...and will fight to the death to seize what he wants. The lovely, still innocent widow Farah Leigh Mackenzie is no exception-and soon Dorian whisks the beautiful lass away to his sanctuary in the wild Highlands... COURTING DESIRE But Farah is no one's puppet. She possesses a powerful secret-one that threatens her very life. When being held captive by Dorian proves to be the only way to keep Farah safe from those who would see her dead, Dorian makes Farah a scandalous proposition: marry him for protection in exchange for using her secret to help him exact revenge on his enemies. But what the Blackheart of Ben More never could have imagined is that Farah has terms of her own, igniting a tempestuous desire that consumes them both. Could it be that the woman he captured is the only one who can touch the black heart he'd long thought dead?

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Author

Kerrigan Byrne

Pages

368

Publisher

St. Martin's Publishing Group

Published Date

2015-09-01

ISBN

1466887400 9781466887404

Community ReviewsSee all

"The Highwayman has an intriguing concept & poses good thoughts on good/evil and vigilante justice. Nobody can be trusted. I enjoyed these aspects of the story, but it wasn't enough to salvage the rest of the book for me. First, I was rolling my eyes at the one-page introduction. It gives you a preview of how everyone is going to act toward the one female cop for the rest of the book. I grew increasingly more frustrated with it as the book went on. I understand that the whole "woman in a man's world" thing is relevant to the story, but it was like nobody could do anything without thinking about how attractive she was. It was weird. Just make people be normal. It detracts from the mystery. The first half is hard to get through at times. Every other chapter is the vigilante going after a new pedophile, and it gets very repetitive. The pedophilia seemed gratuitous at times...readers can understand what type of people they're dealing with & don't really need this many online chat examples. The lack of research was frustrating. It was difficult to believe that a FBI agent would use "mass murderer" and "serial killer" interchangeably when these are two different things, and this vigilante was more like a spree killer anyway. One of the main characters tells the other agent (twice) about how serial killer BTK was caught because of e-mail...BTK was caught because of a floppy disk, not e-mail. FBI agents would know this. I know I'm probably the only person who cares about this, but it really frustrated me. I didn't really care for the ending, and the big reveal felt predictable. I feel like it was left open-ended enough to become a series, but there was still a decent wrap-up (albeit predictable)."

Emily

"I loved the idea of this book. The Blackheart of Ben Moore was a terrific character at first. The setup to the whole book was very well done. Unfortunately the middle and end left something to be desired. I think there were too many obstacles to overcome for the characters. If the author had taken more time to show the progression of their lives or had less for them to overcome I think it would’ve been a better story. As it is I will remember the characters fondly but probably never reread their story."

C M

Caitlin Miller

"I love when the villain gets the girl, while still remaining a villain "