The Highwayman (Victorian Rebels #1) by Kerrigan Byrne
Synopsis:
STEALING BEAUTY
Dorian Blackwell, the Blackheart of Ben More, is a ruthless villain. Scarred and hard-hearted, Dorian is one of 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?
My Review:
I saw The Highwayman listed as a best read for 2015 on more than one blogger’s list so I decided to check it out for myself. I’ve been on a bit of a historical romance kick, though I think you’ll hear me say that at the beginning of each year as it’s sort of an extension of my holiday romance binge in December. But I digress…this book was everything you could want and more.
Farah and Dougan are torn apart after finding each other in an orphanage and falling in love as only children can—as best friends. What they have in the orphanage is so strong and special that they bind themselves to each other in perhaps the sweetest “wedding ceremony” I’ve ever read. But of course fate has other plans. Honestly, if that first chapter doesn’t make you want to tell the kids to get their own dinner because you’re busy reading, well, we can’t be friends. (Just kidding!)
The story picks up several years later. Farah is working as a clerk in Scotland Yard. She has kept Dougan’s name all these years and presents herself as a widow. Enter Dorian Blackwell. A tortured, scarred (inside and outside), and ruthless man who needs Farah in order to enact revenge on the men who ruined his life. Farah has secrets, but so does Dorian. They have secrets that threaten them both on every level. If you’re a fan of paranormal romance and read J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood, imagine Zsadist as a Scottish Highlander. That’s Dorian. My heart broke for him over and over.
Here’s a NSFW excerpt:
He could already feel the itching and prickling beneath his skin. The heat would follow. A feverish, pulsating torture. His body and mind locked in a stalemate of desire and hostility. His natural instincts to fuck overcome by memories of thrashing shadows and violent lust. Brutality. Helplessness. Weakness. Screaming. Memories of whispering a beloved name against the cold, fetid ground by his desperate, bleeding lips. He would disassociate from the pain. Imagine the feel of a small hand within his own. Moonbeam curls made of silk. Eyes like pools of liquid silver. A dimpled smile that held the light of the far-reaching cosmos.
One duty had kept him from succumbing to the darkness in that dank, rotting prison.
One vow.
Wow. I mean, just wow.
If you like stories that take your heart out of your chest, stomp on it, and then piece it back together, than Kerrigan Byrne’s The Highwayman is for you.
Five Loves
About the author:
Kerrigan has done many things to pay the bills, from law enforcement to belly dance instructor. Now she’s finally able to have the career she’d decided upon at thirteen when she announced to her very skeptical family that she was going to “grow up to be a romance novelist.” Whether she’s writing about Celtic Druids, Victorian bad boys, or brash Irish FBI Agents, Kerrigan uses her borderline-obsessive passion for history, her extensive Celtic ancestry, and her love of Shakespeare in almost every story.
Her first novel with St. Martin’s Press, THE HIGHWAYMAN, is available now and will be followed byTHE HUNTER in February of 2016.
She lives at the base of the Rocky Mountains with her handsome husband and three lovely teenage girls, but dreams of settling on the Pacific Coast.