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My Review:Title: The Highwayman
Author: Kerrigan Byrne
Series: Victorian Rebels #1
Published by: Tantor Audio
Release Date: September 1, 2015
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Derek Perkins
Length: 10 hours and 54 minutes
Genres: Historical Romance
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »
Source: Libby
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 1
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ IndieBound ✩ iTunes ✩ Libro.FM ✩ Chirp
My rating:
Blurb:They’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…
STEALING BEAUTYDorian 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 DESIREBut 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?
3.5 stars — I absolutely LOVED the first chapter and the relationship it sets up for Farah and Dougan. My heart broke, I was 100% invested, I was in love.
The rest of the book just never quite lived up to that first chapter for me. I definitely FELT for what Dorian had been through, and for anyone with triggers go in aware that it’s a lot. And I understood how that had shaped the man he had become, and the hangups he had in his own mind. I feel like it was fairly realistic, but I’m not sure how I feel about how it all played out in the end…it’s a complicated situation.
He also had two very different sides to him, and I didn’t quite feel like they would match up all the time. He quite clearly had a heart in the way he was dealing with his fellow prisoners, and the kinds of things he did with his power. But sometimes it felt like he loved that cold persona of his more than he felt for his Fairy…and while it was definitely understandable for the first half of the book, I grew weary of it for the second half. And…well, I’m not a fan of possessiveness, so that wasn’t an endearment to me.
Farah had some great moments of strength, but I wish she’d shown them a bit more. Those moments made me stand up and cheer for her. I think she just wasn’t given the room to really shine that I might have liked. I did love her kindness and empathy, and I know it’s supposed to be a foil for Dorian’s blackness and evil, but for some reason it just didn’t quite work for me.
Part of my problem with the story was in the romance. I LOVED that first chapter, but because of the nature of our characters, the resulting relationship that develops is…odd. The author tried so hard to balance keeping Dorian evil, but not having Farah’s submission be coerced, and I’m not entirely sure she succeeded. At least for me. But I’m not an enemies to lovers fan, so that kind of push and pull just doesn’t pull me in. The funny thing is that when Farah would stand up for herself with him and banter, I LOVED those moments. There just weren’t enough of them.
The world that is created is definitely interesting, but inevitably I don’t think I’m the kind of reader this series is looking for…I’ll head back to my inherently good characters and leave the tortured villains for others.
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