The Highwayman

The story just didn't work for me. It was way, way too dramatic - our hero Dougan had issues with a capital I, and although I can't blame him, seeing that he had a sucky past, I felt it was way over the top. Also, our heroine is a Mary Sue - everyone loves her, she has a heart of gold etc. I wish I could love this book more but, meh.

Read for Swoon Sisters Live Discussion: December 2021

The beginning hooked me a little bit but I got bored so quick. I honestly didn't care about the characters at all. Dorian is supposed to be like broody and whatever and I get it but the explanation and trauma that caused that is barely talked about. The smut was good so I bumped it from 2 to a 2.5. I don't think historical romances are for me honestly.

The writing is pretty strong and I really felt emotionally connected to the characters. Book started off so strong. This also gave me Beauty and the Beast vibes (complete with the kidnapping lol) and I didn't hate that but it did have some tropes that personally didn't work for me. Specifically, the damaged hero deciding for the heroine that he's not good enough for her. Sooo much of that here.

Still, I'm going to give the second book a shot and maybe even a different series by the author. Not ready to give up just yet!