The Highwayman's Daughter by Henriette Gyland

This was a super fun historical romp. I love me some highway-women/bandit ladies.

Cora is a such a lady. She holds up the rich folks' carriages and takes their fancy baubles to buy her ailing father some medicine. But of course, it's only a matter of time before she gets caught and back then, robbery was a hanging offense...

It's all going to come down to who gets to her first: Jack, who figures out who she really is and knows more about her than she does (you'll have to read the book to figure that out) and has only good intentions, or his horrid, somewhat OTT cousin who def does not have the best of intentions, not towards Cora, not towards Jack...

As I said above this was fun. I love how Cora does little humorous things here and there, taking his pants, leaving only a yellow dress. She's in a time (1700s) when women were not respected or allowed to be this way and she breaks all the rules. And though Jack has to come to her rescue more than once, in the end, she comes to the rescue too. It's like 50/50. I like that.

There's secrets from the past dredged up, some realistic scenes in Newgate prison, a hanging, lots of horsemanship, and it really had a strong historical feel. Sometimes with these historical romances, there's a story that could really occur just about whenever and I find that disappointing. That is not the case with this story. The streets, the horses, the manors, the labor life, the clothing...exceptionally done. I felt transported.

And I really really like the hero in this story. He doesn't try dominate the heroine. There's no "I must be mega alpha and prove how manly I am over this wench" nonsense. Thank goodness. The hero is comfortable and confident with himself. He accepts Cora for who she is.

My main quibble: The romance was fast. I don't see how you can love a woman you've spoken to all of two times and who, the first time, held you at rapier point and robbed you. I'd have also liked more robberies. Naughty me. LOL

I received this from Choc Lit Publishing in exchange for an honest review.