This historical romance series set in Victorian England has been on my to-read list since I started reading historical romance. I finally was pushed over the edge to read it when an episode of the Fated Mates Podcast mentioned Book 1, The Highwayman, as a total page turner that you could not put down. I knew that with so much plot and drama happening in this series, I needed to pace myself, so I would read maybe a book a week of this series interspersed with other lower-angst books. I highly recommend reading in order since they build off of each other and characters reappear frequently for plot-important reasons.
1. The Highwayman (2015)
You can just imagine that a prologue that starts with two kids in an orphanage becoming friends, teaching each other to read, protecting each other, and getting pseudo-married in the chapel with the guy’s clan tartan is going to lead to heartbreak. And that’s exactly what happens. Our girl-child gets assaulted by a priest, her child-husband stabs him to death, he gets sent to prison, and she runs away. Flash forward to adulthood, she’s a respectable “widow” working for the police station, almost courting the chief inspector, and gets kidnapped by the most notorious criminal in London. High drama indeed.
Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
2. The Hunter (2016)
An assassin falls in love with his target. Yep. I totally buy it. This one is another action-packed romance from Kerrigan Byrne. You know with the tragic prologue that our hero is going to have all sorts of emotional damage. The fun part is uncovering the mystery of why our heroine is being targeted in the first place…
Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
3. The Highlander (2017)
This one might just be my favorite of the Victorian Rebels series. We have a single dad with a tortured past and a late wife who threw herself off the roof of his castle. And a new governess, who has recently escaped an insane asylum. Loads of drama here. And hints of Jane Eyre…
Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
4. The Duke (2018)
So… the blurb on this one made me think it was an amnesia romance at first, but it wasn’t. Our guy just didn’t recognize the lady because she looked different and he met her in a different setting. This book reads more like a standalone than the others. We interact a little with previous characters, but it’s not as strong of a connection to the other books. Overall, I enjoyed this book and really liked how Imogen transformed herself over the years.
Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
5. The Scot Beds His Wife (2017)
We have the younger brother from The Highlander trying to build his own estate and business and needs the neighboring land to do so. He tries to coerce his neighbor to sell the land, but she’s much savvier than he bargained for. First of all, it’s not even really the neighbor, but a stranger sent in her place. And then we unlock the mystery of why she’s there at all. Great rivals to lovers story.
Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
6. The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo (2018)
This book has quite a few time jumps within it. We start with a prison beating and a young man left for dead. Soon after that, a young girl rescues the man from a field, but he has absolutely no memory of who he is. After nursing him back to health and forming a connection, her arsehole brother betrays him and sends him off to sea. Many many many years later, he returns to claim his lady. And we find out how our guy is connected to all the other men in this series.
Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.
7. Seducing a Stranger (2019)
Previously published as A Dark and Stormy Knight and also serves as Book 1 of the Goode Girls series. I was not paying proper attention to the way these two series were connected, so I actually read this book (and the remaining Goode Girls books) before starting the Victorian Rebels. I don’t recommend it because all of the couples from the previous books appear here and it totally gave away a major plot point from The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo (Book 6). In either case, I really enjoyed this book and loved the level of drama that happened within the first few chapters. We start with a midnight tryst in a garden while our inspector is trying to investigate a case, fast forward to his boss’s daughter’s wedding where the groom is stabbed to death before the ceremony, and the bride is holding the knife and covered in blood. And was his one-night stand. Oh, and she’s pregnant. If that’s not drama, I don’t know what is. I’ll discuss the rest of the Goode Girls books in another post.
Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.
8. The Earl on the Train (2022)
Novella-length story originally published in the Big Duke Energy anthology. We have our sidekicks from The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo who meet again on a train. He’s set on attacking a gentleman and she’s traveling with and protecting his daughter. The chemistry between these two started in the previous book, so this novella makes more sense after having read that one.
Advance ebook provided by Oliver Heber Books via NetGalley.
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