The Highwayman Came Riding

by Qeturah Edeli

Sassy Elias Burgess is the darling of Kitwick, a humdrum Georgian era village. Bored with his pedestrian life as the innkeeper’s son and village post boy, Elias dreams of escaping to London, the city where dreams come true. Only Elias’s bohemian twin sister, Bess, can match his acerbic wit and keep him sane. Together, they bewitch Kitwick with their beauty and intrigue, though no one, not even their father, understands them.

When he is stripped of his parcels (and clothes) by a smooth-talking highwayman, Elias is forced to walk home naked. Never one to let another man have the last word, Elias recruits the velvet-voiced redcoat, Mr. Sweeton, to help save his job by tracking down the missing post. However, the chivalrous Mr. Sweeton might have motivations for helping other than a desire to maintain order and uphold the law, and the highwayman might not be the villain he seems...

Genres: Historical, M M Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Disability, Historical Fiction, Romance, LGBT

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 6, 2017

About the author

Qeturah (pronounced Keh-to'-rruh) is an insomniac whose love for coffee is rivalled only by her adoration for intersectionality in writing. Count on a happily ever after!

Reviews

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Don't look for historical accuracy BUT expect to have tons of fun with this. There's a snarky (blind) MC, lots of witty banter and a sweet (yet still sexy) enemies-to-lovers, slowly-developing romance.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was loving this book, but by around 50% I began to get annoyed (excessively witty MCs always irritate me after a while) but then the end picked back up and I was loving it again. All in all it's a great story, even if it's a little zany and a little too witty.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. This is a cute, enjoyable, light, slightly silly, slightly over-the-top romantic comedy. The first half (third?) of this was fantastic, five-star awesome. It's funny, smart, full of sharp banter, and so entertaining. The middle was a little sluggish, but it picked up again towards the end. The plot is pretty thin, but the characters, especially Elias, are so likable and the dialogue is amusing. This book does not take itself too seriously, and I think it's best if readers don't either. This is a fun, silly romp.

[Finnegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable semi-historical with original, endearing characters that was a lot of fun. The cat stealed the show, with Elias's gift of creative insults a close second.

[Karola · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3 stars.
I must say I enjoyed it immensely. Funny, sweet, with great characters, and definitely completely different from all the other MM historical romances I've read.

[Jenn (not Lily) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable! Not what I think of as a typical historical, this has some great character development and fantastic family dynamics. It's silly sweet with just a hint of heartbreak throughout. I'll be looking for more by this author!

[ttg · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Very enjoyable historical romance. (I would even think of it as a historical romance comedy since the tone overall is very light.) Props for having the POV told from an MC who is visually impaired. It's really rare that I read a full story from a visually impaired perspective. (Usually authors "switch" and include an abled POV as well.) I found it well executed overall.

For historical romance "purists", I will say that some of the language feels very modern, but I just went with the flow.

Highly recommend for those looking for a light, humorous historical gay romance set around the regency time.

[Amy (I'd Rather Be Sleeping) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, Elias and Augustus are usually sweet together. I like the fact that they are both inexperienced and they learn together. I didn't like the fact that one of the sex scenes turned into some strange, undiscussed BDSM thing. One of the men told the other to stay quiet and if he spoke, he'd stop. Then he proceeded to spank the other. Yeah… I don't know where that came from but it sure was uncomfortable.

Which is kind of a running theme: uncomfortable. There is something of a love triangle in here and one of the guys - thankfully not the real love interest - is a rapist. Okay, so he doesn't TECHNICALLY rape anyone, (if, that is, you're one of those people that only thinks rape is penetration - which I'm not) but he at least sexually assaults the main guy and doesn't stop when he's told to stop. (It's only through outside intervention that he doesn't rape the other.) And that's something else: A big deal is made of Elias wanting to be independent, but he's set up as a victim often. First he is robbed of, literally, the clothes off his back and walks naked through town. Three times. He goes to a man that, he admits, frightens him, to have sex with him so the man will quit holding his sister under house arrest/as bait.

His father beats him and 'he can't see it coming' because HE'S BLIND. Yeah. Seriously, that little detail is not mentioned anywhere in the synopsis - which is very misleading in and of itself. I do like the banter, but it's a lot cruder than I was expecting. In fact, the entire book is cruder than I was expecting. There's little plot and what's there only crops up in the last twenty percent. It feels like plotlines were just dropped. At times the writing feels jumpy in a way I can't really describe. (I think it's a side effect of skipping so much time.)

Huh. Maybe I don't have as mixed feelings about this book as I thought I did. It don't earn a one star because when Elias and Augustus are cute, they are CUTE and because the first half made me laugh like crazy more than once.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was ridiculously entertaining and fun. The dialogue is the best. The sex scenes are, of course, totally sexy but yet at the same time, completely hilarious. This book hooked me with a blind MC, but it kept me powering straight through because of the engaging writing. Plus, there's a badass cat! I thoroughly enjoyed this, and will look to read more from this author.

[LenaLena · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Highwayman is a historical romance that doesn’t read like a historical romance at all. I picked it up mostly because the protagonist is blind and there is quite a shortage of differently abled characters in m/m. Sometimes it seems like they’re all healthy handsome white middle class dudes, and I think that is a problem. Elias is blind, and has been blind since birth, and doesn’t need a lover to convince him he is still worthy of love. He only has one little ‘you deserve someone better’ episode, and it’s over before you know it, so it isn’t treated as an unending source of angst either. That’s a good thing.

The story is lighthearted and mostly fun and entertaining. There are just some some discrepancies that I found jarring. One is the general lack of issues that the people close to Elias have with his homosexuality. Usually in historicals it is the unlawfulness of being gay that plays a prominent role in the conflict. Here, his immediate family are just fine and dandy with it and that’s just a little weird to me. I guess it’s good for readers who don’t like the drama that comes with that particular theme, though. This is on top of language and other attitudes that are decidedly modern, so I have to say it’s not a book for historical purists.

Another one is the disconnect between Elias’s verbal prowess and his complete (and I mean complete) inexperience. He doesn’t know what he is talking about, not even on a theoretical level, yet he’s acting like he’s proud to be the town whore, in a sense. It didn’t work for me, but I’m sure there is an audience for mouthy virgins, and if that is you, you’ll be delighted with this book!

I’m not even going to bother with some of the minor WTF moments. Because if you’re just looking for a lighthearted book about sassy virgins in a regency-ish setting, you won’t care about those. And if the historical impurities I’ve mentioned so far have already put you off, then there’s no point even starting this book.

[Sakuko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it's certainly different. I'm glad I knew it was entirely historically inaccurate though, so I could read it more as a generic fantasy tale and not be bothered too much by all the weird behavior and peculiarities of the setting.

I really like Elias, though he does have more bravado than good sense. He's also at times just too ignorant. I mean, yes, he cannot see, but he has a good pair of ears and lives in a bar and I cannot imagine that he would not ask his sister about things he does not understand. He should have at least a basic idea what fucking entails and that bruises are blue/black and a few other things the book make him ignorant off. I think the author was overthinking it a bit too much there.

Augustus was a bit of an enigma, but he showed himself a lot more likeable than his earlier actions implied. I did like their verbal sparring, though it was a bit too crude and simply insulting for me at times. But I really liked the middle of the book when they where slowly figuring out all the sex stuff. That was hot as well as endearing and probably my favorite part of the book.

[Drianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This relies for all its charm on the characters themselves, because the plot is pretty silly ("highwayman" holds up the blind post-deliverer, steals all his clothes (?), multiple times, but then they fall in love). The characters are indeed charming, and the portrayal of the blind MC is handled well. I found the insistence that the MC knows he's gay etc. a bit of a stretch given how okay everyone is with that for the setting, but the strangest part was certainly that despite all of that, he has no idea about sex at all? Like, how it might work? He's supposed to be at least 20 or so, not 12, and yet he's never even considered masturbation? Anyway, aside from the parts that require the suspension of copious amounts of disbelief, it's cute.

And no, the ballad it's based on is not used in the end as a plot point (no warning anyone with anyone's death) -- no major character deaths, definite HEA.

[Reader (Show me, don't tell me) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, charming, come of age, did I say hilarious?

I wouldn't really call this a historical because of the modern day overtones in dialogue and behaviour. I must say though that the writer pulled no pity party punches with Elias, the MC who is blind and has a potty mouth as large as Britain. Elias a youth knew he loves men (well one man in particular) is totally clueless about what men in love / courting do with each other.

It was fun to see the innocence of the two youths get stripped away in the most wonderful and romantic way possible. There is a whole lot more that what I've let on here and it's all great.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the cat, the rest was meh. Eli and Augustus are too innocent for words and not at all discreet, asking prostitutes what buggery is. The redcoat is even worse, carrying on with every willing male in the county and everyone in town and in the barracks knows.

If you like over-the-top sassy/snarky characters and you can look past the historical inaccuracies you'll probably enjoy this.

Tags: Disabled - Elias was blind from birth; Georgian/Regency - 1805-ish Not sure precisely, but Lord Nelson is there in a supporting role. As a cat.

[Chanty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was just adorable. The snark between the MC's (and the MC's sister) is so much fun. I just fell in love with Elias. Although blind he is far from helpless. Even when faced with a highwayman who robs him of all his clothes, he still holds his head up high. I loved that his father had no problem with him being gay, as long as his lover had good intentions. His discovery how to achieve an orgasm and what sodomy actually is (and what goes where) is just adorable. I loved the fact that although not descriptive, the sex was hot because the MC's share a connection. Highly recommended.

[Martha H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The MCs were a bit too smart-assed for me; I can only take so much sarcasm and insults. That is my only negative opinion of the writing. The end would have been nice if Bess had gone and left them to honeymoon. Otherwise, I haven't laughed so much in a long time. It was really a great book and I will be reading all of QE' s other books😍

[Vin9 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is satisfying enchanting romance set in pre-Victorian England. The snarky humour present in the novel adds to its charm. The only glitch was that the resolutions at end being resolved too quickly as compared to the gentle pace of the novel. Hope to see more Historical romance from Miss Edeli!

[Verdelite · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the slow first half of the book, especially the bantery dynamic of Eli and the LI.

However, it started dragging in the latter half and I was not a fan of the climax/ending of the book.
Some plot points were never resolved or abandoned. Thus some character actions never really make much sense or seem random.

Still, The Highwayman Came Riding was fun and quite a memorable read.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not really sure whether this book is completely ridiculous and way over the top or really hilarious. Either way, I quite enjoyed it once I decided to just ignore everything that was wrong with this book.

[Skylar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in love with this book at first, but Elias began to grate on my nerves and I found myself wishing he was mute instead of blind. There is a fine line between sassy and obnoxious and he definitely crosses it. The premise was cute, however, and I really enjoyed the beginning.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. For a long story nothing really happened. I enjoyed it but I wished there had been more conflict or action.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Bellbomb Bellbomb · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning was redundant and slow-going so I had to skip a lot to reach the ending. Not the book's fault; I wasn't in the mood for its tone and pace, I think.

[Bridie · Rating 3 out of 5]

More fantastical than historical; Not a complaint.
This was cute, and silly, but mostly cute.

[Sherry F · Rating 2 out of 5]

Skimmed it.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was cute. A little silly, but cute.