The Highlander is a wackadoodle crazysauce “historical” romance. You can totally judge this book by its cover, which features a kilt, a partially unbuttoned shirt, a dress from the antebellum South, and the kind of sunset you only get after nuclear weapons have been discharged. I loved it to bits.
The book has an extremely high squick factor, especially in the first two chapters. The prologue involves a disposable sex worker being disposed of. (Hello, offensive trope). In the first chapter, the heroine, who is in a mental asylum, is tortured and nearly raped. Other trigger warnings go out for child and pet abuse (described when Liam – our improbably Irish-named hero — discusses his childhood). Once the reader gets past the first chapter, things do lighten up considerably, thank goodness.
Philomena, our heroine, is in the mental institution because her evil abusive husband put her there, even though he knows perfectly well that she is not insane. Philomena is saved from rape in the asylum in the nick of time by Dorian Blackwell (from Byrne’s book The Highwayman) and Christopher Argent (from The Hunter). Many plot points were lost on me because I have not read The Hunter, a book in which apparently Philomena does something heroic and earns the loyalty of both Dorian and Christopher’s wives.
After the rescue, said wives decide to have Philomena go by the name “Mena” and assume a new identity as a governess. She will work for, I shit you not, Lieutenant Colonel Liam Mackenzie, The Demon Highlander, Laird of the Mackenzie Clan (imagine writing all that on a check). Needless to say, Mena is terrified of The Demon Highlander, but she cannot resist his kilt-clad muscled thighs, and he cannot resist her large bosom.
A digression: I have a large bosom as well as “generous hips” and a rather enormous ass. I also have a roly-poly, saggy, big belly. I detest it. All my efforts at achieving an attitude of feminist body positivity crash and burn as soon as I regard my tummy. This leads me to point out that there are tons of “curvy in just the right places,” “voluptuous,” and “well-endowed” heroines in romance. Can’t they ever have large bellies to match? Every time a heroine worries about her weight it turns out that she just has a big bosom and wide hips. Where’s the tummy love?
ANYWAY, Mena’s big problem is that she doesn’t want to tell Liam that she is on the run from an increasingly inconvenient husband. Liam’s big problem is that he has a horrible legacy of trauma to work through, is trying to be a non-abusive father to his children (spoiler alert – he’s very good at it) and he’s trying not to just whisk Mena off to the moors to have his way with her. Liam gets a lot of points in this book for basic decency, which is only allowable because his past was so awful that basic decency is a significant accomplishment. Complicating their romance is a ghost that roams the halls of Ravencroft Keep – did I mention that the handsome widower Lieutenant Colonel Liam Mackenzie lives at Ravencroft Keep? Well, he does. Also there’s a puppy (it doesn’t die – it’s fine).
I don’t consider this kind of romance to be historical; it’s more of a fantasy. I’m here for the general sense of old school crazysauce, and I love how Kerrigan Byrne writes it. She keeps all the elements that are so delightful about Old School mayhem – broken-down carriages, heroines with hair “like a garnet cabernet,” ghosts, melodrama — you name it, but she leaves out the rapey heroes (alpha yes, rapey no) and turns on the feminism. The story combines all of the familiar elements of old-school crazysauce but with a much more explicitly modern feminist slant and focus on the female characters’ empowerment. Watching Mena come into her own and assert herself is truly delightful, as is the theme of women helping women. Above all, the book is just a ton of fun.
I did not like this book as much as I liked Byrne’s first book, The Highwayman (as I mentioned, I haven’t read The Hunter). I thought the construction of The Highlander was not as tight, and that certain triggery scenes, particularly the first section of Chapter One, were gratuitous and problematic. I was also taken aback by the fate of Mena’s abusive husband. I can’t say that I felt sad, as that character was reprehensible in every possible way, but I was taken aback. I also disliked the plot device wherein all conflict would be resolved if Mena just told Liam about her husband.
For the most part, though, this book was a fun diversion for me during a difficult time. Other than her inability to convey important information, Mena is an intensely relatable character and I loved watching her build a supportive community around herself. If you enjoy the kind of romances that include lines like “Dark waves of hair hung long and heavy with moisture down his back, and menace rolled off the mountains of his shoulders in palpable waves” then you’ll like this book.
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“… that certain triggery scenes, particularly the first section of Chapter One, were gratuitous and problematic.”
I feel like this is my problem with a lot of narratives, not in that I find these things triggering myself, but that they’re used so often as shorthand for Woman in Peril to Raise the Stakes ™ that they feel like lazy storytelling. Like, if one of your main characters is a woman, and you need her to be imperiled or whatever, you clearly have to have her either raped or ALMOST raped.
I was having a discussion about this with someone who “challenged” me to come up with other ways a woman can experience emotional and physical turmoil in a story, and it’s like… yeah, it’s a horrible experience, I’m not disputing that. I’m just saying using it as a constant fallback in storytelling has reduced its impact to a cheap shock tactic that also has the side-effect of ignoring other events that can be used to impart danger or emotional upheaval to a character. Men get the people they love threatened and put in danger, have to make choices that are hard and hurtful, and more… and women in stories can experience those things too. Rape shouldn’t be the default trauma or tragedy, but it’s trotted out so much that it has, and I feel like a lot of stories and characters are weaker for it. (Not that surviving rape is “weak”, but that relying on common tropes instead of thinking up more scenarios and situations can rob your narrative of more value it could have had.)
Ok–book is not for me, AND I know I should reserve this for Cover Snark, but is the hero indulging in Catholic school girl cos-play? ‘Cos that’s what that so-called kilt ensemble makes me think of.
You really need to read The Hunter. The plot hole filling would have helped make some of the horrible stuff make more sense in context (more explanation on Mena’s horrible husband) – and it’s my personal favorite in the series.
Total tangent from the book, but apropos tummy love: Alan Furst’s Mission to Paris includes an undressing scene where the hero explicitly appreciates the belly (as well as hips, thighs, etc. ahem) of the heroine. Also, Sebastian Faulks’ Charlotte Gray has a heroine who hates her little rolls of tummy fat, but finds that they delight her lover, to her intense embarrassment.
Carrie, your reviews NEVER fail to make me laugh out loud! I’m fangirling over this book AND I AIN’T EVEN READ THE DAMN THING YET!
Which reminds me.
*One-clicks because I have no willpower or self-control.*
I misread “an increasingly inconvenient husband” as “an increasingly incontinent husband”. I’ve spent the last couple of minutes sniggering quietly to myself and trying to disguise it as a cough when people walk by.
@DiscoDollyDeb: At least they got the plaid right. I was just curious enough to google it.
@Hillary617 True story: my whole day was made better by that lol-tasticness. The visuals, man. THE VISUALS!
Where is the tummy love, indeed?! We need us a Rec League for heroines with lovely soft curves in all places (not just the “right” ones. really? some curves are left? some curves are incorrect? what about a curve in the middle of my ear, is that acceptable?) and heroes who appreciate them.
LOVED the highwayman. I want to read the others including this one but they exceed the amount I’m willing to pay for an ebook so I continue to wait for them to go on sale.
I Absolutely agree with Deet above that The Hunter is the best of this series. I highly recommend it over this book or The Highwayman. I think it has the most original storyline and the best drawn characters.
YUS! Love this series and author. You’re so spot on about it having the perfect amount of crazysauce
I want to say I’ve read books where heroines were uncomfortable about their tummy region and the hero did no skipping over it in the undressing portion. Unfortunately, I’m not remembering exact titles, but I would have to say Lani Lynn Vale and, probably, Kristen Ashley are the authors. There’s probably an Amanda Quick book or two that hits upon that aspect as well. She frequently has unconventional heroines with looks that are not society-approved.
I’ve been meaning to read Kerrigan Byrne, but I just haven’t gotten there, yet. But, she’s one of my options to expand my historical author options.
I’m in the middle of this book right now, and the beginning didn’t bother me because it’s basically a consequence of what happens at the end of The Hunter, but it’s not my favorite of the 3 because it annoys me that Mena thinks she can’t tell that she’s married even though she already knows all kinds of secrets about Liam and his family and he’s already figured some stuff out about her past. What, like he’s gonna stop wanting to fill his hands with her bountiful bosom because she’s got a douchbag husband back in England? Puhlease.
That said, there’s still a very good chance I will be up until 2am finishing this because I love the crazysauce so so much.
I love historicals but I am all about the history, not the crazysauce. Thanks to your review I know this book would drive me crazy. I am grateful!
I loved the Highwayman and actually paid $7.99 for it although its way above my budget for a book. Was waiting for an excuse to buy the others – (ahem…) which I got with *cough* two reviewers saying they loved The Hunter, Carrie’s excellent review of the Highlander and of course the fact the price of The Hunter has dropped to $5.68.
Ahhh self control … why hast thou deserted me?
I want to say that Jennifer Crusie has a book where the heroine has a tummy, Bet Me, but it’s been so long since I read it that I’m not sure. I do remember that she’s a fuller-figured heroine, and donuts play a big part in the book.
@Dora – Yes to everything you just said re:rape as how to raise the emotional stakes. It’s the cheap way to do it, instead of going for something more personal to the character, and I am getting quicker and quicker at walking away from books/movies/TV shows that use it. I want to yell at those writers to pick some other hardship or trauma, because while rape and sexual assault aren’t uncommon, it’s not my assault that shaped who I am. It’s a whole lot of other things, and falling back on rape feels…I don’t know. It makes me feel like the woman’s sexuality is seen as the most important part of her in the story.