I wasn't able to finish the book. I didn't like it or the swearing in it. The word fuck is mentioned more than 50 times and we are talking about a historical romance. It didn't feel like one. The heroine says that word a lot. It's the late 1800's not the 1900's. The heroine's behavior is more suitable to the modern era rather than the time the story is supposed to happen.

I stopped at 35% and by that point, the two main characters had barely seen each other. The scot was not going to bed his wife anytime soon. I didn't like that I had seen so far from both of them. I feel like the blurb is telling half-truths. I wouldn't buy the book for me or a friend.

Sweet, sexy, and enthralling! I enjoyed this book, and kept skipping back to enjoy the sexy bits again. ;-)

I love Kerrigan Byrne. She has a wonderful writing style that beautifully draws you and and expertly makes you feel “the story”. If you have not had a chance to read “The Highlander”, check it out, its one of my favorites!

In this book we find an American impostor, Samantha Masters. Samantha has taken the name of Alison Ross, a Scottish heiress, and is now hiding in the highlands with Alison’s approval to hide from a group of outlaws. She takes on Alison names and claims a piece of property that our hero, Gavin St. James, Earl of Thorne, wants.

This is a good story. These two are very strong characters that know what they want and are not afraid to defend or fight for it. You can’t feel sorry for Gavin, who thinks that Sam will wilt trying to make it on her own in the highlands. Sam knows that this is her only chance to be able to live a life and keep her safety away from those that are looking for her. Her fear is genuine and her frustration at times is heartbreaking.

While it was a good book, the sparks definitely there, there was something that was missing from previous books that I have enjoyed. But it was a good solid read.

Kept me engaged till the end. The growth of the main characters helped move the story and kept the story fresh. Love through forgiveness.

When I first started reading this, I was drawn into the plot right away. Unfortunately, it stopped pulling me in at the third chapter. I lost focus and found myself bored. I really wanted to love this, I did. But I kept tossing it around between love and hate. Samantha’s character is strong and i love her but at times it was too much. She over took the story in ways. There was a lot of push and pull that was interesting to follow but with both of the leads background history and it being completely different it make it confusing to see just how these two would actually make it work. After watching his father treat women so poorly he goes and does it himself. Even though this is something that he cant stand and is made extremely clear right from the start. For me this book was too all over the place.

Let me start off by saying that Kerrigan Byrne is an extremely talented writer and one of my favorite authors. Her 1st three books of the series were excellent. This is the 5th installment of the Victorian Rebels series.

Gavin St. James, Earl of Thorne (who we meet in The Highlander) wants Erradale Estate. Erradale is owned by Alison Ross, a Scottish heiress, who lives in American. While on a train in America, the train is robbed by the Masters Brothers. Samantha Masters (married to one of the Masters brothers) saves Alison but kills her husband. Alison sends Samantha to Scotland to hide her and save Erradale Estate from Gavin. The books starts off as an interesting story with good characters, all set in the Scottish highlands, however IMO it quickly deteriorates.

I was really looking forward to Gavin's story, however, the story failed for me. In an attempt to portray a strong 1800's heroine from the American west, the author misses the mark by giving us an extremely foul-mouthed female lead, who is coarse, unlikable and drops the 'F-bomb' in almost every sentence. There was also missing the feel of a Historical Romance. Dialogue didn't have a Historical feel to it and then with the constant profanity that was thrown in, I became disinterested in the HEA of the two characters and therefore, would give this only a 2.5 star rating.

I read this book some time back so some of my feelings on it are blurred. I remember that I like the fact that Samantha was strong and pretty badass. She didn't put up with anything and didn't need anyone to help her survive. She was a fighter, but she did need Gavin for protection from her past. Gavin is the character that I don't quite remember too much.

This one I agreed to review simply for the fact it mentioned a Scot (because who doesn’t love a good Scottish accent?) and I really wanted to enjoy it. I read the beginning and although it was a bit dark and twisted I could see a close bond between two brothers shining through and was thoroughly interested in the story. I thought I would see this brotherly connection between Liam (or a previous book in this series) Gavin and I was totally wrong. Maybe I’d have had a better idea if I’d actually read any of the previous books in this series, but I was mislead and that really affected my enjoyment.

When the book moved to the present the story just wasn't as interesting. I guess I should have read the summary a bit more closely as it did mention that this was about rogues and criminals. I just wasn't quite prepared for it and found the characters a little absurd and I couldn't connect. I genuinely didn't care for their story and ended up skimming through the book to the end. I probably wouldn't have even done that if I hadn't have gotten an ARC so felt obliged to be able to offer some thoughts on the book.

This book was not for me and I admit I was probably wrong to want to read. If I'd have read the summary I would have known it wouldn’t be what I was thinking in my head and I probably wouldn’t have been as interested in reading. You live and learn, don’t you?

Nice book, but it took me a while to get into the story.

I voluntarily read an advanced reviewers copy of this book

I though that it was a pretty good book. I must admit that it had me sucked in at the beginning learning the back stories of the main characters. I loved how strong both characters were and while they were both fighting to escape their past I loved how great they were when they finally let go and try to trust each other.

The real question is can they both keep their secrets in their past and build a future together? Read and find out!

I truly enjoyed this book. I loved all of the characters and can't wait to read more books by this author. I think I need to go back and read the previous story to answer some question I had about other characters. Thank you for letting me read this book.

WOW just WOW! What a delightful, intriguing and unique book. The author does a superb job of writing a story where the wild west meets the highlander. Her skill at combining these two vastly different lifestyles was handled to perfection.

Shock and heartbroken is what I felt when I read the Prologue and I calmed down somewhat when I got to chapter one but I wasn't surprised what the next twenty-four years did to form Gavin's character. How he could take his childhood and create a life that makes sense to him is the center part of this book and it brought to mind the saying "two sides of the same coin". This saying fits both Gavin's and Samantha's characters.

Meanwhile, chapter two creates a solid basis for Samantha's character which expands to a woman with a multi-faceted personality that will delight the reader. Her hard exterior is balanced by a softness that most people never get to see so this makes her the perfect balance for Gavin darkness.

Gavin's brother, the fearsome Lieutenant Colonel Liam MacKenzie and wife, Mena play a key part in this story. Their story is in The Highlander (#3) and it was as dramatic and well written as this story.

This book is full of people making wrong decisions but finding redemption and love while experiencing forgiveness. For this reason, I give it 5 STARS.

When I first started reading this book, I wasn’t sure what was what. The first chapter, the prologue, was extremely strange. I was wondering if the publishing house attached the wrong cover to the book. The contents of the prologue didn’t match a historical romance book. It was quite gruesome.

Samantha Masters grew up in America’s Wild West. After her parents’ death, she was taken in by a family that worked her hard. She married to escape that life and dreamed of the coast of Oregon. That’s what her husband has promised her…after the Masters Gang pulls their last train heist. When her husband steps into her car and shoots a man dead, Sam makes a decision to save a life and is thrust an opportunity to start over and lay low in Scotland at the behest of Alison Ross. She is to live and work the family land for one year so that Alison can legally retain. Only thing is, Sam enters Scotland as Alison Ross. She is to under no circumstances sell the land or let it fall into the hands of a Mackenzie. Alison agreed she would offer Sam the chance to buy her out so Sam could stay in Scotland.

Gavin St. James is determined to separate himself from his laird brother and his father’s name, Mackenzie. He is divorcing himself from the family name, intending to purchase the Ross lands for cattle business and sell his portion of the distillery back to his brother to cut all ties. He wants to be entirely separate, change his name to his mother’s maiden name, and not be indebted to his laird clansmen. Since his impromptu meeting at the train station didn’t win Alison Ross over to straight out purchase her lands for a godly sum, he sets his sights on wooing her. He is, after all, a more prolific lover across all of England than Casanova and Lord Byron together.

This isn’t your typical Highland read. There’s cussing and LOTS of it. Particularly the f word, used mostly by Sam but also others. When used in conversation as an adjective, it was quite funny dialogue. Otherwise, it was quite a turn-off. As one reviewer put it: “I don’t fuck my husband, and I don’t talk about people fucking each other. It is not a turn-on for me.” I could say the same.

Sam is so confounded and put off by Gavin St. James, or Lord Thorne as he insists. She puts her skills to good use to make something of Alison’s land and scattered herd. She makes it quite clear that Gavin should stay clear off her land, being very handy with her pistols and a better shot than any man. She rallies three local men, all quite different. Two argue and bicker like a married couple, and the third lives in a cave and is Gavin’s friend.

Despite Sam’s equal determination to keep Alison’s land and make something of it, her deceit starts catching up with her. She should be a heroine you dislike or maybe even hate, but it was impossible to dislike Sam. Soon she must make a choice, a choice she readily said she wouldn’t have made if circumstances had been different. Meanwhile, Gavin’s beef with his brother Liam continues to pop up throughout the book and comes to some very heated scenes. Speaking of heated, the Masters Gang sure is heated themselves over the death of one of their own during the train heist. Soon Sam realizes she may have escaped to the ends of the earth where no one will go looking for her…except the Masters. Life becomes dangerous in the Highlands.

This was a very sensuous read – more so than others. Byrne can write with true emotion and realism in steam scenes – and they are steam scenes! The fire and determination that Sam and Gavin both face off with over the Ross property sparks chemistry between them. Just as Sam’s past is catching up with her, so is the present and her deceit.

Predictable plot, but well written and overall an enjoyable read

3.5 stars

I love this series and I feel like each book is getting better and better.This one was a winner for me, I enjoyed it a lot.This book was definitely a surprise. The heroine was the biggest surprise but I ended up really liking her before the end of this book. I wasn't happy with one of the decisions that she made and this make me be a little bit frustrated. But mostly I like it.

I really had a hard time with this book and I really love Kerrigan Byrne. The heroine is just unlikeable and I also had a hard time warming up to her.

I also have issues with concealed identities and she was concealing her identity even though she had the blessing of the Scottish heiress.

It took me a few tries to even get as far as I did in my reading progress. Unfortunately, I just couldn't finish it.

Rebel Highlanders and gun slinging American sets up for a fun read! I did not read any other in the series (I will be now!!) but that did not take away from the story. The characters had depth that makes them relatable and had me rooting for them. Passionate and funny leaving me waiting impatiently for the next book!!

This was the first time I read this author. The romance was solid.