An enjoyable read. I was given The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley.

2.75 stars.
Sir Fredrick seemed a tad interesting, but the other characters were boring and i did not feel dragged into the story at all.

This series of five books is complete. I had read #4 not long ago, but I’m so glad I took the chance to binge read the whole series in a week when I received the final ARC. You can read them as individual books, but the stories are so tightly interwoven that you really should get the whole five-story plot arc together.

And, while billed as “proper romance”, the romance is not, in my mind, the focus of the stories. There are mysteries to solve—each of the first four books lead us into the final showdown.

One common theme of this series is that everyone has a past that has made them who they are. For the most part, difficult pasts have led the focus characters to fight for right and to help the downtrodden, in a society that is still very much run by class.

We begin with a schoolmistress and a former street urchin turned author of “penny dreadfuls”, the lower-class literature that thrilled and entertained. But he’s also a member of a secret society of penny dreadful authors who fight crime (while sometimes committing a few crimes of their own in pursuit of the greater good).

We move on to a music teacher and a gentleman who also writes penny dreadfuls. Then to a bookseller/Russian émigré and an Irishman—again, a writer. And a doctor/writer and his secret wife, who comes from a crime family.

We end with the oddest pairing of all—a woman who committed murder and a police constable.

The mysteries are intriguing. As we learn more and more of the criminal mastermind, the fearsome Tempest, we also learn more of what makes our characters tick. The entire series plays out in a little over a year, and it is nice to be able to follow the aftermath of the prior books as each book moves along. Unlike some series romance, prior characters still play a part beyond name-dropping.

I especially looked forward to the final volume, as I wanted so much to know the why and the how of the formation of the Dread Penny Society. While this was explained, I felt like there could have been more. Likewise with the why of the Tempest’s quest for revenge, and why one particular traitor sold out the Dreadfuls.

I think the elements of intrigue were well-balanced with the romances. These were romances that were allowed to develop, based on admiration and companionship. Each had a reason why it might be impractical, but, despite danger and turmoil, love won the day.

There were many well-developed secondary characters in addition to the ten romantic leads. The street urchins, others of the Dreadfuls, family members—all added to the depth of worldbuilding.

As with other books published by Shadow Mountain, there is no cursing and the narration of the romantic interludes doesn’t progress beyond kissing.

One more note: Each of these books, in addition to the main narrative, contains two “penny dreadful” stories that parallel the main story. So Eden was really writing three stories every time!

Possible Objectionable Material:

Foul play, including thievery and murder, fighting, perilous situations, dishonesty, poverty.

Who Might Like These Books:

Fans of clean romance, Victorian London, mystery and adventure.

These books are also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-penny-dreadful-for-your-thoughts.html

Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing and NetGalley for providing ARCs of these books in exchange for my honest opinion.

A great Covid read. Very immersive and I felt like I was there… which I heavily enjoyed! I also think the cover is GORGEOUS.

Eden's voice is one of the freshest in inspirational regencies!! Never failing to provide the humour, immersive setting and banter I love ... as well as her trademark intelligent heroines and dashing heroes. She is an auto-buy for me!! A perfect homage to tropes of yore!

Sarah M Eden is always a hit, I loved the way this book was put together, the different points of views and stories. Great read!

This was a fun story. I really liked the characters. Elizabeth and Fletcher were a cute couple that had to deal with class differences impeding their relationship. The Dread Penny society and the diversity of its members lends itself to the potential for more stories featuring other members.
I am thrilled that this is a series!

Oh, man. The book ended. I'm not quite sure I was ready for that. It could have gone on and on, I would have been perfectly content.

In this romance, you get three stories in one. You have the main story of Elizabeth and Fletcher, then there is the "Penny Dreadfuls" - stories that the common folk could purchase that wasn't considered proper literature. (I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed them.) Fletcher knows that there is an author competing for the top rung of the publishing ladder, he knows it is Mr. King, he just doesn't know that Mr. King is Elizabeth. It makes for an interesting dynamic. She is aware of who he is, he just doesn't realize who she is.

The main draw of the book was that both are committed to helping children. Elizabeth runs a school for girls from the middle class and Fletcher removes street urchins from dangerous situations and takes them to a school for the lowest class of people. His work leads to situations that dangerous and tricky. Elizabeth is up to any of the challenges that he throws at her. They are a formidable team.

I can't say that there is anything that I didn't love about this book. It is a different writing style for Sarah Eden, I hope to see more of this in the future. I wouldn't object to some "Penny Dreadfuls" thrown in for good measure.

This book contains kissing and non-graphic violence.

Source: I received a complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This was a fun romp through Victorian England. I loved both of the characters and the romance between them, and I really enjoyed reading the penny dreadfuls they were writing.

The Lady & the highwayman is a historical romance set in 1865 London.

The main protagonists are Fletcher Walker, writer, who grew up in the streets and made his life his own when he became the successful writer. He is also in the Dread Penny Society that fights for the kids who are just like what he used to be - street urchin.. Elizabeth Black, also known as Mr. Charles King (because the women of the time are not to have a scandalous occupation as a writer), is the headmistress at all girls school. Mr. King, the supposed man, is Fletchers biggest author rival by stealing sales that help fund the Dread Penny society.

This is a very original style of book. It’s actually 3 books in one-kind of. There is the main story and then both writers are writing a story. I wasn’t sure how clear this would be, but I was amazed at how fun this romance was.

The protagonists had chemistry. Elizabeth had the upper hand by knowing Fletcher and being secretly King. I thought that it was fairly obvious that Elizabeth was Mr. King, but Fletcher had Elizabeth on the brain and totally missed it. Great book, as always.

Thank you Shadow Mountain Publishing and Netgalley for providing me the chance to read this penny dreadful within a penny dreadful.
I normally devour penny dreadfuls and anything set in the completely gothic, gaslit era of Jack the Ripper (though this novel is set in an earlier Victorian decade). I admit it took me a little while to get into the book and I wasn't really very invested in the characters at first. I found the novel within a novel a bit distracting, although original. The romance was...pretty tame (I'm all for a clean romance, but there still has to be piquancy and palpable sexual tension), but the dialogue between Fletcher and Elizabeth wasn't without wit. their banter was cute. On the whole, the book was well written and well researched, but completely put-downable. A sold 3.5 stars for me.

Book one in The Proper Romance Victorian series a well written story, by an Author I have not read before. This is Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a girls’ school in 1830s Victorian London and Fletcher Walker's of two Authors and a secret identity. I enjoyed reading. I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

The Lady and the Highwayman is set in the alleyways of London, just after the American Civil War, featuring a new cast of characters from Eden that hold new adventures and new life.

Like a new spin on a Dicken's tale, the Lady and the Highwayman is very different from this author's pace and it did her credit. While immersed, I tended to forget that this adventurous new tale was written by the same woman who has given me a love for regency. It's no surprise that given the chance she'll turn me to Victorian.

Gah but I love this book! It tells the tale of authors who sold books by the chapter, in the same way as Mr. Charles Dickens did. And these authors have their own society, a secret society in which they help poor and suffering people.

We the readers also get a taste of their books. Every couple of chapters we got a chapter of the Lady and the Highwayman, the book written by our heroine Elizabeth. Unfortunately, there is one element of the whole book i didn't really like very much.

There are two POV's, Fletcher's and Elizabeth's, plus Elizabeth's book (the Lady and the Highwayman which lends as the title of the story) PLUS Fletcher's book. Too many things going on at the same time. I didn't see the point in Fletcher's book about a vampire chasing two orphan kids. It just added more chaos and confusion to the already triple POV. I didn't like that at all. Two books within a book about two authors was a bit much.

I do look forward to more in this series, following Fletcher's fellow authors

I enjoyed that there were multiple stories in one. I enjoy stories about authors so this was a fun read for me.

This story was so well written and so different from other regency romance books. I loved it! It was a great balance of suspense and romance with well developed and unique characters. I would definitely recommend this book!

Ms Eden has so much talent-essentially there are three books in one but it’s all part of the main story. Excellent writing! Excellent story telling and excellent characters! This is probably my most favorite book to date written by this author. Superb!!!

In many ways, this reminded me of Sarah Eden’s earlier book, “Ashes on the Moor.” The history of the time period almost takes more priority than the story or even the romance of the plot. That’s not a complaint - just an observation.

The tone also reminds me of Nancy Campbell Allen’s Steampunk Fairy Tales, which are also part of the Proper Romance line. The adventure of the story is even more exciting than the love story, though neither get shoved aside for the other. I guess what I’m saying is that this is a good blend of several different genres. Sort of how real penny dreadfuls operate. Adventure, intrigue, romance, and a lot of fun.

This was so silly and dorky and cheesy! I did not handle reading this well mostly because it kept me giggling the whole freaking time

I was pleasantly surprised at the complexity and page-turning élan of Sarah M. Eden’s The Lady and the Highwayman. Eden is a new-to-me author and I’m glad I’ve discovered her romances; this first read won’t be my last, thanks to her robust backlist.

Victorian-set among the humble and working-class, Eden’s thriller-melodrama-romance boasts a former-“guttersnipe” hero, now successful penny dreadful author, and girls-school headmistress heroine. Fletcher Walker struts the streets of 1865-London with the swagger of a man who brought himself out of the gutter and into success. But Fletcher is not an advocate of the every-man-is-an-economic-island making his own way in the world. He is the defender, rescuer, and fighter for the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable of London’s invisible people, the widowed, fatherless, and orphaned; the sweep’s agony, the harlot’s cry come under Fletcher’s protection and his penned stories tell of their pathos, endurance, and spunky survival, the importance of helping one another, and defending those who cannot defend themselves. His author’s income isn’t for himself alone, but largely given to the poorest of the poor.

In the meanwhile, Miss Elizabeth Black, in more rarefied circumstances as Thurloe Collegiate School’s headmistress, does the same for faculty and students, running her school and penning, by day, respectable novels for Victorian ladies; by night, she turns her pen to her penny dreadful pen name, “Mr King,” and his tales of distressed damsels’ displays of bravery and intelligence, as well as finding true love, a rival to Fletcher’s success and income. What is marvelous about Fletcher and Elizabeth is their incomes are not for themselves alone, but for the use of Fletcher’s fellow-band-of-urban-Robin-Hoods, the “Dread Penny Society, and Elizabeth’s faculty, servants, and students, respectively. Eden’s thriller-romance doesn’t rescind an iota of humor, banter, suspense or adventure to tell a tale of Victorian bleakness and suffering. Fletcher and Elizabeth are as witty and romantic as they are morally and socially conscious. (Their band of merry-men-and-women made this reader sequel-salivate with their possibilities.) It’s wonderful to read about good people doing good without making them saintly-boring.

Eden’s Lady and Highwayman also offers three-interwoven narratives: how Elizabeth and Fletcher meet to fight evil and rescue children, fall in love, enact their authorial rivalries, as well as their fictional creations’ adventures: Elizabeth’s eponymous penny-dreadful novel, “The Lady and the Highwayman,” and Fletcher’s adventure story of two urchins foiling and destroying a vampire to rescue their street-urchin buddies. The staid Miss Elizabeth Black yearns for adventure herself and it arrives in the form of Fletcher Walker when he elicits her help in discovering the identity of the mysterious Mr. King, Eden showing as sure a hand at this lovely touch of irony as she does at everything else.

Elizabeth and Fletcher are soon embroiled in saving girls from exploitative procurers and rescuing sweeps from abusive criminals. They maintain a teasing banter, an affectionate counterpoint, a tender repartee until the final, glorious saucy HEA, serving justice and making a delightful feminist point. Eden’s propensity for suspense, adventure, and twirling mustachioed villains too often takes precedence over Fletcher and Elizabeth’s wonderful budding romance, but I loved them so, and Fletcher’s fellow Dread Penny Society’s band of merry brothers equally, and the orphans, flower sellers, and sweeps I took to heart. Eden builds a marvelous world of the good, the bad, and the deserving, of justice, love, and fellowship, breaking barriers between low- and high-born and between common and high literature. With Miss Austen, I find in Eden’s Lady and Highwayman “no charm equal to tenderness of heart,” Emma.

Sarah M. Eden’s The Lady and the Highwayman came out in September of 2019 and I’m sorry I waited as long as I did to read it. It is published by Shadow Mountain Publishing and may be found at your preferred vendor. I received an e-galley from Shadow Mountain via Netgalley.

This was a fun and sweet story to read! I love every single one of Sarah M Eden’s novels, and I found this one quite different, but always refreshing and truly enjoyable!
Elizabeth Walker is the headmistress of a girls school in London in early 19th century. But she’s also a well known writer of “silver-fork” novels for upper-class ladies of victorian society. But what nobody knows is that she also secretly writes Penny Dreadful novels, with the pseudonim of Charles King, that are very popular among working-class men. That's where she really pours her love for adventure and excitement that her ordinary life seems to lack. That is, until she meets Fletcher and her life starts to feel like she stepped right into one of her Dreadful Penny novels.
Fletcher has earned his prestige as the most succesful Dreadful Penny novelist. But then, Charles King becomes quite popular and robs him of his readers. He, along with the Dreadful Penny Society of authors, determine to find out who is Charles King to see if he’s an asset or their worst enemy and competition. So that’s when Fletcher approaches the popular Miss Black, who seems to have connections and may help him discover the real identity of this new best selling author. Elizabeth agrees, if only to throw him off her path, but she never expects that this new relationship will quickly grow into something more. But there’s the chasm between their social standings, and the fear of what he will do when he discovers her true identity… Will love prevail over this mayhem or will it be their undoing?
I was totally engaged by this novel. The plot was fast paced and I was picqued to know how Elizabeth would manage to keep deceiving Fletcher, and how would things turn out when he finally discovers her ruse. He had to right? In fact, it felt like the chase of a cat and a mouse and while there was a touch of intrigue and mystery, the funny moments made it all the more enjoyable and relaxing. I totally fell in love with the characters, and I loved their dialogues and witty banter, always characteristic of Ms Eden’s characters. The romance was sweet, clean and endearing. I was totally rooting for their Happily Ever After, which seemed almost impossible to grasp.
I definitely recommend this novel. I had a wonderful time reading it!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest and unbiased review.