The Lord of the Highwaymen by Elizabeth Bramwell

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Hearts & Highways, #1

Release Date: July 30, 2020

The Honorable William Haddington, the heir to Viscount Haddington has loved Amelia “Amy”, Baroness Fellows for as long as he can remember and has already lost her once. Now that she is out of mourning, he doesn’t intend to let her get away again, but really has no idea how to woo her. With the help of his friends, he plans to tell her his true feelings at the masked ball they will both be attending.

Amelia has loved William since she was a girl, but her family need money and her father assured her that William’s father would never let his heir wed her and insisted that she marry Baron Fellows, a man old enough to be her grandfather. And to her surprise, she cared deeply for the Baron, who was a dear friend to her and taught her much about life. But as much as she cared for him, her heart longs for William and now that she has reentered society, she plans to let William know how she feels.

After much to-do and a nasty encounter with her step-son Archibald, they finally meet up in the conservatory at Lady Melbourne’s Masked Ball and from there William’s well thought out plan crumbles and Amelia leaves in a huff. Things don’t look good for our would-be lovers, but with the help of their friends, a wager and a highwayman – they might just find their HEA.

This was a fast paced, well written novella with likeable characters, sweet (kisses only) love scenes, interesting secondary characters and [I assume] a storyline that will continue in future installments. I would have preferred a little more steam and a bit more build up to the next novella since there were things that were not addressed in this installment that left me feeling a bit bewildered and the story incomplete. This is the first book in a new series and I assume that stories will be interconnected and have an ongoing storyline.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*