What a fun and original read! Set in Victorian England, this story follows two penny dreadful authors; Fletcher, a made good street urchin and Elizabeth, an all girls’ headmistress who writes under a nom de plume in order to protect her standing with the wealthy class. Full of adventure and mystery, the reader actually gets two stories; that of Fletcher and Elizabeth and their tender romance interwoven with the penny dreadful novels each author was penning. Strong, unique characters. I did have a little difficulty with the slang but it did not detract from the reading. My copy did have some formatting issues that were distracting but that may be because it needed a final edit. Something different from a typical romance set in any period!

I really enjoyed the format of this book - switching back and forth between the main story and the penny dreadful written by the main characters.

Sarah Eden does it again with a book that will delight and entrance readers. Romance, mystery, adventure, monsters...this book has it all. Eden also includes a realistic look at education, the plight of children who live on the street (also known as urchins) and how women are viewed by many men.
Set in 19th century London, this title features Elizabeth Black and Fletcher Walker. Both are authors but of very different types of stories. Elizabeth writes respectable 'silver-fork' novels that focus on the upper-class, while Fletcher writes 'penny-dreadfuls' that appeal more to the lower classes with their low cost and the adventure and mystery they contain. They both have a desire to help those less fortunate than them, and while they have different ways of achieving their goal, they are both successful in their efforts. Elizabeth is the headmistress of a girls school for middle-class families while Fletcher is part of a secret group that rescues urchins from terrible situations. Their paths cross frequently as they go about their business and try to help those around them. They work together to solve a mystery and discover that they make a pretty good team.
I loved this book, it will definitely be one that I recommend and read again and again!

The title is a bit misleading. This isn't about a lady or a highwayman, but about a pair of Victorian writers. Fletcher Walker is reasonably affluent, but he's dragged himself up from the gutter by his bootstraps. His mission now (along with friends in the Dread Penny Society) is to support a 'ragged' school for the poorest children, and also to rescue some of the badly treated ones and send them to that school. He finances this from the proceeds of writing 'penny dreadfuls' but just lately a new author, a Mr King, has become popular enough to threaten Fletcher's sales. What he doesn't know is that respectable Elizabeth Black, headmistress of Thurloe School and renowned author of silver fork novels, also writes pulp fiction under the name of Mr. King. Interspersed with the main story are the penny dreadfuls the two authors are writing. The Lady and the Highwayman is one of those novels.

Apart from a few research blips concerning pre-decimal English coinage, the naming of English streets, and the location of Windsor Castle, this is a very readable story. It's a gentle romance. The characters are engaging and the story fairly rattles along. It's not due out until September 2019, so there may be time to make corrections before the final printing.

I wish Goodreads allowed me the option to give more than 5 stars because oh my gosh I loved this novel! This may be some of Sarah Eden's best work! The characters were fun, but with real life problems. The romance was a slow burn full of witty remarks while facing real danger. I learned more about the Victorian time period and so appreciated the language nuances from that time. Wow this was such a joy to read and I can't wait to recommend it to everyone I know!

Thank you NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for the eARC!

Opening line:

"Rumor had it, Fletcher Walker wasn't born but had simply appeared one day, swaggering down the streets of London."

GUYS! You get the bonus of THREE stories in one with this book!

Fletcher Walker writes a weekly series for the penny dreads (the lower class can buy the paper for a penny) called And Urchins of London Adventure (vampires in this one!). He uses the money to help fund the Dread Penny Society, which helps gets street urchins away from terrible masters and worse fate. Fletcher is street wise, funny, smart and always on the look out to help others.

Elizabeth Black writes "silver fork" stories and she runs a school for the middle-classes girls. She loves her work and loves the girls. She's smart, kind and has a secret. She also writes a weekly series for the penny dreadfuls called The Lady and the Highwayman (there is the cutest romance in this one). But it's under the name Mr. King. She also uses her money to help the children of London.

When the two meet, they are drawn to each other only because of their opposites. Fletcher wasn't expecting a woman of means to be witty and forthright and able to banter with the best of the men. She hadn't expected someone who acted in a higher station be so kind and honest.

They are soon joined together in the mission to help the urchins who are being kidnapped and keeping them safe while also trying to find the circle of people who are taking the kid.
There is only one thing that bothered me and that was someone seemed to drop out of the story about three-fourths of the way into the story. I''m not sure why and maybe it's because he's a secret??

What a cute story. Okay, cute might not be the right adjective, but I loved the main characters and their love story.

Thanks to netgalley for the early read!!

Sarah Eden has created something something refreshingly different in the world of Proper Romance storytelling. Set in Victorian England you meet Fletcher Walker, author of a series of popular penny dreadful novels and Miss Elizabeth Black, headmistress of Thurloe Collegiate School and author of silver-forked novel. Each carries a secret that, should they come out, would destroy their hard won reputations and accomplishments. Eden weaves the tales of these two authors into the end of each chapter, creating two more stories set in between the pages of the main novel. Highly entertaining for the beginning, this is a story you will want to read again and again.

For about the first half of this book, I was ALL in. I loved the opening chapters, I loved the main characters, I loooooved the writing angle. I even enjoyed the parts where we jumped into the stories both authors were working on. I worried at first that those pieces might feel like they were taking me away from the main story, but I ended up enjoying them. Toward the latter half of the book, I became a little less enthralled with the main storyline...I think I wanted to spend more time on the romance and on the authors, well, authoring...rather than sleuthing. :) Not that I didn't enjoy it. Probably just personal taste.

Anyway, I love that I can always count on Sarah M. Eden for a fun read and a unique storyline, and I look forward to whatever she has for us next!

I was excited to receive this book from Netgalley. This was a very enjoyable read. The characters had depth and I enjoyed reading their story.

Romance, clean; period
This was a gorgeous read. I loved the setting, the two stories within the stories, the romance between Fletcher and Elizabeth. The children (urchins) and the society along with the stories behind it all (including Fletcher's back story). Varied and interesting characters, and the tension, the wishing and wanting on both Elizabeth and Fletcher's parts, made this a interesting and fun, unique read.
Elizabeth and Fletcher's story and their fall was lovely, they were both honest hearts, my favorite kind of romance, with some hurts and needs that made their story fun, unique, and so compelling. The setting and backstory of these characters is unique and made this for me as a reader. S.E. does a great job varying her settings, and I love she chose the penny dreadfuls, the school, and the street children for this one. Social justice, a lovely romance, and pulling together to overcome the obstacles and criminals.

This was really fun, not life changing, not hyper-engaging, but a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Sarah Eden has created a truly original novel with 'The Lady and the Highwayman'. Intriguing Victorian mystery interlaced with two penny dreadful novels. Elizabeth Black, well bred headmistress, of a girls school meets Fletcher Walker, street urchin, who has risen from the gutters to better himself. In Elizabeth, Eden creates a witty and courageous character, who falls for Fletcher, although he is not your typical well bred gentleman. Creative twist on a Victorian mystery romance. Well worth the read!

Set in Victorian England, this story is really 3 in one. Both our main characters are writers who write penny dreadful stories-stories that are written in installments and sold for a penny so all can enjoy. While the Victorian period is not my normal reading choice, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The way Eden is able to interweave the penny dreadfuls with the main story was well done.
I was amazed at how well the book came together. It was a mystery, romance and 3 compelling stories woven together by a master writer. The characters were diverse and unique, while real enough to pull on the reader's heartstrings. The back stories of both our main characters were well developed so their actions were believable. This is definitely a book I will recommend to my friends!

An interesting premise for a Victorian novel.

What stood out to me the most was the setting and the characters. The setting is very realistic in the way it depicts the social issues, especially those of children.

Both Elizabeth and Fletcher try to do what they can to alleviate the conditions of children; she with the school for girls and he with saving street urchins. For Fletcher, it's more personal since he was one of those children. but he's moved past that and uses the money from the sales of the penny dreadful novels he writes to save those in bad conditions.

Elizabeth too is a writer and writes both high-class novels and penny dreadful stories under a pen name, and she too uses money from her sales to fund her school.

As ill-suited to each other Elizabeth and Fletcher may look, they are actually perfect for each other. I liked the way they developed a friendship first and then fell in love as they discovered more about the other.

I also liked the stories they write and it was fun to see my name in an historical.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

What a couple of charming characters! Independently, Fletcher and Elizabeth are a delight. As a team they're unbeatable! Fletcher is clever, scrappy, and aggressively compassionate. Elizabeth is intrepid in the inestimable interests within her heart. She's no slouch in the brain box department either. Together these two brilliantly find ways to save urchins off the streets of Victorian London and discover a few things about each other in the process.
I hope the story of these characters will continue in installments not unlike the Penny Dreadfuls that feature prominently in the book.

This was the most interesting book I've read in a long time, and that's saying a lot coming from someone who reads approximately 5 books a week.
I loved how in reading this book I was actually reading three stories- the main story and the two main characters penny dreadful stories. I enjoyed the characters acceptance of all the differences they all had ie.. Low class birth, being a woman, skin color,financial difficulties in the upper class etc.
There was excitement and danger, romance and acceptance. All in all a wonderful tale!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book, in exchange for my honest opinion. This will be available to purchase on September third.

This book is a mixed bag for me. There were things that I thought were done well, but others just didn’t work. I was at a bit of a disadvantage with this book anyway, because I don’t read romance. I was hoping it’d be more historical swashbuckling adventure and slightly less on the heaving bosoms and fluttering hearts. Alas, if I had anything remotely resembling a heart, I might have enjoyed this more.

I thought Fletcher and his Dread Penny Society misfits were interesting. That he used his success as a penny-dreadful author to fund endeavors to improve the life of poverty-stricken children made him a multilayered character. Elizabeth, though, was boring. I hated reading the parts written from her perspective.

I did like the cat-and-mouse aspect of the book. It added some fun and made the story move along nicely. What I didn’t like were the random chapters of each character’s separate penny dreadful that were interspersed throughout the book. It kept grinding the story to a halt, taking me out of what was happening to the characters at the time.

All in all, this book wasn’t for me, but if you’re into romance with some other stuff thrown in for good measure, you might really enjoy it. I just needed more buckling of swash, and less of the syrupy sweet romance.

This was a complimentary copy from netgalley - thank you

Loved this

I've not read anything by this author before but loved the novel within a novel device - took a little bit of time to get used to but stick with it - its worth it !

I certainly would recommend this as a book club book as it has lots of threads which would lend well to discuss. The threads are a bit dark but really enjoyed the elements

Great holiday read

I'll be re-reading this as well as there is a lot of detail here - great descriptions - that would lend well to going over again - great depth

Look forward to more from this author

The Lady and the Highwayman is a complex storyline with well developed characters. The book is well written and is entertaining.

Fletcher Walker has pulled himself from the gutter to be a successful writer of penny dreadfuls, but a mysterious Mr. King has knocked him from the top. Elizabeth Black, the headmistress of a girls school, has kept the secret of her nom de plume safe to preserve her reputation. Concern for those less fortunate than these two together and then love starts to blossom.

I loved this from start to finish. Not only do we have a lady who conforms to the standards expected of her, bending the rules when she can safely do so, but we also have a hero who has bettered himself and his doing what he can for those who are in the same situation he once was. These two play off each other beautifully, complimenting each other to perfection.

We also have excerpts of their respective “penny dreadfuls” they are writing. We see how real events inspire their writing. The only thing I didn't like was the supernatural aspects of the penny dreadfuls, which I understand was typical of the stories.

The side characters were varied and interesting. I dearly hope the author intends to write more in this world!

I would recommend this to readers looking for a Victorian romance with plenty of adventure and mystery. I received a free copy for reviewing purposes from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.