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At the Highwayman's Pleasure
CAPTIVATED BY THE DARK RIDER…
Embittered by injustice, Ross Durden leads a double life: gentleman farmer by day, roguish highwayman by night. He has sworn to right the wrongs of the past, but danger lurks around every corner—not least when he sets eyes on the beautiful daughter of his sworn enemy.
Celebrated actress Charity Weston is no stranger to disguises herself. But when a darkly daring masked man steals a kiss, she is drawn into a web of intrigue even she could never have imagined.
Embittered by injustice, Ross Durden leads a double life: gentleman farmer by day, roguish highwayman by night. He has sworn to right the wrongs of the past, but danger lurks around every corner—not least when he sets eyes on the beautiful daughter of his sworn enemy.
Celebrated actress Charity Weston is no stranger to disguises herself. But when a darkly daring masked man steals a kiss, she is drawn into a web of intrigue even she could never have imagined.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
About the author
Sarah Mallory
211 books112 followersSarah Mallory is the pen name for Melinda Hammond.
Born in Bristol, England, UK, she grew up telling stories. She would make up adventures to relate to her school friends during break times and lunch hours, and she was once caught scribbling a story instead of listening to the French lesson. As a punishment, her teacher made her translate the story into French! She left school at sixteen and worked in offices as varied as stockbrokers, marine engineers, insurance brokers, biscuit manufacturers and even a quarrying company.
She married at nineteen, but continued to work until the birth of her first child. It was at that time that she decided to try her hand at her first love—writing, and shortly after the birth of her daughter she had her first book, Fortune's Lady, published under the pen name of Melinda Hammond. This was quickly followed by two more historical novels, Summer Charade and Autumn Bride, but with the birth of her twin sons the demands of family life meant that writing had to take a backseat for a few years. A compulsive scribbler, she never stopped writing and continued to work on research for her novels, experimenting with contemporary scenarios as well as writing pantomimes for her children's school. In 1989 the family moved to an isolated Pennine farmhouse in West Yorkshire, not far from Brontë country, where the family expanded to include a dog, two gerbils and a dozen chickens. The growing family needed funding and she went back to work full-time. The writing had to be put on hold.
Then, in March 2000, Sarah stepped off a curb and landed in hospital with one ankle broken and one badly sprained. This laid her up on a sofa for twelve weeks and gave her the time she needed to finish a novel. She wrote as Melinda Hammond and Maid of Honour was published the same year. Since then she has never looked back. She's published more than a dozen books under this pen name and has won the Reviewers' Choice Award in 2005 from Singletitles.com for Dance for a Diamond. Her novel Gentlemen in Question was a Historical Novel Society Editors' Choice Title in November 2006. In 2012 her novel The Dangerous Lord Darrington won the Love Story of the Year by the Romantic Novelists' Association. She is now concentrating on writing romantic historical adventures for Mills & Boon.
Born in Bristol, England, UK, she grew up telling stories. She would make up adventures to relate to her school friends during break times and lunch hours, and she was once caught scribbling a story instead of listening to the French lesson. As a punishment, her teacher made her translate the story into French! She left school at sixteen and worked in offices as varied as stockbrokers, marine engineers, insurance brokers, biscuit manufacturers and even a quarrying company.
She married at nineteen, but continued to work until the birth of her first child. It was at that time that she decided to try her hand at her first love—writing, and shortly after the birth of her daughter she had her first book, Fortune's Lady, published under the pen name of Melinda Hammond. This was quickly followed by two more historical novels, Summer Charade and Autumn Bride, but with the birth of her twin sons the demands of family life meant that writing had to take a backseat for a few years. A compulsive scribbler, she never stopped writing and continued to work on research for her novels, experimenting with contemporary scenarios as well as writing pantomimes for her children's school. In 1989 the family moved to an isolated Pennine farmhouse in West Yorkshire, not far from Brontë country, where the family expanded to include a dog, two gerbils and a dozen chickens. The growing family needed funding and she went back to work full-time. The writing had to be put on hold.
Then, in March 2000, Sarah stepped off a curb and landed in hospital with one ankle broken and one badly sprained. This laid her up on a sofa for twelve weeks and gave her the time she needed to finish a novel. She wrote as Melinda Hammond and Maid of Honour was published the same year. Since then she has never looked back. She's published more than a dozen books under this pen name and has won the Reviewers' Choice Award in 2005 from Singletitles.com for Dance for a Diamond. Her novel Gentlemen in Question was a Historical Novel Society Editors' Choice Title in November 2006. In 2012 her novel The Dangerous Lord Darrington won the Love Story of the Year by the Romantic Novelists' Association. She is now concentrating on writing romantic historical adventures for Mills & Boon.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 8, 2014
3 1/2 Stars
Setting: Regency England
Steam factor: Mild-Hot
Charity Weston who is an actress in the London theatre is restless and bored. So she decides to up and leave for the country theatre. The only sour note to this is the proximity to her abusive father who is the magistrate of the neighbouring town. On her way there, she meets the infamous highwayman the "Dark Rider." The mysterious man just happens to steal a kiss from her, and the heat flares deep but Charity has no room in her life for such a scoundrel. Charity is soon a big sensation at the new theatre with plenty of admirers, but it's the antisocial ex-sea captain Ross Durden who captures her interest. But when the truth of their secret identities comes out, they then find themselves adversaries.
Yet it is Charity who will risk all to save Ross from the enemies.
For fans of Regency Romance this story/plot of an actress and her highwayman is laced with revenge,redemption,and spicy romance. I enjoyed the characters and the plot twists in the story, but I felt the action in it to be off the mark at times. But for only that little quibble I gave it a half more star.
Setting: Regency England
Steam factor: Mild-Hot
Charity Weston who is an actress in the London theatre is restless and bored. So she decides to up and leave for the country theatre. The only sour note to this is the proximity to her abusive father who is the magistrate of the neighbouring town. On her way there, she meets the infamous highwayman the "Dark Rider." The mysterious man just happens to steal a kiss from her, and the heat flares deep but Charity has no room in her life for such a scoundrel. Charity is soon a big sensation at the new theatre with plenty of admirers, but it's the antisocial ex-sea captain Ross Durden who captures her interest. But when the truth of their secret identities comes out, they then find themselves adversaries.
Yet it is Charity who will risk all to save Ross from the enemies.
For fans of Regency Romance this story/plot of an actress and her highwayman is laced with revenge,redemption,and spicy romance. I enjoyed the characters and the plot twists in the story, but I felt the action in it to be off the mark at times. But for only that little quibble I gave it a half more star.
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January 12, 2016"Revenge. Redemption. Romance. Mallory's latest Regency is about an actress, a highwayman and an evil duo who so deserve their comeuppance! Readers will enjoy the characters and the plot twists..." RT Book Reviews
April 1, 2014
I won this book on goodreads giveaway. Loved the characters and secrets and the historical setting. It was written amazingly well and kept me intrigued from start to finish.
June 12, 2019
This story had a few fun plot devices and themes that I normally quite enjoy, but it kind of went off the rails a few times.
I love a good highwayman romance, and this had that element to it, but it really was more about Charity's career, past abuse, and current peril with her father. So, it doesn't get more than a tentative 2.5-stars from me (if that was an option). I had read the previous romance that Charity had a small cameo in (under a different name), but it was so long ago, I honestly had no impression of the character.
I liked Ross a lot, as struggling farmer/naval officer/highwayman. But it seemed like a lot of things were crammed into the story. Dare I say, it felt a bit cramped at times?
Charity's father seemed a bit more like a whacked-out, power-hungry, medieval-type bishop, with his supposed influence and power, rather than a Regency member of the clergy. His young wife also seemed a little "out there". They were effective villains, in that you did want to see them stopped, and felt that the main characters had to face dangers and struggles in order to accomplish their ends - freedom and recompense. However, throwing in Blech!
So, despite the things that sparked my interest in the story, and the appealing characters, I was left with a disappointed sensation as I finished the book. It's like being told you're getting cheesecake, and then it turns out to be some kind of gelatin-based cheese thing. Sure, I'd eat it, but it's not something I'd go in for seconds on...
I love a good highwayman romance, and this had that element to it, but it really was more about Charity's career, past abuse, and current peril with her father. So, it doesn't get more than a tentative 2.5-stars from me (if that was an option). I had read the previous romance that Charity had a small cameo in (under a different name), but it was so long ago, I honestly had no impression of the character.
I liked Ross a lot, as struggling farmer/naval officer/highwayman. But it seemed like a lot of things were crammed into the story. Dare I say, it felt a bit cramped at times?
Charity's father seemed a bit more like a whacked-out, power-hungry, medieval-type bishop, with his supposed influence and power, rather than a Regency member of the clergy. His young wife also seemed a little "out there". They were effective villains, in that you did want to see them stopped, and felt that the main characters had to face dangers and struggles in order to accomplish their ends - freedom and recompense. However, throwing in Blech!
So, despite the things that sparked my interest in the story, and the appealing characters, I was left with a disappointed sensation as I finished the book. It's like being told you're getting cheesecake, and then it turns out to be some kind of gelatin-based cheese thing. Sure, I'd eat it, but it's not something I'd go in for seconds on...
May 18, 2021
I enjoyed the complicated plot line and the characters. However this is not a completely clean romance book.
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January 24, 2016Good but not great
I struggled to complete this book and only did because it was such an easy read and very predictable. I love historical romance and like the idea of a dashing highway man. This book wasn't a slow burn or even a sizzle, it was just OK.
I struggled to complete this book and only did because it was such an easy read and very predictable. I love historical romance and like the idea of a dashing highway man. This book wasn't a slow burn or even a sizzle, it was just OK.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews