Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 
 The Highlander is a wackadoodle crazysauce "historical" romance. You can totally judge this book by its cover, which features a kilt, a partially unbuttoned shirt, a dress from the antebellum South, and the kind of sunset you only get after nuclear weapons have been discharged. I loved it to bits. 
 The book has an extremely high squick factor, especially in the first two chapters. The prologue involves a disposable sex worker being disposed of. (Hello, offensive trope). In the first chapter, the heroine, who is in a mental asylum, is tortured and nearly raped. Other trigger warnings go out for child and pet abuse (described when Liam - our improbably Irish-named hero -- discusses his childhood). Once the reader gets past the first chapter, things do lighten up considerably, thank goodness. 
 I don't consider this kind of romance to be historical; it's more of a fantasy. I'm here for the general sense of old school crazysauce, and I love how Kerrigan Byrne writes it. She keeps all the elements that are so delightful about Old School mayhem - broken-down carriages, heroines with hair "like a garnet cabernet," ghosts, melodrama -- you name it, but she leaves out the rapey heroes (alpha yes, rapey no) and turns on the feminism. The story combines all of the familiar elements of old-school crazysauce but with a much more explicitly modern feminist slant and focus on the female characters' empowerment. Watching Mena come into her own and assert herself is truly delightful, as is the theme of women helping women. Above all, the book is just a ton of fun. 
 I did not like this book as much as I liked Byrne's first book, The Highwayman (as I mentioned, I haven't read The Hunter). I thought the construction of The Highlander was not as tight, and that certain triggery scenes, particularly the first section of Chapter One, were gratuitous and problematic. I was also taken aback by the fate of Mena's abusive husband. I can't say that I felt sad, as that character was reprehensible in every possible way, but I was taken aback. I also disliked the plot device wherein all conflict would be resolved if Mena just told Liam about her husband. 
 For the most part, though, this book was a fun diversion for me during a difficult time. Other than her inability to convey important information, Mena is an intensely relatable character and I loved watching her build a supportive community around herself. If you enjoy the kind of romances that include lines like "Dark waves of hair hung long and heavy with moisture down his back, and menace rolled off the mountains of his shoulders in palpable waves" then you'll like this book. 
 - Carrie S.