The Hunter by Kerrigan Byrne (Victorian Rebels #2)
Released: February 2, 2016
Historical Romance
St. Martin’s
Reviewed by May
“I am not a wounded child to be pitied. Your tears are wasted. I am Argent. I am the most famous villain that no one has ever truly met and lived to tell about it. I’ve killed more men in the Underworld War than could fit in your precious theater. I’ve beaten men to death in cesspits for money. And what do you think I felt? Victorious? Avenged? Guilt? Pleasure?”
Argent feels nothing. Indeed, Christopher Argent is a cold hearted killer and character seen in the author’s previous book (Highwayman). I’ve so been looking forward to this story and to spend more time with the dark, sad, twisted soul that is Christopher Argent.
The premise is pretty straightforward- Argent is hired to kill an actress named Millie, but instead he falls for her and he uncovers a truly villainous plot in the process. His love interest is a woman who didn’t really catch my interest but then again – how should she be interesting net to Argent?
Naked to the waist, he wore only a pair of exotic-looking blue silk trousers that flowed about his long, thick legs as though to hide their movement. Bare arms bulged at his sides from the golden slopes of his massive shoulders. Millie’s mouth went dry as moisture collected somewhere lower. So many, many scars marked him. His thick torso, ribbed with strength and muscle, was a lesson in violence. Gashes interrupted his ribs and the hard, straining ridges of his stomach. And, dear god, his shoulder and the swell of the bicep below it was a webbed mess of gnarled skin. Like a burn, but perhaps worse.
Millie is a nice enough leading lady – strong, smart, capable. But my real problem was in the romance itself. While I don’t expect things to be realistic in a romance novel, I do like to find things believable. At no time could I believe that Argent simply went stupid with lust over this girl. Given his history, I would have expected a much more richly woven, perhaps more time overlap or some prior history for this to work for me as a story.
This fairly major complaint aside, it’s still a really excellent read. I love these ‘villain’ characters as heroes, and reading about an entirely different side of London far from the glittering ballrooms and Duke’s parlors. I’m not sure she’s ever going to be able to top the Highway man (one of my favorite books of 2015), but I do eagerly await whatever she writes next. I find her stories and characters to be both refreshing and interesting and her writing style a delight.
Grade: B
Goodreads l Author Website l Series
Agreed. At times it made me want to go re-read The Shadow and the Star…similar characters but a much deeper romantic story. (Although going off to read a Kinsale is much easier said than done, emotionally)