The Lady and the Highwayman

Eden’s sweet, lighthearted historical pits a pair of popular writers against Victorian London’s dark underbelly. Famed penny dreadful author Fletcher Walker rescues abused children on behalf of the secretive, charitable Dread Penny Society, which fights for and educates the city’s unfortunates. He’s also trying to hunt down his enigmatic rival writer, Mr. King. Lowborn Fletcher finds unexpected commonalities with literary writer Elizabeth Black, a girls’ school headmistress. Elizabeth joins Fletcher’s adventures fighting the criminal element but hides her own potentially dangerous secrets from him until she can reveal them on her own terms. Their slowly building, chaste, period-appropriate romance delivers congenial interludes throughout their assorted investigations into such villains as a cruel, sadistic chimney sweep and a shadowy arsonist who threatens Elizabeth’s school. Chapters of their respective serials are interspersed throughout, providing a subtle view into the authors’ emotional lives. Dedicated readers of historical romance will enjoy many nods to the origins and attractions of their genre. Agent: Pam Victorio, D4EO Literary. (Sept.)