Mysterious strangers, hidden identities, young women being swept off their feet by dashing rogues!
We all know why we love the idea of the Highwayman, but if have ever hankered for a lesbian retelling with dashing queer women in the lead role who sweeps in with her mask, flintlock, and secret identity stealing the damsel’s heart as well as her jewels?
So have I!
So I gathered together SIX novels with queer Highwaywoman in the lead! You can thank me later!
1. Mask of the Highwaywoman by Niamh Murphy (That’s Me!)
A ROBBERY. A KIDNAP. A GRAND HEIST.
Be careful who you fall in love with…
Evelyn Thackeray is in trouble.
She has no money. She is late to her own wedding. And she may just have fallen for the mysterious Highwaywoman who held up her carriage and robbed everyone on board! These are not the type of difficult circumstances one can admit to in polite society.
When Evelyn is offered the chance to go back to safety and marry the boring man her father has chosen or throw caution to the wind and run off with a beautiful but dangerous criminal, she has no idea that the outcome might already have been decided for her…
What starts out as a light-hearted battle of wits soon becomes a desperate quest for survival.
If you want a lighthearted and fun adventure then try Niamh Murphy’s debut historical novel. It’s a swashbuckling romance and a gripping tale of love and betrayal that will leave you breathless!
Available on Amazon, or start reading the serialised novel for free here.
2. Alice Payne Arrives by Kate Heartfield
Kate Heartfield’s Alice Payne Arrives is the story of a time-travelling thief turned reluctant hero in this science fiction adventure.
A disillusioned major, a highwaywoman, and a war raging across time.
It’s 1788 and Alice Payne is the notorious highway robber, the Holy Ghost. Aided by her trusty automaton, Laverna, the Holy Ghost is feared by all who own a heavy purse.
It’s 1889 and Major Prudence Zuniga is once again attempting to change history—to save history—but seventy attempts later she’s still no closer to her goal.
It’s 2016 and . . . well, the less said about 2016 the better!
But in 2020 the Farmers and the Guides are locked in battle; time is their battleground, and the world is their prize. Only something new can change the course of the war. Or someone new.
Little did they know, but they’ve all been waiting until Alice Payne arrives.
Available now on Amazon.
3. Rebeccah and the Highwayman by Barbara Davies
It’s 1706, the time of good Queen Anne. Mistress Rebeccah Dutton never dreamed that several encounters with the notorious highwayman Blue-Eyed Nick on the deserted heaths around London would turn her respectable world upside down.
When she discovers the highwayman is actually a woman named Kate, her curiosity about the dashing thief turns to fascination.
Kate has to deal with a thieftaker snapping at her heels and secrets from her past before Rebeccah can become better acquainted with this intriguing highwaywoman.
Will Kate avoid the shadow of Tyburn long enough for Rebeccah to explore this twist of fate?
Available on Amazon.
4. The Locket and the Flintlock by Rebecca S. Buck
Will the masked outlaw who stole Lucia’s locket also claim her heart?
When Miss Lucia Foxe is robbed by a band of shadowy highwaymen, she does not realize this frightening event will change her life forever. Her brave quest to retrieve her stolen locket brings her into close contact with the thieves and their dashing and fearless masked leader, Len Hawkins. But there is more to Len than meets the eye. Beneath the robber’s mask lies a woman who, in her heart, is not really so very different from Lucia.
As their unlikely love grows against the backdrop of the poverty and violent protest of Regency England, Lucia learns how much more there is to the world than her upbringing has taught her. Len flirts with death every day, and eventually, an attempt at exacting revenge on her cruel father threatens to snatch her from Lucia’s arms.
Will Len survive her encounter with death and avoid the retribution of the agents of justice? And can respectable gentlewoman Lucia love Len enough to sacrifice everything she knows?
Available now on Amazon.
5. Daring and Decorum: A Highwayman Novel by Lawrence Hogue
Elizabeth Collington, the twenty-year-old daughter of a country vicar, longs for more than the circumscribed life of her 18th-century Devonshire village. When a highwayman steals a kiss along with her mother’s necklace – provoking feelings of which her father would never approve – she suddenly has a secret no one must know. But the highwayman also has a secret: “he” is actually a woman.
Will the story of the highwayman’s past – complete with a tyrannical husband, a gloomy castle, and a daring escape into London’s underworld – persuade Elizabeth to abandon propriety in favor of passion? In the end, can the lovers make an independent life in a world where women are little more than property, evading both the redcoats and the jealous young lord who would tear them apart?
Daring and Decorum is a comedy of manners wrapped around a gothic tale; a mashup of Jane Austen.
Find the book on Amazon.
6. The Highwayman by Eleanor Musgrove
Bess lives a simple existence as the daughter of an innkeeper – or so it seems. But she and her forbidden lover, the notorious highwayman plaguing the area, have more secrets to keep than just their clandestine moonlit meetings. Even one overheard conversation could change both of their lives forever.
Inspired by Alfred Noyes’ tragic poem of the same name, this adaptation reimagines the story of the ill-fated lovers with an LGBT+ twist – and a touch of hope…
Available on Amazon
If you liked this book list, then here are a few other posts I know you’ll love!
- 4 Lesbian Retellings of the Robin Hood Legend
- 10 Historical Romances, To Swoon Over!
- 16 Great Reads for Lesbians and Queer Girls who Love Pirates!
My Books
