Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women #1)

The major characters are well-developed, and the storyline (involving women’s suffrage) interesting. I particularly liked the author’s use of political philosophers and contemporary historical figures and events.

But, Ms Dunmore, do a little research. The brother of a duke, because he is also the son of a duke, is styled Lord Peregrin, not Lord Devereaux. Conversely, a peer is styled Lord Ballentine, never Lord Tristan or Lord Tristan Ballentine. And only servants and shopkeepers would refer to an unmarried woman as Miss; her peers and especially a duke would always address her as Miss Archer or Ma’am.

One does not unboard a vessel, one disembarks from it. A horse is not saddled and haltered but saddled and bridled; no one would get on a horse, especially a lively one, that had no bit in its mouth. And so on. You need better readers and editors. I like the characters, so I’ll probably read the next one, hoping that the more egregious errors are cleaned up.

There were part of this book I really enjoyed. The setting was unusual, and there were times my heart was really squeezed.

I liked the story line invoking Peregrin and his relationship with the duke. I thought it added some nice depth. I wished the friendship among the girls has been better fleshed out, but I was fine with it.

There were just parts of the book where things felt hollow or wrong. I couldnt figure it out while reading but upon finishing the book (late and sleeping on it), I woke with an idea of what was wrong.

~~Spoilers ahead ~~

I just cant get over how the duke wanted Annabelle as a mistress first and foremost. And at first I could forgive the sentiment. It was expedient. But she was clear about what that would mean for her economically, socially, morally. And honestly, the impacts for a woman were devastating. AND THEN HE ASKED HER AGAIN.

And this is the problem with the duke and Anna as a couple: I never felt like the duke came to an understanding that being his mistress was not the kind of relationship he wanted with Annabelle. He never gave up on the thought of her being his mistress because it was bad for Annabelle. He would have been HAPPY AND SATISFIED to have had that kind of relationship with her forever. He only proposed marriage because she wouldnt be his mistress and he had to have her.

I just cant get past that.

This is the best debut historical romance I’ve read since Mia Vincy’s A WICKED KIND OF HUSBAND in 2018. I can’t think of any recent HRs better than these two, by debut or established authors. Dunmore’s HR is not without flaws but it is very well written, has a nicely slow-burning romance, and intelligent, clever dialogue. Yes, getting these two main characters of very disparate social classes to an HEA does feel like a bit of a fairy tale, but I really didn’t mind.

It’s 1879 in Victorian England. Our heroine Annabelle is very intelligent, very well educated (by her late vicar/scholar father) but also very poor. She’s living in Chorleywood with her stuffy vicar cousin Gilbert and his family at the beginning of the book, serving as their unpaid nanny/governess/maid, but she wants more from her life. When she is offered a place at Oxford University’s new women’s college, she has to manipulate Gilbert into agreeing to this, which means promising to send him two pounds a month to pay for a replacement for her and also hiding from him the fact that she is being sponsored by the National Society for Women’s Suffrage.

This scholarship requires that Annabelle volunteer for the suffrage society’s causes, in particular the struggle to get Parliament to abolish the Married Women’s Property Act, which gives a husband control and ownership of his wife’s property upon marriage, hence rendering her powerless. To work toward this, volunteers such as Annabelle must try to convince members of Parliament of the rightness and justice of their cause, handing out political pamphlets to them and trying to engage them in conversation about it.

That’s how Annabelle meets Sebastian, the Duke of Montgomery, just outside Parliament. It’s not a particularly successful meeting but it works well for us romance readers, as we see a bit of antagonism and attraction at the same time. Sebastian is not just stuffy. He’s single minded. Before his death, Sebastian’s father had managed to lose all the unentailed properties of his dukedom. Since inheriting the title, Sebastian has been on a quest to regain them all. And he’s been successful, except for just one place: Montgomery Castle.

Now he’s in reach of that goal. Queen Victoria has promised to intercede on his behalf with the present owner of the castle, if only Sebastian uses his influence to keep the Tory party in power. Well, this means no liberal leanings for Sebastian at the moment, and, of course, that means ignoring the women’s struggle for the right to maintain their own properties or their right to vote.

That puts Annabelle and Sebastian on a political collision course but there is an undeniable attraction which must not be given in to. Only, of course, if Annabelle would agree to be his mistress. Well, we all know how HR heroines feel about being the hero’s mistress. But wife is out of the question. A poor vicar’s daughter, without a hint of nobility in her bloodline?

Well, there now. The plot, as you can see, isn’t really new or unique. Yet it is freshly done. I really enjoyed the rather realistic inclusion of the suffragette movement and the heroine’s part in it. She’s not a strident feminist. Just wants to be free and equal. No subservient wife role or that of mistress for her. And she has a little bit of personal baggage from an incident in her past (which I won’t get into here) which adds to her stubbornness about certain things in her relationship with Sebastian.

There are very good secondary characters here. There’s Lady Lucie, leader of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage; there are Annabelle’s two new best friends in the society, one a rich businessman’s daughter and one of the peerage; there’s Sebastian’s immature younger brother; there’s Professor Jenkins, Annabelle’s professor; there’s Sebastian’s former lover, Lady Lingham. All of them are well developed and with distinct personalities. I can see sequels to give Annabelle’s friends Harriet and Catriona and Sebastian’s brother Peregrin their own romances. They were all appealing characters and deserve their own stories.

This is not a perfect book. It is better than a 4-star one but I won’t give it 5. Too much extended drama about the mistress/marriage dilemma, and, for me, not enough about the politics. The romantic component was, however, the kind that appeals to me. Lots of burning attraction before the actual bedding. All in all, one of the better HRs I’ve read in the past few years.

Annabelle Archer is a country girl whos been burned and controlled by men in her past and present, so when she gets the chance to attend Oxford University and obtain an education, she jumps at the chance to escape from her oppressive cousin Gilberts direct control of her.
Sebastian – The Duke of Montgomery – is a cold and calculating aristocrat, and has previously been told he has no heart. When Annabelle ends up in the Dukes company, will she break through the ice barrier everyone sees? Or perhaps Annabelle will uncover that exterior walls arent always what is actually on the inside.

Through the alternating perspectives of Annabelle and Sebastian, we get to see that the greatest angle of this love story is that the characters werent delirious on love at first sight, or obsessed with how attractive the other was. In fact, if anything, there was a little hostility between the pair similar to the romance of Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice.
Sebastian and Annabelles relationship grows from a place that is about truly seeing and understanding someone as they are, which was a pleasure to read.
So, naturally, I really ended up rooting for Sebastian and Annabelle – like my heart would not have recovered any time soon if they did not get an acceptable HEA.

Although Im not going to lie, I thought the book would be more steamy because thats literally one of the most common things I read about this book. There was only 3, maybe 4 scenes that were smutty, with only 1 of them being in-depth. So if you were expecting this to be like Fifty Shades level erotic, its not quite.

Whilst initially feeling Annabelles individual arc was a little drab, by the middle and end, it was actually really emotional. Annabelle has had her life controlled and spoiled by men due to societal conventions of that era, and by the middle and ending, it became impossible not to feel those hardships seep out through the pages and into my heart. I was desperate to console her, wave a magic wand and fix her worries.

And because of the above, Bringing Down the Duke delivers an emotional insight into the nature of oppressed women in 1879. Dont get me wrong, its not a thorough insight, instead it is subtle. I must praise this, because the insight is only one component of the story – yet it was all consuming when it was centre point.

I loved Sebastian because underneath his exterior, there really was so much more going on. I loved his intelligence, his humour and his passion and devotion. His familys history as a Dukedom, Sebastian being involved in advising the Queen and Parliament and Sebastians relationship with his younger brother, Peregrin, were all interesting subplots. I dont even know how to express how much I loved Sebastian.

Also, I enjoyed the inclusion of philosophic commentary, from John Stuart Mill to Greek philosophers (as brief as some of it was). Especially when it was used as cleverly as it was to help progress the romance.

My only quibble with Bringing Down the Duke is it wasnt until 25% into the read, I was finally fully engaged with the story. I spent the % before that a little confused to hype and impatient for the plot to actually get to that point of investment.

Bringing Down the Duke is a bright debut that unexpectedly ensnared me by capturing my heartstrings in more ways than one. The romance was beautifully crafted, and the historical setting was cleverly interwoven to bring the plots dramas and characters to life. Im interested in seeing where Evie Dunmore takes the series next and any other novels she writes Ill definitely check out.

A steamy, intelligent and feel good historical romance, set in Victorian England at the time of the Suffragette movement!

I don’t really read historical fiction, especially not historical romance, and I’m not really sure why?! I recently loved The Diviners series, and then I really enjoyed this! I need to look up some more Historical Romance with kick ass feminists in like Annabelle Archer and Evie O’Neill!

What a great debut by Evie Dunmore! I am so happy with all of the amazing debuts coming out recently! This was a fantastic book, and I’m so happy that it is part of a series, and cannot wait to continue it! It was well written, funny, angsty and yet sweet, and I had a lot of fun reading it! It actually reminded me a lot of Pride and Prejudice with its slow building romance, which started off as hostility!

I looooved Annabelle! She was so strong, independent, smart and feisty! I want her as my friend!
Sebastian was so lovely, and attentive. I love it when a character comes across as cold and aloof, but secretly they have the biggest heart hidden away! It melts me every time!
Their dynamic was amazing! They were both so fiercely intelligent and stubborn, with so much chemistry. The sexual tension was strong in this one, and I revelled in it! Their relationship was actually a lot steamier than I expected it to be! Oh the angst as the Duke battled with his duty and his heart…swoon!

I also really enjoyed the other characters in the book. Hattie, Lucie, Catriona and Peregrin! These side characters were all so well written, and I loved them! I especially loved the female friendships, and how they all supported each other! I’m really looking forward to learning more about them in the future books. All of the characters were so precious, except for the Tory party (booo!) and Queen Victoria. They can go suck eggs!

I loved the Suffragettes element to the story! It was so emotive reading about how men, AND women saw and treated women! How many people thought that the female brain was feeble, and that intelligent women were unattractive! And yet amazing women didn’t stand for this, and fought back! YESSSSS!

It’s crazy to think that women were fighting for their rights, against injustice and inequality in 1879, and yet here we still are…I really admire those women who fought so hard so that we could have more rights than they did.

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