Bringing Down the Duke: swoony, feminist and romantic, perfect for fans of Bridgerton (A League of Extraordinary Women)

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Mundane gestures became infused with meaning; her senses opened and sharpened, and there was an unnerving awareness of the rapid beat of her heart against her ribs.’ Evie Dunmore’s debut is a marvel . . . a witty, richly detailed , historically significant, and achingly romantic celebration of the power of love and the passionate fight for women’s rights’ CHANEL CLEETON, bestselling author of Next Year in Havana Evie wrote The League of Extraordinary Women inspired by the magical scenery of Oxford and her passion for romance, women pioneers, and all things Victorian. In her civilian life, she is a strategy consultant with a M.Sc. in Diplomacy from Oxford. Scotland and the great outdoors have a special place in her heart, so she is frequently found climbing the Highlands and hunting for woolly tartan blankets. She is a member of the British Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA). The beginning of the book started out great. Sure the book has lots of clichés, tropes, and silliness but rather than being annoyed, I kinda felt like I was meeting an old beloved friend. I was entertained because I felt like the novel was pulling from books by Austen, the Brontë sisters, etc. and I liked the homages. I loved the set-up. I was heartily entertained by how the two love interests meet and was looking forward to see how they would interact.

I have read the future of historical romance, and it's Evie Dunmore' Eva Leigh, author of Dare to Love a Duke 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. With her smart, well-researched stories and wildly appealing characters, Evie Dunmore has a unique ability to write historical romance for the modern reader. Evie Dunmore is my favorite new historical romance author!" —Lisa Kleypas, New York Times bestselling author I have read the future of historical romance, and it’s Evie Dunmore’ Eva Leigh, author of Dare to Love a Duke Evie Dunmore’s debut is a marvel....A stunning blend of history and romance that will enchant readers.” —Chanel Cleeton, New York Times bestselling authorI like how Annabelle sees beyond his cold, severe ducal facade to the man beneath - a man with a steadfast heart, who can be charming and makes her feel cherished. Annabelle and Sebastian are not the predictable pair, so common in the genre, composed by the smart-mouthed, anachronistically liberated heroine and the uppity nobleman with a hidden wild side, no, there was instead an authenticity to them which stemmed from the layered, nuanced and vibrant characterisations, so consistently immersed in the historical setting that each of their moves and skirting around also became a sort of social tableau on the customs and mores of their times. They act, think and behave like late Victorian people without becoming stale stereotypes and preserving their own unique personalities, and the realistic hurdles on the path of their relationship, when contemplating such vast class difference in those days, are not magically brushed aside but, on the contrary, cleverly turned into pivotal issues and plot-points. When I started at BOTM, I was a professed literary snob—and probably flaunted that term with pride (cue eye roll). I never read romance books because I assumed they were too cheesy and poorly written to be considered worthy of my time. Years later, dozens of romance books devoured, I’m so happy to report that, on that score, I was wrong. Annabelle Archer wants to go to Oxford, which just opened its first women’s colleges. Since her father died, Annabelle has been her cousin Gilbert’s “maid for everything.” I do not want a spin-off about Gilbert, who is exercable. Anyway, after some deft manipulation by Annabelle, Gilbert agrees to let Annabelle go to Oxford as long as she sends him two pounds a week so he can hire someone to take her place in the household. In addition to the money, she must have perfect moral conduct. I have read the future of historical romance, and it's Evie Dunmore.” —Eva Leigh, author of Dare to Love a Duke

A steamy, intelligent and feel good historical romance, set in Victorian England at the time of the Suffragette movement! 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! She is a strong willing woman and she won’t debase herself even to satisfy her passionate inner core, but she has also her doubts, as they were ingrained and tattooed in her soul, in spite of knowing she is worth than what it is expected from her, when her dreams could come true, she can’t comprehend she is deserving her happily ever after, she rejected it for fear of not being enough.

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What an absolutely stunning, riveting, painfully gorgeous book!…It’s not only the best historical romance I’ve read in a long, long time, it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read! I adored it!” —Megan Crane, USA Today bestselling author And because of the above, Bringing Down the Duke delivers an emotional insight into the nature of oppressed women in 1879. Don’t get me wrong, it’s 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. So when after having told her many many time, she could never be more than his mistress, I did understood why she didn’t believed him. Proposing her after having a fright, is not the best path to reassure her of his feelings and his willingness to face the scandal which would assuredly strike. 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. In between all of his nonsense, there's also a great amount of ugly gender essentialist language in here about the heroine's Feminine Softness and the hero's Masculine Hardness. This is one of those books that refers to women as "females". Again, this is 2019, I shouldn't have to say that this sort of language completely erases trans and non-binary/genderqueer people from existence, and even cis people who don't have the right kinds of bodies (curvy cis men and lean cis women exist, amazingly). And what does shit like "feminine warmth" mean? Do women somehow radiate a special, mystical body heat that fundamentally differs from men? Do their atoms vibrate at some frequency labeled F E M A L E? I'm so tired, authors, don't do this to me.

It is becoming clear to be me why a fair girl like you has been left on the shelf. You are not only bookish but a radical political activist. All highly impractical in a wife." Full of witty banter, rich historical detail, and a fantastic group of female friends, the first installment in Dunmore’s League of Extraordinary Women series starts with fireworks.” — Booklist (starred review)While I was interested in the Duke's brother and in Annabelle's friends, I really wasn't all that fascinated by either Annabelle or Sebastian. Something tore inside his chest, something vital, and briefly, he wondered if a man could die from it. The pain all but took his breath away. What a way to find out he did have a heart. I never once felt that Annabelle and the Duke were in love. It just seemed like they were really, really horny for one another. It always really annoys me when the attraction between two people is wholly centered on lust and sex, because it seems like a really fraught foundation for a relationship, and because I just get really annoyed when characters think with their genitals all the time. Did Annabelle and the Duke have one single moment together where they did something other than slaver over one another? There are some throwaway lines where the Duke mentions he likes that Annabelle is smart, but it's constantly overridden by his - frankly - disturbing hyperfixation on how beautiful and sexy she is. I get that the romance genre must have Lust and Sex - but does it have to take over the entire plot?

Bringing down the Duke was one of the best books I’ve ever read—absolutely adored it. Dunmore had me in tears, had me holding my breath…the emotion and passion made the book ache and sing.” —Jane Porter, New York Times bestselling author So, where do my issues lie? Well, let me first say that I am not generally a reader of romance. I can count on one hand the number of romance novels I've read, and this is actually my very first historical romance novel. I know very little about the tropes of the genre, but I can guess that nothing in this book would be considered terribly egregious to the average romance reader (please correct me if I'm wrong), but personally, I struggled. How so? Let me count the ways:

But things are destined to change when a shift in the course of action on the suffragists’ front brings these two rivals at close quarters. She might not exactly like him. But she very, very much wanted to make sense of him.