Bringing Down the Duke: 1 (League of Extraordinary Women)

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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! This book was so enjoyable to read. It has the equal amounts of funny hilarious moments, Intense emotional scenes, a delicious slow burn, and two stubborn characters who are just perfect for each other even if it’s kind of impossible for them to be together. Bringing Down the Duke is a debut novel with lots of potential. The book had some of my favorite aspects of historical romance novels and it also played during a time, the late 1800s, which isn’t often portrait in this genre. Most stories are set during Regency England between 1811 and 1820. This novel plays during the time of suffragettes, when women were allowed to attend college and during the time of winning voting rights for females. It was certainly an exciting time. With many strong and forward thinking women. Simply superb! Evie Dunmore will wow you ‘ GAELEN FOLEY, New York Times bestselling author of Duke of Storm

Bringing Down the Duke (A League of - Austenprose Bringing Down the Duke (A League of - Austenprose

The author gave me time to get acquainted with both main characters plus the side protagonists. She developed them in a way, I learned gradually about their pasts, pain and wounds. It rendered them more alive. I 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. She belonged here, right here wrapped in these strong, nonjudgmental, protective arms, and she wasn’t sure where to begin again without him. Although I’m not going to lie, I thought the book would be more steamy because that’s 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, it’s not quite. I loved the historical time period and Annabelle is a worthy heroine of the genre. She is outspoken, intelligent, and a woman who knows what she wants. The witty banter and budding romance between her and the Duke made this pure fun. The cover leads you to think it's a fluffy rom-com but be aware that it’s spicy and open-door.So of course girly-whirl accidentally runs into Duke at his manor house. There is a misunderstanding, she runs out into the snow, the Duke has to fetch her on his horse, she catches a cold (like Jane in P&P), and has to recuperate on the estate. The plot then goes to hell and the anachronisms take over. The supposed intelligent woman is completely turned into an insipid idiot over her lust. She got in trouble early in life for fornication and destroyed her prospects and here she is again being even more stupid by not learning from her prior mistake. Ugh. But she uses her clever mind and wits to her profits, refusing to let others dictate her future. She might be a woman, she won’t let it stop her from reaching her goal. She has to play not always fair but it is how life is. 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.

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore - Ebook | Scribd Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore - Ebook | Scribd

If we were of equal station,” he said softly, “I would have proposed to you when we took our walk in the maze.” Oh. The magnitude of this was too enormous to sink in, with her standing on a doorstep, about to walk away. She felt strangely suspended in time, her breathing turned shaky. “I wish you would not have told me this.” Because she could never, ever be anyone other than plain Miss Annabelle Archer, and now she’d forever know how dearly that had cost her.”

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.’ He finds her fascinating not just for her pretty face, but also for her sharp mind. Even though she's resilient and can take care of herself, he's still protective of her and comes to her aid. There is so much witty banter and meaningful dialogue everywhere. And the Victorian era reticence and propriety just adds to the whole charming atmosphere. 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. That was why they called it temptation—it never presented itself as something ugly, or tepid, or harmless; no, it came in the guise of glorious feelings and a sense of utter rightness, even when it was wrong. That was why one needed principles. Regrettable, that her grasp on them was so shaky when it counted.” Sebastian has been steady his whole adult life. After being thrust into the role of Duke at the young age of nineteen, he has worked tirelessly to restore the family name and fortune. Queen Victoria views him as one of her most trusted inner circle and with good reason. Running the multiple estates that he inherited as the first son and restoring their profitability would break a lesser man. But not Sebastian Devereux, nineteenth Duke of Montgomery. He always accomplished what he sets his mind to, no matter the cost. Nothing will stop him from restoring Montgomery Castle, an estate that his father lost in a bet.