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

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The world of men is a brutal place. And yet women visit our offices, approach us in the streets, and send us petitions with tens of thousands more signatures every year to ask for more freedom. They feel their safety comes at the expense of their freedom. And, gentlemen, the trouble with freedom is it isn't just an empty phrase that serves well in a speech. The desire to be free is an instinct deeply ingrained in every living thing. Trap any wild animal, and it will bite off its own paw to be free again. Capture a man, and breaking free will become his sole mission. Te only way to dissuade a creature from striving for its freedom is to break it ... I, for my part, am not prepared to break half the population of Britain. I am, in fact, unprepared to see single woman harmed because of her desire for some liberty.” I enjoyed this romantic historical fiction so much that I am impatiently waiting for the next in this series! Lady Lucie seemed too absorbed by her own ongoing speech about justice and John Stewart Mill to notice them talking.

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore | Goodreads

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.” That could be okay if the sex scenes didn't feel so one-sided. Annabelle loses her identity and agency. The Duke's desires subsume her own and feels so toxic. He doesn't really seem to care about Annabelle's needs or wants or how their sexual exploits would ruin her future. Bah! I just couldn't take it anymore. I abandoned this one in disgust even more annoyed because it had so much early potential. Plus it promised, but didn't really deliver, women at Oxford and suffragettes. Arrr! Miss Greenfield perked up immediately. Annabelle bared her teeth in a smile. If they lobbied but one man of influence between the two of them, she’d be surprised. Sebastian Devereux is the most powerful man in England and the the Duke of Montgomery. He is a bit cold and very intimidating. Also, an extremely handsome, dashing knight-in-shining armor!

Ahoy there me mateys! The appealing cover led to me interest. I adore the bright colors and fun title. The marketing team deserves a lot of credit. I don't normally read romances but this one sounded silly and fun. It is set during the Regency period and the feminine protagonist, Annabelle, is a suffragette and one of the first women to study at Oxford. I expected this to be a story about a strong willed and driven woman who has a hate to love journey. Sadly I had to stop reading at 59.5% as this book went from fun to infuriating. Her hands knotted into fists. Calm. Stay calm. “I didn’t mean to quarrel with you,” she said softly. “I thought you would be delighted.” A blatant lie, that. Of all the types of men she had learned to manage, the ‘ignorant yet self-important' type was not exactly the most challenging. Then again, when her very fate lay in the hands of such a man, it added insult to injury." When Annabelle Archer wins a scholarship to Oxford from the National Society for Women's Suffrage, she first must convince her dullard, self-righteous cousin to allow her to go. She lets him believe the stipend came from the school, since he'd never agree if he knew the real source: "It was a safe guess that on the list of moral outrages, votes for women would rank only marginally below scandals of passion in Gilbert's book." After reaching the school, beautiful, overeducated Annabelle is asked to help the Society convince gentlemen of influence to overthrow The Married Women's Property Act. The first man Annabelle approaches is the Duke of Montgomery, arguably the most influential man in England, who is at the beginning of what everyone expects will be an illustrious political career. The two notice each other, and as their paths cross again and again, their stories become more and more entwined, tightened by their attraction and shared experiences, yet thwarted by their respective places in society as well as conflicting goals. Dunmore's beautifully written debut perfectly balances history, sexual tension, romantic yearning, and the constant struggle smart women have in finding and maintaining their places and voices in life and love, with the added message that finding the right person brings true happiness and being with them is worth any price. 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. Evie Dunmore’s Bringing Down the Dukedelivers the best of two worlds—a steamy romance coupled with the heft of a meticulously researched historical novel....Readers will be entranced watching Annabelle, a woman ahead of her time, bring the sexy Duke to his knees.” —Renée Rosen, USA Today bestselling author

Bringing Down the Duke - Free Online Novels - Novel12 Bringing Down the Duke - Free Online Novels - Novel12

Woman, the queen feared, “would become the most hateful, heartless, and disgusting of human beings,” were she allowed to have the same political and social rights as men. Similarly, Elizabeth Wordsworth, the first warden of Lady Margaret Hall and great-niece of poet William Wordsworth, saw no need for women to have a role in parliamentary politics. Miss Wordsworth would”Dunmore is my new find in historical romance. Her A League of Extraordinary Women series is extraordinary.” —Julia Quinn, #1 New York Times bestselling author 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.

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Now, don’t exaggerate,” Gilbert said, “your head is probably quite inured to books. However, we can’t do without your hands for even a week. I’d have to hire help in your stead.” He levelled an alarmingly cunning gaze at her. “The budget won’t allow for that, as you know.” There are several examples throughout history of British aristocrats who went against protocol and married their commoner mistress, a courtesan, or their favourite actress. Why do you think Sebastian chose Annabelle over his life’s work? What consequences do you think he will face? Brilliant but destitute Annabelle Archer is one of the first female students at Oxford University. In return for her scholarship, she must recruit influential men to champion the rising women’s suffrage movement. Her first target is Sebastian Devereux: cold, calculating and the most powerful duke in England. 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. Funny, smart, and a fantastic read! Bringing Down the Duke was absolutely brilliant!” —Corinne Michaels, New York Times bestselling author His eyes were striking, icy clear and bright with intelligence, a cool, penetrating intelligence that would cut right to the core of things, to assess, dismiss, eviscerate. All at once, she was as transparent and fragile as glass.” The Regency Vows series continues with a witty, charming, and joyful novel following a seasoned debutante and a rakish theater owner as they navigate a complicated marriage of convenience.

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

With all due respect, the risk of being pushed by a gentleman in bright daylight is usually quite low,” she said, “would you release me now, please?”The first in a new historical rom-com series, a handsome earl hires a fake fiancée to keep his matchmaking mother at bay, but hilarity ensues when love threatens to complicate everything. She had a point. The ancient Greeks had considered passion a form of madness that infected the blood, and these days, it still inspired elopements and illegal duels and lurid novels. It could even lead a perfectly sensible vicar’s daughter astray.”