Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain's politics at the Queen's command. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women's suffrage movement. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. Thank you to Edelweiss and Berkley for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.A stunning debut for author Evie Dunmore and her Oxford Rebels in which a fiercely independent vicar's daughter takes on a powerful duke in a love story that threatens to upend the British social order. I am always interested in strong female characters ( the whole series is called: A League of Extraordinary women – how can you resist a subtitle like this? ) and the fact that the story is set against the backdrop of the fight for the rights of women to vote just made it more fascinating for me.Īlthough the genre of historical romance is not something I often read, I will definitely be looking forward to the next title in this promising new series. The novel is very engaging and highly entertaining.

However, Sebastian is aware that the bride he needs in order to secure a better position in society is somebody with money, social status and connections, somebody who is very different from the nearly destitute country girl he cannot afford to have any romantic feelings for. There is a strong attraction between these two smart and strong-willed characters. Her task is to recruit men of power and influence to their cause and this is how she meets Sebastian Devereux, the Duke of Montgomery, her political opposite, who is using his political alliances to bring about more votes for the Tories in the following elections. The main character, Annabelle Archer is a daughter of an impoverished country clergyman, which is fairly typical for the genre, but she is also among the first group of female students at Oxford University and is a political activist of the suffragette movement.

Set in England, 1879, Bringing Down the Duke is an unusual historical romance.

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore